Calculating Cultivation
Author: MisterVii
Date: 2024-06-23T14:17:24.008000+00:00

Chapter 1 – A Young Master And An Old Man

It had been almost five years since I had been born into this world or this place. I still wasn’t exactly sure what this place was. There was cultivation, and one thing about cultivation worlds that I knew from stories was that they stretched on infinitely or close enough and death was around every corner.

I was in no rush to make hasty judgements. Unfortunately, I had been a hasty baby and a young child. My father, the honorable merchant Yuan Chen, had taken an interest in me, his seventh son of his fourth concubine.

Being a baby had been incredibly boring. So, while I had a safe and happy life with my mother, Yuan Wen, they had deemed me a genius. I wasn’t a genius, I just had memories of a college student from Earth, who had been working on his dissertation on using AI for traffic light control. It wasn’t glamorous, but I had high hopes it would land me a top paying job with its original research and applications.

Now I was in a medieval world, with its own rules, language, and culture. I had poured everything I could into learning to speak and read. If I was getting a second chance, I would not squander it. My mother had an allowance from my father, and she hired tutors, who rushed me through lesson after lesson, praising me endlessly.

I had died while in the college study mindset, so it was easy enough to keep that going for several years. Now that I had mastered the language, I had been looking into the various histories, curious of the geo-political situation.

It hadn’t taken long to confirm that yes, cultivators existed, and my father had a couple on his payroll to protect his caravans and home. He had a long-term contract with the Cloudy Moon Sect that controlled the Soaring Peaks province we lived in.

I didn’t know what kind of contract my father had since I was not allowed or involved in the business decisions. I had six older brothers who were involved in various aspects of the family business. While I was lucky to be born into an upper middle class family, I wanted power I read about in the legends.

The ability to fly and to command the world to my whim. Immortality, so I would never die again. The respect and admiration of all. That meant pursuing the path of cultivation. Anyone with ambition pursued cultivation in this world, and I was not without ambition.

So, I asked and pestered my current tutor for information on cultivators. It was all flowery prose, and it was impossible to determine fact from fiction, but the core themes remained consistent. I had been offered a minor reward from my father for my progress in my studies and had held off requesting anything until recently. I asked for permission to speak to one cultivator under employ.

He had been hesitant, but eventually agreed. My father warned me not to be offensive and to be on my best behavior. That was how I was currently kneeling outside the door I had knocked on, waiting for a response. It was clearly a power play and probably to test my patience by the head of security of my father’s estate. After ten minutes of waiting patiently, I heard a man speak up from inside the room.

“Enter.” I got up and slid the paper door to the side. An older man with a long white beard, wrinkles, and flowing blue and white robes sat on a cushion in the mostly empty room. I entered, slid the paper door shut and then kowtowed before this man.

I had learned in my etiquette lessons that cultivators stood above others. My father would deeply bow to all cultivators, even the ones he employed. They were the weapons of war and power in this new world. Their prestige and standing were above all others.

“Greetings honored cultivator. I am Yuan Zhou, seventh son of Yuan Chen and I ask to speak to you about cultivation with your permission.” I said, while keeping my head touching the polished wooden floor.

“A mortal child comes before me. A supposed genius. Your father requested me to indulge you. Raise your head.” I did so and remained sitting on the wood floor in the seiza position, with my legs tucked under my bum. He had not given his permission to speak, so I was respectfully silent while he stared at me. After a minute, he spoke up. “Speak child.”

“Thank you, honored cultivator. I have read many texts on cultivation, but their descriptions were overly flowery. I wish to inquire about the stages and how one progresses through the ranks of cultivation,” I inquired as politely as I could.

“A bold question. You seek instruction in the cultivation arts and understanding?”

“Yes, honored cultivator,” I replied with the hope he would become my master or tutor.

“Then a test of your intelligence. Since you clearly have the patience to cultivate.” I had been right, those had been tests. “Why do I, an honored cultivator, work for a mortal like your father?”

I contemplated the question. It wasn’t simple or easy to answer. The crux of the issue is why people revered as highly as cultivators would lower themselves to work with people they saw as beneath them.

The simple answer would be for money or a debt. But while that touched on the truth, it was too simple. I considered the man before me. I went for broke and displayed a bit of cheek or insolence with my answer.

“You wish to live comfortably as the years pass.” I noted his eyes widen slightly.

“Insightful and ultimately correct. I have reached the great bottleneck and will go no further than the Core Formation stage. Even after a thousand years, this Yi Rong wants to live his last days in peace. Now a child comes to disturb me.”

I remained quiet and kept looking at him and did not bow my head even when he glared. “You are bold and patient, two qualities that will be needed if you wish to walk the path to cultivation. Very well, I will instruct you, Yuan Zhou. For these are no great secrets to what you ask. Any mortal could find the information you seek with enough wealth.”

“Thank you, master Yi Rong,” I said and bowed my head. When I brought my head back up, Yi Rong immediately went into lecture mode.

“There are nine stages of cultivation. But your concern will be with the first four. For while every stage builds off the last, the first stage truly determines your future. Qi Gathering, Foundation Establish, Meridian Attunement, and Core Formation. For at the end of those four stages comes the first great bottleneck, where all are brought low, even geniuses and young masters with far greater backgrounds than yours.”

“I would say that ninety-nine percent of all cultivators never go past core formation. Of that remaining one percent, ninety-nine percent gamble at a serious attempt and cannot reach the fifth stage. One out of every thousand cultivators makes it beyond that point.”

“Everyone, including myself, believes they will get some luck, some hope, but it is the great bottleneck for a reason. The reason I explain this is so you understand the pain you will feel after a thousand years of work, for it all to be for nothing.” I gulped at this, but I was interested and truly curious. I paid attention like I would in a class that I liked by giving my full and undivided attention to the lecture at hand.

“The first stage, Qi Gathering, determines your future. The standard that all sects and people use is to advance to the second stage by twenty years of age and no later. One can advance later or earlier, but twenty years is the optimal time period to show temperament and focus.”

“Children rarely have the patience. Why waste resources on those who would be useless? So, while there are a lucky few, the sects wait and then recruit at twenty years of age all those that have made progress they have been deemed worthy.”

That was actually smart. After twenty years, the personality of a person would be settled, and the sects could look at their history of cultivation. How focused were they? You wouldn’t want to hire someone who played the equivalent of games on their phone all day and waste resources on them.

“The first stage is what you want to focus on. The goal is to collect motes of free-floating Qi into yourself. This is the divine energy of the heavens and the earth.” Yi Rong raised up one hand and I felt something weighing me down.

I thought it was just the occasional speck in my eye, but those specks I had seen growing up were the motes! There were only two in the room I could see. They brightened considerably for a moment and then faded to nearly invisible pinpricks of light I could see.

“They are invisible most of the time.” This was a reincarnation advantage! “But special candles, advanced techniques, and environments can reveal these motes. One merely draws them into their body and places them inside their astral soul, which overlaps their physical body.”

“Therefore, the stage is called Qi Gathering. The minimum standard of most sects is 80,000 motes and the average most people reach by the age of twenty is 100,000 motes. The elites and those truly focused would reach 120,000 motes without pills.”

That was a lot. It would be about 10,000 motes per year. “But those are sect standards. But Qi revealing candles are expensive. Ten taels would be the average price for one from the Alchemy Guild.” That was a lot. A teal was a silver coin, the upper currency of non-cultivators, and a thousand bronze coins made up a single tael. A laborer could earn ten bronze coins a day, so a Qi Gathering candle represented a thousand days of work. That wasn’t cheap at all.

“Now you see the challenge for people seeking to walk the path of cultivation. That many Qi motes are necessary, otherwise a person’s astral soul will collapse at later stages. Ask your questions.”

“What would be the upper limit on motes? Is there an upper limit, master Yi Rong?” I asked.

“Well, that proves you aren’t a demon in disguise. For no one with knowledge of cultivation would ask such a stupid question. The second stage, Foundation Establishment, requires one to align those motes to either their body or soul. To walk that path of cultivation. I walked the path of soul, as do most cultivators.”

“Aligning the motes takes time. So yes, someone could be stuffed full of resources at the first stage, but there is no way to use resources for the second stage. That is why sects have learned to see what people can accomplish on their own. If they don’t have the focus to gather motes, then will they have the focus to align them?” Yi Rong shook his head.

“While we can make the path easy, cultivation requires work. Once you align and place the motes inside your body, then you will move onto the third stage, Meridian Attunement. Meridians are points at the edge of your astral soul that draws in energy. The more motes you gathered, the more meridians you can support at a standard ratio of one to one thousand.” I was paying close attention.

“Once your meridians are constructed, you must form your core. Drop by drop and compress it. The great bottleneck.” Yi Rong let out a soft sigh. He stopped speaking, so I took that time to ask a question.

“You mentioned you are a thousand years old, master Yi Rong. Does each stage really take so long?” I asked.

“The higher you go, the harder and slower things are. People invent tricks and the sects keep their methods secret as well. But to align motes in the second stage, a genius could do 4,000 per year. If they had 120,000 motes from the first stage, that would take them 30 years.”

“A genius would craft 4 meridians per year. That would take them 30 years. But then the great bottleneck. Even with 120 meridians, one can only gather one drop of refined energy every 10 years in the Core Formation stage if they are a genius. You would need 100 to 1,000 drops. That is at least 1,000 years for the bare minimum requirement.”

“While a person will live longer at each stage, it takes more and more perseverance and hope that you will beat the odds and make it to the end before you die. I probably have a decade or two of life left and I have only cultivated 63 drops and formed a liquid core. One needs a solid core that has at least 100 drops to advance to the fifth stage.”

“Many people look for advantages, try pills, and other things with limited success or they aren’t sharing. Core Formation is called the great bottleneck for a reason. Spend too long on the early stages setting up a foundation that would be amazing, and you will die before you even get to Core Formation. Rush, and you can’t cultivate fast enough.”

“Can’t you align the motes while you collect them master Yi Rong?” I asked.

“No. That is what separates stages. You cannot go back. Once you align motes, it will repel all other motes from you. You cannot draw them inside your astral soul. Once you craft meridians, you cannot move the motes that are aligned inside of you. Once you make your meridians and channels, they cannot be undone.”

“Each stage is a permanent change to your astral soul that can never reverted. People try different things, but those who veer from the paths that have been taken all perish. The sects make people study and write up a report on past failures and then they have lectures. It helps reduce idiocy by a large amount.”

“You are from the Cloudy Moon sect master Yi Rong?” I asked.

“Retired and yes. I entered with 100,000 motes so long ago and steadily worked my way up through the stages. Too low. Far too low, but I had thought I would overcome that hurdle with the time I would have in Core Formation. I wanted to rush ahead, thinking I could get resources that would help me later. The foolishness of youth.”

“But there is nothing. There are hundreds of people just like me, everyone thinking they would succeed where other people failed. Failure to advance to the next stage will mean losing your astral soul forever. I had guessed you were reincarnated or a demon hiding as a human child, but your ignorance proved otherwise.”

That didn’t sound good the way Yi Rong’s tone grew heavy there at the end. I didn’t let myself focus on that right now. If I showed interest, that could lead to trouble. “How does one go about taking these motes into their astral soul, master Yi Rong?” I asked.

“Simply allow them to intersect your body. Once inside, you will feel them. It takes some practice, but after the first couple, you will become used to it. Then you move the mote inside your body, and collect the next one, and the next. They will remain within you once you grab hold of them with your focus.” I nodded at this. That seemed easy enough.

“Anything I should avoid, master Yi Rong?”

“Do nothing with the motes. They will enhance your body to a degree. People like to talk about ranks inside a stage, but the difference isn’t that great. For every 10,000 motes, you would reach another stage. So, at 120,000 motes, you would be a 12th Rank Qi Gatherer.”

“But trying to use them or align them will lead to long-term issues. Just gather them up. If you get enough, the sects will invite you in.”

“Are there options besides the Cloudy Moon sect?” I asked.

“There are, but I would caution against that. While sects aren’t enemies, they are rivals and your father works for the Cloudy Moon sect and I am from there. But it is only a middle sect. To qualify as a sect, one must have at least a single person in the fifth stage or higher. They would be a low sect. They come and go like the passing of the seasons.”

“A middle sect like Cloudy Moon has the knowledge of past people who have climbed up to the eighth rank. Where the second great bottleneck occurs. Having an elder at that rank qualifies a sect at the middle rank.”

“A high sect would have a ninth or higher stage cultivator who has achieved immortality. I only know of two on the continent. The Blazing Sun Sect and the Imperial Sect, which has nominal control over all mortal affairs.”

“Sect life is harsh and cutthroat. Everyone is looking for an advantage and no one is truly your friend. Everyone is focused on cultivation and getting resources. That is why staying in a place where you are known and they know your father will give you some protection if you join,” Yi Rong explained. I nodded at this. There was no rush to make a decision. I needed to gather motes.

“Master Yi Rong, thank you for your guidance. May I seek your guidance in the future?” I asked.

“Sparingly, child. I wish to enjoy my last few years. Youth are in such a hurry, but I suppose you need that. I will also add that while your father is rich, he will not be able to easily provide candles or other tools needed to gather up motes of Qi. If you ask him, you must be prepared to sacrifice much.”

I nodded slowly at this. It made sense. Such an investment was more than college, and there was no immediate return. Even if I got into the sect, I would be at the bottom of the pecking order. It would take years and years to climb my way up. My father, mother, everyone I knew would pass away, then my siblings would pass away, and then their children.

“Thank you for your guidance and lecture, master Yi Rong,” I kowtowed to him.

“Take your leave, child, and let an old man wallow in his despair.” I said nothing, since there was nothing appropriate to say, and left Yi Rong’s room as my mind continued to go over all the possibilities and everything I had just learned.

I slid the paper door closed behind me as I left. A servant was waiting for me. “Your father, Yuan Chen, requests your presence in his office, young master.” I nodded at this and followed the servant. I knew the way, but they probably wanted to be sure I didn’t wander off and address any concerns the guards might have with me going to my father. One couldn’t just walk in and bother him or just talk with him.

That family drama seemed minor compared to what I had just learned. I paused when I saw a mote floating in front of me. It was hard to focus on a bright batch of blurriness. I reached out my right hand but it drifted away. I swung my other hand through the space quickly, but the mote moved upwards. My right hand swung through the space the mote tried to escape to and I felt something inside of my hand.

I focused on holding it there. “Young master?” the servant asked me.

“My apologies. I was just caught up in my thoughts.” The servant nodded, and I continued to follow them while focusing on the pin prick I felt in my hand. A little focus and I could feel that pinprick moving about.

Just another 119,999 to go before I turn 20 years old. I would need to do some math and look into getting as many motes as possible as quickly as possible. Starting the next stage earlier would give me a huge advantage.

The big issue was that these motes weren’t common. That was something I had noticed. Another reason I had thought they were just eye issues until Yi Rong had corrected me.

We reached the door to my father’s office. This one was solid wood and not paper to keep out the sound. The servant knocked on the door. “Enter,” my father said, and I entered the office. The servant stayed outside and closed the door.

My father was standing in front of his desk. I stopped a short distance in front of him and kowtowed as was polite since he was my father, senior, and had superior status compared to me, a child. I had breezed through the math and economic lessons from the tutors, but the language and etiquette lessons had really required me to focus.

“Rise, my son,” my father said in his deep tone. I got back up to my feet but stood with my head slightly bowed and my hands in front of me. The proper subservient posture when standing before a superior. “So, you talked with the cultivator, Yi Rong. Impressed him probably, since you spoke for so long. I would have thought he would have thrown you out for your impudence, but apparently, he likes you.”

“Yes, father,” I replied.

“Look at me, Yuan Zhou.” I looked up at my father. “Seventh son, a genius, I am told. Your mother clearly wasn’t exaggerating. If I say I would fund your cultivation studies, what would you say to that?” A lot of verbal traps were all over. But it was a cultural thing. To ask open-ended questions and let people hang themselves or showcase their brilliance.

It was not my preferred style of conversation, but I already knew how to answer. “I would thank you, father, for your generosity and thinking of my future. While I am confident I can meet the requirements on my own, I would ask for a small stipend to invest and gain the resources I need myself and an introduction to the sect on my twentieth birthday.” I could see him narrow his eyes.

“A stipend, you say, and an introduction? I have heard rumors that the heavens favor geniuses, but to hear a four-year-old child give such an answer is impossible. But Yi Rong did not strike you down, so you are no reincarnation of some past devil in the body of my child or a demon. A veritable genius, how perplexing. Hmmm.” I said nothing while my father looked at me.

“What gives you such confidence you can succeed?” my father asked.

“The heaven’s favor father and belief in myself. If I fail, then I will fail, and the failure will be mine. But if I succeed, then I shall enjoy the benefits of my success. I believe I will succeed without a stipend, but it will make my path easier.”

“Bold words, child. But for a child to say them… You are an oddity. If I support you on your path. I will give you three things and ask for three in return. Think carefully, for I will ask the heavens themselves to watch over the deal.” That made me hesitate. I didn’t know if the heavens were actual contract enforcers.

“Let me hear the offer first,” I replied, and my father grinned.

“At least you have some sense in you. A stipend of a tael of silver a month until you go to the sect on top of your living expenses for one favor this family can call upon you once you are a cultivator.” I considered the wording.

“I can agree to that as long as I can complete the favor and it won’t put my life at grave risk.”

“If you become a cultivator, then that favor will be worth far more unused and will protect this family for centuries. Many other families do similar things, but their children die, fail, or lack strength. But the rare few that hold on to that favor, well, no one would risk such a thing.” I am glad my father explained that to me since I would have never figured that out.

“The second thing would be an introduction to the Cloudy Moon Sect. I know a senior elder at the fifth rank who I could introduce you to, and he would bring you under his protection while in the sect. But I can make no promises to being taken in as an inner disciple.”

“In return, you would do the same thing for five more of my descendants if you become an elder in the sect.” That was an enormous commitment, but I could probably foist them off.

“I will not agree to anything now. When the time comes closer to join the sect, I will have an answer,” I replied, and my father gave me a nod.

“Very well. The third thing. If you require cultivation supplies, or more than a stipend, you merely have to ask, but they will incur debts. Cultivation is not cheap.”

“I understand, father. If I am ever struggling. I will remember your offer and kindness,” I replied.

“Well, let me see what you spend your first twelve tael of silver on.” My father went over to a chest on his desk and opened it. He fiddled around, and I could hear the clinking of metal. He came over and handed me a pouch.

“Open it,” he said, and I opened the pouch. “Count it.” There were twelve silver coins. “I am curious to see what you do, Yuan Zhou. That is more wealth than most people see their entire lives, but a drop in the bucket for a cultivator.”

“Thank you, father,” I bowed towards him and clutched the money pouch.

“Let’s see if the heavens truly favor a genius,” my father said. I bowed again, and he waved me off. I quickly left his office, clutching the money pouch tightly. My left hand quickly darted out, and I got another mote of Qi. That made two.

A guard gave me a look but said nothing while I just smiled and kept moving back to my part of the compound. I wanted money. Since I couldn’t work as a child, I needed to focus on business and investing, and it would lead to more money. But in reality, it was just an excuse to be moving about and collecting motes, not money.

The hard part was coming up with a business plan and making more money as quickly as possible. If I did something, I needed to do it properly and get more money and save up for the future stages. I would need to assess the situation first in town and put the money safely away. The pouch was too big for my child sized robe, so I just held it tightly in my left hand, against my chest.

I made my way back to the courtyard and rooms my mother, my younger sister, and I all shared in the family compound. She was only the fourth concubine to my father and the youngest, not even the head wife. As the seventh son, my position was also at the bottom. I had some favor, and my father knew me, but that was nothing.

“Foolish child,” my mother said with a sigh as I entered the sitting room. “Asking your father to speak to that old cultivator and then meeting with him. What did he say? What did you say?”

Yuan Wen was beautiful, but believed herself far more important than she really was. She was my father’s love bunny to put it lightly, and she was already getting older. Now her fortune and livelihood rested on me, her only son. Since her daughter would at best be married off as a favor to another household and she would be stuck in a forgotten corner of this compound aging into obscurity.

“We spoke of favors and cultivation. I turned down my father's offer for cultivation supplies and asked for a stipend instead,” I replied.

“Foolish brat! Bronze coins instead of becoming a cultivator. You are an idiot, and we are doomed,” she let out a dramatic sigh and flopped herself onto a nearby couch, resting her hand on her forehead. She was going full drama. My mother was not a drama queen, but a drama empress. It would work on a child, but not on me.

“Well, I plan to go into the city tomorrow and look at businesses to invest in,” I replied. I wasn’t about to tell her I got silver instead of bronze. She would take the money, waste it, and then blame me. Everyone would know it was her, but they wouldn’t say anything, since she was a concubine. She had no genuine power, but she also couldn’t be touched.

“Do what you want. You can take Ting with you. She was saying she wanted to get out of the compound for a bit,” my mother said tiredly.

“Thank you, mother,” I replied and went to my room. The first thing I did was carefully hide five of the eleven of the silver tael inside the scroll caps, of various scrolls I had on my bookshelf. The other six tael I hid in the dirt of a potted plant inside my room. I kept the last tael in the pouch and now that it had deflated, put it inside my robe.

I reached out and plucked another mote from the air. That made three. I smiled and quickly went over to my desk and the sand tray there. It was for practicing my symbol-based writing. I much preferred English and proper math over the nonsense that was used here, but when in Rome, be a Roman and all that.

It seemed even more important not to get labeled a reincarnation or demon. Both seemed bad, and it was something I would have to ask once I spoke with Yi Rong again. Looking at my sand tray, I began working out the math.

At 120,000 motes in 15 years was 8,000 motes per year and about 21.92 motes per day. That was a lot of motes. There didn’t seem to be that many about either. I had been looking for them and while I noticed some up high; they were all out of reach.

My range was very limited. I would need to move about more. Perhaps investing in some physical training to run around might be a good idea.

Chapter 2 – A Business

I left the compound with the female servant Ting right behind me. Half Moon City was quite large and divided up into sections. The compound owned by my father, Yuan Chen, was in the rich estate section of the city. It was the third biggest estate.

The central part of the city was the commercial section. Then there was the nearby crafts section and entertainment section. There were slums somewhere, but my tutors didn’t talk about them. I got into a rickshaw, and Ting sat next to me.

“Main commercial district,” I ordered, and the puller took off. He was a tall man and exceptionally strong. I guess when you are pulling rickshaws all day, you get a superb physique. I snagged another two motes and discovered that if I didn’t focus on them, they would drift right through me. That was why people weren’t just randomly collecting them while going about their lives.

After about five minutes of pulling, we arrived and, while busy, things weren’t packed. There were no festivals or other events. So, it was just travelers and people going about their daily business. Ting paid the rickshaw driver a bronze coin. I was glad that counted as a household expense. I really didn’t want to be nickeled and dimed out of my stipend.

While the purpose of it was to move about, I wasn’t going to half ass my business either. Multi-tasking was the key to success in any life. I would cultivate while getting rich and then leverage my wealth when entering the sect or for other projects.

Regardless, more money gave me more options. I had been observed in my last two trips into the city, by my mother and then by a tutor. They controlled where I went. This time, I controlled my itinerary.

The first stop was the largest and grandest looking store. Wearing a high-quality robe and having a servant meant I got through into the store with only a glance from the guards. They were clearly standing around to keep the lower class out from looking.

“Greetings, young master. How can this humble servant assist you today?” I had to give the guy credit. That was the perfect hand bow and greeting one could give to a child like myself. I was up front, so there was no confusion where we stood.

“I am Yuan Zhou, son of Yuan Chen. I am looking at the various businesses and your cultivation supplies caught my eye,” I replied.

“Of course, young master Yuan, we only offer the finest and certified items from the Alchemy Guild in our store. In fact, we are even a licensed seller, so we can direct requests their way.”

“Forgive my ignorance. I have heard of the Alchemy Guild and would like to know more about them and their products,” I replied.

“Of course, of course, young master Yuan. Right this way, let me show you some of our displays. The great sects themselves licensed the Alchemy Guild to produce and sell cultivation resources outside the sects. They pay a tax to the sect in control of the city or province, and their product is insured and verified to the highest level of quality.” That meant they paid protection fees, and they were insanely expensive with the quality being used as justification. Also, they had a monopoly which would further inflate the prices to the maximum possible.

“We sell the standard Qi illuminating candles. A single candle in a room will illuminate all Qi motes and is good for ten days of use. Cheaply priced at only ten tael. It is exactly what an aspiring cultivator needs to quickly progress.”

“Is that ten continuous days?” I asked.

“Ah, only the standard ten hours of cultivating, so a hundred hours total. You can see little marks in the candle itself showing how much time has passed, with one every five hours.” I noticed nothing odd about the candle except its dark blue color and enormous size.

“Perhaps. But illuminating Qi is not my concern at the moment,” I replied.

“I completely understand, young master Yuan. The next item here is a Qi pill containing 100 motes of Qi. Only fifty taels.” I wanted to cough up blood at this. A common expression in this culture to indicate shock. That meant motes were priced at half a tael apiece. Getting 120,000 motes would cost 60,000 taels.

“How many pills can one take?” I asked.

“There is no limit but the size of your coin pouch,” the salesman said. Brutal, absolutely brutal. “But we don’t recommend taking more than one a day. So, it is important to buy them early, so you don’t lose any Qi while consuming them.”

“I will consider it a possibility if I struggle,” I replied. The salesperson kept smiling as we moved onto the next item.

“Now this is a rare item, and we only carry a limited stock. An incense lighter to attract Qi for one day, 100 taels, best combined with an illuminating candle.”

“Consider this item, a qi sensing rod, only 1,000 taels.”

“Our top item. A qi sensing pill, 5,000 taels. Guaranteed to increase your ability to sense qi.”

I thanked the store clerk, whose smile never wavered the entire time, and left. He clearly knew I didn’t have the money as a child, but I could bother my father, who was rich. I had no doubt the salesperson knew every rich person’s name in the city.

There was even a good chance my father was involved with that store somehow. I just knew he was a merchant, not exactly what he was a merchant of. The other stores were fancy, but just standard stores. There was nothing that stood out, or an easy way to start up a business.

I didn’t want to invent something, since it wasn’t simple. Manufacturing was a nightmare and would require an enormous investment. The physical production of anything was a massive hassle. But there was no internet, or a service I could think of that people would pay for.

Ting purchased some lotion and beauty products for my mother while I considered the situation more in depth. Alchemy seemed like a profitable area, but that would have a lot of rules and overhead. Still, I was curious, and we took a rickshaw to the Alchemy Guild, which was at the edge of the craft district, a good twenty minutes of pulling.

I entered the building and could smell the powerful odor of plants and herbs. There was an older female receptionist. I walked over and inclined my head slightly to show respect. “Greetings. I am Yuan Zhou, son of Yuan Chen. I was wondering if there is someone I could ask a couple of questions about the Alchemy Guild.”

I saw her eyes go to Ting, who was standing behind me, and then she looked back at me. “Of course, young master Yuan. What questions can I answer for you?”

“What are the requirements and salary for being an alchemist?” I asked. She smiled kindly at me.

“You must pass an entry exam. The guild journeymen will tutor novices for a price. It is around one tael per lesson.” Highway robbery! “Once you are confident enough and pass the entry exam, which costs ten taels per attempt, you can then assist in making pills as a journeyman yourself. You would receive one tael per month as a salary for a set number of pills. You can teach or make more on the side. After ten years, they would promote you to master alchemist and allow you to take the lead on pill production if your work is up to standard.”

“There you would earn ten taels a month. A grandmaster is someone who has created a new pill recipe and the guild would guarantee them half the profits from all sales.”

“I am guessing one cannot quickly become a master alchemist?” I asked.

“No, young master Yuan. Once you are a master, no one would supervise your work. If you made a mistake, then it would bring great shame to everyone in the guild. That is why only those who have proven themselves are promoted.”

“Ah, thank you. This information was quite useful,” I replied and bowed my head. I then left the Alchemy Guild depressed. No easy or quick way to make money there. If I didn’t need to move about to collect motes of Qi, I might have considered it a possibility.

I stood outside the Alchemy Guild thinking about where to go and what to do next. I had been discreetly picking up motes during the day and had already collected twelve. It was about mid-day so I was making decent progress.

“Young master, shall we return to the compound?” Ting asked me.

“No, there is still light out. But there is a small noodle shop. Let’s rest there for now,” I replied, and Ting nodded. She followed me as I entered the noodle shop, which was more a street stall with seats. We were much better dressed than the other customers, but I wasn’t worried.

During my time going about the city, I had seen several guards patrolling. I suspected that the compound, commercial, crafting, and entertainment districts were all carefully monitored. This city was in the backyard of the Cloudy Moon Sect, so it made sense there was an iron grip on the city. Criminals didn’t last long. Justice was harsh and swift.

“Do you want ramen?” I asked Ting, who gave an affirmative.

“Two miso ramen please,” I asked the stall worker, who nodded as Ting handed him some bronze coins.

“So, what is a rich brat like you doing wandering about?” one man sitting at the counter asked me. “A bit short, aren’t you?”

“I am looking for business opportunities, but nothing catches my eye,” I replied.

“Business, good luck. If you aren’t at the top, no way you are getting there,” the man replied. Well, so much for some luck and having a random person giving me a brilliant idea to make lots of silver. The market in the city was very stable.

That was the problem with a world like this. Cultivators lived for a very long time. Yi Rong had lived for a thousand years and nothing much had changed in that time. I knew other higher stage cultivators lived longer.

It would be like someone living in ancient Rome all the way to the modern age. They would have those Roman values. Since all the top people were old and powerful, they would lock those values into place.

Also, there was no need for weapons development. Cultivators were the weapons. So, no arms race to beat another country. It was all about personal training. Even if someone invented something, it would never find traction, since the wealth was very locked up with certain people.

Sure, there might be a little wiggle room, but it wasn’t like America, where someone from a normal background could rise easily. Even me, a young master, was nothing compared to the cultivators. Even my father would have to bow his head.

The ramen was served, and I slowly ate. It was decent and filling, but not that impressive compared to the food at the compound. “Well, we always appreciate every customer here, young master,” the ramen stand worker replied.

Food was an option. “You prepare the noodles by hand?” I asked.

“Of course. How else would I prepare them?” the ramen stand worker asked me. I considered opening up fast food, but there were too many challenges without a modern distribution network and again that got into the problem of sourcing raw ingredients and hiring people.

I either need something everyone could buy for one or two bronze coins, or something high value which only I could make and sell. After Ting and I finished our ramen, we took a rickshaw on a scenic route through the crafting district.

That was when it hit me as we drove past another food stand and the people around the city. Meat was very expensive. We had it at the compound, but there was little meat available in the city. “Ting, why don’t more food stalls sell meat?” I asked her as we headed back towards the commercial district.

“I would say cost. Meat is pricey, and you need food to feed the animals. It is a sign of class as well. The rich can eat meat while the poor struggle to. It is one business your father is in.”

“Really? What does he do exactly?” I asked.

“I believe he handles selling and buying food and other supplies on behalf of the Cloudy Moon Sect and large portions of the city, but I am not entirely sure.” I had seen the high-class restaurants in the center of the city, and they weren’t cheap.

A full meal would easily cost a hundred bronze coins. If you got insane with the specialty drinks a person could easily spend an entire tael. This was before one even touched on rumored cultivator meals that had to be specialty ordered and prepared.

I knew nothing about plants, so I couldn’t start up a farm. No one here needed to understand using AI to manage traffic lights. I continued walking and looking around the commercial district. There was a toy shop that had board games.

Now there was an idea. I took a look through the shop. They had chess, go, checkers, dolls, cultivation action figures all made of wood. Perhaps someone else from Earth had beaten me here and used the idea. No game store or game craze would be possible.

“We are going to the entertainment district,” I told the rickshaw puller as we got in. Ting gave me a look, but I ignored it.

About ninety percent of the district was brothels. I didn’t care about those. The rest of the district had a single playhouse, bars that weren’t brothels, and a sweet shop. I let out a sigh and called it a day before it got dark, and we returned to the compound.

I collected 45 motes of Qi today. Each of them is a singular pricking point inside of me. I had taken to pushing them into the center of my body, building up a thick cluster, keeping them arranged in a tight grid pattern.

Each mote was miniscule. A point in space, rather than having any real volume. I could feel them. Calling them needle size might even be a bit too large. The end of a strand of hair might be better. A very wispy strand.

While today had been good, I was still lacking any good ideas on a business. I thought for sure there would have been something, or an idea would come to me while going about the city. There was no convenient stock exchange either to quickly build up wealth.

Everything else the city had covered. Glass blowers, blacksmiths, woodworkers, jewelers, toy makers, and everything else under the sun that wasn’t something related to modern machinery. While everything was handcrafted, the market was very stable, from what I could tell.

I sat in my room at my desk, using my stylus to draw shapes in the sand tray and then smoothing it over with a pull of a lever that caused a bar to sweep back and forth. Even simple mechanical devices were covered. They clearly had the printing press, since I had checked a bookstore and there were loads of books with uniform symbols stamped on their pages.

Sitting there morosely, I randomly drew circles trying to come up with something. That was when I paused. I was such an idiot. The idea had been in front of me all day. Bicycles, there were no bicycles anywhere. They pulled everyone around in rickshaws.

I frowned and realized the main issue. Metal was expensive around here. Wood was cheap. There was also no rubber that I could spot. That meant a bicycle would be a super luxury item, not something any common man could invest a bit of money into purchasing.

The drink selection was quite varied, so I couldn’t cut in on the alcohol market either. These people weren’t idiots. That was why all the low hanging fruit had already been picked. Anything more complex would require a much larger investment.

I went to bed feeling frustrated and woke up the next day in the same mood. While I had been collecting a lot of motes, I was stuck. “Ting, what medical services are available?” I asked her.

“A doctor can be called for you, if you desire. Your father employs one for the household. For regular people, it is quite expensive to see a doctor. There are many back-alley people who try to make a living doing this, but their quality is questionable.” I nodded at this and began picking at my breakfast, that was quite decadent. Fresh bread, butter, fruit, and some cheese.

“I am sure you will find something, young master,” Ting told me. She was no doubt trying to reassure me as I had told her what I was doing yesterday. I gave her a weak smile.

It was annoying there were no clocks. I paused midbite on some buttered bread. Okay, a mechanical clock. Then I realized I had seen a grandfather clock in my father’s office. I let out a sigh, of course someone had already invented it.

I went back to chewing my food. I finished breakfast and went back to my room and got changed. I then jogged around our courtyard in the family compound. My mother came out, saw me, sighed, and then went back inside. Probably to behave dramatically some more.

She didn’t dare punish me, since I was a genius and her meal ticket with my father. After running for half an hour, I slowly walked and cooled down while thinking about a business. There were food carts that sold street food. Another idea crossed off the mental list.

“Ting, do people sell businesses?” I asked her as she cleared some of the breakfast platters.

“Normally not, young master Yuan. They pass down in the family line.” I nodded slightly, since that was what I had figured. Everyone, their mother, their donkey, and their fat friend had squeezed out all the easy possibilities, and this world was static.

For stuff to remain unchanged for thousands of years, it came down to two major factors. The cost of goods, primarily metal. Metal was expensive. There was high-quality steel, but none of it was cheap. My tutors had taught me that mines in the wilderness attracted beasts seeking energy from the lower earth and there were occasionally underground monsters. Mining was a high-risk occupation normally involving debt slaves and minor criminals.

I hadn’t really thought too much about the issue, but there would be no industrial revolution. That was why almost everything was made of wood. Metal was just too valuable. One couldn’t do steam engines, electricity, or any other inventions higher on the tech tree without metal.

So that cut off innovation and mass distribution at the lower levels. At the higher levels, everyone was a cultivator who lived forever, was insanely rich, and had top social status. These sects selected people and by the time someone reached a thousand years old, they wouldn’t be easily motivated to change things and it would take away from their time cultivating.

That was why innovation had been maxed out, people seeking any edge for thousands of years, but tech hadn’t progressed since the materials just weren’t there to make a business. That was why there were luxury goods like typewriters and printing presses, but bicycles weren’t possible. Just have a servant pull you around instead. A human was cheaper. There was no rubber or plastics either, which made things even harder.

They priced services based on what people could afford. A worker earned about ten bronze coins a day for their labor. A skilled tradesman might earn up to fifty bronze coins in their craft. But the amount of disposable income was limited.

All the space inside the city was used up as well. The slums were outside the city walls, and then there was farmland. Past the farmlands was an outer wall meant to hold back beasts and monsters. There was the occasional push to take more farmland, but that risked inciting a beast tide, which would see the farmland destroyed and years of famine and starvation while the city recovered.

This meant being a landlord wasn’t feasible. After thousands of years, the space in the city was utilized as efficiently as possible. Most buildings were three stories tall and made of wood. They made a few more important buildings out of stone or concrete.

I was finished with my breakfast, and Ting took it all away. I went back to my room and got a bucket bath. Basically, buckets of water dumped over my body and a cloth to wipe me down. It was one of my many eccentricities, cleaning myself instead of having a servant do it.

Getting changed, I thought about how I wanted to handle the day. I got 89 motes yesterday, which was an insanely good amount. It would take less than four years to reach the goal of 120,000 motes if that was the case.

“Ting, we are going out again,” I said to the servant.

“Yes, young master.” My mother had insisted she go with me if I left the compound, and I had no complaints about that. “Unfortunately, I do not have the funds for such a trip,” she replied and bowed her head.

“How much did we spend yesterday?” I asked.

“Twenty bronze coins for the rickshaws and four bronze coins for the food, young master Yuan.” In thirty days at the same rate of expenditure would put my expenses around 720 bronze coins, leaving me with 280 bronze coins of wiggle room.

“We are going to be doing a lot more traveling. How much would hiring a full-time rickshaw cost?” I asked.

“Around ten bronze coins a day. That is the cost for a full day hire.” I nodded at this.

“Pay for a full day and we will go to a money changer. I will pay back the ten bronze. Also, don’t let my mother know about the money changer. I know you report to her. I would consider a bronze coin a day for your silence on more sensitive matters.”

Ting considered that for a moment and then nodded. “Of course, young master. I will not let her know about the money changer.”

“And other things that might come up. She is easily excited.”

“I understand, young master.” We left the compound again, and Ting hired a rickshaw for a full day. Our first stop was a money changer. This was in the center of the city. A silver tael was for high-value purchases, and I couldn’t easily spend it.

Entering the building, I saw a posted sign listing the exchange rates. The place was called the Coinage Guild. For silver to bronze, it was 1:950 and the other way around it was 1050:1. Of course, there would be a transaction fee. There were also a lot of guards standing around. I also saw they offered loan services, so I had an idea.

“Young master, how can I help you today?” the clerk sitting at a desk asked me. A servant quickly put a cushion on the seat before I sat. I gave them a nod of thanks. It helped a bit, but I was still quite small.

“I am planning to exchange some money, but was hoping to speak to you about businesses I could buy or invest in.” The clerk nodded.

“We offer transactional services and affordable loans. But these are all handled individually and with utmost confidence.” I nodded at this explanation.

“I completely understand. But perhaps there is a business that has defaulted on a loan that I could purchase from your organization. I understand there might be a higher risk, but it would be a chance to recover from some losses and not concern yourself with the business anymore,” I offered. The clerk looked thoughtful for a moment.

“There is one business that comes to mind. The owner has connections, which has made it troublesome to request repayment of the loan he took to get it started and revenue has been non-existent.”

“I might be interested once I learn of the business, the debt, and some details,” I replied.

“I would need to speak to the shift manager. May I have your name, young master?” He was basically asking for my connections to confirm I had resources and connections.

“Yuan Zhou, son of Yuan Chen,” I replied. The clerk smiled even more at that.

“Then there should be no problem. Excuse me one moment and enjoy some refreshments while you wait.” He waved a servant over, who served fruit juice, cheese, and bread. I only picked a single piece of fruit to be polite. Stuffing my face would not set a good impression.

Soon the clerk returned all smiles. “I have permission to discuss the details with you, young master Yuan. It is quite impressive you are already seeking business opportunities at your age.”

“My father calls me a genius, and I am humbled. Now this business?” I asked.

“Of course. An apprentice woodcarver by the name of Ling struck out on his own to make specialty chairs. Unfortunately, they have not sold, and the designs are questionable. He took out a loan to start up his own shop.”

“I will need to see the shop and speak with this Ling. What were the loan terms?” I asked.

“We took twenty percent of his business for five taels worth of silver, with the understanding he would pay a tael a year. It has been three years and no repayment. We were going to repossess everything and sell it for a tael, but that would be quite a loss.”

“The deal is for twenty percent. Is that revenue or profit?” I asked.

“Revenue,” the clerk answered.

“I am interested, but I would need to meet with this Ling and see his workshop for myself before deciding.”

“I completely understand, young master Yuan. Do you wish for me to accompany you to make an introduction?”

“Yes, please, and before we go, I will need to exchange a tael for some bronze.” I got my 950 bronze, and we left. Our rickshaw followed the clerk. I paid Ting 20 bronze coins for the rickshaw cost for today and her silence. She pocketed the money with a smile and thanks.

We reached the wood workshop. It wasn’t in the best part of the crafting district, but not the worst. We entered the front of the workshop and I saw two chairs. A young boy was slowly cleaning the place and looked surprised that people had entered.

“Father, people,” he called out. That was rude, but he was only a year or two older than me at best. A hurried and worn looking man smelling of sawdust came out of the back. I saw his face pale as his eyes landed on the clerk.

“Honorable clerk, welcome. I have had a few more leads-“

“While I am here to discuss business, it is of a slightly different nature. Young master Yuan Zhou here has inquired about purchasing your debt woodcarver Ling.”

He turned to me and bowed deeply. “Welcome, young master Yuan.”

“Thank you for your welcome. I wish to speak to mister Ling privately. I will return to the Coinage Guild and let you know what I have decided after speaking to him,” I told the clerk. The clerk just kept smiling at me and nodded.

“Of course, young master Yuan. I will take my leave.” I waited until the clerk left and I looked at the two chairs before sitting in one. It was comfortable, but you could only make a chair so comfortable. I noticed a lever on the side but couldn’t reach it.

I got off and gestured for Ting to take a seat and have her pull the lever. Woodcarver Ling was quiet while he watched us look at his chair. She pulled the lever, and a footrest extended and the back reclined. A reclining chair.

“Interesting. So, you invented this?” I asked.

“Yes, young master Yuan.”

“How much does it sell for and how much does it cost to make?” I asked.

“Two hundred bronze coins is the price, and it costs fifty bronze coins in materials and about five days of labor.” The margins were poor, and it was an expensive item, but not upper class. It was kind of middle class, but too expensive.

It needed to be half of that price realistically to attract people. He would need to sell at least one every five days to maintain a bare living. “What are you doing currently, since I don’t see a lot of these chairs built?” I asked.

“Simple items, priced at guild rates, but people would prefer more senior masters and the specialty products they have.” Key items like stools, ladders, chairs, benches, tables, all had set prices by the Woodcarvers Guild. It was to prevent a race to the bottom.

A wood carver could price things higher or specialty products with no limits, but there was only so much market share. “I am trying to make the metal parts out of wood, but it takes time, and they are more prone to wearing out.” I nodded absently as I thought about the situation.

“What about rocking chairs?” I asked.

“Rocking chairs?” Ling replied with a question.

“A curved bottom instead of legs?” He thought about that for a moment and then shook his head.

“I have seen nothing like that.” I smiled. Finally, I had a way into a business and niche I could take.

“I am interested in doing business with you. But I am taking a colossal risk. Half.”

“Half!” He said in shock.

“Yes. I want half your business. There will be no requirement on minimum returns, but if I purchase your debt, we will have a new contract made, half,” I replied. He was between a rock and a hard place. Thankfully, I had watched a lot of Shark Tank. Always attack when they are weak and take all the equity you could get.

Chapter 3 – Making Money

“I accept,” Ling said dejectedly, knowing they would cast him out on the street if he didn’t agree. The Coinage Guild would not show him any mercy after three years of failure.

“Excellent. I am Yuan Zhou, the seventh son of Yuan Chen.” I gave him a slight bow.

“Master woodcarver Ling,” he replied, and bowed back. “I will be in your care.”

“Let us go to the Wood Carvers Guild this afternoon and sign a contract. I will return to the Coinage Guild and handle your debt first, though. Also, can you patent items?” I asked.

“If you are a guild member in good standing, yes. They offer patents. But they aren’t cheap. It costs a silver tael to get one, and fifty bronze a year to maintain it. My patent on my reclining chairs is about to run out.”

“I will cover that patent and we will put it as a business expense. Once we have a contract in place, I will discuss my ideas with you and we will cut into the chair market with a vengeance,” I said as my voice grew more heated. Ling looked surprised for a moment and then smiled.

“I am glad to hear that young master Yuan.”

“I will need you focused this afternoon and in the next couple of days, but I understand you need to make a living. I will purchase one of your reclining chairs for myself at full price. Ting, how much would it cost to have it delivered to my room?” I asked.

“At least twenty bronze coins,” she said, and I nodded. I had her pull out 220 bronze coins and set them on a nearby table. Ling was smiling nervously, and I could tell he was in a bit of shock.

“I believe in kindness for kindness. If you work hard and don’t cheat me, I will not place undue burdens on you,” I replied.

“A thousand blessings.” Ling kowtowed to me. I let him do it, since it was a cultural thing. I had saved him and his family from a life on the streets.

“Hold that in your heart. Now let us return to the Coinage Guild and settle matters,” I said. I swiped another mote as I left his shop.

Ting and I left. I had us go back to the compound first to have lunch and get five tael from where I had secreted them away. I was hoping not to spend them all, but it would be a fight.

We made our way back to the Coinage Guild and to the same clerk. “Welcome back, young master Yuan. I hope your conversation with Ling went well.”

“It did indeed. While it will require a lot of work and headaches, I see some potential in his chairs,” I replied. The battle had already begun.

“Excellent, will you be paying the five tael now or through your father’s account?” the clerk asked.

“Myself. But the price is far too high. You invested only two tael by my reckoning and expect the full profit when it is clearly a failed business. However, I am not unreasonable. I understand you have put in time and energy, so I will offer three tael.” The clerk’s eyes narrowed.

“I couldn’t possibly adjust the price that much. My manager would fire me on the spot. I could accept four and a half tael.” I shook my head.

“If I don’t purchase his debt, you will only get one tael in return, maybe a bit more. I am being generous offering three tael. But I understand your managers are strict, so I will pay three and a quarter tael,” I countered.

“Four tael, since we hope to conduct business for a long time and in recognition of your family name,” the clerk replied.

“Three and half. Since I need to not disappoint my father. Just as you have your managers, he observes me.” I knew Ting would spill everything to him when asked. There was a reason I only asked her not to report to my mother. It was my father that paid her regular salary and allowed her to be a servant. She would not go against him, and he would know everything I did.

“Three and half taels would be acceptable, if you could pay that today,” the clerk said, and I nodded. I pulled out four taels from the pouch I kept on me. I wouldn’t let Ting carry this kind of money. She got to carry the bronze coin pouch, but taels were too valuable to risk.

I saved one and a half taels. This put my cash reserves at seven and a half. Thankfully, there were half tael coins instead of more bronze. I didn’t count the bronze coins Ting carried for daily expenses as part of my primary investment fund.

A manager came over and verified the transaction, loan documents were exchanged, a property deed was handed over, and everything was stamped officially. I now had paperwork proving I owned the five tael debt that Ling had owed the Coinage Guild.

With everything settled, we left and returned to Ling’s shop. He looked much more relaxed and was smiling as we made our way to the Woodcrafters Guild. There was more paperwork and they canceled the debt Ling owed. I got half his business. Even if he left and worked somewhere else, I would still get half of everything he made under the Woodcrafters Guild.

Since that was his livelihood, he was stuck with me. If he died or he passed the business to his son, I would still own half the business. It was messy since businesses were treated separately from people. But he could decide who inherited his share and the Woodcrafters Guild would resolve any disputes.

I also paid half a tael, bringing me down to seven, for another 10 years on his reclining chair patent. With everything finally settled and no way for Ling to run off and screw me over, we returned to his shop.

The reclining chair was gone and had already been shipped to the compound. I looked over the workshop. There was a small front area his son kept tidy and to call out if there were customers. His wife tended their two younger children and did household chores and lived above the shop and workspace along with his mother, who helped watch the children.

The workspace took up most of the ground floor, and I looked around. I owned half the building and property. City taxes were fifty bronze a month. If you didn’t pay, the city wouldn’t hesitate to seize everything. People could pay in monthly, yearly, or up to a decade ahead, which would be six taels.

I would handle the taxes for the year. Again, it would go as a business expense against future profits. I explained this as I went over how I would run things with Ling. He wouldn’t get a salary, but we would list his living expenses as a business expense for him and his family. We settled on ten bronze coins a day.

Anything extra he wanted to spend, that was profit. We split that evenly. I would manage the books for his business personally. It was technically beneath my station, and I planned to hire someone once we had the cash flow, but for now, I would handle it to make sure there were no issues.

Once the business issues had been sorted, I had brought out a piece of parchment I had sketched out during lunch with the design of a rocking chair. “It makes it easier for people to remain seated while still moving slightly. It will ease pains for older people.”

“You want to sell this then?” he asked me.

“Yes, for cheap. We will draw people in with this chair. And the reclining chairs we will price at a tael each and make for the elite.” His eyes went wide at that.

“No one will be able to afford one,” he replied.

“The upper end of the market can easily handle that price. But it needs to be a luxury good targeted to the elite. It will make your shop seem more upper class and the reclining chairs, a status symbol. That way, we can price our rocking chairs for a slightly higher price. Now how long and how much do you think it would take per rocking chair?” I asked.

“The curved bottom is the hardest part and isn’t simple. You ideally want it to be a single piece, so it can be joined up with the supports to the seat. Once I have the process down, probably two to three days per rocking chair.”

“And the materials?” I asked.

“Since it is all wood and glue and maybe some varnish, I would say fifteen bronze coins, just for the materials.” I slowly nodded at this. It was still too expensive. With his labor, pricing them at a minimum of thirty-five bronze coins to break even.

“We need to get the price down and your labor down. It is still too expensive. We are only breaking even at thirty-five bronze coins. Ideally, we want the price to make the chair ten bronze coins and sell the chairs for forty bronze coins,” I said while basing the margins and prices off what I had already seen.

“That is the price of a regular chair,” he replied, and I nodded. That was the point. In time, we could raise it up once there was demand.

“Yes. If we don’t match the price, then no one will buy a rocking chair. How much in materials and time does a regular chair cost?” I asked.

“About ten bronze coins in materials and a day in time,” Ling said.

“So, twenty bronze coins. I need you to think about how to get the time down to a single day. Maybe do the parts in batches?”

“The curved part and the bracing will take time. There are just more pieces.” I nodded at this.

“Well, I will want to watch how you make one and perhaps I will have some ideas. The materials?” I asked.

“The extra wood glue is where the cost increase would come from compared to a regular chair.” I nodded at this.

“Alright, we need to look at getting the time down, but let us plan, say, forty chairs for the initial launch. We will price them at forty bronze coins and say the first batch is being discounted by a third so people can see how much better they are than a regular chair. Once they sell and we get advance orders, we will up the price to sixty bronze coins. Also, include free delivery for the chairs as well.”

“We won’t be making any money,” Ling said.

“How many people came into your shop today?” I asked Ling.

“Only two, and only one purchased a stool.” I nodded at this.

“Your problem is that no one knows you. What makes master woodcarver Ling’s shop better than the other shops? They have a lot of specialty products and are known for things. They will know you for chairs. But we need to let people know about this. So, any time someone wants to buy a chair, they will go to Ling’s shop for chairs,” I explained.

“The low prices are to draw people in to make them customers. But people don’t need that many chairs.”

“True, but we can corner the chair market. First, you need to make a prototype so we can get a patent from the Wood Carvers Guild. Then you can work on speeding up production.”

“My expenses during that time…” he trailed off.

“I do not run a charity, Ling. There will be some belt tightening, but I plan to invest money into bringing people here the day we sell our rocking chairs.”

“What about features?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like detail work. Some people request that.”

“We charge extra. Minor features, ten bronze coins, major features, upon request. Or something like that. Let me know what makes the most sense in terms of pricing. Once we get going, we can look into hiring an apprentice, depending on the workload. I will stop by first thing tomorrow to watch the production, unless there is anything else?” I asked Ling.

“No, thank you, young master Yuan.” I nodded at this and left his workshop. Ting and I took the rickshaw back towards the compound.

“So, what do you think, Ting?” I asked her.

“The idea of a rocking chair sounds interesting. A chair that rocks,” she giggled a bit at the idea. “Is this a secret?”

“No. If my mother asks, just say that my father is supporting me. I also need to get ready to handle the accounting,” I replied with a sigh. It would be tedious work, but I would do it. Mote collecting had been going quite well.

I would buy up businesses and make passive income while also collecting motes while I visited them all. I had gotten lucky with the Coinage Guild giving me a lead to take Ling off their hands and for coming up with the idea of a rocking chair.

If an idea caught on and was used in other cities, crafts people could pay a fee to license a patent. The guild would get most of the fee, but the rest would go to my business. Since there were cultivators who had patents, no one wanted to piss off the old people by taking their passive income. So, while it might be a trickle, patents could add up.

If a patent blew up enough, then the Wood Carvers Guild would buy out the patent and make the design public for all their members. This would involve tens of thousands of taels and was rarely done. But it was one way a craftsperson could elevate their family to the level of my father.

But such things were incredibly rare. There was rarely enough demand that people just wouldn’t pay the licensing fee for the patent in other cities. But it had been a possibility I had noticed when handling the patent on the reclining chair. I owned half that patent as well, but there had to be master woodcrafter listed in addition for the patent to be valid. That was the way the guild gave protection to its members.

A rich merchant couldn’t buy up the patents and cut the guild members out. That would defeat the purpose of the guild. However, having another name on a patent was also seen as a sign of protection. Ling would have that through me and me through my father and my father through the Cloudy Moon Sect.

It was complicated, but basically people didn’t want to offend super powerful organizations or people for no reason. A rocking chair was small potatoes. The furniture market was not exactly heated. There was drama, but it wasn’t like messing with the Alchemy Guild, which had direct ties to cultivators since a lot of cultivators rose through the Alchemy Guild initially. Messing around there would be stepping on a lot of toes.

The next day, I was in the workshop with two empty books in hand. I was recording the expenses and sales for Ling’s workshop in one book while the other one would be the book for all my businesses. The master book would use Arabic numerals to make it difficult to figure out, while the business specific financial book would be in the local script.

I watched silently in the workshop while Ling worked. Ting kept me supplied with a cup of water because of the dryness in the air. The back of the workshop was open to an alley shared by other businesses. If I had enough businesses perhaps, I might purchase a mall or a superstore in the center of the city, so people didn’t have to go to various individual shops.

One could go there and just browse and order things and they would all be delivered. It was an interesting idea, but I needed to focus on Ling and looking for any way to speed things up. He was quite efficient and never stopped moving. There was the occasional break, of course, but over three days I saw the rocking chair take shape.

I looked at the final version of the chair with Ling. It would need one more day for the glue to fully dry from the glue and varnish. “So, about two and a half days,” I said.

“I could get it down to one and a half per chair if I did them in batches of five,” Ling replied. That would put his labor at fifteen bronze coins and another fifteen for the chair itself. “No way to cut down the materials. I only went with three braces, which saved a lot of time, but any less than that is risky. A chair breaking would be terrible.”

“Three braces is fine. But the back and the seat. Could you use nails and boards instead of joining?” I asked.

“Nails cost a bronze coin each. That would quickly drive up the cost. That is the biggest cost of my reclining chairs on top of the cushions.” I nodded at this.

“Is this enough for a patent?” I asked.

“Yes. A functional design. We can go to the guild tomorrow,” Ling said with a bit of excitement. Having two patents under his name put him close to the title of grandmaster. If he got a third patent, he could take that title.

“What about toys?” I asked Ling.

“That isn’t my specialty, and I would need different tools. You need to work with a lot of small joints and detail work. While I can do some. I would hire an apprentice out if I needed something like that done. I could do it, but I wouldn’t be good at it,” he replied.

“I want to get you the title of grandmaster. It will generate a lot of interest in your shop when we sell the rocking chairs, but nothing is coming to mind.”

“The fact you thought of the rocking chair was inspired, young master. I am one step closer to my dream, thanks to you.” I nodded at the compliment but was trying to come up with another wood based product he could make to get that title.

A rolling chair wouldn’t work, since wheels would be impossible. Every wood product was varnished and a requirement of the Woodcrafters Guild. Unless there was a specific reason not to, it was part of the agreement they had with suppliers.

“A foldable table,” I finally said.

“What? How would a table fold?” Ling asked, and I smiled.

“We make the legs operate on a hinge and have a latch. There are tables where the legs separate, and make the table fold in the middle,” I said.

Ling grew thoughtful at the idea. “It could work. But I would need to check the patent registry to be sure about something like that. With the rocking chair, I had searched the registry for anything about reclining chairs already, young master.” I nodded at this.

“That is fine. Is it free to access?” I asked him.

“Yes. Part of a patent application is listing out similar items that might interfere with your patent and explaining how your invention is different.” I nodded at this.

“Alright, well you look into that today and schedule a patent hearing for the rocking chair,” I said.

“I will need to submit the fee first.”

“We will go together then,” I replied. I was not just giving him a tael and letting him loose.

We made our way to the Woodcrafters Guild. Ling filled out the forms and I noted they listed me as a co-inventor slash owner of the patent.

I paid the tael fee, and the hearing would be in ten days. Notices were needed so other master woodcrafters could come evaluate and vote if they would approve the patent. Ling had assured me that patents that were novel like the reclining and rocking chair would easily be approved. But small iterations on a design had a much harder time getting signed off on.

Sometimes a patent would be listed as derivative, and the new developer would owe half their patent to the main patent. Derivative patents didn’t count towards the title of grandmaster. The longest patent chain was for dolls, apparently, with a chain of five patents.

Also, other wood crafters wouldn’t vote against patents normally, since it enhanced the prestige of a city, and they didn’t want people to vote against them. It was more about not letting stupid patents and very minor derivative patents through.

We spent part of the afternoon looking through the enormous books for any related patent. I had to pay a fee of ten bronze coins to look since I wasn’t a guild member. But there was a sketch, description, and listing of who owned the patent for each item and if there was a derivative.

The patent books were based on when patents were filed and were still active, with the registry being updated between cities yearly. Patents were checked once every fifty years for ownership and there was a book of patents that had been lost for various reasons as well. One couldn’t take on a patent on those inventions either.

The closest thing we found was a table with detachable legs, but it didn’t fold and the legs didn’t fold. So that meant we were in business.

With the evaluation scheduled, I spent the next few days with Ling as he worked out the design for a foldable table. I had Ting manage the front of the store while I did this since I wanted Ling to be focused. I had talked to him about having his wife watch the front of the store and that was the plan once she recovered from her most recent birth or having his youngest son interact with the customers. With Ting watching things, Ling had his youngest son in the shop watching the wood carving. He fidgeted, but he kept silent and would occasionally glance at me.

Eventually, the foldable table was done, and I paid another tael to submit a second patent application at the Wood Crafters Guild. They would evaluate both items at the same time.

The day finally came, and I was allowed to be present as a co-owner of the patent, but wasn’t allowed to speak. Only Ling could speak in the guild meeting as a member of the guild. He presented both items, the rocking chair and the foldable table.

Many people tried them out, with a lot of interest in the rocking chair. Ling had made a second version for the presentation, so multiple wood crafting masters could test them out and evaluate them.

Eventually, the votes were held. The rocking chair passed with 23 votes in favor and 7 votes against. That was expected, and the votes were more based on politics. There would be no objection. The folding table was a lot more heated.

“It is a derivative work of the separating table.”

“It uses hinges. Those are metal, not wood. It is not an innovation of the wood crafters guild.”

“Who would even use such a thing? A rocking chair relaxes a person, but a folding table is only an incremental improvement.”

Ling had experience from his reclining chair, so while it got heated, the vote passed and they awarded him the patent for the foldable table in a vote of 16 in favor and 14 against.

The guild master stood up and stepped forward. “It is with great honor that with three original patents to his name, Master Ling has now earned the title of Grandmaster Ling.” There was applause at this, and I clapped as well.

The title was more ceremonial than anything, but it had some benefits. His work would be viewed in a better light. He could hire a single apprentice without paying the guild fees for them. That would allow him to recruit someone for free with the expectation of training them. He could travel to other cities and would retain the title of master in other cities.

That was it beyond the prestige attached to the title. No extra authority or voting power. Still, I noticed many older men frowning slightly that a young man like Ling had earned the title of grandmaster wood carver.

I got some looks as well, but no one said anything. My presence here was all about support and connections. My father, Yuan Chen, had a lot of pull in the city. So, they were giving his son some face by passing the second vote. That was the local cultural term for respect, but it was considered rude to say it publicly. With the evaluation and promotion ended, one of the older men came up to me.

“Young master Yuan, I am grandmaster woodcarver Kang.” I gave him a slight bow, which he returned. Our status was about equal. It was hard to say precisely, since my father clearly outranked him, but that was my father and I was a seventh son.

So, it was about even compared to a grandmaster by my social estimates. Also, I was showing him respect by bowing slightly. No need to be rude.

“Grandmaster woodcarver Kang, it is a pleasure,” I replied as he looked down at me. I hated being so short.

“Interesting that Yuan Chen would send his seventh son out into the world.” It was a soft challenge to how much support I truly had. I smiled politely back.

“My father is aware of my activities. He has called me a genius, and while he watches over me, he lets me chart my own path.”

“I noticed your name is on all three patents. I trained young Ling myself. A rocking chair and a foldable table are things he would not have thought of.”

“They say that heaven and earth favor geniuses, but I like to believe it is insight and hard work that provide the foundation to such claims.”

“Even at your young age?” Kang asked me.

“I have been evaluated by Cultivator Yi Rong, who has found no fault with me,” I replied. Everyone chatting nearby, but who was really listening in, quickly grew silent. That was a direct rebuke, invoking a cultivator’s name.

“Ah, my apologies, young master Yuan. I did not mean to overstep,” Kang said.

“No offense has been taken. I completely understand the concern people might have with me being so young. All I can do is prove myself one day at a time and hopefully not lose all the money my father has gifted me,” I replied.

“Well, if you come up with any more ideas, my door is always open.”

“Perhaps. While there are many toys on the market, the selection is quite limited. I had some ideas and grandmaster Ling is an expert on chairs and tables, not toys,” I said, and Kang smiled at that. Ling had told me about his old master. He had cornered the toy market.

“Indeed. I have dabbled in toy making myself. The detail work is what drives up the cost.” I nodded at this.

“I understand. Carving and painting take a considerable amount of time. I have seen grandmaster Ling craft the furniture, but there is a vast difference between toys and furniture, so he tells me.” Kang nodded at this.

“Indeed. I once spent an entire month on a single doll for one of your sisters. A masterwork, if I had to say.” I nodded respectfully at this. Kang was an old grandmaster who had the largest woodshop in the city. He had apprentices in every field working under him and even a few masters as well.

His backing and faction were the reason the approval of the table went through. I had to show this man quite a bit of face to repay him for his help. If I didn’t, then people would not support me ahead of time without concrete benefits first, which would make things much harder.

“Perhaps some tea. To discuss business and ideas in a more private setting. The Illuminated Moon is quite good, I hear, and it would be my treat.” This was a restaurant in the center of the city. It would be pricey, but they would view anything less as being poor and not doing things properly. Etiquette was something that had been hammered into me by my tutors.

“That sounds wonderful. I am free tomorrow,” he offered.

“Then let us meet there two hours after mid-day.” There were city bells that rang out the time. Grandmaster Kang smiled and said his goodbyes. I left after that. I didn’t want to get too caught up in the Woodcarvers Guild internal politics. Showing face to Kang was more than enough to show I was appreciative, but I would not involve myself anymore.

I had Ling and my business plan. I would offer to support an apprentice that was moving up to master. One requirement for the title was having your own shop. That was how Kang had his large faction. He had supported the rise of several people and his son and grandson were both masters as well. That was another minor benefit of being a grandmaster. Other masters could work under you if they were family, and the guild confirmed their rank.

He clearly wanted to move people out and increase his power base some more and perhaps create a landing point for one of his grandsons to have his own shop. Ling had been quite helpful in explaining all the internal politics to me ahead of time and what Kang would probably ask of me.

Financing a shop would be expensive, but getting a second woodcarver making toys under me would be a tremendous boon to my business plans. I smiled as I walked into another mote of Qi and kept it inside of myself.

Chapter 4 – Long-Term Investments

I had made a reservation immediately after the guild meeting. In the future, I would have a servant run off and do something like that, but Ting was to stay with me and watch me. Her presence was a sign that my father was watching as I handled things. Without her, I wouldn’t be able to get away with everything I was doing.

The Illuminated Moon was owned by the Cloudy Moon sect. Anything with a moon in its name was owned by them. It wasn’t owned by a specific cultivator either; it was a sect business, which implied that any incidents would have cultivators show up and wreck face. That was my personal term for them slaughtering anyone that offended them. They were also exempt from city taxes, and everyone viewed it as one of the premier places to have tea and eat.

All of that came with a price. A standard tea service with accompanying food would cost half a teal for two people. It would take me down to four and a half tael from my initial twelve I was given, but I needed to give Kang a lot of face for his support. Inviting him publicly like I had to the Illuminated Moon was a sign I was giving him a lot of respect and thanks in public.

It was aggravating, but it was the game of favors this culture played and when in Rome, be a Roman. I was also waiting for Kang when he showed up, giving him further respect by waiting on him. He smiled at me as our server escorted us to a second-floor private room.

Tea and some small cucumber sandwiches were served and then the server left the room and closed the door. We both sipped our tea in silence. Now was the time for power plays. The ball was in Kang’s court, and I would let him make the first move to make a request of me.

“Excellent. I have only come here twice before and the tea is always wonderful.” Thank you, Ling, for telling me what this old man liked. “What do you think of the tea?” he asked me.

“It has a subtle flavor, but it lingers. I would say a hint of fruit possibly, but I am no expert on tea,” I replied. Kang nodded at this.

“If only all life was drinking excellent tea with good company. I must thank you for helping young Ling. He left to start on his own, but he was never good with business,” Kang said.

“Talent shines through regardless. The business aspect I plan to handle, let grandmaster Ling focus on wood carving,” I said and Kang nodded.

“It isn’t easy to manage everything. Some people’s talents lie more heavily in one area than in another. My grandson, for example. He is great at the detail work on toys, but his head is in the clouds. I am old and my son is not a grandmaster,” Kang said, and I nodded at this.

“I understand. You would want your grandson to stretch his wings for a bit before coming back to the nest. Perhaps with some patents under his name,” I replied, and sipped my tea. Kang smiled slightly at this.

“Exactly. I could envision him having a small shop of his own and some support to help the business aspect,” Kang suggested. I nodded at this since I had been thinking about what deal to offer Kang. Showing face was one thing, but business was business.

“We would split equally any patents and the business, I would fund the start-up costs, but have half for ten years. After that time your grandson could chart is own path or return to the nest.” I offered. Kang sipped his tea while I picked up a sandwich and nibbled on it. It tasted amazing, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted in front of an old fox like this.

“Ten years is quite a long time. Perhaps five,” Kang suggested.

“I considered asking for twenty which is standard, but ten is the lowest I can go. When your grandson leaves, he will take the patents with him and I will have an empty shop. But let us say five years if he doesn’t get the title of grandmaster within that time period,” I offered. Kang smiled at this.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. I am sure he will be quite thrilled.”

“I will arrange things then for a shop to be purchased. It will be near Ling’s,” I said.

“That is fine. As long as it is in the crafting district.” I nodded at that.

“Then I will have a contract drawn up and we can all sign in under the authority of the Wood Carvers Guild. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity, grandmaster Kang,” I said. They offered free contract services and arbitration for the masters.

“I should thank you. It is never easy to help my children and apprentices spread their own wings. The competition is quite fierce, as you can tell.” I nodded at this and we made small chat while enjoying the tea and sandwiches.

The next day, I purchased the building next to Ling’s workshop, which had gone under. There was a lot more churn with lower businesses in this part of the crafting district as masters of their trade struggled to get their footing and make their own way in the world.

“Master Kang,” I greeted the man who was shifting nervously at the Woodcrafters Guild.

“Um, yes. Hello. I mean. Young master Yuan.” He was fidgeting. I looked at his grandfather, who winced slightly.

“My grandson has some troubles, but he is a master woodcarver. Make no mistake about that.” His grandson nodded. Master Kang was probably autistic or had another issue like this. Ling had mentioned nothing, and I hadn’t seen him at the vote. They had scammed me. I had to control my face to not show my anger.

No wonder why he didn’t ask for his grandson to come to tea with us. “I will not go back on my word, but I trust I have the support of both you and your son,” I told grandmaster Kang directly, staring up at the older man.

“We are grateful for your help in this matter,” he replied. The grandson would not inherit the main workshop. They probably had a second or third son lined up. This was to shuffle off the useless child somewhere else and out of the line of inheritance while saving face and not making a scandal.

I had no doubt they would say that Master Kang here wanted to spread his own wings, but everyone would know that he was mentally handicapped. Well, as long as he could carve wood and make toys, then I would not complain. That time limit was probably just a distraction to make me accept and not ask more questions.

Grandmaster Kang was indeed a fox, but he clearly loved his grandson. He wouldn’t go to this much trouble if he didn’t love him. It would be a massive headache for me, but I would deal with it. It was the cost of getting my foot in the door in the wood carving business.

We went into the guild, and the contract was soon signed. Grandfather Kang assigned a servant to help move his grandson’s things and get him settled for the first ten days. After that, he would be my responsibility and hiring a servant would be as well.

I sat in the workshop that had been set up for Master Kang, the grandson, while I watched him carve a doll. “So, Master Kang, what can you do other than dolls?” I asked.

“Dolls are the best,” he replied, and I winced. He was calmer while carving, so I let him carve while I spoke, even if it was incredibly rude of him.

“What about chess sets?” I asked him.

“Boring.”

“Toy swords?”

“Don’t like them.” I wanted to cry. I couldn’t beat him or mistreat him since if his grandfather heard about it, there would be hell to pay. Every woodcrafter was probably laughing at me right now. I left the workshop and the servant grandmaster Kang sent was there, giving me a knowing look.

“You managed him for his grandfather?” I asked the servant.

“Yes, young master Yuan. I see to his day-to-day needs and that he is focused on wood carving.”

“Is he normally this bad?” I asked.

“Today is a good day. He was just stressed from signing the contract and this new place, but he will settle in quickly.”

“How much are you paid by his grandfather?” I asked.

“Twelve bronze a day, young master,” he said.

“Twelve? That seems high.”

“No one will do it for less. And he can have tantrums that need to be dealt with.” This just kept getting worse and worse.

“Do his dolls sell?” I asked.

“Some. The toy shop in the commercial district will keep some of his dolls on their shelf. He is keeping the same contract and I handle it.”

“I basically need to hire you to run this shop and him,” I replied with a sigh and the servant bowed.

“If that pleases you, young master Yuan.”

“Yes, it does. Alright, twelve bronze a day and you can stay here.” I then explained how the business would be run and that he was to write on a slate board with a piece of chalk the sales and expenses each day and I would review them and record them.

Thankfully, there wasn’t any issue with that. I spent the next day going around with the servant to confirm everything he had said, and there were no lies. The problem was that Master Kang only wanted to make dolls. They were very good dolls, but they were just dolls.

I confronted Ling about the situation as well. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I… I wanted to be a grandmaster and needed Kang’s support,” Ling said.

“I am stuck with his grandson. While he makes excellent dolls, he can’t make anything else. There is not a market for dolls.” Ling winced as I berated him. “I would have said yes, but I don’t enjoy being tricked or not informed. If it happens again, I will cut my support and sell my half of the patents.” Ling’s eyes went wide at that.

If I sold them to another woodcarver, they could undercut him. As the sole woodcarver listed, he had a tremendous advantage. Also, if I left, his business would suffer massively. I would lose a lot of money when it collapsed, but I would wash my hands of him and move on.

“A thousand apologies!” he quickly kowtowed to me.

“I don’t care for apologies, only actions. I want the rocking chairs ready, and a high-end fancy reclining chair made, and no more hiding things,” I ordered him. With Ling chastised, I returned to the compound.

With all the supplies needed, the second shop with a servant, and the time until the sale, I was down to two taels I could freely spend. I took the time to find an artist and make a sales sign advertising Ling’s shop and a rocking chair outside his shop.

After that, I had Ling’s new apprentice woodcarver etch the image and letters out into a block of wood for printing. I purchased a bunch of paper and stamped out a couple hundred flyers. I then arranged for some food carts to show up and a couple of entertainers as well on the street.

I had the servant managing Master Kang set up a doll store, with fabric choices people could pick out, and had him make Master Kang make cultivator action dolls. They weren’t figures; they were dolls, since he made nothing but dolls. I would not get any toy patents out of him, and I now knew why there had been so many iterations on doll patents.

I insisted on little wooden weapons, equipment, mystical creatures, and there was slow and steady progress being made as Master Kang expanded the available doll collection. The frustrating part was that I couldn’t just sell his dolls in Ling’s store. He needed his own store to retain the title of master, and that was a non-starter.

His grandfather had checked back after ten days and was quite happy with how things were arranged. He had confirmed as much that another grandson was in line to inherit his workshop. Grandmaster Kang’s son, Master Kang’s father, wanted nothing to do with his son. There had apparently been a lot of fights in the past, according to Ling. That was why grandmaster Kang was handling everything instead of the boy’s father.

Basically, I would have him for the rest of his life making dolls as long as we kept him happy and content. I was losing money unfortunately with the cost of a servant, the building, and feeding master Kang, but the doll income made it a trickle, thankfully. That sneaky grandfather locking me into ten years, not letting me out for that long. He probably wanted me to ask for more, but didn’t want to give the situation away. That old fox.

Well, it was the cost of doing business and after getting Ling off the ground and getting some cashflow; I had some ideas about what to do about the doll shop. Hire a poor apprentice, give him a place to live, and have him invent my ideas, but put them under Master Kang’s name.

Since if the apprentice got a patent, he would be a master and I couldn’t have two masters working in the same shop. It would be unfair to the apprentice wood carver, but I was not about to open another toy shop.

The morning of, I had arranged for several criers to shout out about the rocking chair and pass out the fliers. There was an entire service dedicated to advertising in the streets. They would shout out ads and hand out fliers if you gave them copies.

A picture on the flyer instead of just text was novel, but it generated hype about a chair with a curved bottom. With the apprentice helping him, Ling had got forty-four rocking chairs done in a month and a high end reclining chair.

The second model he had would be for people to test out and for the public. The high-end model was priced at two taels after thinking about. It had fine leather cushions. Forty of the rocking chairs would be for sale. We clearly labeled another four as testing models.

I would price the first forty at 40 bronze coins at a discount, and then any advance orders would cost 60 bronze coins, which would be the standard price. I had a sign made up explaining this, which included free delivery in the city. Ting recruited a couple more servants from the compound to help manage sales and the crowd.

Ling had also been working non-stop to make up for pissing me off and had finished several folding tables. We had several set up and a demonstration area to show people how easy they were. I would price them at 120 bronze coins, which was above the price of a regular table that came in at 80 bronze coins. They would make about the same after the cost of the hinges. No early customer discounts on that item.

I also had a couple of tables set up with dolls with various heroic cultivator outfits and creatures. They were expensive, but they were also colorful and would catch children’s eyes. The street vendors and performers were happy to show up as well.

Such things as long as they weren’t a regular occurrence and not on a main road were allowed by the city. But I had to pay extra to have a couple of guards stationed nearby. Extra costs brought my reserves down to a single tael when the event finally occurred.

Everything was in order and people began trickling in from nearby, then further across the city to check out the chairs. I wanted clear demonstration models and sale models, so people might just buy one to skip the line that was quickly forming.

Soon, the sales started happening. I had Ting go around and pay several older people a couple of copper coins discretely to talk about how much they loved the rocking chair for their joints. Since they were old, they could get away with talking loudly and people would respect them. Some of them even gave me a smile and wink when they looked at me.

Everyone had a good time at the small scale festival and the chairs quickly sold and by mid-day we were out. We quickly took pre-orders. I had instructed the servant manning the pre-orders to set a time frame of one month for the first twenty chairs, and then the next month for the next twenty, and so on.

If people wanted to cut in line. They could pay a fee of five bronze coins to be moved to the front of the line. If they paid in advance, they would get free shipping or they could pay for the chair when they picked it up themselves.

That was the trick I used to get the pre-orders going. Once the day was over, and I tallied up the receipts, my eyes went wide. I knew we were doing brisk business, but rocking chairs and their cheap price were a tremendous hit.

There had even been two custom orders for the reclining chairs as well. Ling nearly broke down into tears at the success of the event. We had sold all forty initial chairs for 1,600 bronze coins and had 215 pre-orders, with over half of them paying up front to get free delivery.

In a single day, I had made around twelve tael worth of money. We split four between Ling and me, while I set aside the rest to run the business and make the chairs. I told him to recruit another apprentice or two and prioritize the customers who had purchased reclining chairs, then the customers who wanted a rush order for their rocking chairs.

Talking with Ling, we discussed outsourcing some of the work to other woodcrafters, but decided against that. Instead, he was to recruit apprentices and have them each do one portion of making rocking chairs, and I helped him arrange his workshop into sections.

The apprentices would switch jobs every week to learn and keep them engaged, but by focusing on a single task for that week, they would ensure that the quality and productivity were high. Grandmaster Ling would inspect things, train them, build the reclining chairs, and make sure things ran smoothly.

I had even hired a servant that Ting recommended managing the front of the store and the accounting book and orders. He was the second son of one servant at the compound, and this was giving him an opportunity. I actually took the time to interview him, since I needed competent managers.

“You have worked here for your entire life?” I asked the young man.

“Yes, young master Yuan. I started as a cleaner, then as a gardener.”

“You know your numbers and letters?” I asked.

“My mother, who serves the 2nd Concubine, made sure I learned.”

“I have two concerns. The first is my family drama. I know my father hasn’t named a successor. I don’t want to be dragged into that mess. You may report to him and if anyone else pays you, let me know and report to them as well.” The young man nodded.

“But no stealing. I will audit things. If you make a mistake, tell me. I will not fire you or get mad. But if you cover up a mistake, and don't tell me, I will get upset, you understand?” I asked.

“Yes, young master Yuan.”

“You will handle the business aspect of my wood carving business. Making sales, ensuring deliveries goes smoothly, recording all financial transactions, and reporting any problems. Your salary will be ten bronze coins and five percent of the profits I earn, minus that ten bronze coin minimum.” His eyes went wide at that.

“That… I would get a percentage?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yes. I believe in rewarding hard work. So, if you sell more, you make more money. If things run smoothly and we make a profit, you make more money. Consider it an incentive to do well at your job.”

“Thank you, young master Yuan.” He was seated down, but bowed his head until it was touching the table.

“I expect diligent work and record keeping. Don’t make things difficult for grandmaster Ling. If he has problems, help him. Your job is to let him carve while you handle the business.”

That handled things on my end in terms of handling the hiring. I had two managers now and two shops. I had their employment contracts written and had each of my direct workers sign them. While I would win by virtue of my name, I wanted things clearly written out, so there was no confusion and finger pointing later on.

Also, it would help me standardize things. The manager for Master Kang didn’t want a share of the profits, just a regular salary. He wasn’t willing to take a pay cut. It was fine, but in the future, I liked my percentage idea.

It would only be for five percent of my share of the profits, so two and a half percent of the total profits and half that for sales. But I wanted motivated employees and salespeople. Not people just punching in a clock and punching out. That would‌ increase my profits even with a five percent loss.

Also, their loyalty would ensure there was no sabotage. I was the seventh son, but my success had servants and guards looking at me. Even some of my siblings were taking notice of me since they invited me to tea. I was seen as someone important, since I had my own revenue streams.

I had also ordered Ling to make a rocking chair of the highest quality and detail to gift to my father. There was a family dinner once every three months with all the siblings and concubines and people of high stand in his employ. I had noted my siblings had given him gifts in the past to earn favor. I had a twist this time to keep myself in his good graces.

It was no joke that if he kicked me out or didn’t allow me to borrow his authority, I would be finished. Everything I had accomplished was thanks to him. So I needed to give my father some face as they put it, or respect.

Ting had also reported she had received several bribes from my siblings’ servants for information about me. She let me know, and I was happy to let them gather information. She had also informed me about the general situation in my family.

Right now, my mother Yuan Wen, the fourth concubine, was on the outs since my father had taken a fifth concubine recently. The three oldest sons were in fierce competition to be named heir. My eldest brother, Yuan Yun, the only son of the deceased first concubine, was involved in procuring supplies for my father’s business.

He would have been the heir apparent and his position rock steady, but my third eldest brother was the son of my father’s main wife, who was still alive. Yuan Liang was involved in handling interactions with the sect, since his mother was the daughter of a cultivator. His standing was quite high enough to put him in contention.

Then there was my fourth brother, Yuan Niu. He had gone into farming and had made quite a bit of money selling meat. He had done so well apparently that most of the family viewed him as a contender for being named heir to my father.

The eldest brother was only in his mid-twenties and my father was in his late forties. But it was expected he would declare an heir and hand over the reins to his business in the next ten years and retire. That was what his father had done before him. I had several uncles and extended family scattered about.

That was why the family dinner was a big deal for them. If they invited you, you were in good standing. If you weren’t, then you were on the outs, and everyone looked down on you.

Until this point, they had attached my position to my mother’s position in the household, which was the same for my second, fifth, and sixth brothers and the daughters of Yuan Chen. They had not succeeded at anything, and the older they got, the more their prospects dimmed.

But I was the youngest son, a genius, and had succeeded at my small little business. Giving a gift to my father would make me a contender for the position of heir. While I wasn’t planning to compete for it, I would sell my non-involvement for favorable terms to all three competitors.

At least, that was the hope. Tensions were high and there was the occasional act of sabotage. That was one reason I needed to be careful. If someone could drag me down, they would drag me down. Until I left for the sect, I would have to rely on my father’s backing.

It was complicated and headache inducing, which was why I tried to ignore all the lesser petty drama that cropped up and stayed out of it as best as I could manage. Having tea and answering polite and not so polite questions about myself and my business was the bare minimum. I couldn’t just hunker down like a turtle. That would only invite more trouble.

But I couldn’t be aggressive, since that would also invite trouble. Portraying myself as a young genius, making some spending money for his cultivation, was the angle I wanted to take. The fact I didn’t need money for cultivation was a non-issue. While becoming a cultivator would allow me considerable say and power, I had not reached that point yet. It was still early, and I was a high value, high-risk piece that people weren’t sure about yet.

That was why I had tea so people could feel me out and understand my character. The move at the upcoming family dinner would have people take me seriously and also back off. But anything could happen.

I had seen family members banished from the family at these dinners. It was a time for maximum drama and maneuvering to move up the hierarchy for the next dinner.

A day before the family dinner, a letter came for me informing me I was to sit at my father’s right side during the dinner. That was the place of honor. He clearly knew everything I had planned. Ting had all but confirmed that since she passed on all the details of my activities.

That was the main rule. While we might jockey for position, if anyone did anything to jeopardize the family or Yuan Chen, they would be punished and possibly banished. That was what happened to my second brother that no one talked about.

Ting had whispered to me he had killed a person in an argument, and they were one of my father’s workers. So they had banished him from the compound. He had a small apartment and a job, but it was a huge downgrade in quality of life and he would no longer have my father’s protection. Once you were banished, you lost your family name.

Many people would kind of joke that they would rather kill themselves to regain their honor than let something like that happen. So, while the competition was fierce, everyone was very careful not to take things too far.

I was being chucked into the deep end of family politics now. I would need to make sure everything was prepared, and I got the latest information on any drama and what topics to avoid.

It was going to be incredibly stressful, but hopefully I would manage and not make a fool of myself.

Chapter 5 – Family Dinner

I took my seat at the head table. Everyone was looking at me. “Welcome brother,” Yuan Yun said as I sat down next to him. The position of honor rotated out every family dinner, but Yuan Yun held the third highest seat to my right. On my father’s left was his wife and then the third son, Yuan Liang. I would be to my father’s right and then my first brother.

“Thank you, brother. I am honored that father has allowed me to sit here,” I replied.

“We all sat there once when we stepped out into the wider world. But at your age, you truly are a genius blessed by the heavens,” he said.

“Thank you for your kind words. I will not deny some luck, but hard work and focus on the task at hand have helped me a great deal. Your work in procurement has shown me that stability is the best path,” I replied.

“Both good qualities to have and your kind words warm my heart.” A bell chimed and everyone quickly shut up and stood up around the large dining hall.

“Patriarch of the Yuan Family, Yuan Chen, and his wife, Yuan Guangli,” a servant called out. I turned with my first brother and the rest of the head table to the back of the dining hall and we all bowed deeply as my father and his wife entered.

They approached the table and took their seats. Everyone straightened up and then sat back down. “It is good to see the family so well and prosperous. Let us eat and drink. Those who wish to speak to the entire family may do so now.”

That was my queue. I stood up and bowed towards my father before straightening up. “Thank you, honored father. I, Yuan Zhou, your seventh son, humbly request to allow you to be given a gift from the fruits of my labor,” I said. Half this was show, but it was important that we observed the formalities.

“You may, my son. What have you accomplished?” my father asked.

“I present two gifts to you.” Servants were moving and brought forth an elaborately carved rocking chair made of the finest materials. “First a rocking chair from my wood crafters shop. Handcrafted by grandmaster Ling himself.”

My father nodded. “Impressive. A new patent and you have a grandmaster working for you. I am pleased with this gift,” he replied.

“Thank you, father. As for my second gift. I hold the debt I owe you true for the investment you have given me, but I believe one should pay their own way and return the money that was borrowed. Twelve tael of silver,” I replied as a servant brought forth a cloth covered tray with twelve silver coins laid out on it.

“A bold gift, to give so much back and to say you no longer need a stipend. One might say too bold,” my father said while turning to look at me.

“Being bold is the domain of youth. I always viewed that money as a loan, with the interest being the debt I owe. But as my tutors have taught me and I have learned about you father, that words are easy, but repayment is hard,” I replied, and he nodded at that.

“Well said. True words to live by. I accept this gift in the spirit it is given and recognize you as my seventh son, Yuan Zhou,” he said and there was a round of light applause from the dining hall. I bowed to my father and took my seat.

No one else stood up and food was served. “That was well done, and a bit daring,” Yuan Yun said. I nodded at this.

“I know, but the debt I owe to father is already great. To add to it beyond the loan of twelve silver tael would be too heavy,” I replied.

“What is the debt?” my brother asked curiously.

“A favor to the family when I become a cultivator,” I replied, and he began choking on his food, which drew several stares. My father glanced over and then returned to his meal. He finally recovered and drank some wine before speaking again.

“That… That is quite a bold thing to say. You believe you will reach those lofty ranks so easily?” my brother asked.

“Yes, but cultivation is expensive. Which is why I need money,” I replied. No need to reveal anything about my advantage in seeing motes. He nodded at this.

“I considered such a path, but it is ruinous. Even to those noble scions and richer houses, such an endeavor is not lightly done. The risk is far too great over too long a time,” he replied. If a cultivator died, got stuck, or any range of things, then it would be a disaster if a family invested much of their wealth. Some still did it, and many went bankrupt, and a new family would rise to replace them. The nobles and administrators of Half Moon City, the nobles, could afford to have lasting ties to the sect by sending a single child every generation. Even then, the cost was brutal from what I understood.

“I am already making quite a bit of progress,” I replied.

“You have made that much money?” my brother asked.

“Something like that. The heavens favor me after all,” I said with a smile and ate some finely cooked beef.

“Truly. Well, if you are planning to join the sect, you aren’t competing for the heirship, are you?” my brother asked. It was direct and rude, but he probably wanted to confirm things.

“As long as people don’t interfere with my businesses and myself, then I won’t act. I don’t believe anyone in the family is involved with wood carving,” I said.

“No. Some people dabble, but there isn’t any real money to be made. I will promise you I will not interfere with your path if you hold true to your words,” my first brother said.

“Then all is well and you have my promise,” I replied, and he smiled at me.

“A rocking chair is quite clever. Is it true you came up with the idea?” he asked, now much friendlier since we weren’t direct rivals. If he became heir, then the favor I owed to the family would pass to him. No need to piss me off and lose it.

“Yes, and the folding table. The trick was to see a need and fulfill it,” I replied.

“A need for rocking chairs? I would have never thought such a thing existed.”

“It helps the joints and blood circulation,” I replied.

“That makes sense. I have heard that, but wasn’t sure if it was just a rumor.”

“It isn’t a cure, but it helps. So, you handle procurement for father’s business?” I asked.

“Yes, we are the main supplier of mortal goods to the sect. It is primarily food, but other things get purchased as well at the request of the cultivators. They ask and we obey,” he said, and I nodded at this.

“Would a rocking chair interest them?” I asked.

“Hmm, perhaps, but many prefer to remain still while cultivating, or so I have heard, to avoid distractions. But some might enjoy the novelty. I would be interested in ten on consignment,” my brother said.

“Where you would only pay me if the sect took them?” I asked.

“Yes, and they would need to be at the level of the chair you gifted father or higher. If the interest is substantial enough, then there might be some orders with specialty wood imbued with Qi. If that happens, then it would be quite serious,” he replied.

“What would you sell them for?” I asked.

“Depends. We have to give a discount to the sect, so how much would you sell that rocking chair for?” my brother asked.

“It cost about two hundred bronze coins and would normally sell for a tael, with that level of detail, extra bracing, and time spent making it,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Reasonable. If they sold you would get four hundred bronze coins, we would get the other four hundred. The sect would get a discount.” I wanted to scream at this highway robbery. “I know it seems like a lot, but that is what is required to be a sect trading partner and earn a profit. The real money would come from custom orders the senior cultivators might request.”

“What are we talking about here?” I asked.

“Well, with rank one spirit wood, to make a chair like that would cost around 100 tael. The craftsmanship would require specialty tools and workshops. You would probably have to license it the design out, but a chair like that would sell for 500 tael, and you would get ten percent or 50 tael.”

“I am guessing you would get 250, I asked?”

“Yes, but we ensure everything is delivered safely, employ cultivators from the sect, and work with the spirit tree growers and harvesters. That would be money in your pocket,” he replied. I nodded at that. It was quite reasonable when he put it like that.

“No negotiation room?” I asked, and my brother smiled.

“Unfortunately, no. You are getting the family and close friend rate.”

“Too good, if you ask me,” my father commented from my other side. He had been listening in. I looked in his direction. “Getting any sort of good to present to the sect is a big deal. People pay quite a bit for this opportunity,” he said.

“My mind was in disarray, father. Thank you for clearing things up for me. Yes, I will prepare ten chairs on consignment as quickly as possible,” I replied to Yuan Yun.

“Excellent. Let one of my servants know when they are ready to be picked up,” he replied.

“Very well. I will make the arrangements. It will take a couple of months to get ten chairs together,” I said.

“It is fine. Quality is far more important than rushing things.”

“I understand. I will emphasize this to grandmaster Ling. Should he use any imagery from the sect?” I asked.

“Hmm, if he is willing, but they won’t be allowed to be sold outside the sect, if that is the case. It might increase the chances of them selling slightly, but if they don’t sell, they will have to be destroyed.” I winced at that.

“Increasing the chances of them selling is worth the risk. Would I be able to go with you to the sect?” I asked.

“I don’t go to the sect. There is a meeting point, where we bring our standard goods and supplies, they give us money, and we present anything they might find interesting for them to purchase. We only deal with some outer disciples during these meetings. They handle everything else internally,” my brother explained.

“So, they could charge more, if the chairs are really nice,” I said, and he nodded.

“Exactly. That is also why they get a discount, since they are up charging the people in the sect. The exceptions are those high-value custom orders. A senior cultivator can spend a lot of money if they want to, since they save it all up,” he replied.

“I see. Thank you for explaining this to me,” I said.

“It is the family business. Who knows? When you join the sect, perhaps I will meet you at the supply point,” he said with a grin.

“That would be quite amusing. Work my way through the supply chain to the very top of it,” I said.

“That would be amazing, little brother. Hopefully, the heavens do favor you,” Yuan Yun replied, and we drank together. I had heavily watered-down wine, thankfully at my request. The dinner ended and my father left first and we all rose at that. Afterwards, people began leaving or changing seats.

My first brother got up and my third brother plopped down where he had been. “Yuan Zhou, you certainly made an impression,” he said.

“Thank you, Yuan Liang.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear you arranging some rocking chairs on consignment with my brother,” he said.

“Indeed, he made the offer, and it seemed like a good way to earn some tael,” I replied, and he nodded.

“True. But I handle the negotiations with father for the supplies. I am sure I could interest a senior or two,” he said. I was missing something here.

“I am sorry for my ignorance, but I am guessing there is a commission for one of you?” I asked, and my third brother smiled and nodded.

“Exactly. Ten rocking chairs will sell easily for their novelty alone. The hard part is getting those custom orders.”

“Wouldn’t you be doing this yourself already?” I asked.

“Yes, but you would give those chairs through Yuan Yun, which means he would get the commission when they are sold.”

“You want to cut him out,” I replied, and my third brother grinned and nodded.

“Exactly. I heard you were planning to become a cultivator. You will need all the funds you can get to make that happen, brother,” he said.

“I will split the difference. Every second rocking chair that is commissioned will be entirely yours,” I replied. His eyes went wide at that, and his grin faltered. “He asked first, so he gets credit for the first custom chair, but I also do not want to pick sides. So, you will get every second chair as a commission. Also, as motivation that you remain even or ahead of him,” I added.

“Clever. That is agreeable. Father will certainly chuckle when he hears about this. But it will annoy Yuan Yun. Not that I have a problem with that, but he might not look favorably upon you,” Yuan Liang explained.

“Thank you for the warning, but splitting the difference is the best option. Unless the fourth brother becomes heir?” I asked.

He spit disrespectfully at the idea. “That cow herder might have good cow sense, but you can only earn so much shoveling the shit from cows,” he replied.

“Well, thank you, brother, for not creating drama. I hope to make us all a lot of money.”

I thanked my third brother, and he left.

That was when my fourth brother showed up in the vacated seat. He was only eighteen, but built like a bodybuilder and quite large, all muscle. “So, you are the newest genius in this family,” he said.

“Yes Yuan Niu,” I replied.

“So those other two assholes come sucking up to you then?” he asked.

“Business deals for my rocking chairs,” I replied, and Yuan Niu nodded his beefy neck at that. “I heard you deal with the cows and have done very well. What did you do exactly?” I asked.

“Organized it all. Cows were running everywhere and also milking them and exercising them. Cultivators like the meat chewier, not tender. There is a range, but their bodies are enhanced, so they like the feeling of having to chew steak if they eat it,” he replied. I nodded at this, thinking about what could be done.

“I am guessing you are selling the hides and everything else when they are butchered?” I asked.

“That was already being done, but just sorted out the mess.”

“What about the less valuable portions, like sinew, and other parts of the cow that the cultivators don’t want?” I asked.

“Sell them to restaurants in the city. People want their meat. Are you thinking of something?” he asked.

“Just trying to understand if there is anything left open to take advantage of. Business is very static in the city,” I said.

“I know. Trust me, I think every day how to do better with cows, but cows can only do so much.”

“What about selective breeding?” I asked.

“Yes, that is being done,” Yuan Niu replied.

“Do you just sell the meat or package it with anything else?” I asked.

“Salt it and pack it, nothing else,” he answered, and I nodded.

“I have an idea and will look into it. We should speak again in a couple of months if it works out,” I replied.

“Not going to share with me?” He asked.

“I will, once I test things out and look into it. If there is money to be made, then we talk about revenue splits,” I replied.

“Alright, I will be interested in hearing what a genius comes up with for cows,” he said, and left. No one else came up to speak with me, so I got up and left the dining hall.

“Oh, my son,” my mother rushed out and glopped onto me. “To already be recognized, I am so proud of you.” She hugged me. “We need to beat that fifth concubine slut no matter what. So, keep up the good work and keep impressing your father.”

She let me go as I blinked at the last statement. “If you need anything from me, let me know.” I nodded at this as she scurried off to more drama. That woman was maximum drama. I shook my head and made my way back to my part of the compound.

The next day, I spoke with Ling and he agreed to make the chairs on consignment after I explained things to him. If a custom chair was ordered from the sect, then grandmaster Kang would make it himself and Ling would assist him. Working with spirit wood required specialty tools, which were expensive and knowledge, which Ling would get by bringing in the order to grandmaster Kang.

The old fox could work on the cheap as well after shoving his doll making grandson on me. That was still giving me a headache, trying to find an apprentice willing to work there, and basically support the man child.

Well, it was time to scoop up more businesses. I made my way to the Coinage Guild. The same clerk was there and grinned as he saw me. “Young Master Yuan, welcome back,” there was clearly much more respect in his voice. I had turned a failing business around and I am sure details of the family dinner had leaked out. I was now an official young master, instead of being unofficial before. It was only a distinction in people’s minds, but perception was everything in this society.

“Thank you, I wouldn’t have been able to succeed as well as I did if you hadn’t pointed me towards the business,” I replied as I took a seat after a servant put another cushion down to elevate me a bit.

“It was no problem. The Coinage Guild is always happy to assist its valuable customers. So what brings you here today?” the man asked.

“I was wondering if you had any other businesses in such straits?” I asked. The clerk grew thoughtful.

“There might be a few that would be nice to clear off the books. Was there anything in particular you had in mind?”

“Anything involving spice production or growing plants?” I asked, and he nodded.

“There is a business that is struggling. The loans they have taken on are sizable. Even with your recent success, it would be no minor thing,” the clerk said.

“How much?” I asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

“About ten thousand tael. I would have to check to confirm the exact amount,” he replied. The amount made me want to puke blood. That was insanity. Who could be so foolish?

“How did that even happen?” I asked.

“Starting up a farm is expensive. The outer wall had to be carefully expanded, but they were struggling to pay off more than the interest.”

“Which is?” I asked.

“Two hundred tael a year approximately,” that was only two percent, which wasn’t that bad. “But my managers have grown concerned they won’t be able to pay everything back long term.”

“What was the initial investment amount?” I asked, and the clerk grinned at me.

“Eight thousand tael,” he replied.

“How much does the Coinage Guild own?” I asked.

“Twenty-five percent,” he replied.

“Alright, I need to see this business for myself before I make a decision of this magnitude,” I said, and the clerk nodded.

“Of course. Do you wish to depart immediately? It would be an overnight trip to the outer wall, and we have a carriage available,” he offered.

“First thing tomorrow. I will arrange an escort myself,” I replied, and the clerk nodded.

“Of course, Young Master Yuan. I will see you here at nine then?”

“Yes, I will be here at nine. How long is the ride out?” I asked.

“About six hours, so an overnight stay regardless,” the clerk said, and I nodded at this. I left the Coinage Guild and turned towards Ting.

“I need a carriage and a guard,” I replied.

“A show guard or a fighting guard, young master?” she asked me.

“What is the exact difference?” I asked.

“A show guard would be older and might be a bit out of shape. They are there primarily for deterrence. But they won’t be able to stop a serious fight or beast attack. A fighting guard would cost double at a hundred bronze coins for two days. But they will fight if there is trouble.”

“Are things unsafe outside the city?”

“There is always a risk, young master, since the city guards don’t patrol out there. There might be an occasional patrol, but nothing serious.”

“Where would I hire a fighting guard?” I asked.

“I know a young man from the compound who could use some extra work. Might be a good test run to consider bringing him on full time,” Ting said. I gave her a look, and she just kept smiling. Everyone smiled too damn much.

“Fine. I will interview him, and what about the carriage?” I asked.

“We can borrow one from the compound without issue, young master,” she said, and I nodded at this.

We returned to the compound. I went to my room to figure out my finances and the strain this investment would put on things. There was a knock on my door. “Come in,” I called out. Ting entered with a man in leather armor.

“Young Master Yuan, this is Hong, the guard I spoke to you about,” she said.

“Thank you Ting, please see to the carriage for tomorrow, but there should be nothing else,” I said. She nodded and left. I stood up from my desk and gestured to a nearby table. “Please, sit so we can talk,” I said to the man.

He gave me a nod and took a seat. I poured him some water and some more myself out of a pitcher. Serving him was a sign of respect. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Ting informed me you are a guard here?” I asked.

“Yes, I served for about two years. But I heard there was an opportunity to work for you, so I volunteered.” Ting had said he was looking for a position.

“Why are you looking around?” I asked him.

“Family issues. My father serves your first brother, but my older brother serves your third brother. Conversations have gotten heated, and they are pressuring me to pick a side.” I nodded at this.

“I can understand the pressure, so you want a neutral choice?” I asked.

“Yes, and your father employs only cultivators for his personal protection, and I am currently an estate guard, but personal service would be a promotion.”

“What are you paid now?” I asked.

“Twenty bronze a day, but if I came to work under you, I would expect twenty-five a day, paid monthly.” That was three quarters of a tael per month as I worked out the math. Expensive to have a full-time guard.

“So, you can fight?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Spear, sword, bow, and horseback. If there is danger, I would protect your life with my own. I would handle the upkeep of my equipment and gear out of my salary,” he explained. I nodded at this.

“We can consider the next two days a trial run. If there are no issues, I will hire you full time,” I replied, and Hong nodded at this.

“Very well.” He would accompany us on foot inside the city and on horseback if we left. While they assigned him a horse, it was technically owned by my father. He couldn’t leave with the horse, but his armor and weapons were his.

The next day, I got into the carriage with Ting, while Hong accompanied us on horseback to the Coinage Guild. There, we picked up the clerk and set off after he gave directions to the driver. The clerk had prepared several documents, including the contract of the loan being moved to my name. I noted the final amount I would owe was left blank. Smart man.

I looked through them and eventually put them away as we left the city. The ride was quite smooth on the paved road, but boring. I was a Young Master, and making pointless conversations was something I shouldn’t do.

In the afternoon, we pulled off onto a dirt road and traveled for another hour before finally arriving at the farm in question. I got out of the carriage after Hong gave the all clear.

The land was quite barren, and there was a sad-looking house and barn. I followed the clerk up to the house, where he knocked on the door.

“One moment,” a female voice said. A woman opened the door, and I saw her face fall at the sight of the clerk. He was the bad cop to my good cop. That was why I brought him along.

“My husband is tending the fields at the moment. How can I help you?” she asked.

“We are here to look over the property and speak with your husband,” the clerk said.

“We will pay you back. Don’t worry about that!” she said.

“I am not here to make a judgement. Young Master Yuan is looking into this property,” the clerk said, and stepped aside for me. The woman looked down at me in shock.

“Shall we fetch your husband or wait?” I asked.

“He should be here shortly. Your carriage can’t be missed,” she replied, and I nodded. “I suppose you can wait inside.”

“Thank you, miss.” I said and gave her a slight head bow and she made way to let us into her home. I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Hong. He went in first and then nodded towards me. The woman rolled her eyes. But I hired him for a reason and would trust him in these matters.

We entered the home and sat at the table in the kitchen. “I have nothing fancy, but I can make up some tea‌,” she said.

“Tea would be lovely,” I replied. Soon I had a lukewarm cup of slightly flavored water in front of me. A long cry from the tea of the Illuminated Moon restaurant. I sipped it slowly while we waited. After about half an hour, I heard the door open, and the husband showed up.

“What is going on here? Oh, you,” he replied with a snarl at the clerk, who just smiled at the man.

“Hello Jian, this is Young Master Yuan Zhou, son of Yuan Chen. He is considering acquiring the balance of your loan to us,” the clerk said, and the man looked at me in surprise.

“Indeed, I am. I am just trying to understand why such a large farm is having monetary problems. You should easily produce enough goods to pay back the loan,” I said.

“A scam. It was all a scam. The Coinage Guild offered new land by the outer wall that was pushed back. But this land is scarred from the battles between beasts and cultivators. Best estimate is twenty years to bring it up to full yield. I ain’t giving it up. I got it and am holding onto it no matter what,” Jian said and thrust a finger at the clerk, who shrugged.

“We made you aware it is near the outer wall and could look over the property beforehand. We did not force you into anything. You got the land for cheap and expected a mountain of gold, but never asked why it was cheap,” the clerk countered.

“Regardless, what are you growing now?” I asked.

“Tatos.” The man saw my confused look and went to a bin in the kitchen and pulled out a potato.

“Ah, yes, I am familiar with tatos. They aren’t growing?” I asked.

“Slowly, they are growing slowly. Only thing that will grow on this land,” Jian nearly spat out while glaring at the clerk, who just kept smiling.

“Let’s look around so I can better understand the situation,” I replied. Jian let out a grunt, and we all followed him out onto his farmland. He pointed out the soil and its flaky nature and explained how he grew a crop of sprouts and let it rot to help recover the land, but it only improved things enough to grow tatos as he called them. He would need to let more cycles happen to fix the land more quickly.

I sent the clerk away and asked to speak with Jian alone. Hong trailed behind us as we stood outside, looking over his farm.

“I am interested in purchasing their share. But I would want half the profits, no minimum or maximum. Get the farm working first since you clearly know what you are doing,” I explained. Jian frowned as he considered my offer.

“What do you mean by profits?”

“We set aside a portion as business expenses, including a base salary for you, but anything after that, for every bronze coin you get, I would get a coin. We can agree to the expenses in writing. Enough to support you, your family, and this farm. But it would be audited and anything after that would come out of your share,” I explained. He nodded slowly at that. He wasn’t a stupid man.

“I get it. And if things go belly up?” He asked.

“Then the land would be used as collateral to cover the debt and I would cover the rest. But you would be homeless and penniless after that,” I explained.

“Just don’t want no slavery hung over my head,” he replied. That was what the Coinage Guild could do to people who defaulted. They became debt slaves, which was not good. Your grandchildren would be in the grave before you might work yourself free. His wife would be sold to a brothel, and he would be sold as a laborer to a mine. Any kids would also be picked up and sold as well, taking on a fraction of their parents’ debt.

“Alright, say I agree. You would leave me to run things?” He asked.

“With oversight and audits to make sure I am not being cheated. But you run your farm. I would also be interested in pepper plants.”

“Peppers? Why peppers? They don’t sell well,” he said.

“I might have an idea and would like to know how workable it would be on your land,” I explained.

“Next year at the earliest. Will do another two rounds of sprouts to fix the land. Should have done that in the first place, but they just don’t understand farming. After that, I could set aside a field to plant peppers. They will grow decent, but nothing amazing,” Jian explained.

“That is fine. I expect peppers will become a gigantic business soon. If I bought plants, could you keep them alive and get the seeds to plant more?” I asked.

“I could do that. Peppers, you say. Huh, never thought people would want peppers,” he said.

“It is an idea. I still have to confirm things. But this farm looks like an excellent investment,” I replied.

“It is. That is why I got it. Growing things with your own two hands, which is how a man should live,” he replied. I nodded at that. There were also a lot more motes outside of the city. I was going to get over 200 today, which made me smile. Traveling out here was worthwhile.

Chapter 6 – Risky Venture

We returned to his house and the clerk, and I went inside the carriage to hammer things out. “Ten thousand taels with deferred interest for five years,” I started right off, and the clerk grinned at me. It was a bit more sinister than usual.

“Twelve thousand, no deferred interest. We run a business, not a charity,” he replied.

“Deferred interest is a must. The farm needs time to recover.”

“Then we would wait for ourselves. Cashflow is the most important thing and what my bosses look at,” he replied. I frowned at this. I needed cashflow and could not fund 200 taels a year. Even with the success of rocking chairs, I wouldn’t be seeing that kind of cash flow, even with custom orders.

“If this farm fails, what will you do?” I asked the clerk.

“Sell it to another person, just like we did to this guy. Keep going and slowly upping the price until they pay us back,” the clerk said unashamedly. What a scam. But like he said, they weren’t running a charity.

“I can’t defer the interest with my name?” I asked.

“Not in these sums. Your father could, but not you,” the clerk replied. I considered the situation.

“I am confused why the Coinage Guild doesn’t look more long term,” I said, while trying to understand where the clerk and his bosses were coming from.

“We have found that long-term investments are not worthwhile. Our goal is turning a profit and to keep commerce moving. Not to entrench ourselves in the various businesses of the city. It seems odd, since many other people look at the long term. The Coinage Guild was founded to address short-term commerce and is our primary mandate,” the clerk explained.

That made sense weirdly. Cultivators would live a long time. What was a hundred-year investment plan when you would live a thousand years or more? But in the meantime, it would cause stagnation of various financial interests.

“I am guessing you already discussed things with your superiors?” I asked.

“Indeed. After your recent success and inquiry, we deliberated this exact situation. We could gamble on your success, but we are the Coinage Guild, not the Gambling Guild.”

“Twelve thousand, deferred interest for two years, compounded yearly, and my stake in the various patents as collateral,” I countered. The clerk was silent for a bit.

“We reserve the right to audit you. If you default, you understand you will be repossessed as well to cover the debt and your body auctioned. Your patents will not be enough. If your father covers the debt, he would likely disown you afterwards.”

“The land wouldn’t cover the debt along with my patents?” I asked, and the clerk shook his head.

“Unfortunately, not. The land would cover ten thousand taels, your patents would cover another two thousand taels, but then interest that has compounded would be left over. After two years, you are looking at an additional four hundred and eighty-nine tael's worth of interest you would owe.” He was clearly up on his mental math.

“Two percent interest is incredibly reasonable,” I replied suspiciously.

“That is the standard rate for farming properties. We are heartless, but not savages.” The Coinage Guild had a monopoly on loans. If they raised the rates too high, then people would go behind their back. They were also fueling growth and development, which was probably their purpose on behalf of the sect.

“Alright, I accept.” The clerk's eyes widened a bit, and he seemed a bit surprised.

“Very well, Young Master Yuan. I have the documents already prepared. We can begin signing right away.” We completed it in under an hour. I now owned fifty percent of this farm, a 12,000 tael debt, and three years to get things in order.

“Begin doing everything you can to recover the farm,” I told Jian before I left, and he gave me a nod.

“Thank you, Young Master Yuan,” he replied, and bowed deeply.

“I believe in you, but please forgive me if I am overbearing in checking in. This is an enormous investment and risk‌,” I said.

“I understand, and I won’t let you down,” Jian said. I gave him a nod and got into the carriage. We departed the farm. Ting was looking slightly worried, and the clerk was smiling, as always.

“Don’t worry Ting. I already did the math on the yields for the farm and confirmed the size. I could handle the debt in three years with the current yields.” It would be rough, and I would bleed tael, but it was doable.

“It is an enormous debt, Young Master.”

“It is. But with great risk comes great profits. I have seen a market need and this farm will address the issue perfectly with a bit more preparation. I suspect I will pay off the debt in under five years with a bit of luck,” I replied. The clerk who had been listening in clearly perked up at that.

“Really, Young Master?” he asked me.

“I would not take the risk if I did not see the potential to make a lot of money. If I am not willing to put myself on the line, how can I ask these businesses to give up such a large share if I am not willing to shoulder some of the risk?”

We returned to Half Moon City, and we dropped the clerk off at the Coinage Guild. After that, I purchased an empty warehouse in the crafting district. I purchased a quantity of glassware, burning through the savings I had built up from my forays into wood carving.

I hired a servant to cut up and ground various portions and parts of peppers and began testing each and every one of them. Boiling and then drying the liquid. Drying the peppers out. It took time and trying to remember how my Earth father made his homemade death sauce.

It took half a month before I finally hit on the solution. The peppers needed to be dried, then they needed to be fried for a couple of minutes. Once that was done, add water, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Grind everything until it becomes very fine. Once that was done, I would adjust it more with salt and vinegar. After that, I could boil the liquid a bit to thicken or was ready right then.

I had created hot sauce. I had my final batch put into several glass bottles and sealed, but kept several as a control to see how long they would stay good for. After consideration, I took two bottles with me and arranged a meeting with Yuan Niu, my fourth brother.

“You wanted to meet and eat steak?” he asked me as we sat down in a restaurant that specializes in steaks, which he was the primary, or possibly the only, supplier.

“I have invented this. It is very hot. But I can see it appealing to people.” I set a bottle of hot sauce in front of Yuan Niu. He gave it a careful look before picking it up with his large hand. He carefully pulled the wax sealed cork out of the bottle and gave it a sniff. Yuan Niu leaned back and then gave me a look.

I held out my hand, and he passed me the bottle and then I carefully added a dab of the sauce to my steak and cut a piece. I noticed my strength had been increasing the more motes I took inside of my body. As I ate the piece, my eyes watered, and I drank some water. Yuan Niu reached out and put a slightly larger dallop on his steak.

He shoved the piece of streak in his mouth, didn’t spit it out and chewed, then swallowed it. He was sweating heavily and then had some water. “What devilry is this?” he asked.

“Hot sauce. A potent spice I have extracted from peppers,” I replied.

“Alchemy?” he asked in a worried tone. I shook my head.

“I checked and got a signed letter from the Alchemy Guild. As long as there is no cultivation involved, and we solely derived the product from a common plant, they considered it a recipe and not alchemy,” I said with a grin, and he nodded as well.

“It is unique. I will give you that. But will it really appeal to people?” he asked.

“The youth will brag about how much they can take, and it will liven up any food that is served. For a cultivator, perhaps a kick to feel something strong. We would add warning labels, of course. Huge warning labels and call it Inferno Sauce. Then make a stronger version called Death Sauce. The danger will attract people.”

Yuan Niu grew thoughtful. “You want to use my channels to sell and distribute this sauce?” he asked. I nodded at this.

“Yes. I have arranged a farm for long-term production. It will take time. But we can run more tests to perfect the recipe. We can initially release it in limited quantities and make it exclusive to discerning clientele for a huge markup.”

“Then once word spreads and your production is built up, we can spread it through the city and beyond,” Yuan Niu finished for me and I nodded at this. He added some more to his steak and began chewing on the piece.

“It burns the mouth even after.”

“Guess what counters that?” I asked him with a smile.

“What?”

“Milk.” I replied.

“Milk,” he said slowly and chuckled. “Now that, my dear brother, is quite brilliant. So how would this work, and what is the price per bottle?” he asked me.

“I would sell to you and make an agreement to not find a new supplier or cut me out. In exchange, I could get the price of 50 bronze per bottle. The glass is the expensive part and I would need to work on making the hot sauce production more efficient, but I could sell it in bulk to you.”

“That is quite low. Would you even be making money?” he asked me.

“Yes. You can price it whatever you want, but you buy what I make. All of it. I estimate in three years, I could produce around a hundred thousand bottles per year.” His eyes went wide at that. I could make them for about 20 bronze coins once I got everything streamlined. That meant three million bronze coins, or three thousand tael per year for me.

It would take work and a lot of effort to streamline, but it could be done. “Most likely I will switch to wood bottles for mass production and keep the glass battles for the elite batches,” I replied, and Yuan Niu nodded absently. “What I need to know is, will you be able to handle the volume?” I asked him.

“How long will they stay good for?” he asked me.

“I am testing that. But there is salt in the mix which should act as a preservative. My goal is one year.”

“A year is fine. We can export to the other cities in that timeframe with the trade caravans. Two years would be best,” he replied.

“I am working on it, but I wanted to confirm you can handle the volume before I go all in on this. It is a sizable investment‌,” I replied.

“You don’t care what I price them for?” Yuan Niu asked.

“No. But my price won’t go lower or higher once I complete the process in the next couple of months. If the market contracts, you would be on the hook to purchase them regardless,” I replied.

“A set price. I can work with that, and it would be exclusive?” he asked me.

“Yes, minus the requests of cultivators,” I countered, and he nodded at that.

“That is fine, as long as other people can’t buy this in bulk. I can see this making an impact. How much do you have on hand right now?”

“Twenty bottles,” I replied. My brother pulled out a tael and set it on the table.

“I will take them all and will want to test them out with some friends to confirm things.” I pulled out a contract and set it on the table. It was just an initial agreement, outlining our intent to do business together and the main clause of him not being allowed to cut me out or make the hot sauce without me.

Yuan Niu looked at the piece of paper and then at me. “Very well,” he replied and signed it and the second exact copy I had laid out. I let him keep one and he pocketed the other.

While he could screw me, he would lose a lot of face if the contract came to light. I set the small crate of bottles on the table and took the tael he had set down. It was good to have cash flow again. With that completed, I got to work.

It had been tempting to ask for a percentage of the sales, but the risk was too high. Once I nailed the production down, I wanted a guaranteed contract to produce hot sauce and he would buy it all without exception. If I took a percentage, then there would be additional risk.

I wasn’t in this to make money but to move about and collect motes. The money was secondary, and I couldn’t afford to lose big. Yuan Niu would shoulder the risks of the market, while I just produced and sold him hot sauce.

If he bought it all, I could expand and if he didn’t buy, I could sell to others. So, he would buy at the cheap price I had set. It would be a minor luxury item, but even poorer households could afford it if he didn’t go crazy about the price. In time, as I produced more, his margins would shrink, but mine would remain consistent.

It wasn’t trickery, but long-term business planning. He just saw all the taels he could make at the start and was blinded to the long-term implications. His margins would shrink while mine would remain constant. I knew that my father, Yuan Chen, would have seen through my scheme, but business was business. It wasn’t charity.

With the recipe nailed down, I began working on the process in the warehouse. Shelves with trays for the peppers to dry on. Then they would be deseeded and chopped up before being tossed into large pots. I had specific size cups prepared with markings to show the exact amount of ingredients that needed to be added. I was trying to make the process as idiot proof as possible.

I would boil the pots while I would lower a grinder from the ceiling and spin inside the pots, mixing and grinding the ingredients. Once the mixture was boiling, a spigot would be opened, and it would divert the liquid into fifty bottles at once.

After which they would be quickly sealed with a cork and wax and then packaged. I would use glass bottles for all the hot sauce. Wooden bottles just didn’t work, unfortunately. I added labels onto the bottles afterwards, with the date made, a warning, and the name of the product.

The money was pouring out of my woodcarving venture into getting the production facility all set up. I got the manufacturing price down to 23.5 bronze coins per bottle. I had been buying up the supply of peppers for my test runs and the price had been creeping upwards. Thankfully, I had a farm ready long term to offset this.

Yuan Niu had confirmed the hot sauce was a hit and wanted everything he could get his hands on. So, Inferno and the much more concentrated Death Sauce began rolling off the production line in my warehouse and the tael began flowing in.

It would take a year or two before my farm began producing peppers in large quantities, but I had shown Jian what I was making and he agreed to switch to pepper production as long as I purchased all the peppers, which I agreed to. Vertical integration of businesses allowed me to dominate the hot sauce market, and I didn’t even need to find buyers. Yuan Niu was doing the headache inducing part, moving the product.

It had been a year since our last meeting, and I approached the sliding paper door once again and knocked. I then waited. After a while, a voice called out for me to enter. I entered the room and kowtowed once more to Yi Rong.

“Raise your head, child. I found your gift of a rocking chair amusing.”

“I humbly thank you for accepting such a gift,” I replied to the cultivator.

“So, a year has passed in a blink of an eye. Tell me, how many motes have you gathered?” he asked.

“I have gathered 79,281 motes,” I replied nervously. I suddenly felt a tremendous amount of pressure. A hand gripped my chin and forced me to look into Yi Rong’s eyes.

“Truly? How?” he asked.

“I can see them without aid,” I replied. He let my chin go and sank back into a sitting position, letting out a sigh.

“The heavens truly do favor you, child. Only five years old and far more talented than cultivators, far older. So, do you plan to keep gathering them until you are twenty?” he asked.

“You warned me that the more I gathered, the harder it would be to align them all during the next stage. But I needed to have the strongest foundation if I wanted to keep advancing.” Yi Rong nodded.

“Indeed. There are two paths before you. I will support you on either one and you will name me your first master.” There clearly was some significance to this, but I needed this man’s help and understanding.

“Yes, Master Yi Rong,” I said and kowtowed.

“We will do an official tea ceremony tomorrow. It is how these things are normally done. Raise your head. For now, we will discuss your future.” I did so. “The first path is the path of surety. You would stop at 150,000 motes and then apply to the sect with my recommendation. They would hail you as a genius of geniuses. It would make your path forward easy until you reach the first bottleneck.”

“There you will struggle as all do and there would be a chance it would cut your path to immortality short.” I nodded at this. “The second path is the path of defiance. You would gather as many motes as you can until you are twenty. Then you would join the sect. You would be ridiculed and laughed at for going beyond any reasonable amount. Each stage, you would have to push forward at the greatest possible speed, for time would be against you.”

“But, once you complete the fourth stage of Core Formation, you would easily pass the bottleneck by having all your meridians and channels feeding into a core. So easily, that all will be jealous and your path to immortality would be far easier. You do not need to decide now. But once you reach 150,000 motes, you must decide then. Trying to split the difference will only lead to failure.”

“Has anyone ever done this path of defiance?” I asked.

“No. It is a thought experiment that is considered. What would be the best possible level of cultivation without time that one could achieve? There are countless books written in the sect’s library of elder cultivators speculating on such a topic. But to attempt it and risk the path of surety?” Yi Rong shook his head.

“That is why it is called the path of defiance. For you would defy everything. The heavens, the wisdom of those who have come before you, and the very nature of cultivation itself to surpass all boundaries. But it would be a gamble that you could advance quickly enough in the following stages,” Yi Rong replied.

“I already know what I would choose,” I said, and Yi Rong nodded. “The path of defiance,” I replied. He stopped nodding and looked at me in shock.

“Hah, I guess I am just a foolish old man. Very well then. You are sure?”

“Yes. I am confident in my ability to overcome challenges placed in front of me and preparation long term is key,” I replied with a firm nod.

“Then let us discuss the optimal number of motes. We must work backwards from the fifth stage to truly understand the best possible foundation you would need. The key to advancement of the fourth stage for soul cultivators is to detonate your core, pushing out the motes and clearing all energy from where your soul is.”

“This would allow you to form your nascent soul, which is the fifth stage. A clear space is needed, since astral souls are fragile things, and the force of the astral plane will push and degrade one trying to form against the pressure. So, an explosion is necessary where you risk everything in a single moment.”

“Many die and fail in this attempt. A large core is necessary for a large enough explosion,” Yi Rong explained.

“What about multiple explosions?” I asked, and he shook his head and then paused.

“I could not say if such a thing is even possible. That is why I called it the path of defiance. To generate a core, you draw in astral energy through your meridians and channels. We construct these through and around the structure of your aligned motes.”

“I am sworn not to reveal the meridian structure the Cloudy Moon sect primarily uses. Any mote structure they have would not be suitable anyways with the amount you would eventually get. But you must learn and prepare. For once you arrive at the sect, there will be no time.” Yi Rong let out a long sigh.

“We shall go to the sect tomorrow after the tea ceremony, and I will speak to your father. We will be there for one month, to register you as my personal disciple and for you to read and learn from the mistakes of your ancestors to properly plan out a Formation stage layout for your motes.”

“Thank you Master Yi Rong,” I blurted.

“No kowtows and no thanks are needed. If I shall really name you as my student, then such things are unnecessary. You will be obliged to enter the Cloudy Moon sect no later than twenty-one years of age, should I name you my student. If you enter another sect, we will consider you a spy.”

I quickly nodded at this and confirmed I knew what I was getting into, and then I was dismissed. I made preparations for my departure, but everything was running fairly smoothly, at least without my constant input.

Ting was now a full-time member of my staff, and I paid her directly. I had her handle the personnel affairs since she was quite good at that and to monitor income flowing through my businesses. Hong would remain to guard her while she made the rounds in my stead.

Since it wasn’t a secret, the fact that I was being taken as an apprentice or disciple of Cultivator Yi Rong was quickly making rounds. No one would want to offend me now, in case I bore a grudge.

The next day, we set off in a carriage with four horses rushing quickly out of the city immediately after a tea ceremony where I made Yi Rong tea, which he drank, and then acknowledged me as his personal disciple. “Will my father be unprotected?” I asked Yi Rong, who was sitting with me.

“A month does not matter, and he does not need protection inside the city. My presence is merely a sign of favor to him and a place to rest outside the sect in comfort before I die.” I slowly nodded at this.

“While I could get to the sect in less than a day, you would not survive unscathed. Mortals fare poorly when around cultivation.”

“Mortals? Is that an insult?” I asked. Yi Rong grinned a bit.

“Indeed. For while very few cultivators are immortals, it is common to look down on everyone else. That is why they are called mortals. When we reach the sect, do not speak unless asked a direct question. They will evaluate you for demonic taint and other issues.”

“Like reincarnation. What are the issues with that and demonic taint?” I asked curiously.

“Demons are beasts that appear as humans. We are at war with the beasts. We made many mistakes over the years. That is why all entrants and anyone returning from a mission are checked, no matter their rank.”

“As for reincarnates, it is the same issue, but with different sects. They seek to steal knowledge, but they are also a waste of resources. They forcibly shove or move their spirit into a young physical body. But cultivation involves the astral soul. That is why they appear as geniuses.”

I gulped at this. “But such a technique is impossible before the fifth stage and once in the fifth stage there would be signs present. Marks on one’s astral soul. In addition, absorbing motes of Qi would be impossible and they would use a technique to fool people.”

“They would go that far for secrets?” I asked.

“Indeed. For secrets and to ambush cultivators. While the basic knowledge is common, mote structure, meridian layout, core techniques, and then‌ higher-level techniques all form the backbone of any sect. For that knowledge smooths out the path to immortality and forewarns of bottlenecks one might face.”

“To steal such knowledge successfully, would see a cultivator honored and rewarded. But to take such a risk closes off their own path forward. But there are all types in this world of ours, and we are just a fraction of a fraction, in a small corner of the Firmament.”

“Anything else I should be aware of?” I asked.

“I will probably be dead by the time you fully join the sect. I feel my end getting ever closer as my soul slowly becomes more unstable. A few years left at best. You will inherit my meager collection of contribution points that I have left, and be granted the title of Inner Disciple.” Yi Rong must have seen the confusion on my face.

“They divided the sect up into the outer, inner, core, and Personal disciples with the additional rank of Senior for the first three ranks. Each rank has more privileges than the previous, and you must always show respect to those ranked above you.” I nodded at this.

“Most children born in the sect become inner disciples. Elders would have their disciples named as core disciples. And the sect leader could name a single Personal Disciple of the sect that stands above all others.”

“Moving from outer to inner disciple grants more privileges and access. With contribution to the sect giving the title of senior, along with cultivation. We consider members in the fourth stage members, not disciples, and the fifth stage and higher are elders.”

“They would consider me a Senior Member of the sect. But even to the few people younger than me at the fifth stage, I must bow my head, since they are my seniors. Respect is very important, more so than the mortal world.” I nodded at this. I didn’t want to cause issues.

“I can tell you don’t want to cause issues, but your very existence is like a great boulder crashing into a tranquil pond. A true heaven-sent genius. If you claim a master after my death, I will have no objection. But you will most likely be treated with ridicule once you return when you are older.”

“The path of defiance,” I replied, and Yi Rong nodded.

“Exactly. The other cultivators might say you are wasting heaven’s favor. My advice is to remain true to your path and watch out for sabotage from members and disciples. Jealousy grips all. The elders will be curious if they decide to take an interest.”

“Thank you for the warning, master,” I said.

“It is the least I can do. There are more rules and little things you will come to understand, but the sect will explain such things when you enter. For now, we need to have you evaluated, registered, and then you will be allowed into the sect library. You will not be allowed to write or record anything, but you can read. The evaluation will most likely take a week and you will have around three weeks.”

“Any suggestions on reading material?” I asked.

“Just to understand the stages of cultivation. I will have the main introductory tomes prepared, but after that, it will fall onto you. All cultivators, once they reach the fourth and eighth rank inside the sect, are required to write what they did.”

“Their writing varies wildly from the analytical to the flowery. Many people look to the tomes of cultivators who have passed that were successful at breaking through the fourth stage. While you may find understanding there, you will not find inspiration. There are many failures.”

“The higher ranked tomes?” I asked.

“Once you become an elder, you are allowed access. Knowledge of the fifth stage and above is jealously guarded and is of limited use to you until you break through the bottleneck at the end of the fourth stage. Once we are at the sect, answer honestly and without hesitation for the evaluation will be long and tiresome.”

I was worried, but hopefully everything would be all right.

Chapter 7 – Cloudy Moon Sect

It took us three days to reach the sect. The carriage, horses, and driver waited at the base of the mountain we had arrived at. There were buildings set aside for people and transportation like this. Yi Rong pulled out a badge to the bored-looking woman in blue and white robes standing at the base of the mountain.

“Senior Member, welcome back,” she replied and bowed her head.

“I have claimed a disciple. He will climb the stairs of testing.” She looked at me in surprise.

“If you say so, Senior Member. I will set him on the path,” Yi Rong nodded and then turned towards me.

“I will meet you at the top,” he said, and this disappeared in a burst of wind.

“Well, kid, I don't know if you are lucky or unlucky,” the lady said. I quickly bowed my head towards her.

“No need for that. Getting named an inner disciple right off. Good for you. Anyway, climb up the stairs without breaks. We view it as a test of your willpower and personal determination. It is a very long way to the top. Good luck,” she said with a grin.

I had been running occasionally and had not let my youthful body go. Still, there were a lot of steps. I didn’t hesitate and began climbing at a slow pace while trying to keep my breathing steady. They made the steps from rocks that had been shoved into the dirt itself. Each step was slightly uneven, and the spacing was off in some places.

There was probably a metaphor for the path of cultivation attached to these stairs. Long, hard, and full of minor difficulties to reach the top. No simple path right to the top for inner disciples. But I wasn’t an inner disciple yet.

I also guessed that a reincarnation would have screamed or objected ‌to climbing the steps, since they would view it as an insult. Tests within tests. At least it was straightforward. I didn’t look up once I started. Mist and clouds were concealing the top of the peak, and looking up would distract me from carefully placing my feet on each step. Another metaphor about not getting distracted on the path of cultivation.

Personal power. It was something that was impossible back on Earth, but after getting hit by a truck and coming to this world, I never wanted to die again. I wanted immortality, and I wanted that power. I would hit the trucks and they would die instead of me.

It was silly to think like that, but that was why I bothered with cultivation instead of becoming rich, getting a harem, and settling down somewhere. Also, with my advantages and the whispers of magic and personal flight, I couldn’t say no.

If that meant climbing this staircase of certain death, then it meant climbing this staircase of certain death. I was in the mist and the rock stairs had become slippery. Put in a railing people, safety organizations will be on your case at this rate.

Step after step, I climbed. We arrived early in the morning. When mid-day hit, the mist cleared. It was tempting to look up, but if I saw a lot more stairs, I might just give up and throw myself back down. My legs were screaming in pain, but I didn’t stop.

I kept my eyes glued to the path as I slowly ascended. I didn’t even count the stairs, since that would make me despair. My clothes dried out in the late afternoon and I couldn’t help but glance upwards. The top, oh thank you, everything holy. There was the top of the staircase.

There was no strength to move more quickly, but my mind became a bit more energized as I kept climbing and gasping for breath. The air was definitely thinner, and I had noticed a very slight increase in the density of motes.

I didn’t wave my hands to grab any, but if I ran into one, I took it inside of me with all the others. I finally crested the top to see a large plateau with fancy looking buildings and paved walkways. Yi Rong was waiting along with three older looking men in white and blue robes.

Once I reached the top, I made my way in front of them as they stared at me. I then bowed deeply. A cultivator did not kowtow, ever, even to a much stronger cultivator. As a prospective disciple, Yi Rong told me I should adopt this mindset while here.

After a few seconds of getting my breathing under control, I spoke, “Junior Yuan Zhou greets his seniors of the Cloudy Moon sect and Master Yi Rong.”

“Polite at least,” one said.

“A slow climb,” another man replied.

“He is young, still a child,” a third said. There was silence for a bit as I kept the bow and worked on my breathing.

“Well, he passed the test of fitness, so he has my vote,” the first man who spoke said.

“You always approve of anyone who passes it. We should put him in the soul reflection chamber,” the second said.

“That is too harsh. A simple questioning will do. Raise your head, child,” I did and looked at the three older men. “We are the current elders on duty this year. I am Elder Li Fu.”

“Elder Zedong,” the first man said.

“Elder Sun Ru,” the second man who had spoken said.

Elder Li Fu nodded and then took the lead speaking. “It is rare to have someone as young as you come here. Even children born into the sect are much older when they climb the stairs. We have questioned your master Yi Rong, and while his answers make sense, we wish to ask you further questions.”

“Yes Elder Li Fu,” I replied and bowed my head slightly and he nodded.

“Point out the nearest mote of Qi,” he commanded. I looked around, and I pointed one out.

“Have you ever been part of another sect?” Sun Ru asked while staring at me intently.

“No,” I replied. The elders looked at each other for a moment, somehow communicating and then back at me.

“How many motes have you collected?” Elder Zedong asked.

“79,771,” I said. That seemed to shock them slightly.

“Your age?” Elder Sun Ru asked.

“I am five and a half years old,” I replied.

“Impossible!” Elder Sun Ru proclaimed loudly. “We must evaluate him in the soul reflection chamber. I will go to the sect leader if I must.”

“If you are wrong and he truly is a genius of heaven and earth, then our path will be affected,” Elder Li Fu replied.

“I will shoulder the risk. But I consider such a thing impossible. The youngest cultivator to each 120,000 motes without pills was of age 12. I can’t believe a child of five and a half has done so,” Elder Sun Ru declared.

“Tell me, child, were you aware since birth?” Elder Zedong asked me.

“Yes, Elder Zedong,” I replied and bowed my head slightly.

“A coincidence most likely of being aware and being able to see motes, but the soul reflection chamber appears to be the best option to put aside all doubt. Yi Rong, do you have any objections as his master?” Elder Zedong asked.

“No. If he is truly a demon in disguise, let us find out.” He replied, and Elder Sun Ru nodded at this.

“A good attitude to have. We should put all in the soul reflecting chamber,” Elder Sun Ru said.

“That is a debate for another time,” Elder Li Fu said tiredly. “We will allow the child to rest and sleep first and allow himself to steady himself. Then his master will take him to the soul reflecting chamber himself first thing in the morning.”

Yi Rong bowed his head. “As you command, Elder Li Fu,” he replied. The other two elders nodded, and I quickly bowed my head as they departed.

“Come, let us take you to the guest building,” Yi Rong said, and I followed him. “I suspected they would demand the soul reflecting chamber. Normally, they would just approve a disciple after asking about their background to ensure no conflicts of interest with other sects.”

“But I am a boulder smashing into a pond,” I replied.

“Yes. The soul reflecting chamber is harsh, but it reveals the true nature of anything in there. You will feel a constant pressure. You will have water to drink and no food. The pain will increase over time. You must endure.”

“And then that is it?” I asked.

“That will be it. The soul reflecting chamber is the ultimate test. No disguise technique or demon can withstand such a thing for long. If you are above the first stage or have ever been, your cultivation will destabilize and you will die.”

“Why not test everyone, then?” I asked.

“The expense. It costs spirit stones. A rank 1 spirit stone would sell for around a thousand tael or a bit more. To operate the chamber requires a lot of spirit stones. To pay this for every prospective disciple would ruin us. We put only those of questionable origins or if something else seems off through it.”

“But Elder Sun Ru wanted to put everyone through it,” I asked, trying to understand the dynamics of the sect.

“There are three factions of elders. The militant, who wants to check everyone and fight the beasts to seize resources. The protectors, who want to build up over time, are taking the long approach. Then the non-interventionists. They wish to focus on cultivation, research, and maintaining the sect and not get caught up in drama.”

“The sect has an elder from each faction to manage things for a year before switching them out. One of their duties is assessing and approving of all disciples that are accepted into the sect.”

“The other elders?” I asked.

“Cultivating, traveling, or doing whatever they want. The only higher authority is the Sect Leader himself, but he would only get seriously involved if there was the threat of a large conflict or another sect. Even you have not made that big of a splash.” I nodded at this.

We entered the building, and they showed me to a room. There was a shower in which Yi Rong showed me how to work. He had thankfully brought my luggage and left it in the room. I quickly collapsed onto my bed, my legs aching.

The next morning, Yi Rong shook me awake. He gave me plain water to drink but no food. He then led me to a large stone building. After entering inside, he took me down a flight of steps to a stone chamber.

Elder Li Fu was waiting there. “I will enclose you in this chamber for a period of time. Focus on yourself. Do you have anything you wish to say before we begin?”

“Let no doubt remain and no one will question me again,” I replied. Elder Li Fu nodded at this.

“I have heard what you have said, Yuan Zhou.” He left with my master and a large stone door was slid into place. The chamber was a half dome and not that big. At least it wasn’t freezing cold. I took off my outer robe and used it as a pillow while I lay there.

That was when I felt an itch all over my body. I just focused on my breathing and kept my eyes closed in the darkness. The stone of the room glowed a soft blue. I used a sleeve of my robe to cover my eyes.

The itching became worse and worse, but I just lay there keeping my breathing steady. The only time I got up was to use a bucket in the room to relieve myself in. I felt ill and got a headache. The motes inside of me were vibrating slightly.

I drifted in and not of consciousness as I just lay there in the room, occasionally going over to the bucket of water to drink and the other bucket to relieve myself in. I made sure not to mix the two buckets up. It just kept getting worse. The feeling of my organs wiggling inside of me came over me.

It was like worms trying to escape. I just lay there and endured. There was nothing else I could do. I had lost track of time. Finally, it all ended. The glow disappeared and everything stopped hurting. I heard the door open again and slowly stood up.

I picked up my robe I had been using as a pillow and put it back on as Elder Li Fu and Master Yi Rong came into the stone chamber. “Alive and not a demon and no cultivation destruction,” Master Yi Rong said. Elder Li Fu nodded.

“I was unsure, but he truly appears to be a genius favored under the heavens. A shame he treads the path of defiance. A true waste. We accept him as an inner disciple of the Cloudy Moon sect,” Elder Li Fu said.

I shakily bowed. “This junior thanks Elder Li Fu,” I replied. He just turned and left without another word.

“Come, let us get you cleaned up and get some food, and then you can spend time in the library,” Yi Rong told me. I slowly made my way back up the stone stairs from the chamber room, having to lean against the wall so I didn’t fall over.

I was taking back to my room where Yi Rong brought me a bowl of thin soup. I drank it, then had a second, and then a third before he stopped me. After getting cleaned up and another set of clothes, I was then given a metal badge with a moon, partially covered by a cloud. The Sect Symbol.

“Don’t lose that and don’t flash it about. It is proof of your identity. Keep it on you at all times. Once you are past the first stage, it will also function as a counter for your sect contribution points. I have already transferred mine to you.”

“Thank you, Master Yi Rong,” I said.

“It is a minor thing and there aren’t many. When I make my attempt for the next stage, I will leave you what little else I have left. I never bothered storing up wealth, since I never planned to take on a disciple or leaving a legacy,” he let out a sigh.

“You have already helped me master,” I replied.

“Thank you for your kind words. Now let me show you around.” I followed Yi Rong out of the guest house. “This is the main area of the sect. There are around 5,000 disciples, 500 members, and about 100 elders.” I nodded at this.

“We give outer disciples small rooms in shared buildings that surround the outer edge of the plateau.” I nodded at this as Master Yi Rong pointed them out. “They make up the vast majority of people and carry out the basic chores around the sect.”

“Why not use mortals?” I asked.

“Too big a risk to our security. It is a straightforward route for infiltration. No true sect would allow mortals into their land. Or they might have families that have pledged to serve. Different sects do things slightly differently. The next set of buildings are small houses for inner sect disciples and members. You will have your own place when you come here.” I nodded at this.

“Inner sect members often take on more critical tasks and all of their backgrounds have been assured or checked. Tasks such as cleaning the sect library or managing key buildings within the sect. That is how you will earn contribution points.”

“It used to be that spirit stones were the currency, but that led to imbalance when people were left vast sums by their ancestors. While that is allowed, it would drain resources from the sect. While people succeed or perish based on their own merits, the sect needs to function long term to ensure problems don’t arise and things are seen to.”

“That is why you will be required to pay contribution points and do tasks. Inner disciples can be given a set amount of contribution points ahead of time. Unfortunately, I could only leave you twenty, far less than the hundred I could have left you.” I already thanked him, and Yi Rong seemed to talk to himself more than me in the last part.

“Regardless, it will make things slightly easier for you at the start. The next are the various buildings of the sect arranged in another ring. The dining hall, the mission hall, the processing hall, the punishment hall.” I had just been in the last one since it had the soul reflecting chamber under it.

“The sect library for anything from the fourth stage and below.” I saw the occasional person walking about, but there weren’t that many people moving about the sect. I got some looks, but few. “Past the sect buildings are the houses of elders and core disciples that live with them. And at the center is the sect hall, sect leader’s house, and the second library for elders.” I nodded at this.

“Core disciples are used to maintain the inner buildings of the sect. Even they are required to pay contribution points the same as everyone else. Now, let us go into the library.” We entered the building up some stone stairs.

Inside there was a young woman manning a front desk. Master Yi Rong went up to her, and I followed. “My personal disciple, Yuan Zhou, will require a reading room set aside for the next month.”

“Very well. Room four is available. Is he aware of the rules?” Master Yi Rong shook his head slightly, and the woman continued while looking down at me. “Food or drinks are not allowed in the library. Keep things quiet. You cannot bring anything to write with or take anything out of the library. You are not to disturb others or ask them questions.”

“The sections are labeled by topic. Return anything you take from the spot you took it from. If you need to reach higher, there are ladders you can use and stepping stools scattered about. Do not leap, climb, or jump in the library. If there is any kind of incident, inform me immediately. That is all.”

“Thank you,” Yi Rong said, and the woman gave him a nod. He then led me to a room with a table and a couple of chairs. I noted the lights were in paper lanterns, but there was no fire, and everything was well lit.

“I will pick you up for lunch and dinner where you may ask me questions if you have them. Otherwise, you are to remain here and study. You are not to leave the library without me,” Master Yi Rong said.

“Thank you, master. I will not leave and study diligently,” I replied. He nodded and then showed me to the area where there were multiple copies of the same basic tome and various versions that had been updated throughout the years.

He grabbed one of the older versions and a newer version of Guide To Cultivation: Cloudy Moon Sect and told me to start there. With that, he left, and I opened them up and began reading. The script was incredibly tiny, but also immaculate.

They basically repeated everything Master Yi Rong had told me about the first four stages of cultivation, Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Meridian Attunement, and Core Formation. It listed out each stage ‌and explained the general steps.

Once a solid core is constructed, the cultivator will detonate the core to force their constructed astral soul apart to forge a true soul. The longer this void exists in astral space, the greater the eventual soul will be. But in turn, the harder it will be to initially reconstitute one’s soul. The ideal is 1,000 drops to form a solid core.

In the older version, it recommended 800 drops as the ideal. I kept reading the newer version but compared all the numbers to the older version and if they changed any sentences. There were some minor changes, but it was mostly the numbers that changed.

I finished the book right before Yi Rong came to pick me up for lunch. We ate in a private room off from the main dining hall, which was a privilege for sect members. Elders didn’t need to eat or have other arrangements. Once we were done, he escorted me back to the library.

I took the afternoon to carefully check all the sections. I occasionally got a look from a sect member, but they said nothing. The biggest section was the list of small tomes about what cultivators that had failed had done.

By far the busiest section with people and empty of tomes was the section on what successful cultivators had done. I took one tome from there to get a baseline and brought it back to the reading room.

It was complete garbage, in my opinion.

The alignment of the dragon’s veins inside oneself must attune to the cosmic forces at the celestial equinox. Only when harmony exists past the physical will one truly bring forth the power of the astral energy into oneself.

It was a lot of flowery language. I read through it but learned little. I returned the tome and pulled tomes from their spots, checked the first page, and put it back. They were all garbage, like the first one I had read. A sect member dropped a tome back on a shelf and left. I quickly picked it out. Now this one was much better, with actual diagrams showing the layout of meridians and motes.

I took this tome back with me to my assigned reading room. Master Yi Rong showed up, and I was allowed to leave the book here overnight while the library was closed as long as I returned the next day to either keep reading it or to put it back on the shelf.

I spent the rest of my time in the sect reading tomes and looking over cultivation diagrams. Both from people who failed and people who had succeeded to get past the first bottleneck.

There were two types of writers, I decided after a while. Analytical and flowery. I asked Master Yi Rong about this, and he smiled slightly while explaining.

“I remember seeing that myself the first time in the library. Cultivators are required to write something. Most just use the notes they develop while cultivating. But for those who don’t take notes or write things down, they quickly put down prose to get through the task. You have probably seen a lot more tomes from the failures than those who succeeded, but it isn’t always the case.”

Over the course of a month, I gained a very thorough understanding of the first four stages of cultivation. While there wasn’t much written about the first, many cultivators listed out their frustrations of being held back by the motes of Qi collected during the Qi Gathering stage, since it determined everything for the later stages.

Some people had added in more meridians than the recommended thousand to one ratio to aligned motes. Many listed out their cultivation difficulties and even one case of cultivation collapse. I considered asking Master Yi Rong if he had a tome written, but wisely didn’t. Experience of having an older mind. While some failures had their names listed, many didn’t.

There were thousands of tomes, but most of them were only twenty to fifty pages long at most. There were some monsters that were over a thousand pages long. I had read through those and they listed out everything in precise detail, with lots of diagrams, explanations, and references to other sources.

These detailed failures were the ones I really dug into. There were in-depth explanations on how best to align motes to form meridians and channels. Another one detailed their extensive effort to form the best possible core or multi-cores.

It quickly became obvious why the sect viewed such knowledge highly. I wasn’t allowed to write anything down, since I would leave the sect soon. Some tomes were just bound notes from people who had vanished outside the sect and had been declared dead. With these tomes there was a single page in the front listing the member’s name, when they disappeared, and when they were declared dead.

There were no disturbances, and no one bothered me in the library. Everywhere else, Master Yi Rong escorted me. While I could technically move about on my own, he didn’t want any drama. As the month came to a close, I realized there was so much more left to read through and understand.

As we rode away from the sect in the carriage that had brought us here, Master Yi Rong explained things more in depth to me. “Reading too much can cloud your mind. We will return in a few years. There are people who lose themselves in the tomes. Trying to find the perfect path, but you weren’t collecting motes while studying, were you?”

“No Master, I only collected a few, but not many,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Exactly. One cannot think their way through cultivation. A cultivator must do. Consider that the most important lesson I can impart to you. I knew many people who spent too much time studying and lost their way.”

“Why not use the same method for everyone?” I asked.

“Because there might be a better way. While innovation is slow, it is there. You saw it in the first two tomes I had you read.” I nodded at this and gave an affirmative. “But who is to say that an easier path at the start will make for an easier path later? The true value comes from the various paths at the later stages. And if a person in our sect ever reached the ninth stage and immortality, that would become the standard everyone would use,” Yi Rong explained.

“So high ranking sects copy things?” I asked.

“To some extent. But each person is different, and an ancient saying is that no two paths to immortality are ever the same. So, while you can learn, you need to think about what you learned and not just take in more information. To use your own knowledge and experience. You walk the path of defiance, and you will find no true answers in the library.”

“I have worked out the best mote layout, I think. I am still not entirely sure,” I replied.

“Take your time, come up with a plan, and then confirm that plan against the knowledge there when you return. What was the number of ideal motes you settled on?”

“One million three hundred and twenty thousand,” I said. Yi Rong just closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

“Why that number?” he asked.

“To form four main cores and a secondary core.”

“Foolish. Utterly foolish. Even if you collect that many motes, it would take you 132 years to align them all if you reached the perfect standard. You would be dead by then,” Yi Rong said.

“I would need to work out a faster way to align them,” I replied.

“Faster… Faster you say. The confidence in your voice makes me want to puke blood. Well, you heard my warnings and read of the failures. You would need to align 20,000 motes per year. That is impossible.”

“Since they shift as each one is aligned.”

“Yes, and it is slower at the start, while you have to keep resetting the motes. Tell me why that is the case,” Yi Rong asked me.

“Otherwise, there will be too much scarring left behind on one’s astral soul, as we shift them into position after settling in another location for a long time while aligning other motes.”

“Exactly. Your astral soul will be shredded, and you will die even sooner before you can align them all. And carving that many meridians, and four cores with a secondary core. Complete and utter foolishness.”

“I am considering partially aligning each mote to hold them in place and cycling through all of them first. I saw one passage about a person half aligning their motes before fully aligning them,” I explained. Yi Rong got a thoughtful look on his face.

“It might work. But the drawbacks of such a path would be in weakness. Each aligned mote empowers you, but they must be fully aligned. Completing sect tasks will be more difficult and there would be ridicule at your failure to advance.”

“But then I would leap ahead rapidly at the end?” I asked.

“Yes. Truly, the path of defiance. That still leaves the issue of carving out your meridians and channels.”

“I haven’t thought of a solution for that yet and I also need to think about the element I would imbue my channels with. I don’t suppose there is a time, space, void, or chaos element?”

“Foolishness. Where do you even get such ideas? The mind of a genius is a dangerous thing. Such elements are fairy tales told to children about cultivators. The Cloudy Moon sect has several water and earth element resources that can be used. I use earth myself.”

“More esoteric things like time. How would you grab into time and imbue your channels with such a thing? Perhaps a dao from a great beast or cultivator might be more in line with such a thing, but such a resource would be precious beyond anything else.”

“But what about using stuff found naturally, like air?” I asked.

“The energy is weak, and you will struggle to fill up your core with such energy once you carve out your channels. That is why people pick common types of energy that are more easily available. Even if you found a time resource, how much would there be? The heavens and the earth of the Firmament might be endless, but resources are not.”

Chapter 8 – Gathering Resources

I returned to Half Moon City with no fanfare. My businesses were running smoothly and there was nothing that needed to be done. I had set things up so there was as little involvement from me as possible.

On the way back, I had a conversation with Master Yi Rong about resources and sect points. They expected each disciple to contribute 100 points per year. Each contribution point was worth about a rank 1 spirit stone or about 1,000 taels.

The sect didn’t like currency conversions from people, since they paid sect points for performing tasks around the sect. If people just brought in money from the outside, tasks wouldn’t get done. The exception was spirit stones.

One could trade in spirit stones to the sect for contribution points, since there was always a need for them. As long as one earned the stones themselves. The people at the sect weren’t stupid and an elder couldn’t just give a bunch of spirit stones to their disciple or child. That was where the 100 point transfer limit came in. Cultivators were meant to be independent and self-sufficient, not children who had their hands held their entire life.

The work around were businesses and tasks the cultivators created on their own. That meant anything I earned from now until I joined the sect, and afterwards was allowed. Yi Rong had told me I couldn’t use my status as a future inner sect disciple to bully people.

The Cloudy Moon sect liked low drama and the non-interventionist faction would be up in arms if I did something like that. It was their entire focus, not crushing mortals. The protector faction was partially aligned in this regard, since they wanted to protect humanity and gather strength. The militant faction would be annoyed at anything that took away from killing enemy cultivators and beasts.

That meant flashing my sect token and making a scene were out of the question. It didn’t stop people from hearing rumors, speculating, and not giving me a hard time, but I couldn’t just demand people obey me, either.

Yi Rong explained that many elders and cultivators had passive interests they themselves had set up. The Coinage Guild in the city was actually under the control of the Sect Leader. Grandmaster Kang of the woodworkers also had an elder backer.

An elder of the protection faction even backed my father, Yuan Chen. Only the elders had factions. Everyone else in the sect worked and cultivated. They could do things, but it was a rule that cultivators shouldn’t directly crush mortals and make a mess other cultivators had to clean up.

It just pissed everyone off and was a good way to unite all cultivators into hating you. Even rogue cultivators with no sect avoided making a fuss, since while the sects were isolated, they got supplies, food, and other goods from the mortal world. Messing with the supply chain would stir the old monsters to go out and make an example.

What I had been doing was fine. I was playing within the rules. Even Yi Rong was just mooching off my father since he had basically retired. Many senior cultivators reaching the end of their lives were given easy long-term tasks like this. Mortals would care for them to the highest standard while they lived out their last couple of decades.

The mortals would be protected during this time. While it was an expense, no cultivator would dare mess with my father. Even the sect wouldn’t give him a hard time. It was their retirement plan while also keeping a grip on the city and other areas under the Cloudy Moon Sect’s control.

It was one perk of reaching the fourth stage and being labeled a member. These old people didn’t get contribution points, but they didn’t have any living expenses either. Others might travel or save up to spend their last days in the sect.

Other sects usually greeted members of other sects warmly and allowed them to stay for a month or two to discuss cultivation. No sect would turn away free knowledge and building some relations. They gave these people a strict rule that they could only discuss their own cultivation outside the sect. No tomes, knowledge, or anything else.

Some of these wandering cultivators might train up a disciple outside of a sect if they had left on poor terms. But they didn’t discuss cultivation outside of their own. That was another way you got the old monsters in the sect to act.

Stealing knowledge was considered the quickest way to get the sect excited. All this meant for me at the moment was that I had to keep my notes locked up securely in a chest while not using them. The chest was only for my cultivation notes on myself and had the Cloudy Moon sect symbol stamped on the outside.

If the notes got stolen, I would get a reprimand, and a lot of mortals would get killed once the sect enforcers showed up. It was technically illegal, but Yi Rong assured me it was fine as long as I didn’t talk to anyone but him and kept my notes to myself.

It was technically a bit of a gray area, since I was under his supervision and Half Moon city was so close to the sect as to be in its backyard. As long as nothing came of it, there would be no issue. I spent my days going to my businesses and looking at purchasing more businesses to build up my portfolio and increase my cash reserves while cultivating.

I entered the mining business next. I had enough cash flow from my hot sauce production that I felt confident in such an investment. Hong had insisted on hiring three more guards since we were leaving the outer walls to a mining town at a nearby mountain.

Just as I had put Ting in charge of managing the day to day and record keeping for my businesses, I arranged for Hong to handle my personal safety. I had burned the main accounting book I had written in Arabic after copying everything over in the local script. I was no longer concerned about people interfering with my businesses.

Yi Rong had explained that if I stepped on any toes, the regional supervisor for the sect would come and speak with me and sort things out between me and the other party. Otherwise, it was just business.

The mining town was struggling with flooding and going higher on the mountain risked more beast attacks. They had tried it in the past with poor results. They mined iron here and were one of several suppliers to Half Moon city.

The people were half starved, and almost all of them were debt slaves. The buildings were worn and leaky, and the entire place smelled. They invited me into the foreman’s home, which was much nicer. The mine owner was looking to sell after slowly bleeding out money over the last decade. He had focused on hiring slaves, but the costs were too much, and he kept cutting corners.

Now everything had fallen into this state and the owner was desperately trying to sell for 20,000 tael. The Coinage Guild was agreeable to lending me the money at four percent interest. It was higher because of the mine being outside the city walls and at much greater risk.

“You produce ten carts of ore a day and ship that to the city to be processed?” I asked, hoping for confirmation from the foreman.

“Yes. There was talk of making a smelter out here, but the smell would agitate the beasts.”

“Ten carts daily? Is that high, low, average?” I asked.

“That is a good day. Bad days, we might get one or two carts filled up with ore. There is a lot of ore, but the water fills up the mineshafts and we bucket it out, but it is slow. Most of the time, we wait for it to drain and work the side shafts.”

They would sell a cart of ore for a tael and would produce about five iron bars, which would sell for a tael apiece. The mine was only earning about four tael a day on average after looking at their records. About 1,000 tael a year.

But then there were all the expenses which rapidly cut into that. Food, supplies, wages, buying new debt slaves, and paying to rebuild when beasts came through and wrecked everything. “Is there anything that can be done about the beasts?” I asked Hong, who was listening in.

“It wouldn’t be easy. You kill one beast, and more come to claim its corpse. Kill too many, and you get a high ranked beast coming through wiping everyone and everything out.” I nodded slowly at this.

“What about underground or more fortified buildings?” I asked.

“Would last longer, but they would be much more costly. It wouldn’t really stop anything. That is why they build houses like they do,” Hong said, and I nodded at this. It made sense and also why anyone dealing with this situation would pull their hair out.

It also explained the lack of metal available in the city and in general. It would have been far better to process the ore on site. “There is no way to ward off beasts?” I asked Hong, who shook his head.

“No. It just isn’t possible. The more you kill, the more they get riled up. They also don’t like walls or things stopping them. The sect has broken enough beast tides by the city. They have given up, but if they put a wall up out here, they would attack,” Hong explained.

I went and looked at the mine and went inside as well. This part was well done with careful and consistent wood bracing along the entire route, even the side tunnels. I saw the water and damp stone as the tunnel ended along with the bracing.

“It rots and there is a much greater risk of collapse,” the foreman explained. The water was coming through the soil and mountain above, not from the entrance. It was leaking through cracks in the rock to fill up the bottom of the mine.

At least being short paid off this time, since I didn’t have to duck while entering the mine. I considered my options. I couldn’t make my own smelters, since the Smithing Guild had that on lockdown. They handled the ore, and they set their rates.

They made the road to the city with gravel, so it wasn’t a muddy mess either. So, there was little improvement that could be done there. No one wanted to work outside the walls, either. Which meant slaves were the only real option. While the attrition wasn’t terrible, it was still bad.

Even if I developed a system to get the water out of the mine, it would be a headache to get the ore out as the mine was dug deeper. The biggest improvement would be wheeled carts to move the ore out more efficiently, but there were a host of problems.

The thing was, I wanted an iron mine since then I could find a smelter to buy out and get my own iron for my own projects, saving on the enormous cost of purchasing iron myself. I had paid a small fee to the clerk at the Coinage Guild to keep me informed. He had just given me that smile he had plastered on his face and agreed.

“Why don’t humans drive the beasts back and out of these lands?” I asked Hong.

“Beast cores are otherwise known as spirit stones. Beasts gather energy naturally to cultivate. You kill off all the beasts, then cultivating and ingredients at the higher stages becomes much harder,” he explained.

“You know all of this?” I asked, surprised.

“I considered a career as a beast hunter. It pays really well but is very high risk. They also aren’t allowed back into the city unless they remain quarantined for a month without incident.”

“How intelligent are the beasts?” I asked.

“A rank one beast is an animal, but a little smarter. A rank four beast is as clever as a human. But their cultivation is innate to their body, so they are like body cultivators. I could kill a rank one beast, and all four of your guards could handle a rank two beast. But you would need specialized equipment and men to kill a rank three beast.”

“The more you kill, the more attention it brings,” I muttered, and Hong nodded. I couldn’t hire local hunters to clear out the nearby beasts, since that wouldn’t help anything. Investing in the mining town wouldn’t work if everything kept getting destroyed once every couple of years. The foreman was sitting quietly as well.

No wonder why the owner was giving up. “What do other mines do?” I asked, and the foreman shook his head.

“They struggle like we do. Some are better, some are attacked less, but we all have the same problems,” he replied as we went back inside and sat inside his house.

“What about building houses partially into the mountainside with stone, and reinforced roofs with thick wood beams?” I asked.

“A beast would rip them apart just to check before moving on,” Hong explained. We were mining in enemy territory with no way to kill or hold off the beasts.

“What about in the mine itself?” I asked.

“We use that for shelter, but it is cramped, and no one likes it. It would also interfere with pulling ore out. We only do that if there is an attack,” the foreman explained. I rubbed my head in frustration.

“Could you carve out larger rooms?” I asked.

“Not really. And it is dark. People living there would bring too much smoke. That is why we dig down instead of up, so the smoke flows out of the mine,” he explained. But that brought water issues.

“There has to be a way to build a structure that won’t be ripped to shreds, right?” I asked and looked at Hong, who shook his head. The foreman shook his head as well. “Is there a plant or something that would keep the beasts away?” I asked and got another negative from both of them. These beasts were really annoying me.

“What about digging and living underground?” I asked.

“It would be too damp,” the foreman replied. “Water would leak through the stone. People wouldn’t last long and we have tried it.”

“If there were no leaks, and it was dry, would the beasts dig up the ground?” I asked. The foreman grew thoughtful for a moment.

“Most wouldn’t, some might. But this land is all hilly. It’s difficult for beasts to tunnel in.” I nodded at this. “Also, it isn't easy to dig up. If we are digging, we aren’t mining.”

I left without deciding, since I needed to think about the issue some more. Mining was a perilous activity. I could make improvements and investments, but for them to get wrecked and have to start all over, turned me off from purchasing the mine.

I even asked Yi Rong if there was a cultivation type solution and about beasts. “It is an age-old problem. Some areas have pushed out a lot more like Blazing Sun Sect and the Imperial Sect. But they have immortal cultivators and have been around for a long time. They also have the population to support such an expansion.”

“The sect moves the outer wall occasionally when someone pays ‌to purchase land, since they are ultimately responsible for repelling any beast tides. But it is a slow and steady process. And also, the beasts provide spirit stones.”

“What do the larger sects do?” I asked.

“They have more territory. It is just that simple. A high-ranking sect would spread out far and wide and have other sects report to them. The Cloudy Moon sect reports to the Imperial Sect and pays a century tribute to them.”

“Really? How much?” I asked.

“A thousand level 1 spirit stones. A hundred level 2 spirit stones. Ten level 3 spirit stones. And one level 4 spirit stone. But that is the power of a high-ranking sect.” I didn’t even mention about not paying. Since then, a ninth rank cultivator would show up and wreck face. “There are rumors of more powerful forces, but we do not possess the qualifications for such things.” What my Master Yi Rong was saying was that we were weak.

“Then what about shaping stone? Could a cultivator do that? Make caves inside the mountain?” I asked.

“It would require effort and cultivators would not do a task cheaply. You would need to pay around fifty thousand taels for what you want.”

“Why that much?” I asked.

“You need someone at least at the core formation stage. And no, I will not help. Just making the caves is not enough. Using techniques like that would draw the beasts’ attention, and things would escalate. You would pay for an expansion.”

“Could I hunt beasts?” I asked.

“Dangerous, but many cultivators or aspiring ones do. It is one of the main ways to gather Qi. The hard part is that the spirit stone inside the beasts often breaks when they are killed.”

“Could beasts be cultivated?” I asked.

“It has been tried, but there are a lot of risks. They have the power of a cultivator and grow more intelligent. Would you wait meekly to be harvested?” I shook my head and gave a negative.

I would need to check some things first, but I was interested. Returning to the city, I looked into cement and concrete. While they were available, both were expensive. Very expensive. Since the limestone was mined, crushed, and then baked, there were a lot of steps involved. They used it in high end buildings that were made of stone.

Getting the mine working, without constantly losing people, would take a large up-front investment. After doing some math, it would take half a year and about 10,000 tael just for the materials to build underground bunkers.

Figure a year and 15,000 tael with delays and cost overruns. That would mean I would need around 40,000 tael total to purchase the mine and proceed with the investment to build bunkers people could live in. Or I could go to the Coinage Guild, which would charge me 1,600 tael a year to have a loan of that magnitude.

I had decent cash flow, but not that much to support such a loan with the farm loan still hanging over me. While growth was good, the mining operation and investment were just too risky. If it failed or something went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to recover from it.

While it was tempting to go from business to business, I needed to build up my cash reserves. That was when I considered getting other investors. That would invite new headaches and I would lose out on a part of the possible revenue. But it would also get me support from other people.

This time when I went to the Coinage Guild to discuss things, I was passed on from the smiling clerk to a manager and was invited into his office.

“So, you have a plan to turn the mine around and possibly other mines, but you require a larger investment and are interested in getting other investors,” he confirmed what I had explained to him.

“Yes. The risk of such a venture is quite large. I was considering forming a company, and wanted the Coinage Guild’s advice,” I asked.

“The guilds are such companies since our operations and profits are tied directly into the sect, but you appear to want to take a different route?”

“I could see the sect being one investor, and perhaps other people. But the legalities are something I am unsure about,” I replied.

“It would be an agreement between parties. How much equity would you be giving up and would it involve your other businesses?” the manager asked.

“I was thinking ten percent at fifty thousand taels. That would give my company a valuation of half a million taels.”

“Such a thing is not really done. A holding company owned by multiple people and selling percentages like that would be unknown. At most there are two or three investors, but I am guessing you are interested in multiple.”

“If it is just one, it is fine. But that is the valuation I would require and the equity I would give up.”

“Right now, the Coinage Guild will have to say no. While you have had two successes. This is a long-term risk and investment, which we don’t do,” the manager explained.

“May I ask why not?”

“It is a matter of cash flow and getting too entangled in business ventures. That is why we prioritize short-term gains and then sell off the equity we get. It impacts our long-term projections, but we are under strict orders not to invest into things that would take over ten years to recoup any losses.”

“But then, why sell the equity?” I asked. I really didn’t understand the Coinage Guild. It seemed to me like they would scoop everything up to increase profits.

“That used to be done in the past. But it stifled growth and turnover in businesses. You are the perfect example of why we try to keep the various markets in flux just enough for innovators like yourself. If the Wood Carvers Guild or the Smithing Guild were owned by us, then people are not incentivized to create something new. If you would not make a lot of tael, would you have come up with the rocking chair?”

“No, I would have looked at other areas to develop a business in.”

“And if we controlled all the businesses and fields?”

“Then I would look at other cities,” I replied.

“While the Lord runs the day-to-day operations of the city, the Coinage Guild answers directly to the Cloudy Moon Sect and handles long-term development. While we could invest a lot ourselves, it would create a monolithic business structure and slow down long-term development.”

“We want stability and slow and steady growth. Speeding up and slowing down creates too much instability.”

“Thank you for explaining this to me,” I bowed my head towards the manager.

“I am more than happy to. There have been people in the past who have asked the same questions that you have. But we are a low and mid-level facilitator to the city, not an institution for the super wealthy or individuals.”

I said my goodbyes and left the Coinage Guild with much more to think about. I hadn’t missed the hidden subtext of that conversation either. They prevented monopolies from forming. Monopolies would cause long-term issues with the competition between various businesses.

Where I had not seen a lot of turnover before, that was just from my experiences in my past life on Earth. The Coinage Guild wanted a set amount of turnover, and the current rate was ideal for the various businesses. Their low interest rate was to make things easy, since they would scoop up everything if a person defaulted.

The initial equity and then selling it would move the wealth around or into the hands of the sect. It hadn’t escaped my notice that I had heard nothing about buying the equity of successful businesses.

They might even transfer ownership to the Sect Leader, making the Coinage Guild a clearing house for investments. They threw out the bad ones and moved the good ones into his portfolio while also managing the entire economy.

No other group or person was allowed to give out loans. The one gray area was families, and in small amounts. I could go to my father and get a loan for 50,000 tael, but it would step on the toes of the Coinage Guild, which he wouldn’t do. Forming a holding company would be a gray area and apparently wasn’t done.

There was very little diversification and limited vertical integration of businesses. I had hired a glassblower specifically for my hot sauce business to cut down on costs, but most businesses just contracted out.

The more I learned about the economy of Half Moon City, the more complex and simple it became all at the same time. Complex in terms of higher-level relationships and the pressure the Cloudy Moon Sect and the Coinage Guild exerted. Simple in terms of business practices.

I would need resources, lots of resources, which would be expensive. Talking with my master Yi Rong, he had explained that the third stage required resources to attune my meridians and channels to a type of element. The base cost would be around five level 3 spirit stones for a resource for that stage.

A level 1 spirit stone was 1,000 tael, and they went up by multiples of 10 taels after that. So, a level 3 spirit stone would cost about 100,000 tael. The higher up one went, the more the price fluctuated. It could be lower or higher, depending on how quickly a seller needed money and the demand, but that was the standard rate most people agreed on.

For the fourth stage costs, the costs started at level 5 spirit stones. That was ten million tael per spirit stone. They normally handled anything over a million taels with spirit stones that had been shaped into currency or spirit coins.

They weren’t used for crafting or cultivating, but were made to the same shape and size by the Imperial and Blazing Sun Sects who had different coinage. All the local high-level currency was Imperial Sect standard, since this region and the Cloudy Moon Sect were under their purview and paid tribute to them.

The tribute was the equivalent of four million tael every century, or forty thousand taels a year. A small amount, compared to the wealth a cultivator could gather, but very strict in requiring payment. After some tea with my brothers, I learned my father earned only ten thousand tael a year before expenses.

There was a lot of wealth caught up in the compound and maintaining our status. I had been considering moving out, but I was advised not to and would be seen as an insult to my father and create unnecessary tensions.

My mother was busy with my two younger sisters, but she was still prone to dramatics and asking me to help support her and buy new dresses and perfumes. I refused to hand out money like that since it would never end. She kept pestering me every time I saw her, which was one reason I had not been spending a lot of time at the compound.

I visited my different properties and business to oversee them and to collect as many motes as possible. Once Jian restored the land and began producing peppers, that was when the real money would start rolling in and I would look at expansions.

For now, I needed to build up my war chest and the tael I had on hand to invest in various mining towns. That was where the real money would come from once. I could engage in vertical integration. From iron ore to a smelter, to a blacksmith, to various finished products.

Chapter 9 – Zhou Holding Company Limited

I looked at the small building I had purchased for my new company. It would be a holding company that would purchase and invest in other businesses. I needed a place to work out of if I was going to expand and keep records.

The first thing I did was set up a Board of Advisors. I placed Ting in charge of hiring and personnel management. Hong was in charge of security, which included my personal security and that of my businesses. Then I hired Fang, my head accountant.

He was fairly young, but had worked as an assistant accountant at the Woodcarvers Guild. I had interviewed him and checked his references. He wanted more money and a chance to spread his wings a bit, since becoming the chief accountant at the Woodcarvers Guild was unlikely because of seniority and politics.

I was eight years old and things were going well. The cashflow was consistent and building up.

After entering, I made my way to the large meeting room. Ting was to my right, Hong to my left, and then Fang to my second right. After that were the managers of my various businesses, like the two wood carving shops and the hot sauce production. The farm had no manager, and Fang handled that account directly.

It was just moving numbers around since I was buying from the farm for my hot sauce production, but then got half that money back since I owned half the farm. I had insisted that businesses be kept separate. It involved more paperwork, but there was a reason I had managers and an accountant. I didn’t want any embezzlement to occur.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming. While it has been unofficial for a while, with the success of the hot sauce, I am reorganizing everything under Zhou Holding Company Limited. The idea behind the holding company is to own and manage various businesses.”

“The aim is to not take a monopoly, but develop profitable businesses through vertical integration. Vertical integration is about owning each portion of the supply chain. For the hot sauce, we control the farm, producing the peppers, bottle production, and hot sauce production. We are cutting our dependence out.” There were nods at this as everyone got on the same page.

“While long term, I would like to invest in mining and iron, since we already have woodcarving businesses. In the future, there will be yearly meetings as each business presents how they have done over the year and any suggestions to expand that they might have.”

I had told everyone to come prepared. The doll shop was losing just a bit of money, which was frustrating. It was losing about 5 tael a year. The manager was also not motivated to do much, since he had to manage the mentally handicapped grandson of grandmaster wood carver Kang. I had just given up on the business, mostly. The manager didn’t even look ashamed when he explained he had only lost 5 tael during the year.

I would have Ting hire two people to replace him going forward. A caretaker for the grandson and to manage him and a manager for the shop. It would cost more, but the man’s attitude annoyed me.

Ling’s shop was doing very well. The ten rocking chairs had been sold to the sect, and there had been one custom order. The big money was from the patent licensing. I was earning 850 tael per year in profit. The manager had been very aggressive in selling chairs since he earned five percent commission. He didn’t get that for the custom order since I handled that, but the business was doing well, and Ling was thrilled.

The hot sauce business had really taken off and already there were people trying to copy us. But we had the market covered. Inferno Sauce was the cheapest at 40 bronze coins, then Hell Sauce at 60 bronze coins, and finally the super concentrated mix, new and improved The Death Sauce, which had been recently developed at 500 bronze coins. Production costs ran me about half the selling price.

Since my fourth brother had to buy the hot sauces, we had no trouble offloading them. The main issue had been the pepper supply, but with the farm restored and growing peppers, it was no longer a major concern.

Boiling the sauce and then bottling it, combined with the salt, preserved the sauce well. The manager had been looking to dry the sauce out into a powder form, which would allow us to ship it much further. The recent tests had been a success and Yuan Niu was evaluating the market, but it would take time.

Intercity travel was slow and expensive. Still, there was a market, and it thrilled Yuan Niu by being the distributor for hot sauce. I had looked at the prices, and while they had been high initially, he had dropped them a bit and had about a fifty percent markup.

People could bring the bottles back to us, and we would buy them back five bronze coins. Already several of the poorer kids would do that. Go about collecting bottles to be returned to earn some money. Even the servants and business owners would save the bottles and return them.

We would soak them in water, and the labels were removed. The cost of this was cheaper than making new bottles, which was how we got the price down. All told, the business had made 282 tael for me in the last year, which had been used to pay off the last of the loan I had with the Coinage Guild. The farm earned about 150 tael per year.

Minus the salaries I had to pay out under my holding company and the building itself, I had a profit of 1,212 tael for the year. I used 1,200 tael to pay off the interest and principle of the loan I had against the farm. I kept the remaining twelve locked up for daily expenses. That brought my debt down to 10,271 tael. Ling’s shop had already been paid off.

There were no serious issues, and everything was running smoothly. At the current rate, I would pay my debt off in ten years. After everything was presented, they brought in food and drink. My holding company had a kitchen, and I could hire out a cook for the day. Catering wasn’t a thing, unfortunately.

“Why that name, Zhou Holding Company Limited?” Ting asked me as various people chatted and relaxed after all the presenting was done.

“Well, my name since I own it. A holding company, since it holds other companies in its possession. Finally limited, since our goal isn’t to get a monopoly or take over any specific market,” I explained.

“Your father is quite interested in what you are doing,” Ting informed me.

“You think he will do something?” I asked her and she shook her head and then stopped.

“I don’t know. But your business ventures match up with his to an extent. If anything, he would want to bring it all under the Yuan family name, like the cattle business.” I nodded slowly at this. It made sense. My father, Yuan Chen, was not a wallflower.

They had promoted me to the right of my first brother at family dinners at the head table. Unless I moved into contention for the title of heir, that was as basically as high as I would go until I became a cultivator. Then I would have the seat of honor to my father’s right, which I had for that one dinner he had recognized me in the past.

My income was sizable for a mortal child. For a cultivator, it was nothing. My goal was to get my yearly income up to 10,000 tael a year with no debt by the time I entered the sect. There would also be no issues in exchanging tael for spirit stones and then sect points, since all of this had been done by me and wasn’t inherited.

The next step was to invest in lumber production. There were a couple of tree farms, but none of them had any financial issues. Mining was where there was a lot of struggling and a need for investment or a new way of doing things.

A tree farm would take a century to turn around and make a profit off of. They were very stable long-term businesses that had cultivator backing. In fact, the second richest business man in Half Moon City controlled the tree farms and lumber sales. Even richer than my father.

Everything was done with wood. While they made the core buildings in the city and some estates of stone, there wasn’t that much stone. I had looked at doing a quarry, but there was already a quarry and they ran it efficiently.

The main issue was that stone was expensive and stone buildings were a sign of wealth. There was just that much work involved in stone carving. So, most people were content with wood. Even with the risk of fire, it wasn’t that high. The climate was fairly damp and if there was a fire, then the tree farms would just cut down more trees at that time and make a killing as people rebuilt.

Mining was where there was potential. The main issue was the initial cost and massive headaches that mining involved. Buying a mine, investment, and covering expenses for a year would require about 50,000 tael.

The four percent interest on such a loan would run at 2,000 tael a year. It just wasn’t workable if I wanted to make money. But at a tael a cart, if I could manage ten carts a day, then I would be in business. My plan was to precast concrete blocks and ship them up to the mine to build bunkers.

Each block would be about a half a meter or one and a half feet on each side. They would be massive. They would then set the blocks into the ground to build the foundation and the sides of various buildings. The cost to make such blocks, transporting them, and getting them placed would be expensive.

Once the structures were built into the ground and covered with thick lumber on the roof, they could take a lot of damage if a beast came through. The idea would be to build the buildings into the ground and the side of the mountain, so they were submerged underground as much as possible. I had confirmed that thick walls on buildings were fine. But making a wall around an area would excite the beasts.

It wouldn’t be cheap or easy. That was one reason no one had gone to such lengths. I had asked around, and basically mining was a death sentence, which was why debt slaves were used, since no one wanted to do it.

Mining was only done because some iron ore and other ores were needed, but the cost of metal was painful because of the difficulty of getting said ore. There were horror stories of some beasts coming through and ruining an enormous investment. That was why people running these mining camps did as little as possible to keep them functioning.

The plan was ready, and I had even worked out the concrete blocks to my satisfaction in my testing warehouse next to my holding company building. But the problem came from needing a large amount of tael to make it all happen.

Once the party wound down, I went back to my office to look over my plans. I could do it in stages. Purchase the mine for cheap, and then slowly make the buildings. Even if things went poorly, I could still try to sell the mine and break even.

I didn’t need to do everything at once or shut things down completely, like my farm. Also, these were debt slaves. I could build one building for them to live in, instead of a small complex. It would suck, but at least they wouldn’t get eaten.

Pulling out the sheets of paper, I began drawing up a new plan with everything slashed to the bare minimum. I used a sand tray to jot down some quick calculations to work out the final cost of everything. It would cost around 5,000 tael to build one building. If I purchased the mine for 15,000 tael, then the four percent interest would only run at 800 tael a year.

But the Coinage Guild wouldn’t accept that. They would want at least 20,000 tael and wouldn’t budge. So, make that 1,000 tael of interest per year, which the mine was covering at the moment. It was profitable, but only barely.

From what I had learned of the person trying to sell, they wanted to invest or retire in another venture and had inherited the mine. But they weren’t willing to cut the price on their end and there was a risk of defaulting, which the coinage guild didn’t want.

Better to just hand it all off to someone who could pay the bill. They would rather have the cashflow and business moving and not try to squeeze out every tael they could.

My next meeting with the Coinage Guild had me purchase the mine for 20,000 tael and a 5,000 tael additional loan ‌with all my assets as collateral. They would hold on to 20% equity with the agreement that money from the mine used to pay off the loan, interest, and investment back into the mine did not count against the equity. Once paid off, I would get the equity back.

Once everything was signed and I had ownership, I immediately hired a large section of laborers and purchased debt slaves to work. The carts that brought supplies now also brought in one pre-made concrete block as well per cart.

A large patch of ground was dug out down to the bedrock with a drainage ditch, so it didn’t fill up with water. I went up to inspect the pit once it was dug out and it was ten feet, or three meters deep, twenty-two feet long by twelve feet wide.

I had the bottom filled up with a layer of gravel and two metal tubes made for drainage. Then the pre-cast blocks which had been stacked up as they were brought to the mine were laid out to make the floor and the walls. The blocks had indentations as part of them, so bumps would lock into depressions.

There was a beast attack during this time, and I had to purchase more debt slaves, but the mine kept producing and the building slowly took shape. The roof stuck a foot out of the ground and was over-engineered with a layer of wood beams and then wood planks on top of it for the floor.

There was a trapdoor and a ladder down to the sleeping area. Up above was a shack built with a kitchen and dining area for the workers, with the precast block walls.

Once the building was done, I had the foreman keep proper track of people’s debts. Before, it was a very loose situation, and the people were never really going to get out of debt once sold to the mine.

I had a board built in the kitchen area where everyone’s time remaining to pay off their debt was updated monthly. I also had meat shipped up once a week if they shipped ten carts of ore out every day that week. It was the poorest quality from the cattle ranches my brother Yuan Niu ran, but it motivated the workers like nothing else.

They actually had a bit of hope that they would live to see another day. The next problem was the water in the mine itself, slowing things down where the richest veins of ore were located. Metal pumps were available as a specialty order from another city.

The Smithing Guild kept their patents to cities and didn’t license them, unlike the Woodcarver’s Guild. I could get my pump repaired and get a replacement part made, but I couldn’t have one built in Half Moon City unless I wanted to piss people off. I had ordered a pump ahead of time, and it took a year to arrive. A line of metal piping was purchased and laid down and placed in the main mineshaft.

The miners would constantly pump out the water. The leather piston valve had to be replaced weekly, but that was a minor upkeep cost of around 50 bronze coins, which was nothing compared to getting the mine drained and fully operational.

I didn’t offer incentives for over 10 carts besides allowing the workers half a day off a week for the meat dinner. I wanted consistency and not overwork or danger, so I appointed a safety inspector whose job was to double check the bracings and inspect them. The miners were allowed to pick the safety inspector, which ended up going to the most senior miner at the camp.

The one thing I had made clear was that I didn’t want accidents or injuries slowing people down. I had metal helmets with padding issued. None of the workers objected. I allowed them to set up an injury allotment, if someone was injured taking time to heal, as long as the ten carts of ore were produced a day. I made sure the manager knew his job was to keep the books and let me know of any issues, but I let the miners run things.

I also had a main shaft outside the mine under construction. If we wanted to go deeper, then we would need better air flow. That meant a central shaft down so the air could circulate. It would also make hauling up the ore much easier.

After seeing the cost of the pipes and the pump, trying to lay tracks was way too expensive. Better to build a shaft, set up an elevator, and load a cart up directly and then raise the entire cart up. This was much better than carrying baskets of ore up and dumping them.

We built the mineshaft building like the living area with an alternation. The dirt was cleared and then a rectangular hole was built into the floor that was slowly dug out. We built a ramp from the hole, leading outside the building to the road, with a space in the building for two extra carts to be stored.

As the shaft was dug, we built an elevator to lift people and rock in and out. It would take a few years to connect to the main portion of the mine, but if I wanted this mine to last, this needed to be done.

I had also hired a new master blacksmith who didn’t want to be an apprentice anymore. He directly got the ore that was mined up and his job was to smelt it into iron bars. There was always a market for iron and the Smithing Guild standardized the sizes. A cart of ore could make five bars, each of them selling for a tael.

Like the Woodcarver’s Guild, I could only own half of the smelter because of the Smithing Guild's requirements. So, every day I got ten carts of ore. Sold them to myself for ten taels, then turned all of that into fifty tael worth of iron bars, which I kept half of.

A bar was about half the thickness of a can of soda and about that one and a half times the length. They weren’t big. The main issue for not getting that many bars was the quality of the ore. Each bar had to be a certain purity to get a guild stamp on it. There were regular inspections by the guild.

If a bar didn’t have a stamp, no blacksmith would buy it and a smith’s products would be considered inferior. So quality was the baseline. After the smelter’s expenses, I was earning around ten taels a day from iron bars.

They could be made into things and sold, which my smith did, but the primary income from his workshop was smelting iron. Not every blacksmith had a dedicated supplier, and most were happy to just buy iron bars.

The workshop was streamlined, so they would back the carts up on a platform and the door dumped right into the smelter. Even the beast attacks didn’t disrupt things as much anymore. The miners were sleeping in their warm and dry bunker or working in the mine.

Sure, we might lose a few people who were handling the food prep and the above ground buildings took damage occasionally, but it had become the cost of doing business, not a hemorrhaging of money like it was before.

My cultivation had made a lot of progress as well in the last three years. All this moving about had allowed me to collect a tremendous number of motes. I enjoyed visiting the farm a lot and checking out the various peppers growing. Taking a trip outside the walls to my mine was too risky to do constantly.

Jian probably thought I was crazy, but he had no objections with everything going smoothly and tael flowing into his pocket. I was just an eccentric rich person who liked peppers and walking about the fields.

I was now up to 250,000 motes of Qi at the age of eight. It was slower than I would have liked, but it was still amazing progress. Yi Rong also informed me we would pay another visit to the sect so I could look through the library.

He was looking a lot older and was wheezing. He didn’t speak during the trip. Once at the sect, he had forgotten to pick me up twice, and I walked back from the library to the house he had gotten for us. This would most likely be the last visit until I was twenty and joined the sect full time.

I spent that entire month working through the mote layout I had planned and the failure points. Since I couldn’t record anything, it was hard when I wanted to go back and reference something. I couldn’t even write the names of the tomes or where they were located. I had to manage with just reading as best as I could and taking mental notes.

The plan was to build four cores arranged in a pyramid and a fake core in the center to allow two rounds of explosions. They had tried it in the past, but filling up all the cores to the solid stage had failed.

In addition, I would buttress each core I planned to build. The motes provided the structure. Right now, I was thinking about using a sphere-shaped design for my cores, with multiple outer structures. I was going to use triangles for the structure internally and hexagon meridians for the edge of my astral soul.

Just having a lot of motes wasn’t enough to support a lot of meridians and channels. A person needed to have the internal structure as well, so their astral soul wasn’t ripped apart. Triangles internally would be the strongest, and hexagons as the outer layer to better pull back together after it detonated my cores.

While the triangle idea was nothing new, the hexagon idea was something that I had seen across multiple people who had made it to the fifth stage. I considered that an important trend. The four cores, with a fifth fake core, were from a failed idea, but the theory crafting in the book had been very detailed looking at it from every angle.

The cultivator had gone with smaller cores than normal, hoping the secondary core detonation would be more than enough. Their book was in the failed section, but unlike almost every other book, he actually wrote out that he suspected his failure was because of being only in the liquid core stage, despite having smaller cores when his time ran out.

There were several things I had left to work out‌. The shape I should use for the motes where I formed my meridians and the shape of my channels. Unlike everyone else, I wouldn’t be using a standard template for most things.

That meant I had to work backwards to figure out the final number of motes I needed. Going under would be dangerous, going over would waste time. I also needed to work out the ideal number of channels.

No wonder why no one tried to come up with an entirely new cultivation method and only did incremental improvements while picking out things they liked from the cultivation methods listed. I needed to figure every detail out, since I would have so many motes. Using a standard design would only hinder me.

The closest to a standard template was the internal triangle structure, but reduced by a factor of ten to provide a much denser structure inside my astral soul. The math checked out, but it was unclear if this translated to ten times increased to meridians and channels that it could support.

While that was what was assumed and listed as the standard of thousand motes to one meridian, it wasn’t clear if this changed at the higher amount of motes. Also, the channels were an issue. I would need to fit over a thousand channels into my body and connect my meridians to my core.

For other people, this was just a straight line, but if I was using four cores and a fake core and all those extra meridians, it wouldn’t be simple. I considered going with a single super core, but upscaling didn’t provide that much of a benefit for the transition to the fifth stage and was much harder to solidify.

A second core detonation was best, then density, and then size. People had planned out cores that were far too big and they were stuck with gaseous cores. There was a sweet spot of 1,000 drops and the core being solid based on a standard core size.

None of this touched on how I would get through the third and fourth stages quickly, or my elemental attunement that I would use. I was making progress, but there was a lot left to figure out and I would probably need to construct a diagram‌.

It would need to be a three-dimensional diagram, laying out my meridians, channels, and cores. With sub-diagrams showing the mote structure of those along with the internal structure and attachment points.

It was a complicated project for sure, but I enjoyed problem solving like this. It was like writing a dissertation and having to do the reading beforehand to understand what worked and what didn’t work to develop your own thesis.

The proof would be in one’s success. Failure meant dying of old age. If the tried-and-true path worked, then the elders would have stepped onto the path of immortality. That was the thing that made me choose this path of defiance, as Yi Rong called it.

It got people up to the second bottleneck, but that was where they fell short. There was also a reason the two high ranked sects didn’t have hordes of immortal cultivators. One couldn’t depend on something that had already been done.

That was why the library had been built to provide guidance on what worked and what didn’t work. The stage plan with the mine had been a big help. But I wouldn’t be able to do that here. The plan for the Foundation Establishment stage was to align each mote just slightly over a long period of time, so they didn’t shift.

That meant I needed to have a plan worked out ahead of time. I guess this was the big advantage sect kids and inner disciples got. They could work out their cultivation plan ahead of time to maximize their chance of success.

Also, they would be rushed since they would also have to pay the sect fees of 100 sect points per year. That came in at around 100,000 tael. Since I was earning the money myself, I could fund my admittance while not having to worry about chores around the sect.

It was a loophole, but one I intended to exploit. What other kid would come into the sect with a bunch of businesses they had built up under their own name? Sect kids wouldn’t be out and about in the mortal world, and even then, business required focus and foresight. One couldn’t just punch a business into submission.

So, they might set up something in their teens while also cultivating, but it would be difficult, very difficult. I guess the two advantages sect kids had were that they were favored for easy chores they could volunteer for while in the sect, while not having to pay for their stay. Also, their parents could pay for the first stage cultivation resources to help them out.

I am sure there was some assistance after that, but even cultivators didn’t like useless children staying at home forever. Yi Rong had explained that some other sects did things differently than the Cloudy Moon sect. Like taking people in at twenty-one years of age or allowing elders to fund juniors much more heavily into the later stages of cultivation.

Some sects also had everyone use the same element to focus on the development of techniques and cultivation methods involving a single element. There were sects that didn’t charge members sect points and had dedicated families of servants who were vetted from birth to care for the sect.

I was stuck with the Cloudy Moon Sect and there would be no changing things at this point. I had been accepted as an inner disciple. Another sect would not take me and even if I tried to join, the Cloudy Moon Sect would hunt me down.

That was the general agreement between sects, don’t poach people or accept people who were from other sects. The only exception was if an immortal made a personal request. But an immortal could break all the rules without issue. They made the rules.

All this meant was that I would not be behind anyone else. Unless there was a helicopter parent, but even then, cultivation was about self-progression. You couldn’t cultivate on behalf of someone else. There were even kids who left the sect after agreeing to keep its secrets since they were mediocre and lacked the drive to cultivate for countless years.

The knowledge I had picked up from all the failed and successful cultivators was going to pave my way forward. But I needed some way to make the diagrams for the motes and channels.

The best way would be a computer modeling program to do some three dimensional design. But I didn’t have that. It would be far too complex to manage on paper, at least the channels. I needed to map out the point and path from each meridian to each core.

A person following the regular path would draw mostly straight lines with maybe some adjustments. But I would have over a thousand channels and meridians with the path I was on. Once I got to that point, it would be very hard to correct any mistakes.

Chapter 10 – A Model

After returning from the second visit to the sect, Master Yi Rong had excused himself to rest. He wouldn’t be alive much longer. He had mentioned that the sect would come and collect his body for disposal once he passed to keep secrets of his cultivation from leaking or anyone disrespecting his corpse.

I had inquired if people might use corpses, but he had refuted that idea. Demonic cultivators stole other people’s cultivation and did not progress on their own. They were basically kill on sight or flee on sight if you couldn’t kill them.

The Imperial Sect offered a bounty of a hundred level 1 Spirit Stones for every demonic cultivator corpse brought to them and had the sects underneath them honor that. So, if anyone was a demonic cultivator, they had to keep very low profiles.

I had discussed with Master Yi Rong about modeling my eventual channels, but he knew nothing about it and muttered something about foolishness. That meant I was on my own to figure out my path. While it was tempting to divide parts of my body into quadrants and link meridians up from those quadrants, that was not advised by one book I had read where someone went with two cores.

The issue was imbalance. If the cores were imbalanced, then it would cause massive issues. For my four-core plan to work, all four cores had to pull energy equally from across my body and I couldn’t do quadrants. If they progressed at uneven rates, it would be a disaster.

Based on what I read, it was hard to say how much wiggle room there was. There weren’t many people who attempted multi-core cultivation, and none were in the successful section of the library. The big issue was that a higher mote count was one thing, but a core that was not just as strong meant that my astral soul wouldn’t be cleared when I detonated my core.

Once I took a step into the second stage, I would be stuck with the motes I had. I wouldn’t be able to remove or add Qi motes. That was why I needed to have a perfect plan beforehand and adjust my final mote count and layout once I had decided on everything.

I could move the motes inside of my body, but it took time and focus. That was one reason the second stage was so long. They were the smallest of pinpricks and acted like a car on ice. Move them too fast and they would slide. That meant going slowly.

I had practiced moving the motes inside of me and could enhance parts of myself. Master Yi Rong and the introduction book from the sect had said that spreading them out in the body was the best option to avoid imbalances and to get used to them. That was what I had done.

I might be reinventing the wheel on a lot of other things, but I could accept advice when it made sense. That still left figuring out the channels. Using the motes inside of me to lay them out wasn’t practical with how time consuming it would be and how they would slightly shift. Perhaps in time, as I got better, I could do that with more motes, but for now it was too hard.

That left me with creating some kind of model I could adjust and inspect. This was the one thing a cultivation society couldn’t match up with a modern society, three-dimensional modeling. I also needed to decide on the shape of my channels and meridians.

There were a lot of options and ideas on this topic, but there was no clear ‘best’ option. Some said straight line channels were the best since it allowed the smoothest flow. Others said that curled channels were the best since they could handle stress more. Another claimed triangular channels were best for their stability, others circular.

The same issue was true for meridians. There was no clear best answer. I had looked at what the meridians and channels were supposed to accomplish and the best way to achieve that instead.

Meridians drew in energy to fill up the cores through the channels. Each had to be attuned to an element or concept to endow the formed soul after the core explosion with that element or concept. Earth and water were the two primary elements chosen by cultivators of the Cloudy Moon Sect.

What would work with one element or concept wouldn’t work with another. Also, one could only absorb that type of energy through their meridians. There was no neutral or universal option. Cultivators had tried aligning to Qi itself, but they didn’t get anywhere.

The more fundamental the concept, the less the energy wanted to be drawn in and the harder it was to find resources that focused on that type of energy. Earth and water cultivation resources, pills, and other things were available. But something like time, there was nothing, and the energy wouldn’t budge in the slightest, creating a dead end.

The meridians and channels had to be attuned while you constructed them and by the time you realized you had screwed up at the Core Formation stage, it was too late to go back and change things. But people still tried believing they had some kind of advantage or insight that others did not.

I focused on earth elemental attunement. It wasn’t my first choice, but it was a safe choice. I was doing so many other crazy things, a different element or concept could easily make my cultivation worthless. I would look out for other opportunities, but it was the best path forward currently.

Once that decision was made in my mind, everything else slid into place. The channels would be triangular for maximum strength. The meridians would use a hexagon focal lens design. These were the most common options chosen for the earth element that had been successful in my reading.

Yi Rong had said he had done the same for stability, but it also meant his cultivation progress was too slow and he was going to die of old age before making a solid core. While he would try for the fifth stage in his last moments, there was almost no chance he would make it and he had resigned himself to failure.

The main thing left was to figure out the meridian and channel design to connect my meridians to my cores.

I ordered a large, life-sized humanoid wooden mannequin. I then used color string to represent my channels, but it was frustrating. This implied that I could wing it, but it wouldn’t be optimal, and I needed optimal if this was going to work.

Looking at my core design was also slightly frustrating. The problem was spacing out the channel connections at equal distances to have uniform pressure. This was key while forming a core. All cores were spherical.

But that was the Dantian, the area where the core would reside. It was made spherically to resist the pressure from the energy contained within. But it didn’t need to be spherical. People had tried other designs but failed.

Triangles were the strongest shape, but they built most cores using a sphere as a guideline. Not a triangle. Triangles were the strongest shape, because of the property of only having a single shape if the lengths were fixed.

The motes would form a framework inside of me as points to build the scaffolding for my soul. I had already planned triangles for the internal structure, but the core could also benefit from triangles as well.

I had some wire purchased and cut up a piece of paper into equilateral triangles. It took three days of constant work, but I worked out a model that used equal sized triangles. A 20 sided icosahedron, with 12 vertices.

If each face and each vertices had 10 channels at each location and with 4 cores, that would mean 128 meridians and channels. The fake core at the center would have 4 channels and four meridians for ‌132.

I would assign four channels for the fake core, since it would be much smaller than the other main ones and one channel could come in from the side of the pyramid structure, with a main core at each vertices.

I had made the model by hand in order to gain a better understanding of the shape I would use and ingrain it into my mind. The channels would converge at the vertices to apply focused pressure, but spread out on the faces to ensure stability of the core if there was a shift in pressure.

Too high pressure and the slightest mistake would have a cultivator going off prematurely. The real challenge now became how to route all these channels. The issue being if I made the first one short and straight, the last one would have a much longer path.

One of the main things that was stressed was balance in forming the core. That was why trying to form a core in a limb was a terrible idea. The meridians also needed to be as spread out as possible to maximize energy intake.

I knew there was a solution, but it wasn’t something I could work out on a sheet of paper or even a useless mannequin. With the number of channels needed, it would be very packed inside of my body. If two channels overlapped, that would cause an imbalance which was bad.

The next thing I had made was four wooden icosahedron balls with slots for thin rods to form a pyramid shape. I painted each edge on the balls with a black rod connecting them to make seeing them easy. I then got four different colored threads. Red, blue, green, and yellow. I then pushed metal needles into the soft wooden balls with a color of thread attached to it and hung the structure from a beam in my testing warehouse. The other end of the thread had a needle as well.

I then had the frame of an enormous person constructed and set up in my warehouse with a wooden core with colored strings in the middle. All of this wasn’t that expensive. It was more my time that I had to spend explaining what I wanted and making adjustments to get things the way I wanted.

Once the model was set up, I stood on a stepladder and handpicked each thread one by one and maneuvered the thread to a place on the humanoid frame and stuck the needle into it. The outer facing sides of the cores connected to the limbs, while the inner portions of the core connected to the torso.

It took five days of carefully maneuvering needles to finish the first iteration of my core design. One thing I had realized was trying to curve the channels around the cores was not a good idea. They would have to go straight out the other side.

The problem with this, though, was that I would place the fake secondary core where the highest concentration of threads went through. At least my small hands made maneuvering all the needles and threads easy, but it was just too complicated. Or a better way to describe it, dense.

Still, it gave me a very good idea of how to maneuver the various channels for an even distribution. Two steps forward, one step back.

The secondary fake core could be quite small. I just needed a dense contraction of energy to allow for a secondary explosion and it would only have four connections. I tossed a blanket over the wooden frame to let it sit and for me to think about the issue some more.

Next, I began gluing short sticks together to make a triangular three-dimensional frame. Once I had the first one built, I built a second, but with a series of many smaller triangles that would eventually form a channel and how to lay them out in relation to each other.

Each triangular frame made a cell, and I couldn’t have two channels inside of a cell. The channels and the frame would attach at the closest points, but be independent of each other in terms of structure. I then went back to the mannequin and worked out the density of the cells I would need in the core's interior structure and outside of it by thread count.

About a third to two-fifths of all the threads moved through the interior of the structure to the opposite side from each core. Each batch of threads or channels would need to be slightly offset from the center to create four lanes of channels.

This would create space in the center for the secondary fake core as well and reduce the headache of trying to cram a lot of channels into a small space where they would overlap. That didn’t change the general destination of each channel.

I would have enough motes for it all or be slightly over my initial target of 1,320,000. I shifted the motes inside of me and looked at their placement to my targeted total, and the size of each cell. It seemed that I would have enough space to keep one channel per cell.

It would be very packed. I considered the four channels that would connect to my second fake core. One channel each to my limbs.

The entire design was a colossal mess, but I had worked out a model. It hadn’t been simple or easy, but building the full-scale design had been critical. A three-dimensional software design program would have been much better, but it wasn’t needed.

I had everything broken up and burned after that, including my models. I would rebuild them once more, right before I joined the sect full time, but for now I wanted to let the ideas marinate for a while. There was no rush, and I had a general plan and total mote count.

If I looked at the models constantly, then I might not come up with a better idea or get stuck in a rut. Better to get rid of everything and then start fresh a couple of years or even a decade from now. I would use two shades of each color next time to show inner channels that passed through the core structure and outer channels. I would also have the fake secondary core as part of the design as well.

For now, there was nothing more I could work out, and I turned my attention back to my businesses. The wood carving was going smoothly. I had replaced the useless manager and hired a caretaker, another manager, and then an apprentice woodcarver to work on other toys.

I focused on a line of cultivation action figures, with equipment and packaged sets of the highest quality. The apprentice worked on the equipment since master woodcarver Kang only did dolls and action figures, which he called dolls. I used my sales channel with my first and third brother to sell the sets. I couldn’t use any sect logos, but I could add fancy clothes of various colors and appearances, so rich kids could customize their dolls or action figures.

Once sets were made and stored in fine wooden cases, I began exporting them and selling them to other cities and sects, fixing that portion of my business drastically. High value low-volume goods were the key for exports. An entire child’s set for 1 tael was not much for a rich person or a cultivator. This allowed middlemen to make money from the sets and have them buy them up in batches.

The worst thing was having a product that didn’t sell, which meant lugging something around that didn’t have value. For the hot sauce, my manager had worked out how to produce it in powder form. There was a lot of grinding, but that was easy enough to do with the cheap labor out there. Offering 20 bronze coins a day to spend it grinding up ingredients into the finest powder, using a crank that turned a drill, which was lowered into a metal basin.

Grind for half an hour and then pour the powder through a metal sieve and then into wax paper rectangular bricks. Warning labels were applied, along with the date of manufacture. Fold up the wax paper and package it inside a standard crate for transport. I sold each brick for 100 bronze coins and it cost about 30 bronze coins to produce with materials and labor.

They then exported the bricks out. I had to arrange deals with two more farms to sell peppers to me to handle the demand. I wasn’t able to buy a portion of them up, which annoyed me, but there were only so many failing businesses available.

The mine was also doing well since we had connected the vertical shaft to the main shaft. The air quality improved immensely, and it was much easier to get the ore out. Also, two pumps were set up. One at the top of the vertical shaft and one at the bottom with a pool to dump the water into from lower in the mine. Otherwise, it was too far for a single pump to pull up all the water. The main thing was that my loan was being paid off quickly from the mine with a constant stream of ore being transported and my smelter running constantly.

The next area I was looking into was beast hunting. The entire process was permitted and licensed, which were separate things. Basic permits were required to show that they had approved you to hunt beasts and knew how to extract cores. Then you needed a license for each beast killed. A permit cost 100 tael and was good for life or until you screwed up.

A license cost half the value of the spirit stone that could be extracted from a beast. That meant a level 1 license cost 500 tael. Most hunters formed teams for safety and to split the cost.

The Hunting Guild was a mix of mortals, and a few low ranked cultivators and was fairly insular. But Ting had informed me that a team was looking for a sponsor after some losses. I had Ting invite the leader of the team to a meeting. He wasn’t a cultivator, so I had seniority in this situation at least.

“Greetings Young Master Yuan. I am hunter Xiaotong.” He gave me a fairly deep bow.

“Greetings hunter Xiaotong. Please, sit and enjoy some tea while we talk.” I returned a slight bow to him and then gestured at the table with some tea. Ting carefully served both of us and then retreated to the background.

I sipped my tea, and he did as well. “I invited you here today because I heard your team is looking for a sponsor?”

“Yes. Most teams either have a sponsor or a cultivator. I thought about breaking our team up, but there is no room on other teams. The hunting guild is very competitive, and the teams are insular. Becoming a free hunter, not on a team, is the first step on the path to retirement.” I nodded at this explanation. Xiaotong appeared fairly young, mid-twenties, if I had to guess.

“What exactly put you in the position you are in now?” I asked.

“My father died. Killed on a hunt. While we weren’t the best team, he had arranged for a sponsor he knew personally. With his loss, the sponsor rescinded their support. They refused my request for a meeting.”

“Any reason why?” I asked.

“We got one spirit stone every three and a half hunts. It has gotten better to two and a half hunts recently. That made them far more expensive than the market rates.” I frowned at this. They were spending 1,250 tael in license fees alone to get a 1,000 tael spirit stone. That was not even counting their personal expenses.

“Why the high failure rate?” I asked, and Xiaotong let out a sigh.

“The issue is capturing a beast and then extracting a spirit stone. If you kill or harm a beast too much beforehand, the spirit stone will break. Also, locating the stone inside a beast is difficult. That is why rogue cultivators are often part of teams.”

“But your team are not cultivators?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Yes. My father, while great at hunting, didn’t pay to upkeep our equipment, traps, and other gear. As our hunts failed more, we had to cut more corners to stay afloat until we reached this point.” That all made sense.

“So, what would a sponsor do exactly?” I asked.

“Purchase spirit stones as we produce them.”

“Wouldn’t the guild purchase them?”

“They offer the standard rate of 1,000 tael and then upsell them afterwards. A sponsor would get first right of purchase at the rate we collect spirit stones at to make sure we stay afloat. Normally, this is the cost of the licenses plus ten percent.” I leaned back in my chair and sipped my tea.

That meant I would pay about 1,500 tael a spirit stone. But if their hunting ratio improved, that could be brought way lower. “We also need new equipment, which will cost about 1,000 tael,” he replied.

“What kind of equipment and how long is it good for?” I asked.

“Clamps, snares, a core drill, a core extractor, bait, scent concealer. That would cover us for about a year. We go on about 6 hunts a year or would like to if we can cover the license fees. The best option would be to purchase 10 licenses at once and then go on an extended hunt for six months.”

“So, six thousand tael upfront. And let’s say you get five spirit stones with the new equipment. I would get five thousand tael back.”

“You would get spirit stones and could sell them yourself or trade for favors with cultivators.”

“Your success rate is about forty percent, perhaps fifty percent, if I am charitable. What are the best teams’ success rates?” I asked.

“One and a quarter hunts per spirit stone. But they have cultivators. For regular people, the best hit one and a half spirit stones per hunt.” That was eighty and sixty-six percent, respectively.

“What is stopping you from becoming a top team?” I asked.

“Experience. That is another reason why we have been struggling. My father’s old team retired, while we brought new people on. It takes time to get good. In five years, we will be one of the top teams,” Xiaotong replied. I considered the man in front of me.

What he wasn’t saying was that hunting was high risk. He could easily get wiped out, and then I would have nothing. The good thing was that once I signed on as his sponsor for his team, none of his team members could work under a new sponsor unless I agreed. So, no jumping ship after I had invested in them.

That was why some teams didn’t get sponsors and just focused on earning for themselves. Still converting my wealth to spirit stones would be useful. Spirit stones could be directly traded for spirit coins, which were minted by the high ranking sects.

It wasn’t easy to convert tael to spirit stones. While the standard rate was 1,000 tael, one could not go out and buy 100 spirit stones for 100,000 tael. There would be markups. That is where sponsoring a hunting team came into play.

I might even get a good deal if I was lucky, but it wasn’t a moneymaking venture. It was a currency exchange venture. “Very well, I will sign on as your sponsor,” I replied. Xiaotong’s face brightened considerably. I would have to tighten up my budget for a bit, but it was doable.

Xiaotong stood up and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Young Master Yuan.”

“I will want to see the rest of your team and your equipment purchases. I will also pay for six licenses up front.” That was how much I could afford at the moment.

After that, we went to the Hunters Guild and signed a sponsorship contract. He introduced me to his team. Two other men and three women. All of them looked worn and a couple of them had serious scars, but they didn’t look like drunkards, fat, or lazy.

Once introductions were done, we went to purchase equipment. Everything was set up in a shop run by the Hunters Guild. I looked over the various items as Xiaotong explained them to me.

“One of the hardest things is figuring out exactly where the core is. I am our core expert on the team.”

“There is no device that can detect a core?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“A cultivator can sense it if they are skilled enough, but normally no. Even then, I have been told it is very blurry and imprecise. I use the density gauge on the drill as it shows how much qi is present. Once it spikes, that is where the core is. Most cores are in the head or by the heart. But you only get one, possibly two chances to drill if you are lucky,” he replied.

“Extracting it is easy?” I asked.

“Once you have it located, then it is simple. I only failed in extraction twice years ago. Now, if I can locate the core, I don’t fail.” I nodded at this.

“I would be interested in going on a hunt sometime. What are the requirements?” I asked. Xiaotong paled a bit.

“Young Master, I could not take responsibility for your safety. If anything happened, I would be in grave trouble.”

“I meant getting a permit to be a Hunter,” I asked. He calmed down a bit at this, probably thinking I was just curious and not wanting to get eaten.

“A training course and then a series of tests. There is a book available if you are interested in reading through it. Then you are given a provisional permit. You complete five successful core extractions out in the field in the following year, and your permit is no longer provisional.”

The book cost a tael. They clearly meant the high prices as a barrier to entry into this profession. Xiaotong purchased his equipment with my money. He brought out his old equipment and showed where things had broken, how the gauge wobbled all the time on the drill, and how his supplies of consumables had run low.

I also purchased him six licenses as well. Each team could get 20 level 1 licenses at most per year. Most teams didn’t get that many. There was a total cap of 100 licenses per year for level 1. A sponsor could only sponsor a single team, so I couldn’t take over the guild by supporting multiple teams.

There were six other teams, making for seven. Rogue cultivators who were trying to fund their cultivation through hunting led four of them. I was quite curious if I could gain an advantage with my sight.

The biggest roadblock was locating the spirit core or stone of a beast. If I could spot it, then it would be easy to build up a lot of wealth. I would use Xiaotong to learn the basics and then I might go hunt on my own.

The real money was in extracting a core from a level 2 or 3 beast. But I had to be careful not to get blinded by greed and ignore the danger. It wasn’t cheap remaining in the sect. While I planned to do chores to get sect points, resources for cultivating weren’t cheap, especially at the higher stages.

It also explained why most cultivators didn’t start businesses. They could just go out and kill a few beasts to get insanely wealthy. It also explained the disconnect between tael and beast cores. Cultivators wanted to use up the cores, but there was a limited supply.

That was why there were fluctuations in the price as demand ebbed and flowed. I probably wouldn’t go into hunting full time. But it would be good to see how things were done. More knowledge was never a bad thing.

Now I just needed to make more money, a lot more money. Perhaps selling mining solutions would be the best way. I would go in and offer to take over various mining operations for a slice of the profits or a large set fee.

It might put pressure on my own mining operation and revenue stream if people copied me. I frowned at that, but it wasn’t a tremendous deal, even if they did. There was always a demand for metal and they could export it out if the city had a surplus. It was high value and small enough to be easily carted away in the trade caravans.

I would need to put together a presentation and figure out the other major stakeholders in the various mines around Half Moon City. Then I would invite them to the Illuminated Moon and make my pitch. I would need to sit down and work out the numbers and contracts that would be acceptable.

But selling mining solutions would be a good way to bring in a sizable amount of revenue while avoiding an equal amount of debt. I had enough business success and income that the movers and shakers of Cloudy Moon City were aware of me. I hadn’t stepped on that many toes either, and was under my father’s protection. That was why there had been no pressure or attacks on my businesses.

The risk with selling a mining town improvement service was that it might drag me into the local drama in a way I didn’t want. I would have to give it a lot more thought.

Chapter 11 – A Death

“Cultivator Yi Rong summons you,” a servant told me as I was about to leave the compound. I reversed course and made my way to Master Yi Rong’s room. I knocked, and he bade me enter.

He was sitting on one of my rocking chairs, moving slowly, and his breath was shallow. “Yuan Zhou, come here.” I went to his side, and he looked at me.

“I wish I could have taken you to the sect one more time, but the end is quickly coming. I have already sent word to the sect to come collect my corpse.”

“I understand, master,” I replied softly.

“So blessed, yet so foolish. This Yi Rong will impart one last piece of advice and hope you listen.” I nodded at this and paid close attention.

“It might tempt you to lock yourself away and use businesses to make money and gather resources. That is fine. I wish I was half as clever as you at twice your age. But do not be fooled by the peace of Half Moon City. You live in the sect's shadow. Personal power. Techniques. Fighting style. They are all important.”

“Yes, master Yi Rong.” I hadn’t really considered this, but I would ask around to get a better understanding of the dangers of this world.

“If I was just twenty years younger, I would have taught you the Parting Cloud Sword Style and techniques. Instead, I will leave you with a few mementoes and advice.” He held up a silver ring with various small etchings on it. It was slightly blurry in my vision. He reached over and I held out my hand. He put the ring into my hand and then used his hand to close up my hand around the ring.

“That is a low rank spatial storage ring. It is yours now. I have severed the connection to my energy. You cannot open it until you reach the second rank. Inside is a copy of my notes on my cultivation. As my personal apprentice, I entrust you to submit them to the sect on my behalf. Normally, this is done when you enter the sect.”

“I will, master. Don’t worry.”

“You can read my foolish thoughts and attempt at cultivation. You will also find my notes on various earth techniques and the Parting Cloud Sword Style. I hope you carry on this legacy and find someone worthy to pass it onto.”

“I will, master. I promise.”

“Finally, my last bit of advice before I am carted off. Be bold. Be daring. The path of defiance is foolishness, but it is good foolishness. One does not challenge the heavens themselves by being timid. The only thing that matters is your own success. Ignore the words and drama of others. And when you reach immortality, sip a cup of tea and remember me fondly.”

“I swear it to the heavens, master,” I replied, and wiped my eyes. There was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” Yi Rong said. Two cultivators in robes of the Cloudy Moon sect entered. They glanced at me and then looked at Yi Rong. “Go Yuan Zhou, for my time has ended.” I backed away. The two cultivators gave a nod to Yi Rong, who returned the nod.

I bowed deeply to both of them and then left the room. I gripped the low ranked spatial storage ring in my hand. It was a great treasure that had the value of 10,000,000 taels or a level 5 spirit coin. It just felt like a normal ring to me at the moment, but its value was immense.

Wiping my eyes some more, I left the compound. I made my way to a jeweler and purchased a fine silver chain, which I hung the ring on and under my clothing. This was something people would actually kill for. Spatial items were incredibly rare.

They required expensive materials and a cultivator who was well versed in smithing and enchanting. A low ranked ring could contain about a shoe box or two worth of supplies. A mid-rank ring could contain a crate’s worth of supplies. Cultivators used them to store precious items and resources.

I had learned about them as part of the doll shop while having accessories made for the various action figures. It was a tremendous gift that one would normally leave for their descendants or family. But Yi Rong had no family. He just had me, his apprentice.

When I reached immortality, I would sip some tea and pour a cup for my first master.

The important thing now was to focus on getting there. I had a meeting with the three big mine owners in Half Moon City in a couple of days. I had already made a reservation at the Illuminated Moon. Invitations and confirmations had already returned.

The first was Yao Guiren, the heir of the Yao family. They owned about 60% of the mines around the city and even sponsored a cultivator once a generation into the Cloudy Moon Sect. I would consider them the richest merchant family inside Cloudy Moon City. Since he was named heir, Yao Guiren handled all the day-to-day aspects of their family businesses. This was primarily smithing, metalworks, and mining.

The second person who was coming was Jingguo, personal administrator for the city lord of Half Moon City. They had their hands in several businesses and controlled 20% of the mines, primarily to equip the soldiers of Half Moon City.

The third and final person who had been invited was Qiao. A lesser merchant whose primary wealth was in a trade caravan, but he controlled about 10% of the mines around the city. He was a lot like me, with his hands in several completely different businesses as they caught his fancy.

I greeted each man personally as they entered the dining room, and we took our seats as tea and refreshments were served. “So, the heaven-sent child has come to take our money, Jingguo,” Yao Guiren said. I merely smiled and sipped my tea while the pre-discussion drama was carried out.

“Well, his mine is quite successful. But he invested quite a bit into it,” Jingguo said.

“Quite a bit is an understatement. That document you sent us was quite the interesting read,” Qiao added.

“It is merely to give you all some insight and consider the numbers for my proposal. In exchange for managing rights for ten years, ten percent equity during that time, and five thousand tael per mining camp, I am confident I can increase the value of each mine and stabilize the revenue and increase it by at least ten percent, but most likely much more,” I replied.

“And if you fail, what then? We will lose money and other contracts?” Yao Guiren challenged.

“Then you would be compensated if such a thing were to happen. Everything except beast attacks and the mine running out of ore I would take responsibility for.”

“Can you even handle that kind of commitment? We aren’t talking about a few bronze coins here!” Jingguo questioned. I smiled and pulled out a document and handed it to him. He frowned as he took it. He looked at me and I just smiled and nodded as he unfolded it.

His eyes went wide. “You have a line of guaranteed credit of a million taels from the Coinage Guild,” he whispered in awe. They had been willing to do that after I showed them my inner disciple badge along with my businesses. I didn’t plan on using it, but it was a powerful show of force. Jingguo passed the document to Yao Guiren, who looked it over with an intense gaze and then passed it to Qiao. I sipped my tea.

“I am surprised you haven’t asked for more,” Qiao said as he passed the document back to me.

“There is no need for me to be greedy and you already invested a lot into the mines. I am making them run smoothly and produce more ore consistently. In ten years, when the contracts end, I suspect you will all want to keep them in place to avoid the headache mining produces.” There were grimaces at that.

Mining was a nightmare. The time, money, and effort I had to put into my mine was astronomical.

“How do I know you will give equal attention to all the mines?” Jingguo asked.

“Each mine will have its own problems, but I plan to get them to the same standard as mine. There will also be monthly audits and reports submitted to each of you on the status of your mines. And even then, I have the collateral if things go poorly.”

“You refuse to be responsible for beast attacks? That is the majority of my problems,” Qiao said, and I nodded.

“I plan to mitigate them by providing safe housing for the workers. But even I am helpless if a level 3 beast sits in a mining camp.” They nodded at that.

“What is to stop us from just copying you and your methods?” Yao Guiren asked. It was a good question and one I had thought about heavily.

“Nothing.” That appeared to shock them all a bit. “My share is tiny for the amount of headache and risk I am taking. If you wish to copy me, that will take time and effort ‌which you could spend on other things. I believe that after ten years, you will want my management to continue with how smoothly things are running.”

“It is you and not your father?” Jingguo asked.

“Yes. This is my own venture.” Well, it was the venture of my company Zhou Holding Company Limited, but there was no distinction between an owner and their company in this world.

“Alright. I think you will fail, but I have been thinking about selling the blasted mines, anyway. This will be a good way for me to get my money back,” Qiao said. The other two looked at him in surprise. With his agreement, half of the mines under Jingguo’s control and sixth from Yao Guiren, I gained control over 30% of the mines in range of the city.

I could tell that Yao Guiren probably wanted to see what I did and copy it. Jingguo was more risk averse and needed to ensure the ore flowed into the city. A member of the Coinage Guild was called and witnessed the signing of the contracts, and kept a copy in reserve, as well as each person kept a copy for themselves.

I offered several of the debt slaves at my mine an increase in wage if they became foremen at the other nine mines. Ting had hired ten people to act as managers and I had them stay at my mine for a week to understand how things were run and to learn from my manager there.

I warned them there would be audits and their paperwork had to be kept up to date. I then deployed a foreman and a manager to each mine under my control after half a month of getting them trained up. During this time, I had also expanded my pre-cast block production.

There were some growing pains, like making sure the carts came to pick up the blocks along with other supplies. Or some mines having issues like frequent cave-ins. The first issue was fixed by having a manager handle the block production and creating a central supply warehouse all the carts stopped at to get supplies before heading to the mines.

The cave-ins required investment into proper bracing inside the mine itself. Once the housing was constructed at each mine, I had them begin work on vertical shafts. There was a slight downturn in production at the start while the debt-slaves were put to work on various improvement projects in the mine or building their underground homes, but once they had a safe place to sleep, things quickly improved.

I also instituted strict record keeping on their debts and sending meat every week they met their daily quota. The salary for my managers was 40 bronze coins a day or five percent of what I made off the mine. Since I made about 1 tael a day, that was normally 50 bronze coins. Quite a large sum for regular work. My foremen made 20 bronze coins a day, which was quite high.

One thing I told my direct employees was that they could always go work somewhere else if they gave me two weeks’ notice and there would be no problem, but we would not rehire them. Also, they might make more money for a short time while they set things up, but then they would likely be kicked out or have a pay cut.

I only lost one manager to poaching by Yao Guiren, and he was struggling. Since my pre-cast block operation was separate from the mines themselves, they just got the finished product. I was the only one who made pre-cast blocks. Also, the foreman didn’t want to change things in how the mine was run, creating further difficulties.

Every time Ting delivered a report on the poaching attempt, I just smiled. My foremen didn’t even consider it as I had saved their lives from unending misery as debt slaves. They had a chance to pay their way to freedom.

I had monthly reports written up and sent to each of the stakeholders. One report from each mine and a summary report for all mines. I didn’t hear a word of thanks, but I knew it made things exceptionally easy for them to follow. They just got to sit around while the money flowed in, and I dealt with the problems. It was my managers dealing with the problems, but that was the power of delegation.

All mines were operating at above 90% efficiency, which I considered the benchmark for success. I heard that the owners each took a tour from my managers and were impressed at how well things were working and the construction of the vertical shafts to go deeper and the pumps being used.

Even with all the costs, their income had doubled or tripled per mine and they could keep them running for much longer with the vertical shafts and pumps being put into place. Prospecting for a new mine was a massive headache and expense.

While I was only making about 9 tael a day from management of the mines, it was a steady flow of income. A consistent revenue stream was quite important in my mind without a huge outlay on my part.

The system I had developed made it very easy for me to bring in other mines under my management, which was exactly what happened. Jingguo passed over the other three mines and Yao Guiren passed me nine more, which put my control at 70% and my ownership at 3% of the market. Yao Guiren had 20% left that was outside my control, but they were mines that processed spirit ores.

There was no way he was going to let those get controlled by anyone outside his family and, most likely, not even himself. The remaining mines were owned by the foremen running them. I had approached them with my offer of management, but they had refused, which I accepted graciously.

This meant my passive income from mine management went from 9 tael a day up to 21 tael a day. But that wasn’t the full picture. I purchased the overflow ore myself and had my smelter handle it, so I could resell the excess bars that were smelted.

I didn’t even hide this in the contract. The mine owners could direct up to six carts to their own smelters and they would always get six carts. Any cart after that, I could divert to my smelter and pay for the ore. I am sure at least one of them realized what I was doing, but it wasn’t something I hid. It was included in the contracts I had prepared but worded to sound like I was guaranteeing their preferred smelters business no matter what.

Since they were getting paid for the ore, they weren’t losing out on money as part of the mines. But that was the power of vertical integration on my end. For the four to six remaining carts that came from each mine that I purchased, I would make 1 to 2 tael off them with the finished metal bars.

So, while I was making 21 tael from the mines, I was making another 32 tael from my smelter every day. I mostly sold the extra bars to caravans to export in crates to not pressure the local market. That meant 53 tael per day was flowing into my pockets.

That kind of income eclipsed even my father’s income of 10,000 taels a year, since I was now making over 19,000 tael a year on mine management alone.

The best part was that no one complained or made a fuss. They could always back out of the contracts after 10 years and I was only taking a small percentage. The ore shipments might have raised eyebrows, but I wasn’t stealing, and it was all clearly documented. Also, their own smelters got consistent deliveries, which is what they preferred.

If I had sold the extra bars inside Half Moon City, then there would have been issues, but by selling them to a caravan to be transported out of the city, the local market was more than fine and no one’s toes were stepped on.

I even had appointed a head manager for all the mines to audit them regularly and handle the day-to-day issues. That was when a servant came to my office to inform me that my father had requested my presence. The fact it was a request, not a demand, showed that I had considerable standing.

Of course, I didn’t want to create drama, so I quickly hurried back to the compound and made my way to my father’s office. My clothes were ones I had purchased myself from the top tailor here in Half Moon City. Another sign of my financial independence.

A servant opened the door as I entered. I bowed deeply to show my familial respect. “Father.”

“My son, Yuan Zhou, come sit,” he said with a smile and gestured to a side table where tea was prepared. I took a seat, and a servant served us tea. Once the pouring was done, the servant was dismissed and the office door closed. “Do you know why I have called you?”

“Not precisely, but my guess is the fact that I now have a greater income than the entirety of the Yuan family businesses,” I replied. He gave me a look at that.

“I was going to inquire about your progress on your cultivation, but I have heard talk of you. Managing mines?” He asked.

“It was quite a lucrative venture. I hate to sound rude, but my personal income now exceeds twenty thousand tael per year,” I replied with a smile. My father stilled at that and slowly set down his teacup.

“Twenty thousand tael. My son, you are treading in dangerous waters,” he told me.

“I doubt it. I have not stepped on any toes and have been accepted as an inner disciple into the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I replied and sipped my tea. His eyes widened in shock.

“Yi Rong took you as his personal disciple before he died?” He asked to confirm, and I nodded. My father let out a sigh.

“I thought you knew?” I asked.

“I thought he favored you slightly. Being declared a personal disciple of a Core Formation Cultivator is serious. Very serious. And the fact the sect already approved your admittance as an inner disciple.” I pulled out the badge they had given me from my robes and held it up. I then put it back away.

“You have eclipsed everyone and am truly a genius favored by the heavens,” my father said. “I must know how you scammed that Yao Guiren out of all those tael.”

“There is no scam involved. I simply made the mines more profitable.” I explained what I had done, leaving out the information of ore shipments to my smelter.

“Clever. You took a small bit of food off the plate of many giants while enhancing the taste. If you were not going to join the sect, I would name you my heir right now,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you, father, for your kind words.”

“Do you have any opinion on who I should name? Everyone else has given their opinion,” he said with a slight grimace.

“My first brother, Yuan Yun, is stable. He won’t ruin things, but he will not increase the family fortune. He prefers to take his time and do what has always worked. My third brother, Yuan Liang, is ambitious, but his tastes are excessive. He might make a foolish decision or two, which could lead to ruin. My fourth brother, Yuan Niu, is hardworking, but he lacks insight. He would be more easily taken advantage of by someone like me.” My father nodded at all of this.

“If you want stability, pick Yuan Yun and if you want someone more ambitious, Yuan Liang. However, if you want someone hardworking than Yuan Niu,” I replied.

“Insightful. Truly insightful.” We drank our tea for a bit in respectful silence before my father spoke again. “What are your plans for your businesses when you join the sect?” he asked.

“I was hoping they would run on their own with only occasional input from me. Cultivation requires many resources,” I replied.

“Indeed, it does, which is why this family has not funded a cultivator and has only cared for the ones who have mostly retired and wish to live their last years in comfort.” My father set his cup of tea down. “I would ask that you appoint one of your brothers to act in your place.”

“May I ask why?” I inquired.

“So, they have a future once the leadership of this family changes hands.”

“Is this the favor you are asking of me?” I asked, and my father winced slightly.

“I would prefer not to. I ask you as your father and for the support you have enjoyed.”

“What about my sisters’ marriages?” I asked. I had spent little time with them since they were a baby and a very young brat, respectively.

“I have yet to arrange them.” I nodded slowly at this.

“My mother?” I asked.

“Like all concubines, she will be housed and cared for until her death,” my father said.

“I will offer a position to my fourth brother, unless you are picking him as heir?” I asked, and my father shook his head. “Finally, I will arrange a dowry of a thousand taels for each of my sisters, but they will be allowed to pick their own marriages or their own path.”

“That is quite generous of you,” my father replied.

“Well, I will let you explain things to Yuan Niu. When he is ready, he can come see me in my office. I will give him a salary of ten taels a month, which should cover his living expenses,” I replied.

“Twenty,” my father said. We had a slight staring contest.

“Twenty, but if he steals or causes problems, he will be let go,” I replied, and my father nodded at this. We stood up and bowed to each other.

The next day at the family dinner, my father made an announcement. Yuan Yun was named heir to the Yuan family. Yuan Liang and Yuan Niu were being stripped of their positions. Both got up and left angrily. I still had my place at the head table to the right of Yuan Yun.

“Congratulations brother,” I said to him as dinner was served.

“I should thank you. Father said you recommended me when he was considering you for the position, brother.” I shook my head.

“I am content with my businesses and plan to focus on my cultivation in the coming years,” I replied.

“So, you truly are joining the sect? Father mentioned you would be.”

“They have accepted me as an inner disciple already with the support of Master Yi Rong.” My brother’s eyes went wide. “But that is something between us and father,” I replied, and he nodded.

“I understand not wanting to make a fuss. Let me congratulate you, brother. May your journey to immortality go smoothly,” he said kindly, and I smiled a bit at that.

“Thank you. Father also asked me to help Yuan Niu land on his feet,” I said.

“Father told me, and it is fine. Thank you for making things easier on Yuan Niu,” Yuan Yun said.

“Any idea what will happen to Yuan Liang?” I asked.

“What happens to anyone contending for the position of heir. They are cast out of the compound and given an allowance as long as they don’t disgrace the family name, they can keep it. But their children will not inherit their family name. They will take lesser positions within the family and soon my children will handle the various parts of the business,” Yuan Yun explained.

“It makes sense to avoid drama or assassinations,” I replied.

“Indeed, it does. But I suspect Yuan Guangli will be quite outspoken.” That was the main wife and mother of Yuan Liang. We chatted and ate. After father left, I got up as well so people could take my seat to chat with Yuan Yun who had now been declared heir.

I made my way over to my mother. She looked at me and let out a sigh. “I had been hoping for the heir to be you.” She raised the back of her left hand to her forehead and tilted her head back slightly. She really liked to pick the maximum drama option wherever possible.

“Hmm, Yuan Yun will do well in the position. Also, with my recent successes, I believe I should give you a small allowance, mother.” Her eyes quickly snapped towards me. I had refused her all the times in the past. She wasn’t a terrible mother, just overly dramatic. Now that my income was stabilized and quite large and I no longer planned to invest, I was content sending a little her way.

The concubines got one tael a month on top of being able to live in the compound and gifts from my father like dresses and perfumes. But their own spending power was quite limited.

“Go on,” she finally said as I just smiled at her. She let out a small huff, knowing I was teasing her slightly.

“Ten tael a month.” She let out a gasp and brought a hand up to her mouth to cover it. “In addition, I have arranged a dowry of a thousand taels each for my sisters with the expectation they can pick their own marriage or path in life.”

My mother’s eyes went wide at this. “How… How rich are you? Ting says… I mean, I heard you earn over fifty tael a month.”

I leaned in and made sure no one could overhear. “The position of heir of the Yuan family would be a step down,” I quietly told her. She reached out and grabbed my shoulder and stared into my eyes. She clearly saw something since she let me go and collapsed into her chair.

“In addition, I have made other arrangements for my future,” I replied. She narrowed her eyes. “I know you like to gossip, mother. But some things should not be said lightly.” Her mouth made an ‘o’ shape, and she nodded.

“Of course, my genius child. I always knew you were destined for greatness.”

“Don’t cause trouble with your allowance, either. I don’t want to deal with headaches, but feel free to show off. I know Yuan Guangli is on the outs.”

“Of course, she should be on the outs. Her son was cast aside. While she won’t get demoted to concubine, she won’t be able to easily smile. Don’t worry, your mother will manage everything just fine.” I doubted that, but would not get involved.

Yuan Wen, my mother, was good at three things. The first is being a professional drama person. Everything was drama with her. The second was being amazing in bed. Not something I wished to know, but she was more favored than the other concubines on a level with the first wife. My allowance would give her the edge in clothing and beauty products. She might even host minor events on her own. She would probably do that too, since she loved drama.

The last thing she was good at was gossip. Now that Yuan Yun had been named heir and my future was solid, I could afford to make some small waves by giving Yuan Wen a small allowance.

Well, small to me, but large to her. Ten tael a month would put her living standard very high since my father handled her basic expenses since she lived in the compound. Despite all of her drama, she wasn’t a terrible mother.

I just knew that mixing her with business was a recipe for disaster. And involving her in my cultivation would see my secrets spread throughout the city in a week. I knew my hint would make her think I had arranged my own marriage.

There was a big difference between meeting a cultivator a few times and being accepted as a personal disciple and being accepted as an inner disciple of the Cloudy Moon Sect before the age of ten. It just wasn’t something that happened normally.

Cultivators lived so long that they constantly saw people come and go. Cultivation was the focus of self, so it was rare for a non-family member to be taken as a personal disciple. That was the thing of stories and legends to a degree. Most of the time, it involved a mortal providing a great service to the cultivator and their child being taken in as payment of that debt.

But I had managed on my own merits to convince Master Yi Rong. That was also why I was not booted out of the compound. My recognition at an earlier family dinner had put me in contention for the position of heir, but I had never seriously gone for it.

Even my advice had seen my father swayed towards Yuan Yun. Keeping good relations with me would be important long term. While it would take countless generations, I was a shield and a hope for the family if things ever took a turn for the worst.

Chapter 12 – Hunting Up Profits

“Yuan Niu,” I greeted my brother as he entered my office.

“Yuan Zhou,” he replied and bowed deeply towards me. “I will be in your care,” he replied. I nodded at this and gestured at the seat in front of my desk.

“I am looking to hire a manager to oversee all my operations.”

“Did father put you up to this?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I replied honestly, and he let out a sigh.

“So, what is it I am doing?” he asked. I explained how he would audit my various businesses, provide me with monthly updates and written reports, and basically keep everything I had done running smoothly.

“I would be the Director of Zhou Holding Company Limited?” he asked with a confused expression.

“Yes. Your job would be to oversee the managers of the various divisions.” I went over to a wall in my office and pulled open a curtain. It showed the name of various people and their positions in an organizational chart.

I kept it here, in case I needed to remember who someone was exactly. “Ting, Hong, Fang, and yourself would all hold Director level positions. Ting handles hiring as Director of Human Resources and Hong is Director of Security. You would be Director of Operations. Fang is the Director of Accounting. Instead of reporting to me, the senior managers of our four divisions would report to you.” There was woodcarving, mining, hot sauce, and smelting.

“Your job is to keep things running smoothly and being able to handle issues as they arise. That means regular audits and talking to the senior managers and managers to find out if there are problems,” I explained.

He nodded slowly as he looked over the organizational board. Right now, my three directors reported to me with only a couple of people at the senior manager or manager rank under them. Then there were the four lines coming up to me from the right side of the board from the senior managers in charge of each division.

“This is an actual job then, and not charity?” Yuan Niu asked me.

“Yes. If you want a charity position, I can set that up instead, but figured you enjoyed doing things.” He nodded at that.

“Yes. I am not like that useless Yuan Liang. If he was named heir, I would have slit my wrists in anger,” Yuan Niu said. There was clearly some bad blood there, and I wanted no part of that.

“Well, our company motto is, ‘Keep the drama to a minimum,’” I said. Yuan Niu turned to stare at me. “Things happen, but if you work hard, you will be paid fairly.”

“Don’t keep me guessing. How much is the position?” he asked.

“I am curious what you think it would be?” I asked.

“Five tael a month?” he asked.

“Twenty,” I replied. “But if you steal or cause a major incident or scandal, you are out. Also, if you try to hide a mistake, you will be out. If you report things in a timely manner and you try your best, then there won’t be issues.”

“Twenty teal. How much are you making, brother?” he asked me.

“About twenty,” I replied with a cheeky grin.

“Twenty… Twenty thousand?” he gasped.

“Yearly. The mining and smelting division are quite profitable.”

“How? That is more than father makes. You could have been heir!” he said.

“I could have. He offered as much, but being the Yuan heir is a step down for me on the path I currently walk. Come, let us go meet the other directors so you can understand how I run things here at Zhou Holding Company Limited.”

Yuan Niu accepted the position, and I introduced him around. I spent the next week dragging him around with me to show him what he needed to do. The reports I wanted and how to address minor issues.

“Why did you give that worker that much face by bowing? He is a debt slave,” Yuan Niu asked after I discovered an issue at the mine. The workers were being forced to sleep outside the shelter as punishment.

“There are guidelines for punishments. Extra work hours and no meat or time off during the weekly celebration when they meet their quota. Not being forced to sleep outside. As the owner, it is my responsibility to set a good example. Criticize in private, compliment in public,” I explained.

“You told the manager and the foreman off in private and gave the worker twenty bronze coins off his debt.”

“He will also miss the next two meat dinners as punishment instead. The twenty bronze coins are minor, but a worker that is working hard is important. I keep the level of debt slaves at just enough they have to work 12-hour days for six days and 6 hour day to meet their quota. But I have a medical doctor that goes around once a month. Why?” I asked Yuan Niu.

“You want them to work harder. Do they really?”

“Yes. You can check the records, but they do. Making them sleep outside is a minor issue, which is why I only lightly chastised the foreman and manager for allowing it to happen. But I also have lunch breaks. A human can only work so long before their body gives out, and they get tired. Also, mining requires focus. Giving them a break and incentives to them and costs me very little.”

“You are feeding them scraps, but they love them,” he muttered, and I nodded.

“Exactly. Also, it takes time, money, and energy to train up new debt-slaves. If I whipped them and they worked half as hard, then I would have to hire more which would end up costing more than throwing them paltry rewards,” I explained. Thank you western capitalism for teaching me. I had meat and not pizza, but it was all about adapting.

“I see. I saw the numbers, but I didn’t believe it.”

“Slaves are an excellent source of labor, but they still need to be incentivized. That is why any time a slave pays off their debt in full, everyone gets a day off and cheap drinks to celebrate. What do you think they are thinking about?”

“Working hard to pay off their debts. Your understanding of human nature is quite impressive, brother,” Yuan Niu told me.

“Well, I expect you to keep it up in my place. The workers should smile when they see you. But if one steals, make an example and let everyone know. I have had to do it twice, but make it clear we reward hard work, stealing is punished, and we do not reward laziness.” Yuan Niu nodded at this.

“I have been thinking about a business idea,” Yuan Niu said.

“You want me to invest, I am guessing?” I asked. He nodded. My directors got a 0.5% yearly profit bonus. While it was only 100 tael, it was a lot for people who had never seen that much wealth before. Most of them invested in nicer homes for their families and better prospects for their children. It also made them fiercely loyal. No other business paid out percentages to its workers.

I wanted less headache, which was something they all knew. That was a big reason I didn’t have constant issues coming to me all the time.

“I was thinking we should fund our own trade caravan,” Yuan Niu explained.

“How would that work, exactly?” I asked.

“Well, you pay for the carts, goods, and a caravan leader, which would be like a senior manager. They do a trade route between cities, where the caravan manager buys and sells goods.”

“That requires cultivator protection and isn’t cheap,” I replied.

“It isn’t. And there are risks. But if it works out, then there is a massive profit. Especially the further a caravan goes,” Yuan Niu explained.

“How far are you thinking?” I asked.

“A five-year loop, which would go all the way out to the Capital along the North route and come back along the South route, near the coast,” Yuan Niu explained.

“How much would funding something like this cost, and what is the return?” I asked.

“The cost would be about 50,000 tael, and the return would be about 150,000 tael, depending on the goods and the market,” he replied.

“Why so much?” I asked.

“Hiring a cultivator between each trip between cities. There would be twenty such legs between major cities that are trade hubs and have sects nearby, so about 40,000 tael. It would be better to hire a trustworthy one here for the entire trip. Then another 10,000 for the carts, salaries, and to purchase goods.”

“You want to be a caravan leader?” I asked.

“I always wanted to travel, and this is the only way if you aren’t a cultivator,” he replied. I considered his request.

“Sure,” I replied, and he grinned. “Let’s say two years from now, since I don’t have that much tael on hand, and it will show me you can manage things properly. I will want to know more details, of course, but the answer is yes.”

“Thank you, brother!” He couldn’t really bow in the carriage.

“Don’t die out there. I don’t want to seek revenge on your behalf,” I half joked.

“The caravans that run into issues hire untrustworthy cultivators. But at 40,000 tael for a five-year trip, will convince a third stage cultivator to come along.” They would probably sit in their carriage and be waited on hand and foot, but that was the cost of traveling.

The real danger was traveling outside of the caravan. The threat of beasts, bandits, and rogue cultivators was much higher. But these groups mostly knew to stay away from the caravans. If they were attacked, that was when the sects would take notice and cities would fund an extermination.

Trade was an important revenue stream for many cities. While it was mostly luxury goods, there were also critical supplies. Like the metals I was sending out.

Also, two years would allow Yuan Niu to build up a stockpile. I knew he was going to cart off all the hot pepper powder he could and squeeze all the money he could out of various distributors in the other cities.

Distributors were middle men between various businesses and caravans. Only a select few businesses would have a dedicated employee meet with caravans to sell their goods. My father’s cattle business was one example. Distributors only took a 1% transaction fee, but charged if goods were left overnight in their warehouse and would cut you off if you didn’t deliver the goods requested within a day. They also had to be kept up to date about what stock you had and what you wanted.

They were lesser merchants, but many third or fourth sons took up this role. I heard Yuan Liang had taken up a position as a distributor. My father clearly helped him land a position outside the family’s businesses.

“Incoming!” Hong suddenly shouted. There was a roar. I heard shattering wood and Hong shouting outside the carriage, along with my other guards. It was over quickly, and there was a knock on the carriage door.

I opened up the window and Hong was there looking beat up and tired. “Young master, are you all right?” he asked me.

“Yes. Is it over?” I asked.

“It is. Just a level 1 beast.” I opened my door, and he gave me a look when I exited, but said nothing. The beast appeared to be a giant wolverine about the size of an enormous dog, or a small car children could drive in on their lawn. It had several slash marks and a spear through its eye. One of my guards had the front of their armor slashed with huge rents in it, but was alive and only bleeding lightly, thankfully.

“A knife,” I said to Hong. I rolled up my sleeves. He pulled one out and handed it to me. I approached the beast.

“Careful, master, they sometimes like to pretend they are dead.”

“It is still alive, but crippled.” I made my way to its side. Hong had his sword out, looking at the beast nervously. The hide was very tough, but I got the knife in. I then plunged my arm into the monster’s gut as the qi I saw inside of it flickered, where I felt the spirit core. I pulled it out with a yank. It glimmered a soft blue.

The meat, while valuable, was something we weren’t equipped to harvest or handle. Also waiting around would draw attention from more beasts. Hong handed me a cloth and I wiped off my bloody arm and the spirit stone, leaving the cloth behind.

“I want everyone to keep quiet about this. I am quite serious about this. There will be a ten tael combat bonus for everyone once we return.” There were cheers at that. I tucked the spirit stone into my robe and got into the carriage and we set off.

My brother was looking at me with wide eyes. “Did you just extract a beast core by hand?” He asked.

“Something like that. I expect you to keep quiet. I mean it,” I replied.

“Yes, of course. I won’t mention it at all.” I nodded. Even if rumors did spread, I was a heaven-sent genius and an inner disciple of the Cloudy Moon Sect.

I would add this spirit stone to my collection that was stored inside the vault at the Coinage Guild. For a fee of ten taels a month, they offered vault services and would arrange promissory notes for cultivators traveling to other cities if they wanted to move some of their wealth.

Not everyone had a spatial storage ring and promissory notes had some energy shenanigans going on, which made them impossible to steal. But they were only available to cultivators. My sponsorship for my hunting team was going well.

I was slowly converting my tael into spirit stones. They couldn’t directly be used in cultivation but supporting arrays, pills, and other items. The qi of the beast inside the core had to be processed before humans could use it.

An idiot would think they could swallow a core and cultivate like that. That was a good way to get cultivation deviation and mess everything up. It was a rumor and piece of stupidity that was spread about. Even in cultivation land, there was fake news.

What I really wanted was to build up my war chest as much as possible before joining the sect. Just as bronze coins had become useless to me, eventually tael would as well. Since tael was a metal-based currency, there was only so much circulating. That was one reason the Coinage Guild helped move high level transactions into spirit coins.

Otherwise, the entire economy would experience a massive wealth drain, as all the old cultivators kept piles of silver coins locked up in their homes. Also, moving that much metal around was a nightmare.

Technically, I should report this to the Hunting Guild, but that would raise questions. Well, I just wouldn’t say anything and none of my people would say anything either. No one wanted to upset the boss that handed out large bonuses. I would make sure that even the carriage driver was included as well.

What I really needed to do was to work on my cultivation even more. Even with all the traveling I was doing, I was still lagging behind my target. I was ten years old and had only collected 450,000 motes. I was only collecting about 300 motes per day.

Anyone else would have puked out blood and cried at my progress, but I wanted to hit my target of 1,320,000 before I turned 20. That was one thing all humans were bad at, mortals and cultivators both. They lacked a sense of immediate urgency.

It was no good to cry and panic when I was Yi Rong’s age, taking my last breath. I needed to go faster right now in order to have more time later. I wanted to get the remaining 870,000 motes by the time I was sixteen.

Unfortunately, I would hit my target around nineteen instead. I would need to up my collection of motes to 400 per day, but I just didn’t run across enough. My larger body helped in reaching the ones overhead, but I needed to go faster.

It was time to pay a visit to the cultivation store once more. I had gone when I was a child but didn’t have the money. Now I had money and wanted to speed up my cultivation and ask some more questions. I arrived at the store in the commercial district in the center of Half Moon City.

A smiling clerk greeted me. They showed me their items, which refreshed my memory. Qi Candle for 10 tael to see motes. A Qi Pill that gave 100 motes for 50 tael. Only one pill per day. Incense stick to attract Qi for 8 hours, 100 tael for one use. Qi Sensing Rod, 1,000 Tael. Would vibrate near a source of qi. Qi Sensing Pill that increased a person’s ability to sense qi.

“I would like to speak to someone about bulk purchases and the risks associated with each item,” I told the clerk.

“I am trained to answer all your questions.”

“I have read about pill toxicity. What about these pills?” I asked.

“The Qi Pill are just captured motes contained in pill form. The risk is from the binding agent the pill uses. Taking too many pills can cause severe stomach and digestion issues, but they will not harm your cultivation unless you are beyond the first stage. That is why it is recommended taking only one a day.” I nodded at this.

“What is the incense lighter’s range? Could I use it outdoors?” I asked.

“We recommend using with a Qi Candle, but it can be used outdoors. The effect is slightly more pronounced than indoors, but the Qi Candle won’t work nearly as well unless used indoors.” I nodded at this.

“I don’t really understand the use of the sensing rod.”

“Some people like to hunt down Qi motes and to save money. So, they use a rod. It vibrates when touching a mote of Qi.” I nodded at this. That was a long-term investment for poor people.

“Are there issues with taking a lot of sensing pills?” I asked.

“We only recommend one at most. After that, their effects are limited and any more might damage your energy.”

“How does it work and how good is it?” I asked.

“The Qi Sensing Pill would heighten your sensitivity to qi across your entire body by aligning it more with the Qi of the world.” I would not risk that. I did not know how my sight worked, but I would not risk messing it up.

“I will purchase 20 Qi Pills and 10 sticks of incense. Also, the Qi Sensing Rod.” That would be 7,000 tael. The clerk smiled, and I quickly arranged the transaction since I had brought money with me. Two servants were carrying the chest and there were four guards.

The tael was counted, and they gave me thirty glass bottles, each containing a single pill or incense stick. I also got a complimentary wooden incense holder as well. They gave me a small case with the sensing rod. With my purchases done, I returned to my warehouse and popped a pill into my mouth.

I could feel the motes enter me. There was nothing different about them compared to other motes. I had been worried about that, but I could literally pay my way to success with pills. The reason people didn’t do this was the sheer cost and the lack of drive it showed. If someone was willing to use pills for the first stage, then what would they do in the second stage where they couldn’t use pills?

That was why even parents and other people did not just gobble down Qi Pills even if they were rich and could spend that money on their kid. They purchased them candles instead. Or a Qi Sensing Rod. The really rich might purchase incense sticks to go with the candles.

The next thing I did was light an incense stick to test it out. I pulled out the sensing rod and pointed it at the motes. It had a very subtle vibration and had to get incredibly close to do anything. The incense stick was also mediocre, but did its job. It drew in 20 motes per hour. After the first hour, I lit a second stick in the warehouse.

The mote draw increased to 22 motes per hour, a minor increase. Still, with these items, I wouldn’t need to run everywhere. The annoying thing was I needed to collect the motes for more motes to show up. They had some sort of repulsion field towards each other, and the incense stick reduced that repulsion. So, the motes bumped into each other outside and then drifted inside the warehouse more.

The base rate would have been about 5 motes an hour in the warehouse, so it was a fourfold increase. Just nowhere near what I was hoping for. Still, an incense stick was worth about one and a half pills but cost twice as much.

But I could only take a pill a day. Two incense sticks a day, and a pill would net me only 420 motes. If I traveled and only came back once every hour, I could probably up that number to 500 motes. It would take about 5 years to hit my target instead of 9. But the cost would be astronomical.

That was 1,740 days I would need a pill and two incense sticks at 250 tael a day. That was 435,000 tael total, which would not happen. Just buying what I had put pressure on my finances, and I needed to fund the caravan in two years’ time.

My daily income came out to around 80 tael per day. I put my mind to work as motes came into the warehouse as I thought over the best way to go about dealing with how poor I truly was. It seemed odd. The richer I became, the poorer I felt.

That was the problem when I wanted to buy super expensive things. The rod had been an impulse buy, but I was interested in trying to figure out how it worked. It also seemed useful for keeping people off my case about cultivation if they ever asked.

What I needed was a new business idea that brought in the money. I had a lot of metal I could use. The problem was no one wanted to ship finished goods, only bars. Bars were universal, and each city had their own way of making things. A slightly curved sword, a single-sided knife, and so on. No one would buy outside goods like that in bulk.

I could turn iron into steel, but that would draw way too much attention. That was the kind of material the sects would purchase for gear and weapons. I considered that. The problem was, I would need some large facilities and supplies to make it happen.

Shaking my head at the idea which would be an enormous investment and the Smithing Guild would make drama. The Sect might even make a drama about large-scale steel production. That was unfortunately off the table.

Hunting was where the money was at, but I didn’t like the thought of risking myself personally. I was an educated person, not some brute. On the other hand, Master Yi Rong’s warning echoed in my head. Cultivation was a path of conflict.

I frowned at this. With the number of sums that were being thrown about, it was getting quite scary. I had equated a bronze coin to a dollar in my mind. A tael was worth a thousand dollars. A rank 1 spirit coin was a million. The spatial ring in my possession was worth ten billion, and that was a low ranked ring.

To be a successful cultivator, a person needs to be incredibly wealthy or incredibly lucky. But there was a difference between winning a billion-dollar lotto jackpot and owning a billion-dollar company. The first was pure chance. The second required a person to be competent to grow it that much.

Everything I had done so far was simple and fairly small. The mining management agreement was a risk, but I had agreed to shoulder most of it, and it was growing an area of business, and not stepping on anyone’s toes or cutting into their business.

The hot sauce was its own market ‌and a food specialty product. Other people were trying to emulate my success, but they didn’t have the capital and knowledge I had. So, they cut corners and made less tasty and weaker versions, which I was fine with.

The woodcarving competition issues had been sidestepped by taking in grandmaster Kang’s mentally ill grandson and making him successful. Last I heard, he was able to visit home and got along with his family decently.

Smelting ore side stepped issues by shipping a lot of the bars out of the city. No one here cared that much if other markets were hit and there was always a demand for metal. But I was straining to come up with more ideas for markets that weren’t stagnant, wouldn’t get anyone that upset, and I could make a lot of money off of.

It wasn’t easy thinking of my next project to make money. I had thought about slowing down on the business side, but to speed up my cultivation, I needed more money. I had a feeling this issue would plague me my entire life in my chosen profession. No wonder why regular people had no chance at success and even the rich people hesitated to invest in a kid to make them a cultivator.

You pick the wrong kid, you just lost a lot of money. Nation defense budget kind of money. It would be a black hole and very difficult to get returns out of. Sure, some families did fund cultivators, but that was once a generation and they had senior cultivators to ease the path for their juniors.

I wasn’t flashy with my money, either. While certain people knew I was rich, I don’t think they realized how rich I was. I told my father, who was always smiling when he saw me. What father didn’t want their son to be supremely talented, incredibly wealthy, and was going into the most prestigious profession possible?

This culture seemed to have very Asian tendencies, so I could see parents looking at their kids and going, ‘Look at Yuan Zhou, he made ten thousand taels a year by the time he was ten. He is going to be a cultivator and become immortal. What are you doing?’ All the kids probably hated me from the looks their parents were giving them and getting annoyed at this Yuan Zhou they have never met.

It was an amusing thought, and also humbling ‌to think about the expectations I had placed on myself. I also had three major advantages, which were immense. Being able to see motes, my knowledge from Earth, and being aware at birth.

These combined made me a genius blessed by the heavens and earth. But that was as far as advantages went. I still needed to sort out my future cultivation and figure out how to rapidly progress through the third and fourth stages. It would take a lot of money, which brought me back to my original thought of trying to figure out how to earn more money.

I could bully my way into a market, like food stands, but then people would get annoyed. Targeting successful and stable businesses was not taboo, but it was looked down on by the people in power. They liked stable and incremental improvements.

While no one had spoken directly to me, I had visited the Coinage Guild to gain this understanding. Cultivators lived for a long time. So, while they wouldn’t say no to some change, they didn’t want turmoil and businesses being crushed, forcing them to get involved. That made it all the harder to figure out what I could do.

There were no major market imbalances, either. When your civilization has been running for millennia, things get sorted out. So, while there were specialty goods like my hot sauce and spice that were shipped around, over time, people in other cities worked these things out if there were no guilds to protect the patents.

In a hundred years, there would probably be one local hot sauce maker in every city peddling their local version of hot sauce. Again, it wasn’t a big problem in my mind. The issue was how static the market was. Business failures weren’t common, and the Coinage Guild preferred to let things play out before stepping in. There was nothing more I could easily scoop up at a bargain. What this place needed was some entertainment to take people’s minds off these issues. Oh, I was such an idiot.

Chapter 13 – I Am Your Father

I sat in my new playhouse watching from the main balcony with my father and several other important people he had helped me invite. When I had first toured the city over six years ago, I had gone through the entertainment district, which was mostly brothels, a gambling hall, and a theater that did music.

That was it. The cultural scene of this city was fairly dead. That was why I had come up with the idea of an actual theater with props, costumes, and even music. The entry to the ground floor was a single bronze coin, standing room only.

Light beer and food were available as well at a slight markup. No outside food or drink allowed. Then there was the balcony seating. The center balcony seats were all reserved for the elite of the city, which were cultivators. I had gifted free seats to the elite for a month. After that, they could pay a yearly fee to keep their seats or let someone else have them.

While I was the owner and creator of the theater, I was still technically under my father’s authority. So, we were to the left of the main balcony. Very good seats, but not the best. That seating was reserved for cultivators who wished to attend. To the right of the main balcony was the seating for the City Lord.

My father had looked over everything and had approved my allotment of the balconies. Cultivators of the Cloudy Moon Sect could always attend for free. Other cultivators would be asked for a tael. The theater would cover food and refreshments for the cultivators that attended.

Right now, there were three cultivators attending the opening performance from the Cloudy Moon Sect, which was a great honor. I had noticed many people come to just glance up at them.

“Cultivator Skywalker, you cannot resist the Demonic Sect and Immortal Black Dragon. You will submit to her authority!” The hero had been bested in swordplay and had lost his hand. It had gone up his sleeve, and a device had propelled red streamers out as fake blood to the amusement of the audience when that happened.

“Never! You are demonic cultivators plunging the land into chaos and ruin. I will never follow you!” I was glad I had used my mother to help pick out the actors. She had an eye for maximum drama. She was even attending with my father instead of his wife and had gone on constantly whenever I saw her about how amazing I was for setting all this up.

“Sense my energy and cultivation technique, Skywalker. I am not just Elder Vader, but your father!” The dark-robed actor pointed dramatically at the hero of the play.

“Nooo!” He then jumped off a fake cliff that they had set the stage up on. Elder Vader went up and looked for the cliff. The music had lined up perfectly. I had multiple rehearsals to get things just right.

“Foolish child. All will come to know the power of the Demonic Sect in time.” The curtains closed to applause and cheering.

“You have quite the sense for drama, my son,” my father said to me as servants brought refreshments to the balconies and drinks were sold below. It took about a minute to change between scenes. I had insisted on getting that time down. Light intro music played in the background. I also kept the length of my script to two hours.

“Thank you, father, but I don’t believe I got that from you,” I replied. He nodded and smiled at that. My mother was busy fussing over what food to pick. The curtains pulled open to the next scene.

Casting the villains as demonic cultivators in black and the heroes in blues and whites was a subtle nod to the Cloudy Moon Sect. All the plays I had written had Demonic Cultivators as the bad guys. Immortal Sauron forged cultivators into a ring of power, and so on. All my stories were like this.

Sorry Disney, but I was praying your legal team couldn’t find me in cultivator land. I even paid for a consultant to be on staff to ensure that the Cloudy Moon Sect would not get offended. There had been many changes to certain scripts, and we had thrown others out. Elder Scar had killed his brother, Elder Mufasa, to take his cultivation while his son Simba revealed his treachery and took him down. That was no good. Sect members didn’t betray other sect members.

Also, the good non-demonic cultivators had to triumph in the end as well. That meant no tragedies. Comedies were also out as well, since mocking any cultivator was not allowed. They could slightly mock demonic cultivators about how evil they were and how much ruin and chaos they caused.

But all that censorship was necessary. If the Cloudy Moon Sect or any cultivator got offended, it would not be good. Demonic cultivators getting offended about how evil they were was alright. Since they would be killed anyway if they made a fuss.

Now that would be a twist, a demonic cultivator hiding out as one of my actors playing the role of a demonic cultivator. That was a drama I didn’t want to happen.

“Cultivator Skywalker, you have come before me at last. Now as my trap is complete to take over the continent,” Immortal Black Dragon cackled loudly.

“Never! I will not cast aside the teachings of Master Green Dragon and Sword Saint Rong.”

“You refuse me even now. You are no match for my lightning technique!” The actor shot out blue streamers at Cultivator Skywalker, who screamed and collapsed to the ground.

“Father! Help me, I know there is still good in you.”

“Foolish child. Your father knows my true power and seeks the path of immortality himself! He will never turn his back on me.” Another blue streamer was unleashed from his sleeve.

“No!” Elder Vader drew his fake sword. Immortal Dragon spun about, also drawing his own fake sword. Elder Vader lunged and there was a brief bout of sword play before they stabbed each other.

Immortal Black Dragon screamed. He fell through a trapdoor, leaving his dark robe behind. Elder Vader staggered over to his son. “My son, let me look at you with my face one last time.” They pulled his dark mask off to show a scarred visage. I had hired a scarred actor to play the role. He had a wonderful voice.

“Father, don’t die.”

“It was a mortal blow to my child. But with Black Dragon’s death, so too are his followers, for he tied his cultivation to ours to empower himself. I was a fool to ever turn my back on the sect and look towards his dark powers.”

“Father, do not worry. I will succeed on the path to immortality. I swear to the heavens and the earth.”

“I know you will, my child.” The curtains swept closed and there was cheering and applause. The actors came out and took a bow as people dispersed from the theater. Looking over at the nearby balcony with the Cloudy Moon Sect cultivators, they were smiling slightly as they left.

That was good. That was very good. A fresh story where a cultivator trained hard, defeated an evil sect, and reunited with his father, who still perished because he was evil, was something there was zero objection to. Those lines about Immortal Black Dragon’s followers perishing were put in to bring closure to the story and have a complete victory for the good guys.

It had some depth, but we cut entire parts out like Leia being Luke’s sister. She was the daughter of the good sect leader. The good sect was never named, but with the coloration it was implied, it was the Cloudy Moon Sect. Han Solo had become a rogue cultivator who traded between cities. Elder Green Dragon was a traveling master who had lost to Immortal Black Dragon and sought revenge.

There was only so much room in the theater, even though I had tried to make it fairly big. The main issue was making sure the sound carried. Anyway, the real money would be on the balcony seating. The ground standing room and refreshments helped a bit, but having a balcony was a sign of being upper crust.

The symbol of each organization, family, or the sect was displayed on the balcony where they were sitting. Since the Cloudy Moon Sect got in for free and refreshments for free, I had been allowed to display their symbol as long as it was well taken care of.

Everyone else would have to pay up at the end of their first free month and their refreshments weren’t free, either. They would get a menu and could select what they wanted provided to them and one of their servants paid up or it was put on a tab. I had hired a top tier chef, and they were the most expensive part of this entire operation.

There were eighteen balcony seats on either side of the large central balcony in a three-by-three grid. The prices ranged from 100 taels a year to 10 taels a year for a balcony. They could invite whoever they wanted to sit on their balcony for free for any of the performances.

There was one servant assigned to each balcony who was instructed to memorize the names and faces of the people of that house and greet them by name when they arrived and see to their requests. Each balcony could fit four people, while the central balcony could hold eight.

It felt like a waste to give up the central balcony to the Cloudy Moon Sect, but it was necessary to give them respect, or as it was called in this place, face, if I wanted cultivators to attend. They had to get treatment above everyone else. This was even more so since the plays would be about cultivators.

The refreshments had done well. I had kept the prices reasonable. There would be one showing of the play per day for six days a week for a year or until the numbers died down. Then things would close for half a month and a new play would be released and start the process all over again.

The plays were in the afternoon, while they spent the mornings in rehearsals and getting ready. The salaries were quite cheap, since they considered the work quite easy. Each actor got 40 bronze coins per day of work, while the lead actors got 50 bronze coins. Support personnel got 20 bronze coins per day. The chef got 100 bronze coins a day. I paid people for 6 days of work.

With the servants and everyone else, the theater cost about a tael a day to run and about twenty taels to pay for a play. The floor people brought in about a tael. A fifth of that was the entry fee, the rest was for drinks and snacks. So that covered the wages of the workers, actors, and operating cost.

The real money came from the balconies, which went into my pocket. That would be 900 tael a year if all balconies were purchased and the refreshments on opening night had run about 35 tael. Figure about 10 tael per day normally, that would be around 3,000 just for food and drink per year. So about 4,000 tael per year of profit goes into my pocket. It was only around 10 tael a day, but it was something.

I had written the first five plays that would be used, but I had Ting looking for a professional playwright who could take over for me. The building had been cheap to make using pre-cast blocks. For a large part of it, including the base of the walls.

It was in the nicer part of the entertainment district, but ‌building the structure had only cost about 1,000 tael. I had looked into opening a fighting pit or boxing matches, but fights were outlawed in the city.

While Hong had told me there were underground fights, I didn’t want to get involved with something like that. As little drama as possible was my company motto, which seemed odd since I opened a theater which was filled with drama.

But I had built a theater, and I was going to maximize the use out of it any way I could. Late at night, it would be turned into a dance club. The families could still use the balconies, but curtains would be available to close them off from the public.

The actors rehearsed in the mornings, but the other employees would still work, including the musicians. They would set tables and chairs up at the ground level. The play had flyers made up and handed out to advertise the play schedule.

But my employees' word of mouth, and a donation to Yuan Liang, spread the word among his party friends and beyond them. There would be recreational drugs to enjoy, like cannabis and tobacco. Those were legal in the city, so I didn’t see the problem and many people smoked. Also, only the house was allowed to sell drugs, drinks, and food. No one else.

The theater’s roof was supported on struts, so the airflow was quite good, and it kept the rain out. In the morning, a cleaning crew would come through and tidy everything up for the next play in the afternoon. My parents left as I remained behind to oversee the transition.

There was an hour of closure to allow stuff to be moved around and the workers to rest and recover a bit. Then my night club opened to loud, fast-paced music. After making sure the switch over happened smoothly, like we had rehearsed, I mostly remained on my balcony resting.

It had been a stressful opening day, but everything had worked out well. Once the night finally ended past midnight there were boos, but things closed up at one in the morning. My people needed sleep and rest for the next day as much as I would have liked to keep things going. They gave people in the balconies half an hour to leave after the music stopped.

If people passed out or fell asleep, we put them in a barebones room with water and a bed. Two workers would stay through the night and check on them. I even had a doctor on call if there was an emergency. One worker could run off to get them while the other remained with the person.

Having a young master die would be a scandal I didn’t want. I had talked with my father about this and having private rooms set aside for something like this, servants, and a doctor on call was enough to make sure no blame landed on me. Most establishments didn’t go that far, but if someone died, they would be shut down.

My eyes went wide. We had a profit of 57 tael worth of food, drink, and drugs. Okay, if that kept above 50 every night, then it would be golden. My daily profit for this place had jumped from around 10 tael to about 60 tael.

The young masters weren’t allowed to start a tab. They had to pay up front. Their parents could start a tab with the theater stuff, but no tabs for young masters. I had all the servants repeat that over and over. I could bill the parents monthly for their food expenses, but billing them for their kids running amuck would just bring drama.

A lot more drama than telling young masters tough luck. They could set up a line of credit, though, by paying in advance. If they did that, they would tally the bill up at the end of the night and if they went over, we cut them off until they paid it back.

Those young masters sure were rich and liked their drugs. Yuan Liang managed the nightclub operations and knew exactly what the young masters wanted. He also enjoyed his new life and salary. I had another manager handling the day to day, while Yuan Liang’s job was to make sure this place stayed popular and there wasn’t a scandal.

Also, it wasn’t a brothel, either. Any women or escorts would take people back to a nearby brothel I had a deal with. Nothing in the theater turned nightclub. If people wanted to really go at it, they could go back to the brothel, which was a stone’s throw away.

They handled their own payments and affairs and didn’t make a scandal. The matron was more than happy to agree to the terms. While the culture wasn’t prudish, having sex in public was something that wasn’t done and embarrassing a young master was bad for business.

The women kept what they could get and led the young masters out at the end of the night. It also helped clear people out. The bathrooms were a mess, but that was for the cleaning staff in the morning to deal with. They got paid good wages to deal with that nightmare.

While they hooked us up to the local sewer system and had running water from the aqueduct, there was barf all over the place. One person had even missed the toilet hole and had shit everywhere around it.

That was another reason I used the pre-cast blocks for the ground floor and cement. It was easy to clean off. Water would be used liberally, and the shit pushed into a drain. Once the first rinse down happened, there would be a liberal amount of fruit scented water tossed all over the place to make it smell nice.

I also had guards all over the place as well. If people started a fight, they would both be tossed out separate entrances. Thankfully, that didn’t happen the first night.

Half Moon City had a population inside its walls of around 250,000. So, there was quite a lot of opportunity for my theater to do business and my nightclub was exciting for young masters who wanted adventure, but was safe enough for their parents to be okay with it.

The following days, it was all anyone could talk about. People even lined up for standing space. I had thought about running two showings a day, but I wanted to draw out the length for each play and run a nightclub out of the same building.

The servants handling the balconies all had to inspect them carefully each morning for any issues, smells, or other things. Thankfully, I had put procedures in place to catch any issues. Like a pair of undergarments tucked into a chair cushion.

Didn’t want the concubines to be scandalized when their husbands brought them out. Each servant double checked another one’s work and two double checked the cultivator’s balcony. The lower floor stuff was less important to get perfect every day.

If the lower-class bathroom smelled heavily of lemons and shit, that was fine. But the upper-class bathrooms had to be worked over carefully to ensure a high standard. The nightclub people only got to use the lower-class bathrooms. The upper-class bathrooms were closed off to prevent any young masters from making a mess.

There had been a few complaints about that, but tough luck. Young masters were like a stampede of destruction, crushing everything in their path and leaving a mess to deal with. They brought money, but I was not dealing with a messed up high-class bathroom where there were delicate things like mirrors.

I told the guards that they could be bribed to let young masters use it, but to make sure nothing was wrecked. They could set the bribe price, but any mess that was made, they had to clean up themselves and pay for damages out of their salary and bribe.

They had been amused at that and had figured twenty bronze coins would be their going rate. It was up to them. But everything else was a hard no. No one could go to balconies their family didn’t own. The public wasn’t allowed in locked up areas. No going on the stage where the orchestra played and women from the brothel sang occasionally.

If they wanted, they could deliver an invitation which all the women were happy to accept. Their dream was to be picked as a concubine by one of the young masters that came through my establishment. The singing allowed them to show off instead of going right to the sex.

I had also said no to harder drugs and made my stance clear on that. I did not want a person to overdose and die. Also, the harder stuff was illegal. They could mess up their livers instead. Yuan Liang knew all the best liquors and how to price them.

He liked to party as well, but he also knew how to run a party and keep things going and exciting, so the tael kept flowing out of people’s pockets into my pocket. My mother enjoyed watching the auditions, evaluating the actors, and getting an early, sneak peek at the play.

She had become the queen bee with my ascent and Ting had let me know there were whispers she might replace Yuan Guangli as the main wife. That wouldn’t happen, since Yuan Guangli had connections to the Cloudy Moon Sect, but the fact there were even rumors showed how strong my mother’s position had become.

She had even been hosting other women at the Illuminated Moon occasionally with the tael I gave her. She asked for more, but I had refused. Ten tael a month was more than enough.

The theater ran fairly smoothly once it got going as another division as part of Zhou Holding Company Limited. I also had to arrange things so that my third brother did not report to my fourth brother. It was annoying, but I had my third brother listed as nightclub consultant in the organizational chart where he tangentially reported to the general manager but was his equal and answered directly to me.

I needed him to make the nightclub a success, but I didn’t want the drama. In another decade, he would be run down, and I would replace him with another young master if he caused any issues. I was running a business, not a charity. Also, our father only asked me to help Yuan Niu, not Yuan Liang.

What I needed now was another idea to get off the ground, but I was tapped out for an idea that met all my requirements. I considered writing books, but there was very little market for reading. The masses were mostly illiterate, which was why the theater had been the hit it was.

There was only so much wealth I could squeeze out of the city. Oh, that gave me another idea. A spa for women. Each of them would be treated like a princess. Other women would carefully care for their nails, hair, and bodies.

It wasn’t just people like my mother who would go there. All the prostitutes would also want to go to a spa. I would need to have two different sections so the groups didn’t intermingle, but if I could bring a theater and a nightclub into this world, I could bring a spa.

The price would be a 100 bronze for a full treatment, which included a massage, 40 bronze for just nails, and 20 bronze for hair. It was easy enough to purchase some land in the commercial district and make a warm and inviting spa. Ting easily knew the right women to hire to handle female appearances.

My mother was more than happy to invite people to the spa and drum up interest and excitement, since she got a discounted price for herself and any friends she brought. She had a lot of friends, but the business was still profitable as word quickly spread among the women of Half Moon City.

It was a place for women and run by women. There were technically no female guards, but I had some beefy women handle security and guards stationed outside if there were issues. It was in the commercial district, so I thought nothing could happen, but better to have staff on hand for rich people's issues.

The spa only brought in about a single tael a day for the spa services. So, it wasn’t a tremendous success, but the business was functional and making a profit. I also introduced the idea of regular appointments and reservations. That way, women could maintain their appearance long term with less upkeep needed.

What rich man would say no to his concubine or wife, looking more beautiful? Even the high-end prostitutes enjoyed the service, to appeal more to the young masters. I kept the two groups separate, of course, but offered basically the same services with just some special perks for being an elite.

Things like food and drinks being served. Full body mirrors and chairs with fluffy cushions. The other side had to deal with half mirrors and less fluffy chairs and no treats being served to them. I only charged them 80 bronze coins instead of 100 though.

The major problem was that while women might have some money, they didn’t control the purse strings like their husbands did. That is why I worked out scented soap and shampoo and sold it inside the spa. That was the real moneymaker.

Smelling nice was something all women and their husbands enjoyed. So, while there was regular soap, I made scented soap and sold it as an elite product. The women bought it up by the crateful. It was a sign of status to smell like flowers or fruit. The real trick was to not make the smell overpowering.

My mother was the trendsetter in all of this. The soap business brought in around 20 tael a day, making the spa a success in my mind. I had pushed my daily income up to around 160 tael a day after I finished these business ventures.

That was almost 60,000 tael a year of money flowing into my pocket, but it honestly wasn’t enough in my mind. I needed to get my daily income up to 250 tael a day to afford the cultivation resources I wanted. As it was, I was popping a Qi Pill daily to boost my daily intake of motes.

The incense sticks were just too expensive. I kept some on hand when it rained since there was only so much traveling I wanted to do in the rain, and I needed to build up my war chest. That was about a tenth of the days and I spent those days going back to my cultivation plan while I let the incense burn for 8 hours.

It also gave me time to look at my notes, diagrams, and more models I had built. I had angled the quad core design upwards but was considering if that was the best orientation for the channels.

It focused me on trying to work out the exact number of cells that were needed to be between cores to let channels move through and how they would spread out. The simple answer was a third of 320 channels each core would have, which was 106.6. How would the channels converge at the vertices was another issue for the icosahedron shaped cores? How to create buffering for the cores?

The list of details and complications in working everything out was immense. No wonder why most people just made some tweaks to the standard template and called it a day. While I hadn’t read everything in the library, I had covered about four-fifths of the useful books by my estimate.

I might have missed some critical insight, but I wasn’t about to hold my breath and wait for my official entrance into the sect. I would need to adjust the number of channels. Each vertex on the core would have nine channels converging, but working that out with the internal pyramidal structure was a pain.

The size of each pyramidal cell structure would be quite small, but I was slowly making progress while stacking up paper in the useless pile. It would all be burned once I was done, but for now I wanted to review older drafts.

I had even taken the time to move motes around in the center of my body to slowly start laying out the structure. The motes would shift over time, but getting everything set up around the core and having an internal model to compare to my plans and ideas was absolutely necessary.

The problem was the intense focus it required to move each mote into position. Like sliding ice chunks across a frozen lake while not trying to hit the other ice chunks. I could only move one mote at a time. It was slow, very slow, but I was slowly laying out the core structures and the pyramid support cells around them.

The channel structures were being done as well. While the motes were points in space, they did have a slight area around them they affect, like bouncing off other motes. I was pushing the boundary of how detailed I could make everything.

The channels were the trickiest, and I considered using another internal structure like a grid, but it would be a lot weaker, and I needed the strength of a triangular structure and separate triangular channels. The worst part was the slight shifting of the motes over time, which was why I didn’t want to do this, but there was no other way.

Once I started locking motes into place, I would enter the second stage and become stuck with the motes of Qi I already had.

Chapter 14 – Sabotage

I looked at the burnt-out warehouse that had been making soap. No one had died, and the fire had been contained, but clearly someone was not happy with me. Well, it wasn’t a big deal financially. I easily had the tael to start up in a new warehouse which my employees were working on.

I was no fire investigator, but the way the stone was burnt, and the smell of lantern oil indicated that it was deliberately set. Either the person would keep targeting me or some figure would come out to have a meeting with me to suggest something and point to the fire as a reason why. If that happened, I would have my culprit.

The best thing to do was to beef up security by a lot. That would cost me another two taels a day for twenty more guards. It was just the cost of doing business. I moved away from the burned out structure and Ting was looking nervously at me.

“You know who did this?” I asked.

“No, young master,” she replied.

“Well, coordinate with Hong. We need twenty more guards. That should double the amount I currently have. And make a night shift,” I replied. They both gave their affirmatives as I made my way back to my office.

How annoying, but I took a deep breath and let it out. People clearly didn’t like me being successful. Even after I had gone out of my way not to step on people's toes, this happened. “Ting, did we displace a business with our soap?” I asked her.

“There are other soap makers. We hired several people from them,” she replied.

“Anyone important own the soap makers?” I asked.

“I am not sure. I will have to check them out,” she replied.

“Do so. Someone is clearly sending a message and I want to know who,” I told her. I made it back to my office and let out a sigh as I sat down at my desk.

This was the kind of thing my brother Yuan Niu should have been handling, but he had just left the city in charge of the trade caravan I had funded. I had moved up the senior manager of my mining operations to be my new Director of Operations.

They were doing alright but were clearly struggling. I was hoping they would get a handle on the role quickly, considering this sabotage. I got up and opened up the locked chest next to my desk and popped in a Qi Pill, gaining another 100 motes.

At 13 years of age, I had reached 930,000 motes. I felt incredible all the time. I was exceptionally strong and quick for my age and size. That was the other thing though, my growth and puberty weren’t coming in properly.

I looked like a kid four years younger than I should be. Cultivating from an early age had clearly messed things up‌. But it was also a good sign, since it indicated that my life span was being stretched out.

Reaching immortality as a geriatric old man was not my idea of success. The biggest headache would be when I began aligning the motes. Yi Rong had told me that my growth would all but freeze at that point. This was another reason why people picked the age of 20 or around there to advance to the second stage.

The skin, hair, and flesh could wear down and change over time, but it would be far slower once a person began cultivating at the second stage. The elders I had seen looked to be middle age, slightly on the older side, while Yi Rong had appeared much older. He had also aged rapidly in his final years as well.

Being stuck as a child would be annoying, but Yi Rong had also informed me that the younger a cultivator appeared, the more dangerous they were considered. This was due to them rapidly advancing through the cultivation stages.

Seeing a young man in the fourth stage compared to an old man, the young man would be a much greater threat and one should be much more cautious. Imagine the shock when I showed up as a child. They would probably think my parents stuffed me full of pills from birth.

Some other sects did that, but the Cloudy Moon Sect didn’t. The proof was in who would reach immortality first and having elders to maintain the status and operations of the sect. If a sect lost all its elders, other sects would move in and take everything. It was a rare occurrence, but it did happen.

One could go from being a low ranked sect with no one in the fifth stage or higher to a mid-ranked sect. But going back down was a death sentence. The high-ranking sects had immortals, so unless the immortal died in combat, they would never be demoted.

I didn’t have any paperwork or reports to look at in my office, so I made my way to my warehouse. There I lit an incense stick while looking over all my diagrams and models. I had grouped clumps of channels into quadrants in my body for ease of labeling them.

The challenge was picking out where each one would go to when it exited my pyramidal core structure. I had even designed additional bracing and buttressing between and around the cores as well. I had a sheet of paper with a triangular grid layout and numbered labels representing the channels.

The number 1-5V-7-5 referred to the channel connecting to the first core at the fifth vertices in the number seven position. The number five referred to the fifth quadrant, which was my left leg. Or 3-6F-2-1 was the channel connecting the third core at the sixth face of the icosahedron and in the second position on said face. The last number of one referred to the first quadrant in my head.

I had the channels come off my core, but they all had to twist around and then move into quadrant groups as they exited the core structure. I needed to make sure it evenly divided the channels across my body, as I had made six quadrants. One for each limb, my head, and my torso.

Then I had a diagram for each quadrant listing which channel connected to which meridian point. Right now, I was confirming the pathway of every single channel through my body and trying to keep the motes in position.

It was a constant struggle, but I had confirmed the pathways two separate times and planned to do it three more times, at the very least. This was a measure as much as you can cut once kind of situation. I had to make sure my meridians were spaced out as evenly as possible and my channel lengths were as even as possible.

I had already found multiple errors where channels would have overlapped. It was incredibly exhausting, but absolutely necessary. I would use my core diagrams and the two-dimensional diagrams of the edge of the core structure, my limbs, and my neck to connect the points in my body.

Every channel I had to commit to memory and be able to instantly trace the path in my body through the motes I had laid out. The constant shifting was annoying, but constantly putting the motes back into place made me quicker and better at mentally shifting them. I considered this important practice for the second stage.

The core design was finalized as an icosahedron for the main Dantian or cores, where the core would form and then two outer icosahedrons with as small a gap between each icosahedron as possible. There was some stretchiness between the connections of motes, but the connections didn’t compress.

That was why there were no connections between the icosahedrons. The inner one would expand, hit the second, and then the third. The channel connections to the core itself didn’t touch the icosahedron shapes.

I had gone back to 10 channels per vertices, since five triangles came together at each one. Two channels would come in from each side. The faces of the icosahedron core structure had an outer triangle formation of channels going through six, then an inner triangle of three, and then a final channel at the center of each face.

The fake secondary core was not forgotten either. It was a sphere and would have twenty-four channels, four from each side that would connect to each quadrant of my body. That would put my total channels at 1,304 channels.

It was less than my planned 1,320 channels, but there was just no room between my cores for more channels to exit from the interior of the core structure. The core sizes were set. The second core wall on each of my main cores was the standard size for a core. So, they would hopefully start small and have room to expand.

The entire thing was a nightmare of fiendish complexity. I could only imagine the people reading the tome I would leave behind in the sect. It would probably get a place of honor or shame. Its own shelf as people tried to make sense of all of this.

To put the size in perspective, the entire core structure was about the size of two hands clasped together or a softball. There were 1,304 connections in that structure that had to be charted to somewhere to the edge of my body or astral soul.

Thankfully, the numbering system, combined with my diagrams, and using my body as a template and memorization tool, was helping. Still, there were issues that came up and I had to tweak the length of the channels to prevent sharp terms and to keep them all to a similar length.

I was also working out the order of construction. While I would only partially align each mote before moving onto the next, it was important to decide the order I would lock them into place. Since one had to decide on what other motes to connect a mote to.

That order also mattered, since barriers would form while connecting the motes. I needed to avoid barriers forming in my channels, since that would make them much harder to carve out. The first step would have to be the channels themselves.

While it was tempting to say the core, I needed the channels to smoothly connect to the core. This was a common mistake people made. They made the core structure first, which made it harder to connect the channels and slowed down the energy entering the core.

When motes were aligned, I could place connections between them. This also included surfaces. But the trick was that a surface wouldn’t go through another surface. And clearing out surfaces in the third stage was very slow. I couldn’t afford to waste that kind of time, so I needed the optimal build order.

The channels had to be clear, so they would be first and then would come to the core next. Then the meridians. Then the internal and outer support structure would have to be last. Most people had gone with the core, then the support structure, then the channels.

But I was going to build my channels first. This was the benefit of having everything planned out ahead of time. Normally, people did this as the last step since they started aligning their motes right when they entered the sect at twenty to save time.

They might spend a few weeks or a month or two looking over the books, but many rushed forward to move as quickly as possible. A few took longer, but there was a lot of pressure to advance in one’s cultivation.

This was where I had an advantage. Yi Rong, taking me as a disciple and letting me look in the library, had been an immense advantage since I could plan things out ahead of time. I knew I wouldn’t have time to spare with how complicated my cultivation plan was.

Also, by laying things out ahead of time, I could ensure I had the precise number of motes as well. It would probably be around 1,320,000, but that was just a close estimate. Even being off by one percent would be 13,200 motes. I wanted the margin of error to be zero percent.

If this failed because it just didn’t work, I could accept that. I was taking a lot of risks. But if it messed things up because of a mistake, I wouldn't be able to accept that. I had always been an overachiever in school, aiming for those ‘A’ pluses.

The real challenge I was faced with was how to speed up the third and fourth stage. Many people used the concept of a drill for their channels, but my channels were triangular for maximum stability. The average rate I had seen was two channels and meridians per year. The top people could do four a year.

I would have 1,304 channels. I needed to manage much more than four per year. The few people who had done triangular channels in the past had just slowly carved them out with dedicated focus based on what I had read.

That was why most people went with circular channels. But circular channels had issues of being larger since they needed more motes to create the circular shape. I had too many channels to use up that much room, and the pressure on my astral soul would be immense. That meant I needed to go with triangular channels.

I would probably have to do two passes through each channel. The first would clear out the main portion with the drill method. Then another method to clear out the sharp corners. But that ran into the issue of each pass through a channel made it harder to remove what was already there.

Perhaps doing each channel in stages, like the Foundation Establishment stage and aligning the motes. I could drill a bit, then clear out the corners, drill a bit, and repeat the process all the way from the meridians to my core.

That still left with coming up with a mental model to slowly and painfully carve out my channels in my astral soul. How did one carve out a triangular hole out of something? I knew there had to be a way. Well, I had a while to figure it out.

I had also worked the meridian structure out. Triple layered hexagon to transition from the outside of my astral soul to the channel. Each hexagon would get smaller, eventually funneling into the channel. I might change the order and build the meridians first instead of the channels, but I would need to do more reading when I went back to the sect before I decided one way or the other. This would align with the hexagon pattern I planned for the edge of my astral soul.

I had made progress and was continuing to make incredible progress. I would hit my target number of motes in about three years. There was nothing on how many motes a person could have. I guess the limit was based on the size of their soul and compacting them as densely as possible.

That would be somewhere in the 10 to 20 million mark, depending on the size of a person or the size of their soul. I had seen nothing about the size of a soul versus the size of a person. There had been some discussion about what would happen if a cultivator lost a limb.

The answer was that their core wouldn’t form properly. There were powerful medicines, but crippling a cultivator was the same thing as ruining their cultivation. Since their core would become unbalanced. Many would prefer death instead. While there were rare medicines that could provide regeneration, they were very expensive, rare, and hard to make. Also, their impact was limited to how much they could recover.

The higher up one went, the supposedly fewer fights there were. Also, the damage to the surrounding terrain would be catastrophic once you got into the fifth stage. I didn’t want to be sucked into any fighting. I was not a fighter, and yet the parting words of Master Yi Rong echoed in my head.

I had spare time, even with the sabotage and my cultivation work. That was the nice thing about having subordinates and doing a weekly check in to make sure there were no problems. The money flowed without my constant input.

Most cultivators used techniques. This basically involved shaping energy that was aligned with your element and expelling it. There were no techniques before stage 4, but a cultivator would become more resilient.

Body cultivators had huge spikes in their personal power. But that involved aligning the motes with your physical body and not your astral soul. But the power would go directly into one’s body. Body cultivators had an advantage up to stage 4, where it got muddled and depended on a person’s techniques.

Weapons would use energy channeled into them from a person, while a body cultivator would use their fists or very sturdy materials. What I needed was a gun or multiple guns. I am sorry Master Yi Rong, but your personal disciple would look at your Parting Cloud Sword Style, but he wasn’t about to wave metal around.

I would train a bit to stay in shape and to know the basics, but if I was going to use a weapon, I would use a gun. A focused, accurate, ranged attack was the best option. The trick was figuring out how to make one.

Sects had knowledge of crafting with spirit materials and formations. While they outsourced work to experts in the field, they held control of the resources. The spirit wood for the special-order rocking chairs was a good example.

It was actually quite rare for a cultivator to have a profession outside Alchemy or Formations. Some seniors took up a hobby once they advanced to the fifth stage, giving up on immortality, or seeking to take a break from cultivation. It was rare, but not uncommon.

The problem with those elders was that anything you requested to be made would be expensive, very expensive. The kind of things that were treated as treasures. They couldn’t mass produce things either since the materials were equally rare, even the lower ranked materials.

So, while they might build up some experience making low-level stuff, they would quickly focus on high-level stuff once they knew what they were doing. Again, all of this wasn’t cheap. That meant if I wanted a gun, I would have to make it myself.

I wouldn’t be using gunpowder, and the weapon would require formations to work. That meant the project was on hold. A big consideration for a gun was my small stature. I would have a much harder time against larger cultivators with longer reach.

Well, I finished looking over my cultivation notes for the day and the incense had run out. I locked up, nodded at the guard outside, and got into my personal rickshaw to take me home to the compound as four guards followed behind me.

“Elder brother,” my sister Yuan Chuntao greeted me before I made my way into my room. She gave me a demure bow, with her hands folded in front of her. She was only four years younger than me, but my mother had dragged her out to the theater and the spa.

“Younger sister,” I returned her greeting with a head nod. I was going to get cleaned up, have some dinner, and then go to bed.

“Wait,” she said, and I paused and turned back towards her. She was flustered and standing there nervously, fidgeting. She clearly wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say. I waited calmly as she gathered up her courage.

“I want to go with you tomorrow,” she blurted out. “I mean, see what you do,” she stammered.

“Most of it is quite boring.”

“I still want to,” she said. I considered what I had planned. Just a lot of traveling and visiting places to collect motes.

“Very well. Make sure you tell mother and are ready to leave tomorrow at dawn,” I replied.

“Thank you!” she said and ran over and gave me a hug. I gently returned it. She then raced off. I did not know what that was about. After freshening up, I paid a rare visit to my mother’s rooms.

“Enter,” she called out after I knocked on the door. I opened it up, and she was a bit surprised to see me, and then smiled.

“My genius son, what brings you here?” she asked. I bowed my head slightly out of respect to her as my mother.

“My sister Yuan Chuntao spoke with me about coming with me on my tasks tomorrow. I wonder what that was about?” I asked.

“Ah,” my mother said and turned away slightly.

“Ah?” I asked.

“She wants to spend time with her older brother,” my mother replied. “She has been pestering me, and I told her to ask you if she wanted to spend time with you.”

“I see. Well, I will arrange something safe and appropriate for the day,” I replied.

“Thank you, my son. Things are going really well thanks to you,” my mother said with a smile. I smiled back slightly and left.

The next day, my sister Yuan Chuntao was up and ready to go. We both got in the same rickshaw and went from business to business. She was wide eyed as she looked about the city. I stopped by the new soap warehouse, and it was coming together quickly.

For lunch, we stopped at a local shop for some ramen. We got several looks because of the guards with us, but no one made a fuss. In the afternoon, we went to my office. I arranged for some colored wax crayons and paper to occupy her while I had my meeting with Ting.

“I looked into the matter, Young Master. One of the other soap shop silent owners is the Xiang family,” she replied.

“Do we have any dealings with them other than the soap?” I asked.

“No, and it is one of their side businesses. But there are rumors they have been heavy-handed in the past in the textile businesses which they focus on.”

“Their patriarch or someone else?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I would have to guess their main family.”

“Their income?”

“Around that of your father’s, but they have more expenses for their businesses, but this is an estimate.” I nodded at this. That meant their financial position was weaker than mine.

“Any connections to the Cloudy Moon Sect?” I asked.

“They supply the disciple robes. The elder and member robes are made by the sect themselves,” Ting answered. So, they had some backing.

“For now, we do nothing. They are just venting their anger or sending a warning. They haven’t reached out, have they?” I asked.

“No, Young Master.” I let out a sigh.

“Then the additional guards should be enough. That has been taken care of?” I asked, and Ting gave an affirmative. I considered the situation some more, but escalating was the wrong choice. If they came after me again, then I would retaliate, but for now I will let things go.

“Arrange a rumor that they did it and say I am a coward for not responding,” I replied.

“That… Young Master, I don’t understand,” Ting replied.

“When you are strong, appear weak. I am in a strong position, so let people think I am weak. If they strike again, then the guards should be able to catch the culprit or at least stop them. We have a night shift now. If they don’t respond, then they will feel happy. If it isn’t them, then the person will feel they got away with the crime and might act again or be happy and not act. Regardless, it puts us in a stronger position by appearing weaker,” I explained. Ting took a moment to process all of that.

“I understand. I will make the arrangements,” she replied, and I dismissed her. My younger sister rushed into my office.

“Brother! Look at what I drew!” she replied, showing me a picture of stick figures. “That is you, then me, then mother, and then father.”

“I love it,” I replied and gave her a hug. “I will have it framed.” I wrote up a note for Ting to have someone make a wood frame and backside with a glass cover on the front. Completely over the top for a child’s drawing, but it was cute.

One did not dare respect the cuteness. We made our way out of my office then and back home. Yuan Chuntao was exhausted and took a nap. After that, I went back to my warehouse to work on my cultivation plans again.

There was a lot of work left to do and it was something I needed to put all my focus on consistently. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t make progress. Like writing a thesis, one needed to devote the majority of their attention to the project to complete it.

This meant reviewing each channel and pushing the motes carefully into position every single day. Since I collected motes from pills and from the air, they entered my body at my center or the outside. I had made temporary outlines and didn’t build the framework. Just lines of motes for the various channels.

But now I was filling everything out carefully. I had started on my legs first. Moving each mote, exactly where it would need to go and building the outline of the structure upwards through my body, replacing the outlines I had been using.

Once the legs were done, I worked on my head and neck. I had long gotten used to the feeling of the motes, but having them move through the head portion of my astral soul was distracting and spine tingling with how weird it felt.

Now I was working on my lower torso and the cores. It was very slow going and everything needed to be incredibly precise. The work had also gotten slower since I had to put the motes back into their proper positions every single day.

It was a lot of work but it was something I enjoyed slightly. Like finishing up a massive puzzle, there was a sense of accomplishment. It had taken a long time, but everything was finally coming together.

Most of the time that I worked on moving the motes I had diagrams hung on a wooden board in front of my rocking chair. I would reference them as I checked and rechecked all the future channel paths. The area around the core and my torso were a complete mess, even with the outlines I had done before.

The density of motes was incredibly high and every time I spotted an error or issue, it would require moving lots of other motes to fix that one issue, which had a chance of creating another error from the motes shifting about.

But there was progress. My torso would take a long time to get right, since it was the center of my cultivation. My cores would reside around my gut or navel in my astral soul, and my pyramidal core structure was oriented with a core facing downwards and not up. This allowed for better access for my channels to spread out and move up through my torso.

The two enormous obstacles remained, a fast way to clear out my triangular shaped channels and the energy I would need for my core. The first problem had a solution, I was sure of that. I just had to think of it. But the second problem was called the great bottleneck for a reason.

I was doing everything I could to mitigate the issue, but it would still be a serious issue. That was where I anticipated needing a lot more resources, but that was where everyone else needed resources as well. There were secondary concerns about elemental attunement for my channels and meridians, but since I had picked the earth element, I wasn’t that concerned.

The number of resources might be high, but it wasn’t something that would be a huge roadblock in my mind. The real question was what should I do once I got all the motes I needed?

I had spoken to Master Yi Rong in the past, and he had indicated that I could join the sect early. But that would see me with less of a war chest starting off. I would take a year, maybe two, to ensure all my motes were perfect, backwards and forwards, then I would join around eighteen years old.

Getting the motes in their positions was fundamental to the following stages of cultivation. If I screwed that up, then it would all be for nothing. I had the time to be careful and double check things, so I was going to use that time to the fullest.

I wanted to chart my channels and entire mote structure without a reference to any diagram. It needed to be something I completely understood at all times. A human mind could memorize quite a bit if put to the task, and it focused me on my cultivation structure for years on end, tweaking and refining every single mote placement.

It wasn’t enough to have the channels move through the pyramidal cell structure, but they had to interlock with it as well. Where all the connections would come to be was critical. It would have been much easier to do a cubic pattern instead, but it wouldn’t have been as strong.

That strength was needed to support the pressure of so many cores and channels. That was when I considered the cores again. If pressure from my channels dropped, there could be backflow, which was a bad thing.

Valves, I needed to add valves to the core. That would stop backflow, but it would also stop me from doing techniques. I would be able to increase the pressure to a much higher degree. That was something I would have to look at once I returned to the sect and was able to look through the library again in more depth.

Chapter 15–Qi Gathering Complete?

“Brother, it has been too long,” I said with a smile as I greeted my fourth brother Yuan Niu. He looked a lot more worn, but he had returned alive and in good health.

“Still, my younger brother, I see.” I fake pouted a bit as we hugged each other. I still looked like a pre-teen, despite being eighteen years old.

“Unfortunate side effects of my cultivation. Yuan Yun will surely celebrate your return.”

“Truly?” Yuan Niu asked, and I nodded.

“Father stepped down officially last year and Yuan Yun is the new patriarch.”

“Already? He must be enjoying his time off,” Yuan Niu replied.

“Too much time, if you ask me. Honestly, he likes to visit my office more than me. You are also just in time before I depart. I was considering entering during the intake last year, but I will go this year,” I replied.

“Wait, aren’t you only eighteen, or did the sect change things?” Yuan Niu asked as he settled into my office. I poured some tea for him.

“I have just about completed the first stage of cultivation. I wish to review some things, but I can proceed to the second stage at any time,” I replied.

“Congratulations, brother.” I smiled at the kind words as I handed him some tea.

“I should congratulate you. Tell me about your trip?” I asked.

“Lots of time on the road. But I saw the mountain city of Skyward Peaks. That was a climb up there, but the view was amazing. Then I went to the great forest city of Red Trees. The city was more vertical than anything else. Their elevators were impressive, taking two carts up at a time into the leafy branches. The branches were so wide there was room for two carts and buildings.”

“Imperial City was breathtaking. They made everything out of stone and glass. Buildings towering ten stories in the lesser districts. In the center, the buildings soared over twenty stories tall. But the cost of everything was immense. People used tael like bronze coins.”

“I saw the great endless ocean in Crashing Waves. Everything smelled of salt. The seafood was amazing, and they loved the spices and even had versions of their own I have brought back.” I listened to my brother describe the cities and terrain he had traveled throughout the continent.

“The hardest part is living off the carts. The occasional beast attack actually made things interesting, but the cultivator I hired was dependable and there were no issues throughout the journey.” I nodded at this.

“Well, welcome home, brother.” There was a knock on my office door. “Enter.” My father came into my office.

He gave my brother a big hug, and I left them for a few minutes while I arranged some more refreshments so they could catch up privately. I returned and my brother was talking about the various cities and sights.

“Ah, if I was younger, I would have loved to run a caravan,” my father said as I served him tea.

“Well, I think I will relax for at least a year before heading out again. Also, I am engaged.” My father paused mid-sip.

“Congratulations. Who is the lucky woman?” I asked.

“Hou Jiaying, daughter of Hou Guiren. A minor family from Imperial City.” They had a last name, so they were in the same social strata. “Her father handles a lot of the distribution network from our part of the continent,” Yuan Niu explained.

“A great pairing. She has come back with you?” my father asked.

“Yes, I arranged a house for us, and she is resting,” my brother said.

“What about the bride's price and dowry? It will be complicated,” my father said with a slight frown.

“I have already paid the bride price,” my brother said.

“Oh, that is good. How much?” my father asked, and my brother looked at me.

“I am sorry, brother. It was 80,000 tael,” he replied. My father began coughing in shock. That was an exorbitant amount of money. A person could fund a cultivator through the first stage with that kind of money.

“That seems excessive,” I replied calmly while being very upset on the inside.

“I will pay you back, brother, but we love each other,” he replied. Love was not worth 80,000 tael. That was the bride price for a daughter of a family that had no male heir. Even if Imperial City was expensive, this was excessive. I could tell my father was looking at me nervously. He didn’t want strife to start. My brother also appeared worried.

“I see. We will discuss this a week from now. For now, let us celebrate the happy couple and not let dark clouds or thoughts ruin your return,” I replied. There were smiles at that, but I was quite unhappy on the inside. It had been a major investment for the caravan.

There was a family dinner held and Yuan Niu and his new wife were celebrated, but he eventually came back to my office. I had looked over the accounting book he had brought back and his cash reserves. Even after the caravan disbanded in Half Moon City and the goods were sold off, I was not happy.

He set out with a 50,000 tael investment and came back with only 40,000 tael. He had lost money and his wife, while nice and good looking, wasn’t worth 80,000 tael. Yuan Niu had to at least break even, but he hadn’t. According to the contract we had set up, he owed me a debt of 73,000 tael. He would get ten percent of the profits from the trip after he paid the initial amount back.

“Yuan Niu, I won’t speak ill of your wife, but the debt you owe me is quite large. The total is 73,000 tael,” I said calmly, and he was wincing.

“I know, brother, and I will repay you.”

I shook my head slowly. “How? Even father or first brother could not repay that kind of debt. Even I would be hesitant. If I fund another caravan, then you would have to work the rest of your life to pay me back.”

“I… Please forgive me,” he said and bowed his head.

“I have been thinking long and hard about what to do. You are family, but you have stolen from me. That money was not yours to spend as you did. By all rights, I could have you and your wife sold as debt slaves to recoup the barest fraction of the debt.”

“I-“

“I am not done speaking.” My brother closed his mouth. “You are family. But I do not tolerate people who steal. You are fired,” I told him calmly.

“Fired?” he asked, confused.

“You no longer work for me and will never work for me again and I will hold on to the debt but not cash it in. I took a risk on you, and it did not pay off, but I am sure you can find other work and sources of income. I won’t even ask for the money you paid to rent your house for a year back.”

“I… Please forgive me,” he cried out and got out of his chair and kowtowed in front of my desk.

“This is the last time we will speak on matters of business, Yuan Niu.” I rang a bell on my desk and a servant came into my office. “Please escort my brother gently out of this building. He is not allowed to return.” The servant had to get two guards to carry my wailing brother out of my company.

What an idiot. If his wife had connections to the Imperial Sect, then sure. But she was just a regular woman, and the third daughter of a minor family. She was lovely, but she had clearly tricked my brother into getting her out of whatever was planned for her in Imperial City.

It was a shame to write off such an enormous debt, but that was the risk of doing business with family. I would not squeeze my brother for the 100 tael he had tucked away. But he would get no more money from me, and the Yuan family would not dare to help him.

All knew that I would join the sect. While it was only whispered, it was the kind of thing people gossiped about. My constant purchase of cultivation supplies was also hard to hide. I was important enough that people monitored my movements and activities now. There was also the fact that I still looked like a little kid which was the most obvious indication I was cultivating.

They didn’t know they already accepted me as an inner disciple, but the jump in logic to figure out I was joining the Cloudy Moon Sect was easy to make. I made a note for my Director of Accounting Fang to hold the debt in trust, but not cash it in.

If my brother made a fuss, I would crush him, but for now I was content to let him live his life. It still hurt, all that money lost. The Hou family was probably laughing their asses off about how much of an idiot my brother was.

Love was a dangerous thing on the path to immortality. One needed to be focused and not allow for distractions. The recent play about a cultivator turning away from their love, who then cultivated with another sect, who then perished in battle together against a demonic sect in each other’s arms, was a colossal hit.

Of course, the man was with the sect colored like the Cloudy Moon Sect and he died avenging his woman and saving people, but she stuck around enough to gasp out her last words to give him strength to win, but he perished in the end.

I didn’t think it would get past the censor, but I had an excellent track record, and it was a drama showing the dangers of being overly emotional and presenting the good cultivators in a proper light, especially the male cultivator. So, it got through.

I had even got a comedy written about a rogue cultivator whose only talents were luck and running away. He would sneak around sleeping with women and being a bit of disgrace while sect cultivators hunted him down. Eventually, he was caught and executed. I had wanted him to elope with the sect leader’s great granddaughter who had been chasing him, but that had been refused. So, he got executed instead in the story.

Heaven forbid anything else but the ending most favorable to the Cloudy Moon Sect. I didn’t care that much. It was more amusing than anything else. So even if it didn’t fit the theme, they always had to win. As long as people showed up and paid money, it was all good.

My third brother, Yuan Liang, had actually been doing a good job at the nightclub. He was probably going to die by forty from too many drugs and prostitutes, but he was happy and didn’t let his activities interfere with his work. I was content to let things be.

Even the burning of my soap warehouse hadn’t been followed up with anything more. The increased number of guards had kept any other incidents from happening. I had just gotten 40,000 tael back as well since the caravan was being shut down because of Yuan Niu’s poor judgement.

My sponsorship of the hunting team had been going decently. I was averaging about 970 tael per level 1 spirit stone and had been purchasing 20 licenses for them per year. They were happy to be making money as well.

I had also been converting my wealth into spirit stones occasionally when the price dipped down to 1,200. I had one of my accountants get the weekly updated price from the Hunters Guild and track it. Every time it dipped down, I would purchase one.

That had allowed me to slowly build up my war chest for when I joined the sect. I had 97 level 1 spirit stones currently in a chest in the Coinage Guild. With the 40,000 tael, I could purchase about 30 more. That seemed like a good option.

I would try to pay my way in the sect by doing chores and saving my wealth, but it would be there in case it was necessary. Or I could just save the tael in four chests in the Coinage Guild. It would allow for easier transactions if I ever needed money.

There was no rush to get more spirit stones and I would lose money in the currency transactions. I also needed to make arrangements to hand my business off for someone to manage. I would have considered Ting, but she wouldn’t be taken seriously as a mortal woman. It was completely sexist, but also true.

Still, she was the best candidate to take charge. I had her called to my office and had her sit down while I poured some tea.

“Ting, you have been with me from the start, about fourteen years,” I said.

“Yes, Young Master,” she replied and bowed her head.

“I will join the Cloudy Moon Sect soon and have been thinking about the best person to manage this business in my absence,” I replied.

“I am sure Fang will do an excellent job,” she said, and I shook my head.

“No. While I considered Accounting Director Fang, he does not have the skill set to handle various issues that might arise in my absence. I know of someone much better,” I said, and she waited patiently. Well, I would not tease her too much. “You Ting.”

“But I have no family name and am just a servant and a woman,” she said a bit hastily, and I nodded.

“All true. But I will still own everything. You will just be working on my behalf. And I will be an official cultivator. Who would dare cause you too much grief?” I asked.

“I am honored Yuan Zhou,” she stood up and bowed deeply.

“The new position requires a new title and a pay raise. I believe Senior Director Ting has the right sound to it and a pay raise to five tael a day.” I replied. She let out a gasp at that.

“That is too much!” she said, and I shook my head.

“You will manage everything while I am away and deposit the extra profit into my vault at the Coinage Guild. We will make the arrangements. Many people might consider stealing a bit. I believe in paying you what you are worth, and you are worth five tael a day to manage all of this,” I replied.

“I am humbled and honored, Young Master,” she said and bowed her head once more.

“Well, it is work and a headache. But I trust you will manage Zhou Holding Company Limited in my absence. You are also free to expand carefully if you desire. Hire and fire people as you please. And have full managerial control of the company.”

“In addition, I would ask you to follow up with my sister to make sure everything is going smoothly with her and my mother. Her allowance won’t change and don’t allow it to change. You have control and everyone will report to you,” I explained.

My youngest sister had died from illness, unfortunately. Even throwing money at the issue, there was nothing that could be done. Wealth could only do so much, unfortunately. It was a harsh reminder of the mortality of this world. But I could not let myself be dragged down and distracted. Tears would not help me cultivate.

Once Ting understood her new role, I asked her to arrange an all-company meeting. This would include the directors, senior managers, and managers at the Illuminated Moon. It would be a closed-door company celebration, so I wouldn’t be inviting family.

A few days later, I was in the banquet hall of the restaurant that was reserved for large events. It had cost 1,000 tael, but I considered the expense worthwhile to set the stage for Ting’s control of my company.

“Thank you, everyone, for working hard at Zhou Holding Company Limited,” I said to the gathered employees. There was clapping and some cheers at that, and I smiled. I was quite generous with my pay to management level employees and higher.

“As many might have heard rumors of, I plan to join the Cloudy Moon Sect at this upcoming intake.” There was more clapping and cheering.

“That is why I have considered how the company will continue in my absence. While I will still maintain ownership, I have decided to name a person to the position of Senior Director. They will have full operational and managerial control. Their decisions are my decisions. And they have my full trust and support. Senior Director Ting, will you please come up?”

There was a round of applause, but I noticed a couple of people were shocked. I had talked to Hong beforehand, and he was okay with the appointment. He was a fighter and guard and could manage that aspect of the company, but had no interest in running the day-to-day operations.

His support was critical in order to keep everyone else in line. I had also spoken with Accounting Director Fang and he got a small pay raise along with the other directors, but he had no objections, either. With the other two pillars of my company not complaining, Ting could take full control.

“Thank you, Yuan Zhou,” Ting said and gave me a bow, which I returned. I then stepped to the side to let her speak to everyone. The good food and environment would help make this transition much easier, which was why it was being held at a fancy restaurant instead of a warehouse.

“I have been with Yuan Zhou since his first business all those years ago. A simple woodcarving shop to make rocking chairs. Now we are one of the premier organizations inside Cloudy Moon City. Woodcarving, hot sauce, mining, smelting, entertainment, and luxury branches of Zhou Holding Company Limited have made us a force to be reckoned with.”

“I have been entrusted with the stewardship and management of this company and will not let you all down. We will continue into the future as strong as ever. I have been even entered into the city roles as Zheng Ting.”

It wasn’t cheap to get a family name since it cost 10,000 tael to be registered. It was going to be taken out of her paycheck until she paid it back. Having a family name entitled you to certain rights. You became someone of importance socially, but you also were entitled to a hearing in front of the City Lord, a trial for accused crimes instead of summary judgement, and the authority to pass your family name onto your heirs and children.

While it was possible for someone to have a family name while poor, it was hard. It cost 1,000 tael to have the name holder pass the name to their descendent. That was why grandchildren didn’t get the family name.

Yuan Yun’s kids didn’t get the family name of Yuan until he was named heir, which meant he was the new holder of the family name. Any children my father had after the name passing wouldn’t get the last name of Yuan either, since he was no longer the family name holder.

All the cities under the Imperial Sect used the same system. Taking a fake family name was punishable by death. The only exception were cultivators who could take up a family name if they wished to, but some didn’t like Elder Zedong. They had no interest in such things or changing what they were called. Some wore the lack of a family name as a badge of honor, showing how they had come from nothing and rose up the ranks of cultivators.

Basically, a family name was a promotion from a low tier mortal to a high tier mortal in terms of social standing. If someone without a family name and someone with a family name got into a dispute, the authorities would favor the person with a family name in all but the most blatant transgressions.

This is where the young masters came from. Also, a thousand tael to just pass the name meant it was out of reach for most people, but it wasn’t stupidly expensive. Like being able to get a private jet on Earth. There was a class of people that could afford it, while others could only dream of something like that.

Then there were the stupidly rich where it wasn’t really an issue or concern, which would be cultivators. The party wound down after Ting’s speech and I left. I was quite pleased with how things had gone. In just a month, I would head to the intake for the Cloudy Moon Sect.

While I could technically arrive at any time, Master Yi Rong had told me it would be considered rude. Since the elders would have to be disturbed outside of the normal time, and the elders hated being disturbed for anything.

I spent the month relaxing and packing up my cultivation notes. “Brother!” Yuan Chuntao barged into my room, where I was reading a historical book about the Imperial Sect.

“Yes, sister?” I asked.

“What am I going to do? You are leaving me all alone,” she came over and leaned over my shoulder, invading my personal space. “Mother has been bothering me about finding a good marriage.” Yuan Chuntao was only fourteen, but most women tried to get married by sixteen at the latest.

“Do you want to marry?” I asked.

“Maybe, but there is no one as good as you,” she muttered.

“I am a heaven’s blessed genius. Of course, there is no one like me. Is there anyone you like?” I asked.

“Well, Yao Yang is quite handsome and nice,” I nodded at this. He was the first son of Yao Guiren, who owned most of the mines near the city. Normally, my sister would not be eligible for such a match, but my status was quite high, which ‌made Yuan Chuntao’s status equally high. He was about my age.

“Have you two talked?” I asked.

“Only at a formal party with several other people,” my sister said. I had attended a few, but they were boring and drama filled. Once I had enough money and independence, I stopped going to events like that to focus entirely on my cultivation and business. “I was thinking about going to the theater with him, but first brother is being stingy,” she replied.

“You want balcony seats?” I asked her.

“Yes, good ones.” I rolled my eyes at this.

“I will talk to Yuan Yun and sort things out.”

“Also, money for dinner afterwards,” she said.

“Why isn’t he treating you?”

“Well, he said his father keeps him on a strict allowance,” my sister replied.

“He can afford to take you out to dinner if he is interested in you. And you have been going with mother to the spa.”

“Brother, I need a new dress,” she complained.

“Fine, let’s go get one together,” I replied. She cheered, and we left the compound to go shopping. She dragged me from shop to shop. While I hated it, I put up with it for her sake. I could tell she wasn’t really interested in shopping; she wanted to spend time with me before I left.

We had dinner together at the Illuminated Moon. “Why do you have to leave, brother?” she asked me.

“The path of cultivation interests me. Immortality, power, riches. But most of all, standing on top of the world,” I replied. Also the fear of dying again to a truck.

“Well, you will have to visit me and tell me of all your heroic adventures slaying demonic cultivators,” she said, and I smiled at that.

“I will. I also plan to take the picture you drew with me,” I said with a cheeky grin.

“No! I can’t believe you framed that picture,” she said and blushed, putting her hands over her face.

“It is the best picture of our family,” I replied. Our younger sister had passed away from sickness at a young age. Our mother just had two children now.

“When you are an immortal, are you going to hang that up? Really?” I teased her about it occasionally.

“Yes, I will. Everyone will see the great artwork of Yuan Chuntao and bask in its awe. All these powerful people will look at it, then I will ask their opinion on it. They will all say it is the best thing ever just to suck up to me,” I said with a grin.

“That is so mean, but hilarious,” my sister whispered. “I am going to miss you.”

“I will miss you as well. But I have high hopes my cultivation will go quickly. Also, if you don’t want to get married and do something else, you can. If you ever want to leave the compound and strike out on your own, I have told Zheng Ting to hire you as part of my company.”

“Silly brother, I will find a husband, don’t worry. I am more worried about you. All alone. I asked and there is no one special in your life,” she said with a pout.

“I plan to focus on cultivation. My path, it is very hard.”

“You let me look at your diagrams a few times. I still don’t understand any of them, but they look very complicated,” she said.

“It is. What I am attempting is something that has never been done. If it works, then I will become a legendary immortal and make everyone compliment your drawing.”

“Oh brother. I doubt anyone knows your humor but me. I swear you channel all of mother’s drama.”

“Now who is picking on who. I am not that dramatic. She is always gasping and raising her hand to her forehead,” I countered, and my sister giggled a bit as I copied mother’s pose.

“It is a bit much. But she will miss you as well. She can’t stop complimenting you. I mean honestly, what is the sister of a heaven’s sent genius supposed to do?”

“I know it is hard, since she is already the best sister possible,” I replied.

“Stop it, you will make me cry, brother.” We finished our meal and took a rickshaw back to the compound.

The time until I left was drawing closer. Yuan Chuntao had grown on me recently. I hadn’t interacted with my two younger sisters that much since they were too young. Then the youngest passed away and Yuan Chuntao had pestered me quite a bit.

I made sure to make time for her, for there would be no time for regrets later. When I saw her again, she would probably be married with children of her own. I would be their legendary uncle. The man who became a business tycoon at the age of four.

It was frankly ridiculous how much I had gotten away with at such a young age. But when one was a certified genius, then everyone would just stare in awe. Everyone would still stare in awe since I was going to stay a small child.

I would go to the sect and spend the next year or two confirming and double checking my cultivation plan, while trying to resolve the few outstanding issues that remained. Once there, I needed to consider valves, double check my meridian design, figure out how to drill a triangle, determine the resources I would need for elemental attunement, and resources for the fourth stage. I would also need to plan out how to power through the fourth stage as well.

But the channel design was solid. I had checked it two times so far and no changes needed to be made or errors found. It had taken some careful calculations, but I had also totaled up my motes out of curiosity. I had 1,317,282 motes of Qi inside of me. Slightly less than I had originally been aiming for and estimating.

Still, I was thrilled with how everything was laid out. There might need to be some final adjustments, but I wasn’t concerned. I had 100 Qi Pills I was planning to bring. That was another 10,000 motes if I needed them.

The sect only allowed in what one carried up the stairs. So, no carts of belongings. If you wanted more, you had to carry more yourself. The same went for inner disciples. I was going to bring 30 spirit stones with me and leave the rest in the Coinage Guild.

I felt that was more than enough to cover any immediate expenses I might have. People were also allowed to leave the sect, but for people starting out, it was heavily frowned on. Once you entered, you were expected to cut mortal ties.

The normal amount of time until a person normally left the sect for resources was twenty years. But even then, anyone below the fourth stage had to get approved by an elder. The sect wanted people striving for immortality, not caught up in mortal affairs.

I wasn’t too worried, but it was annoying since I would have to see how things played out in the sect first. I suspected they wouldn’t grant exceptions. Cultivators were supposed to cultivate. I got that, but I was thinking smarter, not harder.

Taking breaks was important. That way I could look at a problem with a fresh mind. But things might change in the second stage, and I would slow down. If that happened, then the pressure would build. I wasn’t that worried, even if that happened. Panicking would do me no good.

Problems just required time and careful planning. There was only one big problem I had to sort out that was left. The bottleneck at the fourth stage. Everything else just required some mental exercise.

I looked at the triangular drilling problem again. I had a wooden model of a triangle and looked at it before letting out a sigh, then traced my finger around on the wood. A while ago, I had asked other people, but they were just as stumped. No one drilled triangles. Even grandmasters Ling and Kang did not know.

Once I got to the sect, I would have to look more in depth at channel clearing options and to keep thinking about drilling triangular holes. This was one of the moments I really missed the internet and being able to get straightforward answers to simple yet tricky questions like this.

I knew if I heard the solution, it would sound obvious. But I had been stuck trying to figure this out for the longest time and it was annoying me. Perhaps there was no solution, but I refused to believe that.

Chapter 16 – Sect Intake

I walked along with other people towards the sect intake point at the base of their mountain and received several looks for my small size and childlike appearance, but no one said anything. I had a pack of my personal items on my back.

It was a long hike to the sect, but prospective cultivators were not allowed to take a carriage. They had to walk the distance from Half Moon City. I probably didn’t have to do it, but I didn’t want to cause trouble and act like a spoiled brat.

Better to be polite and humble. I would tell off bullies, but I wanted to avoid drama. I was probably going to fail at that, but it was the hope.

It would take five to six days of hiking to reach the sect. At least all the motes boosted my physical ability. I had packed a lot into my pack. Diagrams, clothing, models, extra pills, and the spirit stones. I had the spatial ring gifted to me from Master Yi Rong on a chain around my neck. My inner disciple sect badge was in an interior pocket within my robes.

“A bit young, huh?” A man asked me. We had been walking side by side for a while and he seemed content to match my pace.

“Just a little, but I have completed the Qi Gathering stage, so I am headed to the sect,” I replied.

“A pill pumper?” he asked.

“Using pills for my cultivation?” I asked.

“Yeah, that is what they are called. Just chugging them down and not putting in the work.”

“I used some pills, but over two-thirds of my cultivation I did without them,” I replied.

“Huh, well, you really hustled then. Had to do it all myself. Names Gen,” he said.

“Yuan Zhou,” I replied with a nod towards the man.

“A family name. Heard they are bigshots in Half Moon City,” Gen said.

“My father and first brother are in charge of the family, but I seek my own path,” I replied.

“I get it. I hunted like a madman. Got a level 3 beast. Almost died, but got the funds I needed to really work on my cultivation,” he replied.

“Impressive. A level 3 beast is something even a cultivator would struggle with.”

“I was lucky. It was already wounded and fell into a pit trap I had set. But that was just the Heavens telling me to go be a cultivator,” Gen said with a grin.

“I always wanted to be a cultivator since I first heard about them. Thankfully, I had some talent to progress.”

“Going the full hundred twenty? Smart. Some people half ass it, but if you do something, you gotta do it right. If immortality was easy, then any idiot would become a cultivator,” Gen replied.

“I went a bit more than that, but am mostly happy with where I am at.”

“A bit more? What are you ten? No, that is too young. Twelve?”

“Eighteen,” I replied, and Gen stopped walking. I turned to look at the shock on his face.

“How?” He waved a hand at me, and I sighed.

“I started cultivating when I was really young. It impacted my growth, unfortunately or fortunately. Shelves are my arch nemesis.”

“Hahaha, that is good. Shelves. I will have to remember that one. A cultivator defeated by a shelf. Now I have truly heard of everything,” Gen replied. He started walking again, and we continued up the road.

“You grow up hunting beasts?” I asked.

“Yes, I am a fourth generation. Great grandfather supposedly killed a level 4 beast, but that is just a legend. If he killed it, we would be rich. But I was tagging along watching the pit trap when the level 3 beast just stumbled right into it after another level 1 beast was already inside.”

“Well, it was the luckiest moment of my life. I sold that spirit stone and became a cultivator. What about you? What was life like in the Yuan family?”

“Pleasant, mostly. My mother is very dramatic, which is kind of funny. Always sighing and raising her hand to her head. But mostly it has been coming up with business ideas, cultivating, or figuring out the best way to cultivate,” I replied.

“You really are focused on cultivation. I can’t wait to see the sect,” he replied.

“It is nice,” I responded.

“You’ve been there?” he asked.

“Twice. Master Yi Rong took me there while he was still alive. Just get ready for the stairs. I swear those things go on forever,” I muttered.

“You had a master? What was he like?” Gen asked.

“Old. Very old and tired. He would always call me foolish for my choices, but he supported me and believed I would succeed where he failed. Hopefully, my cultivation goes well, but it is going to be tricky, and he could offer little advice. I would say that he was amused more than anything about my energy,” I answered.

We continued to chat lightly. Gen didn’t dig into my cultivation, which was considered very rude. We spent five days walking together from sunup to sundown. We passed by other people who stopped early or got up late, and we both just shook our heads at these people.

We reached the sect early in the morning on the sixth day. We had another two days until the intake officially happened, but there were buildings and food provided for people to stay and rest in starting from today.

They were communal bunkhouses, and we picked some beds out of the way next to each other. There was a single disciple waiting who told people where things were and said the elders would handle all questions. There was nothing to do now but wait. I was looking at the stupid wooden triangle in my hands, trying to figure out a way to drill such a hole. It was really bothering me that I hadn’t figured this out yet.

“What is that?” Gen asked me. I was too tired, and it was too dark to think about things like this while on the road. I handed the wooden triangle over to him.

“A model to help me visualize. The outer edge lifts off. I am trying to figure out how one can drill a triangular hole,” I replied.

“You can’t, or at least I don’t think you can. Can you?” Gen asked while looking at the wooden triangle.

“It should be possible. I am sure of it. But I just can’t figure out the solution.” Gen handed the wooden triangle back to me.

“What are you trying to figure it out for?”

“The third stage, channel clearing.”

“Oh, what are the other stages?” he asked.

“After Qi Gathering, there is Foundation Establishment where you align your motes of Qi. Then Meridian Attunement where you make your meridians, channels, and Dantian or core. Then Core Formation, where you fill your core,” I replied.

“Thanks, people talk about it, but sometimes they don’t know what they are saying.” There was a lot of fake news out there. I let out a sigh and put the wooden triangle away. I wasn’t getting anywhere, and it was pissing me off.

The bunkhouse slowly filled up the rest of the day and the following day. On the third day, everyone was called outside and told to bring their packs. I went outside with Gen. I saw three elders, but I only recognized Elder Li Fu.

“Welcome prospective disciples. I am Elder Li Fu. These are the elders, Yi Meifeng.” He nodded his head at the stern-looking woman next to him. “And Elder Ping.” He nodded to the plump man on his other side.

“We will evaluate your mote count, background, and temperament.” There were about 57 people who had shown up. “If we approve of you, then you will climb the stairs to the sect and we will assign a disciple to guide you. Form an orderly line starting back there and approach one at a time.”

I let Gen go in front of me, and we were near the front of the line. People went up one by one. I couldn’t hear what was being said. After a five-minute talk with the elders, they were sent up the stairs or left dejected. Most people were accepted. The requirements were fairly clear on what needed to be done to join the Cloudy Moon Sect.

Gen went up to the elders when it was his turn and was then told to go up the stairs. I pulled out my inner disciple badge I had received long ago and went up to the elders when it was my turn.

I bowed to each of them ‌deeply. “Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou, greets Elder Li Fu, Elder Yi Meifeng, Elder Ping.” I held up my badge in my hands.

“Oh, so you have come. I was wondering when you would show up,” Elder Li Fu said.

“So, this is the child,” Elder Yi Meifeng said, while staring intently at me.

“Hmm? Who is he?” Elder Ping asked.

“The personal disciple of member Yi Rong. A genius who has chosen the path of defiance. How absurd. What is your mote count and age disciple?”

“1,317,282 motes, age 18 elder,” I replied.

“Oh, how hilarious!” Elder Ping said with a chuckle. “I am glad I came down just to see this. If he makes it to Meridian Attunement, he will be lucky. He will be dead of old age before I complete another pillar.”

“Path of defiance, indeed. Tell me, disciple, how many motes were purchased for you?” Elder Yi Meifeng asked.

“I have purchased about a third of my motes with money I have earned myself, Elder Yi Meifeng,” I replied.

“About 450,000, which would be over 200,000 tael if I am not mistaken. How could you afford such a thing on your own?” she asked.

“I started many successful businesses in Half Moon City from a young age. This has allowed me to gather quite a bit of wealth under my name, Elder Yi Meifeng.”

“Family businesses?”

“No. They only gave me twelve tael to start with by my father, which I repaid. Everything else I earned myself. The rocking chairs are one of my inventions, Elder Yi Meifeng,” I replied respectfully.

“How audacious, how wonderful. I enjoyed one of those rocking chairs. Perfect during a decade of cultivation when you want to move, but don’t want to get distracted,” Elder Ping said with a smile. “Since he is already accepted, I have no objection since this is hilarious.”

“To see my descendent name you his personal disciple, I don’t know if I should be impressed or upset with Yi Rong. He always had a rebellious streak. I assume they inspected him if he has that badge?” Elder Yi Meifeng asked.

“Indeed. He spent time in the soul reflecting chamber. He is not a demon or beast in disguise. Just a foolish genius who grasps beyond his reach,” Li Fu said.

“Then I have no objection, even if he will never reach the fifth stage,” she replied.

“Oh, a small wager then Yi Meifeng. I say his path ends at the third stage, you say the fourth. I would put up one drop of crystal dew.” Her head snapped in Ping’s direction so fast I didn’t even see it move.

“That is a dear treasure. You would gamble on it?” Yi Meifeng asked.

“Indeed. I won’t even interfere with him. But you know me. I always love a good bet,” Elder Ping said.

“No interference, and I won’t go out of my way to help him, either. I will wager my Jade Pin of Absolute Striking,” Yi Meifeng replied.

“You are the witness, Li Ru, unless you want to get in on the action?” Ping asked. I kept my mouth shut.

“I do not wager on disciples. It is too troublesome. I would not take a loss well,” Elder Li Ru said. “Now off you go now, disciple. Show your badge at the top and inform the person assigned to you that you are being appointed as a new inner sect disciple.”

“Thank you, elders,” I replied with a bow and went to the stairs. I hated these stairs, and my legs were still short. Then again, I also didn’t have the pack the last two times. Regardless, I started climbing.

It wasn’t that bad, thankfully, since my cultivation had strengthened my body. I slowly climbed up and could see Gen ahead of me. I didn’t look back down and tried to match my pace to him. He was really going quickly up the stairs.

We finally made it to the top just past mid-day. A woman in the robes of the Cloudy Moon Sect approached me. “I am outer disciple Wu Changying,” she said sternly.

“Inner disciple Yuan Zhou. Elder Li Ru said I should show you my badge and inform you they have appointed me as a new inner sect disciple,” I replied and held up my badge.

“Junior greets senior,” Wu Changying said and bowed her head.

“Thank you. I would ask that you explain things to me, since the two times I was here before, I didn’t have a chance to look around,” I replied. She straightened up.

“Of course, senior. Do you wish me to take your pack?” she asked.

“I am fine, thank you,” I said, and she nodded.

“Very well. If you wish me to take it, just let me know. In the Cloudy Moon Sect there are four ranks of disciples. Outer, inner, core, and sect disciples. You can tell one’s rank by the number of clouds on the robe. I have one cloud, so I am an outer disciple.”

“One should always greet their senior disciples with a bow and the phrase junior greets senior. Above disciples are members and then elders. You should always bow and greet them politely by name if possible. Member robes have the full sect symbol on them. Elders wear whatever they want to.”

I nodded at this as we made our way towards the buildings. She explained the outer disciples slept in dormitory buildings around the outside of the plateau. Then there were the private rooms for inner disciples in the next set of buildings.

After that came various sect buildings, the library I was already familiar with. Wu Changying pointed out the other buildings as we made our way around the sect. After them were the houses of the elders and core disciples and then the Sect Leader’s home and the second library.

“This is the administrative hall. We will assign you tasks from here,” she said, and we entered. I noted a lot of other applicants being led around. I followed her to the front of the line. “Inner disciple,” she told the sect disciple at the front of the line, who nodded. I got a lot of stares.

“Next,” the man at the single counter said.

“Inner disciple package, your badge please senior,” Wu Changying said, and I placed it on the counter I could barely see over. The sect disciple picked it up, nodded, and then handed it back to me.

“You have 20 sect points on your badge. You are being assigned to room 320. Do you know the location?”

“Yes,” Wu Changying said as I took back my badge. I followed her out of the administration hall. We made our way to one of the inner disciple buildings.

“This is building three, you are being assigned room twenty.” She led me into the building and to a door. “Use your sect badge to gain entrance. Do not bother the people in the other rooms.” I nodded at this and held up my badge to a plate next to the door.

It opened. That was impressive, just like a key card. I followed Wu Changying inside. “You have a bed and a bathroom to yourself. You can leave your pack here. We will go collect your robes.” I left my pack in my room and took my sect badge with me as we made our way to the supply hall.

“We have packages pre-made for outer sect disciples at the administration hall since they need to get assigned sect badges. Since you are an inner sect disciple, we have to go to the supply hall. Anything you need or desire, you can request here.”

“Mortal goods are free. The dining hall is free. Any custom requests or cultivation resources will cost you sect points. Once we get your stuff, I will explain that,” Wu Changying and I nodded. We went up to the clerk.

“One set of inner disciple robes and a sect guide,” Wu Changying told the clerk. The clerk nodded and gave me a look and then soon returned with five sets of folded robes along with a manual. Wu Changying picked it all up, and we went back to my room. She waited outside while I changed. They were loose, but it wasn’t bad.

Once I was changed into sect clothing, she took me to the dining hall. “The dining hall is open at all times if you desire a snack. Meals are only at dawn, mid-day, and dusk. If you miss these times, then that is on you. The exception is today, when they have food available all day during intake,” Wu Changying explained.

We got some rice and strips of meat and sat down at a table to eat. I noticed many other people were sitting down. “There is no assigned seating. But there are always empty tables. If there aren’t, ‌just be polite and ask if you can sit down.”

“Thank you for explaining Wu Changying,” I told her.

“I am getting a sect point. Which is what we should discuss next. You earn a sect point for completing a task for an entire day. From cleaning, laundry, maintaining the sect, cooking, and other tasks. The outer disciples get cleaning related tasks. Inner disciples can take up clerk duties. Core disciples check that tasks are completed.”

“The most important thing to remember is if they assigned you a task to do it and be attentive. If you take up a clerk role, you cannot be reading or doing something else. If you are and a core disciple checks in on you and sees this, you will not get your sect point for the day.”

“What if there is no one to check on me?” I asked.

“It does not matter. There has been confusion and abuse by the core disciples in the past, so they made this rule very strict and very clear.” I nodded at this.

“What about tasks that have a set completion time?” I asked and Wu Changying shook her head.

“The workload is quite high. Clerk duty lasts for a day, but with laundry or trimming the lawn, you can work into the night. The cooks are a good example. They have to start before dawn and finish when it is dark. Once you are done eating, we will go to the assignment hall.”

“What about going out after beasts?” I asked.

“There are tasks that can take you outside the sect and missions, but we mostly reserved them for members.” I nodded at this. Once we were done eating, she took me to the assignment hall.

“This is a new inner disciple, Yuan Zhou. This is inner disciple Fan who handles assignments,” Wu Changying introduced me to an older man who was quite fat.

“Ah, good to see you, young Wu Changying. So, a new inner disciple right off the bat. They get younger every year. I am Fan, and if there are any issues with your assignment, come see me. Just don’t oversleep. I can’t help you if you do that,” he chuckled.

“Thank you Fan. I will remember your kind words,” I said with a bow.

“Polite, good quality to have. So, you want a job. Hmm, no clerk openings. Those get snatched up right away. With your stature cleaning would be a headache. Who is your master?” he asked me.

“Master Yi Rong named me as his personal disciple before he passed. He was a descendant of elder Yi Meifeng.” I added the last part to make me seem more important and it worked. No lie, just pointing out my connections. He would not bother an elder about something so trivial just to confirm things.

“Oh, of course. I will make sure you get something decent. I have step sweeping, robe mending, and carrying supplies up the mountain,” Fan said.

“Any advice?” I asked Wu Changying.

“The step sweeping is a great honor and a simple task. They rarely inspect you. Just make two passes up and down the mountain each day and it is fine.”

“Step sweeping please,” I said and bowed my head slightly towards Fan.

“Excellent. You will need to get a broom and a scraper from the supply hall. Every day you need to go up and down the sect stairs cleaning off any debris. If there is any mud, you must scrape it off and only rock is left. If there is damage, report it to me and someone will be assigned to fix it with a technique. One day on, one day off should work.”

“That means I do the task one day and don’t the next?” I asked.

“Indeed. Did you explain the fees?” Fan asked Wu Changying, who gave a negative answer. “In one year, you must submit 100 sect points. If you cannot do so, we will expel you from the sect with your cultivation crippled.”

“Don’t leave this to the last moment. You can only earn one sect point a day. Some people like to front load or back load their tasks. I do not recommend this. Spread them out. You will start five days from now once the orientation period is over. If you change your schedule or can’t work, ‌let me know.”

“Thank you Fan,” I replied.

“No problem, Yuan Zhou. Work hard and cultivate well.” We left the assignment hall and went back to the supply hall to pick up what I needed for work. It was getting dark and Wu Changying said she would pick me up first thing in the morning.

The sect rule book was pretty simple. Don’t cause trouble, pay your sect points, and cultivate.

I got some sleep, and the next day she was waiting outside my door. We went to get breakfast together. “All new disciples are required to attend the first five daily lectures. There is one daily by a member or elder in the lecture hall.”

“After that you can attend as you wish except for a lecture by the Sect Leader. If he gives a lecture, we strongly encourage people to attend. There is a schedule that is posted for the next three months at the lecture hall. Member names are in black, elder names are in blue, and the sect leader’s name will be written in gold for the day they are scheduled.”

“We have shown you the library. Your primary purpose is to cultivate. Never forget that. After one-year, we evaluate new disciples just before the intake. A lucky few are picked as inner or possibly core disciples.”

“Is there a progress requirement?” I asked.

“No. The sect expects you to progress on your own. That is why you are here, after all.” I nodded at this. “The evaluation is more to check if there are any issues.”

“I just asked since I was planning to research my cultivation layout for the next two years,” I replied. Wu Changying gave me a look.

“That is up to you and there is no problem doing that. But that is quite a long period of time to be working on your layout.”

“Ah, mine is quite complicated. So, I need to check things carefully,” I replied.

“If you say so. But time is the enemy of all cultivators,” she replied, and I nodded at this. After breakfast, she escorted me to the lecture hall and sat down with me. They assigned her to me for the first five full days in the sect to make sure I settled in. After that, I would be on my own.

Elder Li Fu did the lecture for the first day. I sat near the front of the lecture hall with Wu Changying. It reminded me of a large college lecture room. “Welcome, new disciples. I am Elder Li Fu of the Cloudy Moon Sect.” Everyone sat quietly and respectfully, paying close attention. The elder nodded slowly.

“Cultivation is a journey of self. We give you the knowledge, tools, and resources, but you must strive for immortality yourself. You have all met the basics of Qi Gathering. I will explain the following stages ‌so there are no misunderstandings.”

Elder Li Fu covered what I already knew. I paid attention just in case something new came up. Then he began talking about the fifth stage. “The fifth stage is the Nascent Soul stage. You must detonate your core to clear the space of your astral soul and form a true soul.”

“Many fail in such an attempt. But the stronger true soul you can form, the better off you will be for the later stages. This is directly related to core size and density, which ‌is decided by the number of channels you have, which ‌is decided by the layout of the Qi motes you have taken in.”

“Each stage of cultivation builds off the previous one. If you wish to remain in Qi Gathering, I strongly warn you against that. Time is the enemy of all cultivators. If you wish to grasp immortality, you cannot be slow or stagnate.”

“I encourage all of you to attend the daily lectures to listen to the wisdom of your seniors and elders. In addition, you may pay ten sect points for a consultation with a member or a hundred sect points for a consultation with me.”

“I have consulted hundreds of disciples across the years. Even the most outlandish cultivation plan could use advice.” I saw his eyes dart towards me. Hint received. I needed to save up to talk to this old man. “Cultivate well and may the heavens favor you,” Elder Li Fu finished.

Everyone stood up, and I copied them and bowed as he left.

“Thank you, Elder Li Fu!” Everyone in the lecture hall said. I made my way out with Wu Changying and we went to the gathering hall. There were board games, couches, rocking chairs, and wooden puzzles. It was a place to come talk and relax for cultivators as a group. She explained that after the lectures, people would often come here to chat for a bit and exchange ideas.

“What about martial techniques?” I asked.

“Those are for members. You won't need techniques or a fighting style until then. That knowledge is contained in the second library,” Wu Changying explained. “There is a martial hall, but it is members only.”

We took a seat at a table. I saw a familiar face. “Gen,” I said, and he looked over.

“Junior greets senior Yuan Zhou,” he replied with a bow. His guide copied him.

“Please, both of you sit,” I said with a smile, and he nodded.

“Thank you. I am outer disciple Wen Xue,” Gen’s guide replied. Wu Changying introduced herself as well.

“Inner disciple Yuan Zhou. I traveled here with Gen. Settling in, okay?” I asked him.

“It is fine. Everyone is quite focused. I just hope I do well,” he said, nervously.

“It is good to be nervous, as cultivation is difficult. I am still aligning my motes and hope to finish in the next decade,” Wen Xue replied.

“Just wait until you get to Meridian Attunement. It slows down considerably,” Wu Changying said with a slight sigh. That meant she was a granny! She didn’t look old, but that was cultivation, maintaining her age. I felt any desire for her shrivel up and die a quick death at that.

“Well, Elder Ping predicted I would die before finishing the third stage. But Elder Yi Meifeng thought I might make it to the fourth before getting no further,” I said with a chuckle. They all gave me looks.

“Anyone can make it to the fourth stage if they focus enough. You are quite young, so unless you are a pill pusher with no focus, I cannot see how that would be the case?” Wen Xue said.

“My foundation is quite large, so there is a lot of work to do for the later stages,” I said with a smile.

“Senior, forgive me. But, I cannot help but wonder. What kind of cultivation are you planning and have prepared?” Wen Xue asked. It was a rude question, but getting feedback was important.

“Well, let me show you my cultivation diagrams,” I said and got up.

“Diagrams?!” Wen Xue whispered loudly in shock. They followed me to my room. I had a desk and a chair. I began pulling out sheet after sheet. They looked at everything with disbelief as I laid everything out.

“I know it is a bit much, but I figured a quad core with a secondary false core was the best option. The trickiest part was the channel layout, but I seemed to have worked it out,” I said.

“What madness is this?” Wen Xue muttered as he looked through my papers. Even Wu Changying had a bit of shock on her stern face as she realized what I had done. I then pulled out my wood models from my pack and set them on the desk.

“What I am thinking about now is if the cores could use a valve structure, but that would impede the use of techniques that draw on energy. Perhaps half the channels would have valves. I was also looking for a better meridian structure than the hexagon, but it aligns well with the channels, so I still need to work that out.”

Gen was lost, but the other looked at me like I was some sort of alien hiding in the form of a human child. “Senior Yuan Zhou. The third stage… This… How did you get so many motes? Are your parents elders?” Wen Xue asked nervously.

“I am heaven sent genius and cultivated diligently. Only a third of my motes are from pills, and even those I paid for all by myself.” Wen Xue staggered at that.

“I do not wish to doubt your words, but how?!”

“I am a heaven’s blessed genius who has chosen the path of defiance,” I replied.

Chapter 17 – Cultivation Plan

“Gen, learn from this, but do not copy this madness. Forgive me, senior,” he told the man after I explained a bit more.

“It seems very complex,” Gen replied, and Wen Xue shook his head.

“This is beyond complex. This is something that no one would ever dare attempt. One mistake, one error, and it will be a disaster. What senior Yuan Zhou has done is go beyond in every area. To push the boundaries of what is possible. The research and knowledge he develops will either change how future disciples cultivate or will be a warning for others who think to take this path,” Wen Xue explained.

“It is risky, I know that. But I believe I have a handle on everything but the fourth stage. But I wanted to get both of your advice on certain aspects of my plan, specifically doing partial alignment to quickly lock in the motes before aligning them fully for the second stage,” I explained.

“It is not possible,” Wu Changying said. I turned towards her. “If a mote isn’t fully aligned, the alignment degrades quickly. It was something I considered as well.”

“How quickly?” I asked.

“About a year. With fewer motes, it might be possible to partially align them all and then proceed, but you wouldn’t save time. With as many motes as you have, it would be impossible,” she replied.

“I see,” I said with a nod. That wasn’t good. There was silence at that. “Well, it is something I will figure out, regardless. I have some other ideas that might work for aligning motes quickly.” I would use free motes to pin a mote in place so that way it didn’t disrupt the rest of the motes as it was aligned. Like forming a shield wall. If that didn’t work, then I would be in actual trouble. “What about elemental attunement? I was considering earth,”

“That would be a good choice. That and water are the easiest to take in energy from the surroundings, but the resources you will need would be immense,” Wu Changying explained. “In the sect manual at the back, there is a list of prices. You would need one earth attuned pill per channel. Each of those costs 500 sect points.”

“I was thinking if there would be other elements?” I asked, and Wen Xue let out a groan.

“Other elements? Where would you get the energy? People have tried weird things, but straying from the common ones is a bad idea,” he said.

“Even if you find a resource, you would need to refine it. That takes the most time. Most people either use spirit rock or spirit water and refine that energy to form their channels. Anyone can carve channels quickly, but you need that elemental attunement for dao understanding when you form your true soul. If you don’t have that, then your cultivation path would end quickly in the later stages,” Wu Changying explained.

“How does the refining work exactly?” I asked.

“You would draw in the elemental energy to drill out your channels. There is a level of quality, but it can’t be measured easily either. That is why it is rarely discussed, but a cultivator can feel if a channel is elementally attuned. From my understanding, there are five grades of attunement. Standard, which is the least people can do. Aligned, which is optimal, and you can sense the elemental attunement lock in.”

“Aligned is what most aim for. But after that is Focused, where your energy unconsciously will take on aspects of the element and the element will bleed into your core from your channels. Then there is Attuned, which is where all techniques you use will be based on that element, but are much stronger once you reach the fourth stage. This is the stage needed to use a valve structure and use techniques. Allowing the energy to flow through the walls of your channels, back as you need it. Finally, there is Perfect, which is where you will get physical benefits leaking over from the element.” I had seen those terms before, but it was nice to have a concise summary.

“But it isn’t like Qi Pills, where you can just swallow more to make progress. You would need a higher quality pill or material. Those would be more expensive. If all your channels aren’t at a certain level, then you will be unbalanced, which causes issues for the fourth stage.”

“I see. The tomes in the library did not mention all of this,” I said.

“Because it is considered common knowledge and covered by the lectures in the next few days. No one goes beyond Aligned for elemental attunement. And using something non-standard would mean there would be no pills to purchase. That means you would have to find something to refine, in your case, a mountain of things to refine,” she replied.

“Also, triangular channels are odd. How will you drill them? You can’t drill a triangular hole.” I heard Gen bite back a laugh at that. Shut up, you idiot. “And that is not even considering the fourth stage. The amount of energy you would require filling up your cores is immense. The cost is so mind-boggling that I feel sick thinking about it.” Wu Changying finished her rant, huffing a bit. The granny that didn’t look like a granny clearly had some powerful feelings.

“Well, I have faith I can work things out. Any advice on my meridian design on what would be best?” I asked.

“The hexagon choice is the most stable, but since you clearly want the most outlandish option possible, then you need an inverse wave cone design for your meridian,” she said. She went over to my desk and picked up a blank piece of paper I had set down in the stack I had brought with me.

She quickly sketched out a ripple patterned cone. “A nightmare to construct, but it allows for the maximum capture of energy into your channels. The horizontal wave pattern is for you to vibrate slightly to force the energy inside your channels. But the motes needed are far higher compared to your basic hexagon pattern to develop the wave structure.”

“Thank you Wu Changying. I will have to investigate this. What about valves on the core?” I asked.

“Don’t do it, and no one has come up with a temporary valve, since you want to be constantly drawing in energy. People have tried pressure chambers between the core and their channels, but those couldn’t gain more pressure than the channels provided, and you can’t have valves as part of your soul you turn on and off. You will need to reach the level of Attuned, which is normally impossible for a regular cultivator, but with your valve structure, you will need that to use techniques,” she explained.

“Complex mechanisms do not work when constructing with motes,” she said. I nodded at this.

“Well, there is the option of staggered channel valves,” Wen Xue said. Everyone looked at him and he cleared his throat before continuing. “You place valves along your channels with increasing stiffness towards the core. Once your channel has enough energy, it will push into the next part of the channel,” he explained.

“It prevents backflow and helps level out the energy intake into a core. The trouble is constructing all those valves and the initial pressure to push through the first one. That is why it was never deemed as workable,” he replied.

“With the number of channels you have, the number of valves would be immense. But three valves, one near the meridian, one at the core, and one at the midway point. The hard part is setting up the resistances for each without testing beforehand.”

“You can’t test, which is why no one does it. One mistake and they are worthless, or you can’t take in energy. That is why if you use valves, you will need at least ten on each channel from the least resistance, with each one a step up incrementally,” Wu Changying said.

“Yes, but ten is excessive, oh never mind. Yes, it would be optimal for your aims,” Wen Xue said. I didn’t know if I should be thankful or offended.

“Ten would be the optimal number to get the pressure you are aiming for. The best valve design is the four fold locking mechanism. It easily opens and closes without issue but is complex,” Wu Changying said and drew out a diagram for me. I looked it over. It would easily take 80 motes to construct. At 1,302 channels and 10 valves each, that would mean another 104,160 motes.

The meridian inverse cone design would up the mote count from 18 per meridian to 300. That was 367,164 more motes. So about 471,000 motes total. That was about two years more of work, but it was doable.

“About 471,000 more motes. That is doable in two years,” I replied.

“Senior Yuan Zhou, please don’t take this the wrong way, but with these designs, you will not even get past the second stage,” Wen Xue said.

“I understand, and will confirm these plans with Elder Li Fu, but I thank you both for your advice. This has been a tremendous help to several problems,” I replied. Wu Changying just shook her head.

“Senior Yuan Zhou, if you ever make it past the fourth stage, then your path forward will be much easier. But this…. I can understand why the elders’ doubt. Is there no way I can convince you to turn away from this madness?” Wu Changying asked me.

I shook my head. “I will take the best possible path. If I fail, then my genius just wasn’t enough,” I replied.

“Then I wish you luck and will say nothing to dissuade you,” Wu Changying replied.

“Is there a way to test for energy types in a material or the environment?” I asked.

“No. An elder can sense such things, and when you become attuned, you can. That is why resources are carefully selected and pills carefully made for the third stage.” I nodded at this.

“But what if you want to pick something uncommon to use?” I asked.

“Then you need to be familiar with that alignment of energy. When cultivators step into the third stage, the pills they take make them familiar with such things. Or there are special chambers if you can afford them to focus the energy on you for a short period of time, so you can feel it.”

“But then you could try to draw in energy that isn’t aligned by experiencing multiple types of energy?” I asked.

Wu Changying shook her head. “Sensing like that is impossible before the fourth stage. Even if you could, you would still need significant amounts of that energy type. The Cloudy Moon Sect only supports earth and water,” she replied.

“Thank you for explaining all this to me,” I told her.

“It is not a secret. It is just that no one would dare do all of this together in such a scope. Your core design is insanely complex. I know the book you read that described it, but you just connected more channels, more everything. The real problem is the bottleneck at the fourth stage, the genius ender,” she replied.

“They really call it that?” Gen asked.

“Yes, we do. Since everyone gets stuck, they're trying to build up their core and you want to build four cores and a secondary fake core. Even if everything works perfectly with the rest of your cultivation and you attain Perfect grade for your elemental attunement, it will be the end. A blockade with no way to get over.” Wu Changying shook her head.

“But they will immortalize your discoveries here. I even suspect multiple copies might be made and your tome given a place of prominence,” Wu Changying said.

“I hope I don’t perish that quickly,” I said but they all were silent. It was a tough crowd. After that, they all left with Wu Changying, saying she would be back in the morning.

I took the time to review the diagrams she had drawn. Both the inverse wave cone design and the four-fold locking mechanism. There was a higher concentration of motes around the sect, which was a good thing. I also had 100 pills packed away as well, but that was only 10,000 motes. I spent the rest of the evening getting everything out of my pack and setting it up in my room, including the framed picture by my sister.

I would need to investigate the two designs in more detail and take up another job and then I needed to get back to mote gathering. I would have to hustle to get it completed in two years, but I felt confident. The plan was to find the books about both designs in the library and pay for an advisory meeting with Elder Li Fu.

That meant getting my notes in order and making them clear for him to understand. There might be a critical flaw I was missing, and he seemed quite helpful. The next four lectures were on the basics of cultivation, common mistakes, and things to be mindful of.

There was good advice for how one should go about the process of aligning. I was going through the books in the library during this time as well, even the ones I had overlooked at first. Wu Changying had pointed out the ones she had gotten the information from and some others.

Once the five days were up, she left, and I got to work sweeping the stairs on my first day. It was tedious work, having to go up and down the mountain twice in one day, but it wasn’t that hard without a pack and taking it slow.

I made sure to be working as well. I noted a disciple came and checked on me during the day, marked something on a sheet of paper, and quickly left. A core disciple confirming people had done their tasks and weren’t focused on something else.

Once I was done, I reported back to the assignment hall and Fan. I got my point for the day since they had confirmed I was working. I asked for a job during the off days. He had seemed surprised but didn’t argue. I now tended to the garden paths that lined the side of the sect mountain.

That meant carrying bags of gravel that were delivered below and carefully laying them out on the garden paths where needed to fill in depressions. Also, removing weeds and maintaining their state. I had to spend eight hours on this task, minimum. Sweeping the stairs up and down twice, took about eight hours, which seemed to be the standard.

The sect didn’t mind if one of their members did chores all the time and stacked up sect points. We could only spend them in the sect. On top of that, everyone was an adult. If someone slacked off or didn’t do their job to pay the yearly fee, their cultivation would be crippled and we would throw them out.

It came down to, if you did your task, then you got paid and the sect didn’t micromanage you. If you slacked off, then they would act. Fan explained that if they didn’t run things like this, then the elders had to deal with stuff constantly, which they didn’t want to do. Also, if people were just allowed to cultivate, the sect wouldn’t be maintained.

So, while I could cash in spirit stones for sect points, it was much easier and cheaper to do chores instead. The base rate was one sect point for eight hours of labor. Some jobs were easier than others, but that came down to one’s status and connections.

Inner Disciple Fan was a master of these connections, knowing just how far to go when assigning people. Gen got shit processing duty. That meant moving shit out to the gardens as compost from various buildings. No one liked that job, so it was only six hours of work because of the number of shit barrels assigned, but it was considered the single worst job.

I considered it, but I wasn’t about to go wheeling around shit. Sweeping the steps, bringing up bags of gravel, and pulling weeds along the garden paths were more than enough. In the evenings, I would work on my mote design, slowly adding in the valves and restructuring everything as I built up sect contribution points.

It was very monotonous, but that was the point. The sect was free from distractions so people could focus on their cultivation in as much peace as possible. Once I had 200 contribution points, I paid off my first year ahead of time and paid for a meeting with Elder Li Fu.

I had gone to some of the morning lectures, since I could just shift my work until after that. But most of them went over the same information or were just personal stories and insights. There wasn’t anything that useful, unfortunately. I needed direct advice and an evaluation. That meant paying for Elder Li Fu to look over my plan.

After making the payment, I was told to show up at a private meeting room the next day and wait for the elder to arrive. He would stay for at least one hour and if he wanted to stay more, that was up to him. I showed up early and got everything set up and laid out for my presentation.

Elder Li Fu entered and let out a small sigh when he saw me. “Junior greets Elder Li Fun,” I said with a bow. He took his seat and waved a hand for me to get on with things. I launched into a presentation on my cultivation plan, explaining my choices, and asking for confirmation if they were feasible.

“Since you have paid for my advice, I will be honest with you, Yuan Zhou. You are destined for failure. Each individual component makes sense. Even holistically, it makes a strange sort of sense. But the sheer audacity of your cultivation makes it impossible.” I was silent as Elder Li Fu continued to lambast me.

“Still, your designs are on point. I know of the inverse wave cone design for meridians. It is the best design possible to draw in energy, but the meridians have to be at the level of Focused for the element you are using, otherwise they will function poorly.” I didn’t know that, so that was important feedback.

“The four fold valve design that you have changed into a sixfold valve design is quite impressive. That type of valve is the best one out there. But it will impact the energy draw of future techniques. Having ten valves more so. To counter this, your elemental attunement will need to be much higher than normal if you wish to use techniques properly.”

“Your core design is complex. One mistake in building or connecting the channels will mean disaster. So, you will need to take care there. But the layout you have is a work of art and impressive. I can find no fault there. The triangular structure will give your channels strength, but like all triangular channels, carving them out will be quite a challenge.” I still haven't found a way to do that, which was pissing me off.

“The elemental plan is nothing special, but the resources you need will be immense. If you make it to the fourth stage with Focused level channels and meridians, then you will struggle to fill up your cores. If you wish to complete the cores before you die of old age, then you would need Attuned level channels and meridians with an abundant amount of resources.”

“Earth is possible. But even there, you will struggle. The questions you had on using another element concern its abundance. There are sects who cultivate the air element or fire element, but they struggle to get the energy necessary. One does not easily handle fire and air is thin.”

“As for more esoteric options. They are risky and the heavens would truly favor you to find a new one that works. Elders have looked long and hard for their disciples and descendants, but it is not something easily done.”

“We align energy with the physical world. The new element idea you had might work slightly, but you would require a focusing chamber for such a thing. The cost of those is not cheap or undertaken lightly. Still, there is the barest possibility of potential there to use a force element.”

“The only truly impressive thing and innovation is your idea to use other motes to pin the mote that is being aligned. If that works and you share it with the sect before your death, then I will award you 1,000 sect points.” My eyes went wide at that.

“Thank you, Elder Li Fu,” I bowed towards him.

“Don’t get me wrong, disciple. I think what you're doing is madness and foolishness, but it will provide more insight for disciples after you. But a faster way for all to cultivate, shared before your death merits a reward. Everything else would be unique to you and a cultivation choice, not a universal method.” I nodded at this. That made sense. Increasing the power of the sect was important to increase the chances of an immortal rising through their ranks.

“Also, this amused me. I rarely see something so interesting and so well presented. You can keep your sect points for this meeting,” Elder Li Fu said. I bowed again and thanked him as he left. I packed up everything and returned to my room.

He was clearly being nice and favoring me. I suspected he might hope that I succeeded or got far. If I did, it would be an enormous boon to the sect in just knowledge alone. They wouldn’t feed me resources, but they were content to make my journey as easy as possible. Or perhaps Master Yi Rong had more pull than I first thought.

Regardless, my cultivation plan had been signed off on. I wouldn’t need to have a meeting after a year. While it was a checkup, it was also a chance for members to meet with new disciples and make sure they didn’t have their heads up their ass. Paying for Elder Li Fu had been a way to skip ahead. But now I had 100 sect contribution points, which I planned to keep.

What I really needed to do was to work out how to carve triangular channels. Time to throw out everything in my head and start again. I needed a wedge shape to hit the corners. So, the tip needed to be curved.

Oh, I had been such an idiot. I realized the answer as I traced my finger over the wooden triangle in front of me. The cutting wedge would be oval shaped with pointed ends. The length would stretch from one end of the triangle to the other.

As the blade turned around, it would also rotate about the center of the triangle. I got a piece of paper and carefully cut out the shape. I slowly rotated it around the block and laughed. The cutting blade spun around, and it also spun around the center of the circle at the same time. There were two types of spinning.

That took care of the drill design for the third stage. I still needed to figure out a way to get a high quantity and quality of materials to attune to the element I chose and then the fourth stage. I had thought of using force or gravity as my element since it was everywhere.

Elder Li Fu had pointed out there was no such thing as gravity or force materials. And even if there were, there would be no pills. I would blaze an alternative path. Other people had attempted something similar but made no progress and were forced to abandon it.

The hardest part was getting started, but a focusing chamber to crush me might allow me to feel force type energy on my astral soul. Force energy was everywhere in my estimation, but the trick was harnessing enough quantities for my channels and meridians.

It was time to visit the formation hall and learn about manipulating energy outside of cultivation. There was also the alchemy hall. Cultivators could pay sect contribution points to get materials for study and purchase supplies there.

The basic materials were free, along with a bunch of basic literature. But anything more recent that had been written had a charge associated with it. Those sect contribution points went into the pocket who had written the book.

I needed nothing recent, even if there were recent developments, since I needed to learn the basics. I spent several days reading through various formation books and it was complicated. A formation used sigils that resonated with energy itself in unique ways.

All formations had an activation requirement, an effect, and then an ending. The activation requirement was the hard part. There were various materials, lists and lists of them. One needed the formation foundation material, the sigil writing liquid or material, and the sigils could change based on what you were using.

Anyone could get an effect, but the real masters could get a lot for very little. That ratio decided a person’s rank in formation crafting. A one-to-one ratio was considered poor, and they considered a five to one ratio apprentice rank. A ten to one ratio was master rank. And they considered a twenty to one ratio grandmaster rank.

It got harder and harder to squeeze out energy and use it in the way one wanted in an efficient manner. Then there were numerous ways of measuring output. The standard test was with a basic light formation and then a formation of your own design to get certified with a rank by the formation hall.

The real challenge was getting experience and materials to work with. That is where the costs started coming into play. Formations weren’t cheap and formation masters had invested in getting to that standard.

But once someone was a master, then they would be hired to do things like security and privacy formations in the sect. Even more esoteric formations like the soul reflecting chamber required upkeep.

An effect would also have a boundary of some kind. Getting a clean boundary was another sign of mastery. As for the ending, the less explosive it was, the more impressive you were. Masters could have formations collapse without explosions. There seemed to be a high risk of explosions with formations.

I just needed one type of formation to do something specific. I went to the clerk of the formation hall. “Greetings. How can I help you?” the woman asked after seeing the symbol on my robe, which was the same as hers.

“I am here to set up a consultation meeting. I am looking for a specific formation to be made and wanted the idea of the possible costs and effectiveness of the formation. Specifically, creating an area with increased downwards pull,” I said.

“Just the consultation?” she asked.

“Yes, I don’t have a good idea on what something like that would cost and wanted to speak to either an apprentice or a master. I would then consider purchasing the design, but I would need to hear the cost first. There is a difference between 10 sect points and 1,000 sect points‌,” I said.

“Of course. Masters normally consult for 50 sect contribution points, while an apprentice would consult for 5 points.”

“I want to set up two meetings then, one with a master and one with an apprentice,” I explained.

“I can make the arrangements. Together or separately?”

“Separately please,” I said, trying to resist rolling my eyes at that question. I wanted at least two different opinions. If they varied by a lot, then I would get a third consultation. The appointments were made, and I left the formation hall.

I didn’t have the time or mental energy to work on formations. That was why I was going to look into contracting the work out. The meeting with Elder Li Fu had gone well, so I was optimistic that this would be a good way to get some quick answers to some important questions.

There was no rush either, which was important. I didn’t need to decide on my element until the third stage so I could afford to wait and planned to. I really wanted to see if a force chamber to generate force energy was viable.

Chapter 18 – Force

I was meeting with the apprentice first, an inner disciple, Dong Wenyan. “Greetings,” he replied with a short head nod. I stood up and greeted him as well. “I was told you wanted to speak about a force array?” he asked and sat down. An array was another name for a formation. There might have been some minute difference, but I hadn’t picked up on one yet.

“Yes. Something to increase the downwards pull all objects experience, and possibly inwards force as well. The goal is to generate force energy.”

“That sounds simple enough. You would want a tenfold crushing array. Often used for traps. I would smooth out the output to something like three-fold to make it last longer. I could probably get you a day per spirit stone. The array itself would cost 500 sect points.”

“May I ask why that price?” I asked, and Dong Wenyan nodded.

“Materials and my time and testing. I am guessing you are going to want to stand in the array.” I nodded at this. “And don’t want to die. Testing is very important, and also expensive. I would use a level 1 array plate and level 1 etching acid. A higher level would allow you to use level 2 spirit stones, but the price would be 6,000 sect points then.”

“Would it harness force energy?” I asked.

“It should. The tenfold crushing array applies an immense amount of force to a person caught inside it.” After asking a few more basic questions, I thanked Dong Wenyan, who left.

An array plate was about the size of a king size bed, heavy and thick. As an inner disciple, I could have the array set up in the formation hall as long as I was using it. Once I was done, I could sell the materials for some sect points to recoup my investment.

The next meeting was with a sect member and formation master, Jiang Chen. “Junior greets senior.” I stood and bowed when she entered the room. I explained my request to her.

“You want something specific? Energy type arrays are complicated. You can’t just use something like a trap array or another array. Energy type arrays are unique like this. You need containment and a stable boundary. Other arrays often ignore this. So, while there might be a spike in energy, it will quickly bleed out. Even if extended for a period of time, it would be like pouring water into a sieve. It would all just run out.”

I nodded at this, and she kept going. “The best option would be to use a crush furnace array as the base design and go from there, since it is designed to help forge with force. I am guessing you are considering using this for your elemental attunement?”

“Yes, I am senior Jiang Chen,” I replied, and she was thoughtful for a moment.

“It could work, but you would need a tremendous amount of force energy. Also, counter force energy, so it could be increased even more. That would mean a second array around the first array. Well, I have two options for you. The first option is the cheap option.” I listened closely.

“It would involve a single array, a strong boundary, and lots of force, which you could adjust slightly. But there is only so much your body can take, even with cultivation. Since I could use an existing design, I would say 800 sect points and could run half a day on a level 1 spirit stone,” she said.

“The second option would be a dual array of opposing forces. This could allow the amount of force to increase inside of the formation without crushing you. This would be complex and a brand new type of formation that would require research and a lot of testing to ensure there were no accidents. It would cost 3,000 sect points and could run half a day on two level 1 spirit stones. It would take two to three years to develop.”

That was a huge price difference. I thanked the senior, and she left. I had three options. Well, there was a clear difference in understanding and quality with Jiang Chen compared to Dong Wenyan. That was a lot of sect points, regardless.

Well, I had time to gather them up. I made notes after the meeting about what they said and would ruminate on this for a long time. What I really needed was a lot of sect points, but the only thing people wanted to buy were cultivation resources. To learn to make those types of resources required years of work and investment.

I wasn’t going to cheap out on something like this, as I liked the idea of force a lot more than earth. However, I also needed to cultivate. I was making excellent progress in restructuring my cultivation, but I had a lot more motes to collect and then align.

Even with the reward promised by Elder Li Fu, it didn’t feel like much. I needed to increase my sect point income and looked into it. The fastest way were sect missions, but those all fell to sect members at the fourth stage.

Since missions would involve combat, which meant techniques, they just weren’t possible before then. That meant I needed to have a service I could provide within the sect. But the only things priced over 1 sect point a day were personal consultations or cultivation resources. No one would want to consult with a disciple.

Members could earn points from their lectures, but not disciples. No one would take a disciple seriously or want to be lectured by one. Formations and alchemy were both massive investments in time and sect points. Decades of investment. There was no demand for non-cultivation goods since they were provided free of charge to the sect.

I would need to leave the sect to get money. But the rules for leaving were complicated. A person needed to have 100 sect points put away and no strikes against their work for the past year. Then they could get 30 days off per year at most. If you went past that time, a sect elder would hunt you down and kill you, no exceptions.

So, it wasn’t like I could spend time on businesses instead. The sect wanted people focused on cultivation, not mundane matters. Members were allowed to leave, since they were viewed as competent and trustworthy, and elders could do whatever they wanted for the most part as far as I knew. But disciples were limited.

Also, no one would give up sect points easily. They were too valuable for that. Each one represented a day of labor. I was only okay spending them since I could gather motes while I was working. No disciple could really afford anything or would invest into something other than their cultivation, and I couldn’t make something that interested members or elders.

No wonder why so many cultivators targeted other cultivators and went demonic. I considered how that would even work. No one would say, and there was no information anywhere about the process. I could understand killing someone for their motes, but how would it work after that?

Oh, I was being an idiot. They would refine the human element or human energy for their channels. Since cultivators have energy in them, they would hunt down other cultivators and refine them. No idea how it worked in the higher levels, but I could see demonic cultivators turning other cultivators into pills and using those pills to enhance their own cultivation.

Well, that put an entirely new twist on learning to defend myself and why the sect didn’t want people leaving for long at the earlier stages. Demonic cultivators would struggle at the bottleneck as well. The more they killed, the easier they would be to find and hunt down. With the bounty paid out on them by high-level sects, they were clearly a menace.

It just took a person realizing this and then deciding to kill to progress. It wouldn’t help much in the second stage, but a demonic cultivator could stack up on a lot of motes by killing many people. This was another reason to look at me suspiciously with all the motes I had.

That still left ‌getting a lot of sect points. There was no easy way, so I would have to build them up myself and look for jobs that I could cultivate while doing. I would also earn about 40 spirit stones per year from Zhou Holding Company Limited. I still had 30 spirit stones on me and another 67 stored away.

What I needed to do was get through the third stage as quickly as possible. I would want high-quality force energy in large quantities. Looking at the records, it would take five days to make each channel if someone was being given resources in large amounts. At two spirit stones per half a day and 1,302 channels, which would take 13,020 spirit stones.

But level 1 spirit stones and an array would only reach the second level of elemental attunement, Aligned. I would need level 4 spirit stones to get Perfect. That would never happen. Just that amount in level 1 spirit stones was immense.

That would take 325 years at my current income, which was unacceptable. I needed a better chamber and to get more out of a single spirit stone, but that drastically increased the initial price. I didn’t want to pay in spirit stones either, since I needed those for my cultivation. The sect price was 2 sect points for a spirit stone, while only getting 1 sect point for a rank 1 spirit stone.

It was a complete scam, but I couldn’t call it out. Also, the time I would need to spend to get 3,000 points was way too high. But it would take me a lot longer to learn formations myself and I was already spending my time on cultivation. I needed passive income.

That led me back to the original problem of the sect being the worst place for a business and to earn sect points unless you were a member or an elder. They were the only ones with income they were willing to spend, but I had nothing to offer them.

They also were holed up or not in the sect. I needed some tournament or hidden realm to earn some treasures and vast sums of wealth, but there was nothing. If there were hidden realms, no one would share such things. Even if they couldn’t use it, they wouldn’t share it. And tournaments were too dangerous. No one held tournaments and gave out resources to other sects.

Status was determined by the number of elders one had and then the number of immortals. No one would waste time or resources on a tournament where cultivators could die. The smart sects just wouldn’t send anyone and preserve their strength. The tournament organizer would lose strength from the cost of prizes and the fallout of hosting such a disaster.

Cultivators took the long view and didn’t like immense amounts of drama. That was a big reason everything was so static. All the people with ambition, lucky, and smart all became cultivators and focused on cultivation. By the time they got so far, that was the only thing left in their brains and they would not think of much else.

I also couldn’t get a loan. No one would ever take that risk or would think it worthwhile. That was even more true with my cultivation plan being what it was. While people wanted me to succeed, they didn’t believe it was possible.

Finding treasures in the wilderness was also impossible. They would be guarded by rank 4 beasts, who had human level intelligence and were far stronger than me. I suppose I could hunt down beasts to earn money, but the risk was incredibly high.

Still, it was a possibility. If I took time off, it would be tight with the 30-day limit per year, but it was doable. I could hunt down a level 3 beast during that time. That would be worth 100 level 1 spirit stones if I got its spirit core.

With my sight, it would be easy as well. The hard part would be killing it, but a level 3 beast was about as smart as a dog. The genuine risk was a level 4 beast showing up. Well, a level 3 beast was quite dangerous as well.

I could also technically ask for more time and have an elder sign off on it. Sixty days at a time would be just about right. I would need to go into the deep wilderness as well, where hunting permits and licenses were not required. Elder Li Fu managed the sect affairs for the disciples full time and I think he kind of liked me.

If I developed a way to more quickly cultivate during the second stage, I could probably ask him for periods of 60 days away from the sect instead of the standard 30 days that were allowed on top of the points. It was a small number of sect contribution points, but that was most likely all he was allowed to offer unless he consulted the other elders and they would say no, since they bet on me.

But asking for an extra 30 days a year was nothing. It would take 5 days of hard carriage riding to get to a remote area, and then another 5 to 10 days of hiking to get deep into beast territory. Then there would be 20 days of hunting. Then 15 days to get back, leaving me 5 days of leeway.

Getting 20 days of hunting was quite good. The biggest hassle would be avoiding a beast tide forming around me from killing too many, but in the wilderness it would be directionless. If I did that near a city, there would be serious issues and I would be executed immediately. But deep in beast territory, it was fine.

Some hunting groups did that, and most didn’t return. The ones that did never went back. It was a desperate move. But I would be a cultivator. I could get information during my visits home from my sponsored team in the next two years.

I would also purchase supplies for my hunting expedition. I would rather buy things from the source than try to go through the sect. Then, once I started cultivating in the second stage, I would prove out the mote shepherding theory and get 1,000 sect points along with extended time away from the sect.

Then I could go out and hunt every year with the aim of killing as many level 3 beasts as possible. If I killed 10 a year, then that would translate into about 100 level 2 spirit stones per year. I needed about 13,000 spirit stones, which would mean 130 years of killing.

That was much more manageable. It would also allow me to reach Focused level of elemental attunement, which was the third level. Elder Li Fu said I needed the fourth level Attuned if I was going to progress at any decent pace in the fourth stage.

Ideally, I wanted Perfect level, but level 4 cores would be scarce and the number I needed was way too much. Well, I would get a grandmaster to design and build a force chamber. It would be expensive, but hopefully one could maximize the quality of force energy. And if it didn’t work out, I would still have a lot of resources for the earth element.

The challenge was getting enough spirit stones from hunting. I would need to take risks. I checked if the alchemy hall would pay for beast corpses, and they did. At the moment, I only had a few shoe boxes worth of space inside my spatial ring, which meant it would only be good for storing spirit stones and nothing else.

Why couldn’t it have fit a house's worth of stuff? Then I would have been able to pack up the beast corpses and sell them. The stronger beasts were fairly large and their corpses drew other beasts hungry to eat them and gain power. That was why killing too many was dangerous since eventually a high level beast would show up and direct them in a more productive fashion.

That was another reason why a level 4 beast was so dangerous, as it could command other beasts. The hunter would become the hunted quickly once one of them showed up. Higher ranked beasts were even rarer and more dangerous.

I contemplated my options. I had envisioned myself as a businessman, not a warrior, and not a hunter. There just wasn’t any other product I could sell, get, or make besides hunting down beasts for spirit stones.

It was an incredibly frustrating position to be in, but it was the only path forward I could see to get the resources I needed for elemental attunement at the third stage. If I was going to do this, then I would do it seriously.

I began looking through the section of the sect library on beasts and taking notes on every scrap of information that could be useful after my daily assigned tasks. My days began with breakfast at dawn, work for 8 hours, fixing the garden paths or sweeping the sect steps while collecting more motes and adjusting my internal mote placement. Then cleaning up, dinner, and then 4 hours in the library studying everything I could about beasts.

One thing I had learned was to move motes into position inside of me, slowly, over a period of time. It was about a quarter of the speed if I focused on the task specifically, but I needed to maximize my time. If a person didn’t have a constant sense of urgency, then they would get nowhere with their cultivation.

I was on track to complete my mote collection by the time I turned 20, implementing the sixfold locking valves and the inverse wave cone meridian designs. I even found two more errors while putting in the valve structures.

The valve designs were incredibly detailed and prone to having the motes shift at the slightest disturbance. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain everything all the time. At least putting in valves made me work out everything‌.

I could envision the entire cultivation structure in my head and exactly what it was supposed to look like, including all the channel paths.

After a year in the sect, there was a day of celebration right before the intake. It was the one day of the year people were encouraged to get out and talk with their fellow sect members, new elders would take over the day-to-day management, and everyone got one sect contribution point and didn’t have to work.

The cooks got two sect contribution points for the day. Even with a day of celebration, the sect was still quite subdued. Juniors were allowed to get away with not greeting their seniors properly as well. The Sect Leader even made a brief appearance, congratulating everyone on another year of cultivation before disappearing.

“Gen! It’s good to see you,” I greeted the man.

“Yuan Zhou. I noticed you in the library. You are quite focused. Solve all your cultivation issues?” he asked me.

“Most of them. I know how I will reach the fourth stage. What about you?” I asked.

“It has been rough for a bit. My reading was not very good,” he said and rubbed the back of his head. “I had to work on that and then figure out my cultivation plan. I think I have it worked out. Nothing as crazy as you,” he replied.

“Yuan Zhou, Gen, I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about cultivation. So have you figured things out, Yuan Zhou?” Wen Xue asked.

“Yes. I am going with a sixfold valve design and inverse wave cone meridians. I am using a triangular reinforcement for the body. Probably earth as my element.” That was a safe plan. Wen Xue nodded at this. I could see my triangular reinforcement concept had caught on and smiled at that.

“A solid plan. You have started Foundation Establishment then?” Wen Xue asked.

“Starting tomorrow. A member signed off on my plan just yesterday,” Gen answered.

“How are things going for you, Wen Xue?” I asked him.

“Slow, but I am making progress with aligning my motes. Perhaps another decade and I will be complete. I am almost scared to ask what progress you have made?”

“I have finished up the valves and am working on finishing up all my meridian designs. When I turn twenty next year, I should enter Foundation Establishment,” I replied.

“You aren’t twenty?” he asked.

“No. I entered the sect when I was eighteen years old. Even though I look like a child,” I said with a pout. Wen Xue and Gen chuckled.

“If you keep that appearance, no one will dare look at you once you enter the fourth stage. A cultivator as young looking as you would scare everyone away,” Wen Xue replied.

“It is a bit of a pain trying to reach things sometimes. But it is all muscle after going up and down those stairs twice a day,” I replied.

“I must admit, I am curious if you are stronger than me at a lower stage,” Wen Xue said. That was how we ended up pushing against each other’s right palms. It was about even.

“Well, you will be unmatched at your stage at the very least. Possibly half to a quarter stage above you as well against the majority of cultivators. But not as good as a body cultivator, from what I understand, and elemental attunement will decide the strength of your techniques. Have you worked it out?” Wen Xue asked.

“Yes. I have a plan that should handle my elemental attunement to my satisfaction.” I said nothing more since I didn’t want people to bother me about my planned hunting.

“Well, I am most interested in how things turn out,” Wen Xue replied. After that we discussed the new intake. They assigned welcoming to the outer disciples as a reward for their hard work and to also settle in the newcomers, since they would most likely be outer sect disciples as well.

The end of the day approached, and everyone gathered in front of the Sect Leader’s mansion at the center of the sect. There, the new elders in charge for the next year were introduced. I noted that Elder Li Fu was still present.

After that, they made announcements about people selecting disciples. No one I knew was picked. I expected nothing like that for myself or the few disciples I knew well. Gen wasn’t that outstanding, and Wen Xue was in the same boat.

They were cultivators, but so was everyone else and it was unlikely they would go beyond the fourth stage. If I had chosen a safe path, I would have been snatched up as a personal disciple. But no one believed in my path of defiance, which was why it had that name.

No one would personally guide me, since I was doing my own thing in uncharted waters. It was unfortunate, but it was the path I had chosen for myself. After the new disciple announcements, that was it.

It was back to the daily grind and sect life. The books about beasts had been quite insightful once I was done reading through that entire section of the library. They had an acute sense of smell and could sense Qi naturally gathering it through the air. They normally avoided each other, unless they were going to mate or there was an enormous source of free Qi like the start of a beast tide.

Cultivating while in the wilderness was not advised, since it would stir the energy. Even moving motes inside a person was dangerous. My entire structure would fall apart while I was hunting, and I would have to rebuild it each time, but I had the pattern etched into my brain. It would be an excellent review as well.

In addition, there were specific baits, lures, and scent disguises that could be made through alchemy with plants that contained specific types of energy. I looked into this, and the sect offered a scent hiding liquid that would last for ten days for 1 sect contribution point.

They considered it a beginner’s application of alchemy. They also made it from the plants that grew in the gardens around the sect to ward off beasts. There was also beast repellent for 5 sect points and beast lure for 20 sect points. They would last for three and one days, respectively.

I winced at the costs. I wanted to save up sect contribution points, not spend them. After a year, I had 290 contribution points saved up from working nearly every day. For my first hunt, I would purchase more than I needed since the products made by the alchemy hall were guaranteed to last for a couple of years.

I would get ten scent concealers and apply one every five days. For some reason, I envisioned myself as the most delicious treat a beast could get and them wanting to eat me with all the motes inside of me. Better to go heavy on the stuff. On top of that, I was thinking of five beast repellants and five beast lures. The alchemy hall also sold flash bangs for 50 sect contribution points. I would take one as well for emergencies.

I was looking at 185 sect contribution points on top of my required 100 sect contribution points. It was tempting not to get all this stuff, but I was not about to risk my life. I had seen a beast in the past and it was quite scary and large. Even if it had only been the size of a small table, that was only a level 1 beast. The more powerful ones were bigger. I needed every advantage I could get.

Mortal weapons made for cultivators were fine. I would request some when I made a preparation trip back to Half Moon City and have them delivered to me in the sect. I would get a sword for close combat and a metal spear. It would be insanely heavy, but that was the point. I could reuse it.

It would be a shame to waste the meat and organs, but I wouldn’t have room in my pack or spatial ring once I unlocked it to carry such things. I would fill it with strong alcohol, jerky, and hardtack mostly. My spatial ring would be for the beast cores or spirit stones.

There was also a water condensing array water bottle for 100 sect contribution points and cost a spirit stone to fill up with water 100 times. That was way too expensive, and I would use a cloth filtration method while in the wilderness and mix in a bit of the strong alcohol I would be bringing. One of those techniques I had read about in the various books the sect had.

Also, a whetstone to sharpen the spear after each kill. The higher-level beasts were tougher and bigger, but they were also fairly mindless. That was why a spear would work on a level 3 beast and lower. They would rush and impale themselves, trying to kill me.

I had even looked into their eating habits, and they ate anything with energy. Over time, all beasts would get stronger by taking in the natural energy of the heavens and the earth. They were an animal that had evolved to cultivate in their own way. That was also why they couldn’t be farmed. Feeding them would bankrupt a person and it wasn’t worth it and the more beasts that were close together, the less they grew.

Supposedly, some sects used level 4 beasts as slaves, but they were in constant conflict with the beasts. While they killed many beasts and got cultivation resources, they were also under a lot of pressure and attrition. But those sects believed that constant fighting would separate the weak from the strong.

The real risk with that method was when an immortal beast came through. They were as rare as immortals on the human side, but they existed. Every couple thousand years, they would show up and smack down a sect hard.

The sect would pull back together or disband. These conflict-oriented sects were much more turbulent than a sect like the Cloudy Moon Sect, which focused on gradual improvement over a long period of time.

That was why there was not a huge focus on beast hunting in the Cloudy Moon Sect. There were people who did it, of course, for the resources, but it was not organized, and you had to go far away from the sect, since they didn’t want to deal with a beast tide nearby.

If a beast tide happened in the wilderness, it would die out eventually as the beasts eventually turned on each other. But if one struck the outer wall of a city, then it would be a battle and the sect would get directly involved. Also, the perpetrators would be punished heavily, either killed or made a debt slave along with their family.

The permits, licenses, and occasional cultivator from the sect were enough to keep things fairly even, mostly. I knew that once my killing operations got going, there would be trouble, which is why I wanted to go further away than required, so there would be no issues when I killed every beast I could find to fuel my cultivation.

Even if the level 4 beasts had human level intelligence, it didn’t matter to me. Even if a cow could talk, I would still eat burgers. Tough luck for the cow, but I wasn’t about to change things. Cultivation was about improving yourself, not going on a diet.

Chapter 19 – A Wedding

I set down the letter from my sister that had arrived at the sect. She was getting married to Yao Yang. I had been planning to go down to make arrangements for my future hunting trip anyway, so this was good timing.

“Greetings Fan,” I greeted the disciple in charge of assignments. He smiled at me.

“Yuan Zhou. I get nothing but excellent reports from the core disciples inspecting your work. You are quite diligent. What brings you to me?”

“I plan to be leaving the sect for thirty days for my sister’s wedding and wanted to make arrangements.”

“That is good of you. I would have been quite annoyed if you just disappeared. There is the option to let an outer disciple take over your tasks for that time period and then you would pick them up when you return,” Fan said.

“Is it that easy?” I asked.

“Yes, some outer disciples like to switch around and do different things.” I nodded at this and gave Fan the dates I would be gone.

With that done, I visited the administration hall and reported that I would take a thirty day leave of absence. They checked if I had seen Fan and I told him yes. They gave me a pass and told me in no uncertain terms that I could not be late in returning to the hall and should give myself a couple days of leeway in case something happened.

If I crossed the deadline, a sect elder would hunt me down and kill me without exception. It didn’t matter if my mother was dying, or my legs were broken, or demonic cultivators kidnapped me. If I forced an elder to act, my life was forfeit.

Since I had over 100 sect contribution points saved up and paid this year’s fee, there were no issues in getting the month long pass to leave. With all that taken care of, I left the sect two days later at my appointed time.

At the base of the sect was a small mortal community, which maintained the buildings there and carriages that were free for sect members to use. I set off for Half Moon City quickly and I arrived three days later.

Since I was an official disciple of the sect and paid the fees, I was allowed to wear my sect robes outside the sect. They had warned me not to cause a fuss among mortal affairs or create drama. Still, a sibling’s wedding was an acceptable reason to leave. The sect rules were one reason I hadn’t come back sooner to deal with my company.

I reached the Yuan family compound and exited the carriage. It felt so long ago that I had been living here. The guards immediately bowed deeply towards me. I entered the compound and made my way to my mother’s section of the compound.

“You look perfect. That dress is amazing,” I heard my mother say.

“No word from brother?” my sister Yuan Chuntao asked.

“I was told they delivered the letter, but we have no way of knowing if he got it.” The servant squeaked as I approached, and I held a finger up to my lips. They quickly closed their mouth and bowed deeply.

“Perhaps he is already here,” I said. My mother and my sister both spun to look at me.

“Brother,” Yuan Chuntao hurried over in her red and gold dress. She hugged me and I hugged her back gently. “We were worried you didn’t get our letter,” she said.

“I got it a few days ago and took time off from the sect for your wedding. You look amazing, Yuan Chuntao. And mother, radiant as ever,” I said.

“Yuan Zhou, my heaven’s blessed child. I missed you.” She came over and gave me a hug. “A cultivator of the Cloudy Moon Sect, I still can’t believe it,” she said and raised her hand to her forehead. My sister and I grinned at each other at her dramatics.

“So do I need to scare your future husband Yao Yang a bit?” I asked teasingly.

“Stop it, brother. He has been a gentleman, and I am to be his main wife,” Yuan Chuntao replied. “Your dowry will make things quite comfortable for me, so thank you for that.”

“I am just glad you are happy and you both are getting along. Now, is there anything I need to do besides showing up and looking scary?” I asked.

“No. I will have to adjust the seating a bit with your arrival. Everyone will attend to give you face. Many were waiting to see if you had arrived. So just be ready for a very long day at the wedding,” my mother said, and I nodded at this.

“Well, I have two gifts prepared. I should probably go last, since they are quite extensive,” I said. My mother nodded at that. She was clearly handling all the wedding preparations and order of festivities.

“My son, Yuan Zhou,” I turned to see my father.

“Father,” I bowed my head slightly, and he returned the gesture with a smile.

“I heard you had returned. It is good to see you. I look at you and you seem to not have aged a day,” he said.

“Brother,” my first brother and current patriarch Yuan Yun hurried into the room.

“First brother,” I inclined my head slightly towards him and he did the same. They brought in tea and snacks, and they asked me about my time in the sect.

“Even after consulting with Elder Li Fu, my path is quite difficult. I will have to venture into the wilds for the resources I need,” I explained.

“Well, if you handle those beasts like you handle business, then I am more worried about them than you,” my brother joked.

“Zheng Ting is quite capable. You are lucky to have gotten her,” my father added.

“Brother, you better not get into trouble,” my sister scolded me.

“I worry about you so much. You need to eat more. Have some more sandwiches and tea,” my mother said.

After chatting with my family for the rest of the day, I left with my father to walk in the family gardens. I pulled out a specially made letter. It cost a sect contribution point to get a letter like this. But it ensured that any cultivator from the sect who got such a letter would deliver it to the sect no matter what. It was a way to give mortal favors officially.

“For the twelve tael, so long ago,” I handed the letter to my father, who looked surprised and then he bowed deeply towards me.

“Thank you, Cultivator Yuan Zhou. This will be a treasured item of our family.” He would give it to my first brother, and it would be passed down and displayed in the patriarch’s office in a place of prominence. Anyone visiting would see the letter framed and understood the threat it represented, that a favor could be called on by a cultivator. It would force people to step lightly.

The value would only increase as my rank increased. If I became an elder, no one would dare challenge them. Also, the family could use it to request me to take up a disciple once I reached the fourth stage or higher.

I would give a similar letter to my sister and her descendants, as well as ten level 1 spirit coins, which was about 10,000 tael. Such a gift was massive. She would always live in comfort and her child would be named heir eventually to the Yao family.

The fact that the current prospective heir was marrying my sister was because of my status and not her status or my father’s status.

The next day, I made my way to Zhou Holding Company Limited. I had alerted Senior Director Zheng Ting to my arrival the day before. She was standing in the building's lobby along with all the directors.

“Greetings to Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” they all said, and bowed deeply. After that, we went into a conference room where Zheng Ting gave me an update on everything. There had been no issues so far, and I nodded.

My current income was 40 level 1 spirit stones per year. They had been deposited into my account of the Coinage Guild. I nodded at this. The big news was that my personal mine had hit a vein of spirit ore. It had been graded at level 1.

It would require specialized equipment to carefully extract and store. The question was what to do with it. “Arrange for the ore to be mined at my personal expense and shipped to the sect under my name. Clearly label all crates and packages with the ore, saying it has already been paid for and owned by me.”

I could get a better price or use of it myself inside the sect than having Zheng Ting selling it. Hopefully, I could exchange it for benefits.

“Do you want us to smelt the ore down to metal?” Zheng Ting asked. I considered that. The raw ore would be useful for refining, but the smelted ore would be useful for items.

“How high a grade can we get?” I asked.

“Level 2, but we would look at one bar every ten carts of ore if we did that. We can only pull out one cart per day on average,” Zheng Ting explained.

“That is fine. I would prefer the higher-level bars over the ore. Let’s go with only bars,” I said. It would cut into the cost of making a formation to get force attuned energy. The materials were about two-thirds of the cost. A level 2 material would allow me to pay for a much better formation to be constructed.

I would only get 20 spirit stones a year now with the ore being mined and processed at my expense. Level 2 spirit metal required the use of an array. Apparently, a formation had multiple arrays. A formation would be needed and cultivators to make level 3 spirit metal from level 2 ore. That kind of ore would be a sect treasure and closely guarded.

Once things were done with Zheng Ting and my company, I made my way to the Coinage Guild. The same clerk greeted me, though he was a manager now. I collected all my spirit stones I had left behind. I would take them back to the sect with me and store them in my room. After talking with Zheng Ting, she would deposit things here in the Coinage Guild for me to pick up, rather than delivering them.

Too much risk of annoying questions and headaches. I also had ten of my spirit stones exchanged for spirit coins. They encouraged using the coins for transactions, rather than spirit stones, since a stone could easily be used, while a spirit coin’s only value was as high end currency guaranteed by the Imperial Sect. They drew less attention from beasts and stacked more easily than spirit stones.

On one side was the symbol of the Imperial Sect, two swords crossed over each other with the number 1 below them. On the other side was the face of the Immortal in charge of the Imperial Sect. It was rumored that if he ever died, all the coins would disappear and lose their value.

I doubted it was something mystical. It would be as if a government collapsed, their currency would be worthless. But he was an Immortal, so for him to die meant he died in combat. If that happened, the continent was in for a world of trouble.

My next stop was the Hunters Guild, where I looked over their equipment again, and was forced to order custom clothing and a pack because of my small stature. I also picked up a level 4 beast drill for 10,000 tael. I had quite a bit of teal in my account at the Coinage Guild from the paltry amount the caravan had brought back.

The drill itself was made of level 1 spirit metal, so it could pierce the hide of a level 4 beast if one was killed. I didn’t want to be stuck trying to hack away the flesh to get to the core before it broke apart. That was why I purchased a high end drilling device.

I could purchase it despite not being a member of the guild because of being a cultivator. I had the authority to purchase anything I wanted, as only the sect could discipline me. However, I wouldn’t get a discount for a tool like this, but it was understandable.

I had also left instructions for Zheng Ting to arrange a carriage to the sect and to be reserved for ninety days a year from now, when I planned to go out hunting and had entered the second stage. If my plans changed, I would just send her a letter. It would be annoying to do that, but communication was not simple. Arrangements had to be made ahead of time.

I was rapidly closing in on the mote count I needed. Just half a year more and I would be finished with the first stage and 1,788,606 motes in total. It was a massive number. Almost fifteen times more than what any other cultivator would dare do. While the work at the later stages wouldn’t necessarily be fifteen times more, it would still be ‌quite a bit more.

The day for the wedding came. It was held at the Yao family compound. I was given a seat of honor, only second to my father, mother, and the groom’s parents. My sister Yuan Chuntao and Yao Yang said their vows and proclaimed their love and unity to the heavens. Then they were considered married.

Once that was done, everyone moved from the outdoor ceremony into the Yao compound’s dining hall. The bride and groom sat at the center of the head table, with the parents of the opposing spouse next to them as a sign of bringing the families together. They gave me a seat next to patriarch Yao Guiren while my first brother as patriarch sat at the opposite end of the table next to my mother as a guest of honor.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou, it has been quite a while since we last met,” Yao Guiren said to me after we had greeted each other.

“Indeed. I must thank you for allowing me to manage your mines,” I replied.

“Hah, it was a simple choice. Since you have joined the sect, I was considering letting your company manage the spirit mines as well. We have tried to copy your methods, but there have been issues,” he replied.

“That would be appreciated. Out of respect for this auspicious day and their value, I would only ask for a five percent equity for managing them,” I replied, and he smiled.

“That is quite generous of you. I thought you would ask for more,” he said. I did this since I didn’t want to annoy the sect. They didn’t want wealth being sucked out of the city. While not against the rules, they heavily frowned on using my position to bully mortals. I only took half of what I had made before with the other mines, so there could be no objections. Also, it would increase the amount of spirit ore I got by a bit. I wouldn’t say any of this publicly, of course, since it would cast the sect in a poor light.

That had been one of the lectures everyone had to attend when entering the sect. If I got greedy, then the elders would notice, and I would be in trouble.

“We are family now. I believe it is time for the gifts,” I said.

“I heard you were going last. Must be something quite impressive,” he said.

“Indeed, for Yuan Chuntao is my beloved sister. Also, she draws the best pictures. You should ask her for one sometime,” I told him.

“I have not seen her artwork, so I will have to ask her about her drawing talent if even you praise it.” I smiled as I ate my food. Sorry sister, but it was my duty as an older brother to embarrass you a bit.

The gifts were brought, and I mentally estimated their value. I noted the City Lord in attendance along with Zheng Ting. She gave spices and a very nice set of matching rocking chairs. My father gave them a distillery to own and manage. My mother gave my daughter a gold and silver necklace and matching earrings.

Yao Guerin and his wife gave them a farm that produced hops for alcohol and a dress that matched the jewelry. Clearly, the gifts had been coordinated. Now it was my turn to steal the show. I stepped around to the front of the table and brought out a small intricately carved wooden case.

“My beloved sister, congratulations to you and your husband on this auspicious day. Allow me to present three things for you and your future family,” I said. After some thinking, I had changed the amount for symbolic reasons.

“Twelve rank 1 spirit coins,” I said, and I opened the wood box to show them impressed into the padding inside. There were gasps at that. The amount was excessive and more than enough to buy a new family name if they wished. I passed the box over to Yao Yang, which he kept on the table and didn’t hand it off to a servant. A sign of respect for the value of the gift I just gave.

“As for you, my sister, two favors.” The room went silent at this. “One for you personally, and the other for your descendants to call upon me for retribution or to take them as a disciple,” I said. I passed the letters over, each clearly marked. I labeled one to the descendants of Yuan Chuntao while the other was addressed to her specifically.

Getting a personal letter like that from me meant no one would dare abuse her in the slightest for as long as she lived. Giving her descendants a favor was showing them a lot of face, or respect, and also why the marriage happened in the first place.

“Silly brother, always so much drama,” my sister said playfully as she carefully took both letters from me. “Thank you,” she said and quickly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, so her makeup wasn’t ruined. I bowed my head slightly towards her and went back to my seat.

Conversation started up again. “That was a princely gift, Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” Yao Guiren said.

“She is my sister. I know your family will care for her well,” I replied, and he nodded. Hidden message delivered.

“Of course. My son Yao Yang will be a great husband.” I nodded at this. Well, that letter would ensure nothing happened to her. If she was killed and I wanted to take vengeance, I would merely have to request an audience with the elders, and they would decide.

While it would cost me sect points, they would allow me to wipe out a chunk of the family after seeing if they had any cultivators in the sect. If they did, then the elders would pick a couple of mortals to die like her husband and anyone that mistreated her while leaving the family intact.

It wasn’t something that was often done, but once that occurred, they would expect me to drop the issue. Still, there would be nothing the Yao family could do. While they had three cultivators in the sect, none of them were elders or members. So, my standing would be slightly higher as an inner disciple.

But I doubted things would get that far with just the threat of them happening. Also, doing something like that would ruin the favor I had given her descendants. I was a heaven’s sent genius, so most people equated that to having a high chance of becoming an elder someday.

If that happened, well, no one would want to be on my bad side. The bride and groom left the wedding feast to celebrate their marriage, and I got up to sit in the garden. I sipped some tea as I enjoyed the light warm breeze in the fading light.

“I think you made most of the people void themselves, brother,” Yuan Yun said as he came over. I gestured at the opposite seat, and he sat down.

“I might think Yuan Chuntao is too good for any man, but it is her life, her choice,” I said.

“She thought you would object,” Yuan Yun said, and I shook my head. “I am guessing you won’t be back for a while?” he asked.

“Maybe occasionally, but I will need to focus on my cultivation and gathering resources. If my mother or father gets ill, send word.” I had left him a letter for each of them and he nodded. Paying respect to one's parents was seen as culturally appropriate.

But I might visit once every couple of years going forward after this. It was advice from the elders that we should separate our emotions from the mortal world, otherwise it would slow our cultivation down and distract us. I didn’t necessarily believe this, but it would not be easy reaching immortality with the path of cultivation I had set out.

I was choosing to make myself distant. I still looked like I was twelve years old, despite being twenty. When my siblings died of old age, I would complete the second stage and be starting the third stage of my cultivation. The journey to immortality was quite long.

In time, my sister would have kids, those kids would have kids, and generations from now, I would recognize no one. It was a heavy realization. The path to immortality was not one to be taken lightly. There was no time to waste either.

Even just a yearly visit was too much. I would probably do less than that, most likely. There would be snapshots in time as I visited home in the future, and then I would visit no more and become a myth, a legend.

A Core Formation cultivator like Master Yi Rong could live up to 1,500 years. Someone who had made it to the eighth stage of cultivation would live anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 years approximately. A vast amount of time.

Compared to Earth, that was like being born at the dawn of human civilization and then still being around in the modern day. There was a reason stability was highly prized, along with slow but incremental improvements to the cultivation process. The hasty and the foolish often died young.

The current age, the Third Age, had been going on for over 200,000 years since the last major conflict against the beast Empire, where humans gained supremacy. The Second Age before that was defined by the first cultivators coming into existence. Then the First Age was the start of when humans had first risen up in these lands. A time of myth and legend.

It was over an immense amount of time that this culture had taken shape. Outside the continent were massive beasts of the ocean that would even make an immortal take pause. Perhaps in time I would develop aircraft or something to fly around in if I couldn’t fly myself.

Air travel would be the best travel, and soaring through the skies was suitably dramatic, in my opinion. It was getting dark, and my brother said his goodbyes as I just sat there looking up at the twinkling lights above me.

I sat there through the night, contemplating things until the morning. The other guests had left long ago, and I was being rude staying in the garden. As the first rays of the sun lit up the sky, I let out a sigh. I got up and departed the Yao family compound.

I just wandered through the streets on foot towards the city center. There were a few people out this early and it was fairly quiet. I noticed a beggar sitting on the side of the road. They were often cleared out as debt slaves, so it was weird to see one. Perhaps it was fate or destiny. I paused and pulled out a tael from a pouch in my clothing.

Keeping just a little of money on me had become a habit. “Here you go. Fortune be with you.” I placed the tael in the beggar’s cup. A huge amount, but I felt in a giving mood and optimistic. Kindness would repay kindness. A straw hat hid his face. I turned to leave, but the beggar spoke up.

“I heard there that the genius under the heavens might show up to his sister’s wedding,” I spun and backed away from the beggar in surprise. He stood up and cast off his tattered cloak and straw hat. He was young, like a teenager, but his eyes were narrowed, and the sense of danger was in the air.

He lunged at me, hands outstretched. I leapt away. He quickly closed the distance and placed his hands around my neck. I reached up to strike him and pry him off, but his arms were immovable. “So many motes! You will be quite a delicacy to refine.” He struck me on the back of my head, and I pretended to go limp since he clearly out classed me. Keeping my wits about even during an attack. I needed to be patient and wait for an opportunity.

He didn’t pay close attention as he wrapped me up in his discarded cloak and raced off. I was kidnapped, and this man was going to refine me. Panic was truly setting in now.

It was a demonic cultivator, and I needed a way to either kill him or escape. His cultivation was higher than mine. At the end of the second stage or the start of the third, if his level of speed and strength was anything to go by.

I carefully maneuvered an arm free from inside the cloak as we moved quickly to wherever we were going. There was only one thing I could do. I slammed my hand down on the man’s back and pushed 100,000 motes from my hand into his body.

“Ahhhh!” he screamed and collapsed. I was thrown from his shoulder and went rolling, falling out of the cloak. Pushing motes into someone else meant it contaminated them with traces of my energy. One or two wouldn’t have done much, but 100,000 all at once was a devastating blow.

No one but me would dare use so many in the Qi Gathering stage. It would have been their entire cultivation. I raced forward as I couldn’t allow the demonic cultivator time to recover. He was lying on the ground thrashing and screaming.

I stomped onto a foot as hard as I could with everything I had. I felt the bone crack and could hear it. That seemed to startle him out of his pain. I brought down my foot again, as hard as I could, and broke his foot even more. “YOU DARE!” he roared.

The few people watching in the early morning on the street scattered at this. I moved in to stomp on him again, but he rolled out of the way. My foot cracked the cobblestone slightly. He then paused and lashed out with his good leg, and struck me in the side.

I went tumbling away, gasping for air. Everything hurt, but at least nothing felt broken. Thankfully, he hadn't been able to put his full strength behind that kick. I got to my feet unsteadily and the demonic cultivator was doing the same thing.

His left foot was twisted at a weird angle and was leaking blood. He was also trembling slightly, but he seemed to have mostly recovered from me shoving all those motes into him and disrupting his cultivation.

“I was going to be nice and keep you asleep while I refined you one piece at a time. Now. Now I am going to make you scream,” he said while breathing heavily.

“I am a heaven’s blessed genius, Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect. You think you can defeat me? Then come, let this genius teach you who you should call grandfather and kowtow to for your insolence,” I replied with a lot more bravado than I felt. I shouted out my words loudly to quickly alert anyone listening.

He bent his good leg and leapt at me. The move was clearly telegraphed. I moved out of the way, and he slammed into the ground where I had been. I moved in behind him and shoved his back as hard as I could. He fell to the ground since he couldn’t balance on just one foot. Time was on my side and not his.

“You dare!” He roared again.

“I dare. Now take your beating like the son of a demon that you are!” I yelled right back. He tried to get up, but each time I shoved him down to the ground again. Then, he kicked and punched, but he had no way to close the distance to me with his foot smashed. He also occasionally trembled from what I had done earlier, so his cultivation was still experiencing trouble.

About ten minutes after I had first wounded him, a Cloudy Moon Sect member arrived. “What is happening here, disciple?” he asked me. I let out a sigh of relief.

“That man assaulted me and spoke of refining me. I disabled him, and suspect he is a demonic cultivator of the late second stage or early third stage senior,” I quickly replied, so he had all the facts to act as quickly as possible.

The sect member immediately went on guard and slowly approached the man, who was looking at him fearfully. “You disabled him, and he is still alive. Good job disciple…”

“Inner disciple Yuan Zhou senior,” I quickly replied, and the sect member nodded. He turned towards the demonic cultivator, who was trying to crawl away. The senior quickly raced over and plucked him up by the neck with one hand.

“Truly, a demonic cultivator, how bold! You dare to step into Half Moon City in the shadow of the Cloudy Moon Sect. The elders will enjoy questioning you.” The senior’s other hand shot forward and ripped out a chunk of the man’s jaw and mouth. Teeth were scattered everywhere, bouncing on the cobblestones. “No biting your tongue or other alchemical nonsense you have in your mouth.”

“Senior, he was clearly taking me somewhere. He most likely has a base nearby if he planned to refine me.” I explained where he had first grabbed me and the sect member nodded while watching the demonic cultivator carefully.

“Follow me, disciple,” the senior said, and we made our way through the streets, while everyone was running into their homes and away. We arrived in a poor part of the city. My senior kept looking at the man’s eyes and possibly using a cultivation technique. We arrived at a building.

My senior kicked open the door to the building, making both floors shudder while still gripping the demonic cultivator in one hand by the neck, dragging him along without any effort. He entered, and I followed him. Doors weren’t opened, they were ripped aside.

I moved aside rugs since a demonic cultivator wouldn’t keep things out in the open. I found a trap door on the floor.

“Senior, a trapdoor,” I pointed out, and he gave me a nod. He slammed the edge of his boot into the floor and kicked up, ripping off a chunk of the floor along with the trap door revealing a hidden basement.

Chapter 20 – The Demonic Blood Sect

I followed my senior down a steep flight of wooden stairs. He was still dragging the half instantiate demonic cultivator around by the neck. In the basement, there was an enormous cauldron and piles of bones off to one side that appeared human.

In addition, there was a chained starving young boy in a cage who was naked. There were blood splotches and butchering tools located around the room. “A demonic alchemical workshop. Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou, guard this building until I return. Touch nothing, not even that child. Let no one enter under the authority of the Cloudy Moon Sect and member Tian Fang.”

“Yes, senior Tian Fang,” I told him and he quickly departed with the demonic cultivator in hand. I quickly exited the building and could see people gathering. They quickly ducked away as I glared at them in my Cloudy Moon Sect robes.

I patrolled around the building, making sure no one was trying to get in and reversing up my path while keeping an intense look out. Five minutes after senior Tian Fang left, he returned with four other members of the Cloudy Moon sect.

“Junior greets seniors,” I said, and bowed. Then an old woman stepped forward.

“Explain exactly what happened from the beginning and how you encountered the demonic cultivator inner disciple,” she said.

“Yes, senior. I was attending a wedding for my sister Yuan Chuntao yesterday and then left the Yao family compound early in the morning. I came across a man dressed as a beggar in the street and stopped to give him some money, but he cast off his cloak and hat. He talked about how he planned to refine me. He lunged at me and tried to knock me unconscious. I pretended to be unconscious since his strength was greater than mine.”

“Based on his strength, I guessed he was in the late second stage or the early third stage of his cultivation. He then wrapped me up in his discarded cloak and began carrying me. I got an arm free and struck his back. I pushed 100,000 motes into his body, crippling him.”

“After that, I crushed his foot, but could not defeat him fully until Senior Tian Fang showed up. He struck me in the chest once with his leg. Senior Tian Fang easily disabled the demonic cultivator and stopped him from killing himself. I then mentioned he had been taking me somewhere. Using where I had been captured, freed myself, and Senior Tian Fang’s excellent discernment, we located this building and the basement senior,” I explained.

“That would explain why his cultivation was messed up. Sacrificing so much to disable him, that is impressive, and you have my condolences for your hard work being cast aside,” she said.

“It was a fraction of my cultivation senior. Thankfully, it wasn’t any more. I wouldn’t want to annoy Elder Li Fu, senior,” I replied.

“Your name?” she asked.

“Yuan Zhou, senior,” I replied.

“The heaven’s blessed genius. Hmmm, interesting. You will be escorted back to the sect to answer any questions the elders might have,” she said.

“Yes, senior,” I replied. After that, I waited as the sect members began clearing out the building piece by piece. Once the entire building had been cleared out, it was burned down along with the nearby buildings as well. No one complained, and I said nothing. They considered mortals having their homes burned as a small punishment for living next to a demonic cultivator. If any dared to speak up, they would have been killed instantly, along with their entire families.

Once that was done, they loaded me up into a carriage, along with a bundled up demonic cultivator and Tian Fang. We set off and since my senior didn’t speak; I didn’t either. After three days of hard riding, we arrived at the base of the sect.

They forced the demonic cultivator to piss through his clothes. I felt sorry for the poor people who would have to clean the carriage, but Tian Fang clearly wasn’t taking any chances. The demonic cultivator’s fingers were each clamped individually, and his head and neck were in a brace so he couldn’t move. They only gave him some water through his ruined mouth, but that was it.

Once we got back, I followed senior Tian Fang up the steps, who carried the demonic cultivator like a sack of potatoes. I had to push myself to match her pace, but I was used to climbing the stairs after having swept them for so long. At the top of the steps, three elders were waiting, including Elder Li Fu. I bowed and Tian Fang did the same after dumping the demonic cultivator at the feet of the elders.

One of them approached and put a hand on the man’s forehead. “Demonic cultivator, blood compression cultivation. Late second stage.” He removed his hand.

“How brazen to set up an alchemical workshop in Half Moon City. Explain exactly what happened. You first, inner disciple,” the elder said. I quickly recounted my explanation and then they had member Tian Fang do so as well.

The elders moved away slightly to discuss things in private before coming back over.

“Capturing a demonic cultivator alive is no easy feat. While he probably does not know much, we can hopefully track down his master, who is no doubt a member of the Demonic Blood Cultivation sect. We will handle it from here.”

“Member Tian Fang, you showed excellent judgement and defended a junior of the sect. We award you 500 contribution points,” Elder Li Fu said. My eyes went wide at that number. I thought the bounty was much lower. Then I realized that was the public bounty. The bounty made out to the sects was much higher, and capturing a demonic cultivator alive was a tremendous accomplishment. He thanked the elders and took away the demonic cultivator after he was dismissed. The elders turned towards me.

“Inner disciple Yuan Zhou. You truly must be favored by the heavens themselves to have assisted in the capture of a demon cultivator alive. I will give you a choice, either 1,000 sect contribution points, or a minor favor.”

“This disciple thanks Elder Li Fu. I would ask for the minor favor of being allowed to leave the sect for periods of 90 days to hunt beasts to improve my cultivation.”

“Hmm, well, you defeated a demonic cultivator on your own and helped track down his location. Very well, I will inform the administrative hall that you will be allowed to leave the sect for 90-day periods under my authority. Also, go to the healing hall. The sect will cover your care. Good work Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou. You have brought great honor to the Cloudy Moon Sect,” Elder Li Fu said.

I bowed and thanked him, and the elders left. I made my way over to the healing hall to get my bruised ribs checked out. An older woman, who was a sect member, looked at me and shook her head. She gave me a pill, which I swallowed.

“That is a Healing Pill, quite expensive, rare, and hard to make. Normally one costs 100 sect points,” she said.

“Thank you, senior,” I replied.

“Well, Elder Li Fu must like you, since he allowed it as part of the sect expenses. Now, don’t take another healing pill for one year. If you take any other pills in the next year, consult with a healer or alchemist to make sure there are no bad interactions. After a year, there should be nothing to worry about. Your cultivation won’t be impacted unless you take something.”

“Yes, senior. Thank you, senior.” She just shook her head and shooed me out of the healing hall. Well, I had earned some sect credit with Elder Li Fu and got my time extension without hassle. Now I just had to cultivate back all those motes I had lost.

My side was already feeling better. It had been a rough couple of days, but I had managed thankfully. I was not due back for another four days, so I had time off. I took that time to walk about the sect, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the great views from the plateau the Cloudy Moon Sect resided on.

After my four days were up, I confirmed that I now had 90 days of leave from the sect per year. That was nice that Elder Li Fu followed through on my behalf. I reported back to Fan and took up my jobs again. Time to get back to earning those sect contribution points and collecting all the motes I needed.

I had been so close as well, but if I had entered the Foundation Establishment stage, then that trick wouldn’t have worked. Trying to refine me, I was going to refine those demonic cultivators into favors and contribution points, no matter what. I would drag their entire sect in one member at a time to get sect points and favors.

It might be risky, but after getting a taste of fighting, I found I wasn’t that averse to it. The power to crush my foes and enemies was exhilarating. Getting paid for it was even better. The big problem was that demonic cultivators didn’t wear signs and advertise themselves.

But after I was done with the beasts at the third stage, I might look for demonic cultivators during the fourth stage to really rake in those benefits. I also looked up the rewards the Imperial Sect offered for demonic cultivators.

The earlier numbers were just for reporting them and were paid out to non-sect members. The Cloudy Moon Sect would get the equivalent of 2,000 rank 1 spirit stones, which was the value of half the century required tribute for a stage two demonic cultivator. A stage one would only pay 1,000 rank 1 spirit stones.

A stage three demonic cultivator would pay out 5,000 rank 1 spirit stones. A stage four demonic cultivator paid out 10,000 rank 1 spirit stones. The elders clearly got a lot out of that capture, and I wanted to cry at being scammed.

Well, it wasn’t a huge scam. Getting 90 days of leave as a disciple required a lot of sect contribution points. The number was unclear, but they valued a minor favor from an elder at 1,000 sect contribution points. Since if something happened, they would have to bear the headache of dealing with the fallout.

Even elders needed contribution points and resources. Giving me increased leave but pocketing 1,500 rank 1 spirit stones was quite a good trade for Elder Li Fu. He got materials for whatever he wanted to use them for and possibly more leads to other demonic cultivators.

But I was just a lowly inner sect disciple, so they had all the power and authority to do what they wanted, and I had gotten what I wanted. So, while they benefited from doing almost nothing, that was one benefit of managing the sect day to day.

I knew what Elder Li Fu was up to and could only shake my head in exasperation while applauding the wily old cultivator. He had probably seen something similar many times before and grabbed up a huge chunk of the benefits himself. One did not make it to the rank of elder by being stupid and letting opportunities slip through one’s fingers.

Time slowly passed as I gathered up motes again and I was forced to send a letter to Zheng Ting adjusting the date I would depart the sect. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but even going full tilt to get my mote count back up it would take time.

A hundred thousand motes were no joke. For some cultivators, that was their entire cultivation. My second year in the sect came and went. Gen was making progress with his cultivation into the second stage, and Wen Xue was chugging along. Wu Changying didn’t show up or greet us during the annual celebration, but she was not a sociable person.

Halfway through the year, at the age of 20.5, I finally finished collecting the motes I needed to finish my cultivation. A total of 1,788,606 motes‌. It was monstrous and a number that would crush anyone else. Even with pills and taking in 100 motes a day, that would be 17,886 pills or 49 years of taking pills daily and 894,300 tael. Almost the value of a rank 4 spirit stone.

It was a mind-boggling heaven crushing number of motes. I took six days off from work. I spent the first two days off from work double and triple checking my cultivation. Confirming the placement of each and every mote. Everything was perfect. It was a masterpiece of cultivation. Cultivators would weep at such a sight. In envy or fear was the real question.

I took a deep breath and focused on the first mote in my small left toe to align it for the construction of the first channel. I had grasped motes before and moved them about, but aligning a mote was completely different and the first one was the hardest by a large degree.

The pain I felt was something beyond the physical and made it incredibly hard to concentrate. I had moved the other motes nearby away and formed a barrier of motes I held in place. It was hard, and I felt my control waiver several times.

After 12 hours, I collapsed on my bed, panting. I had done it. I had entered the second stage officially and aligned my first mote. Then, I moved the other motes back into their positions and slept, completely exhausted.

The next day, after some food, I cultivated in earnest. I moved a second mote into place, then had ten motes form a shell around it to reduce the effects on the other motes. It was incredibly mentally taxing but the effects didn’t ripple out to the rest of my motes as I felt the barrier motes want to slip free of my mental grasp.

I had enough experience to hold them in place. The second mote took 4 hours to align and place the connection to the first mote. The third took 4 and a half hours since I was getting tired. I had dinner and rested a bit and the fourth took 3 hours and 50 minutes to align and continue the channel deeper inside of me, past the first three motes. At 4 hours per mote, if I did 3 per day, it would take me 596,202 days to finish. That was 1,633 years.

The biggest issue was having to hold the motes in place to use as a barrier while I aligned a mote. On the fifth day of my break, I didn’t hold any motes in place and aligned a mote as quickly as possible. They went bouncing around in my body, messing up my careful placement.

I didn’t mind. I had every single mote placement memorized and had placed them in their spots multiple times over the years. This time, it only took me an hour and a half to align the motes again. At 12 hours a day, that would put me at 8 aligned mote per day. That meant 613 years to cultivate through the second stage.

I needed to align 100 motes per day at a minimum. That would mean 49 years of constant cultivation to clear the second stage. If I pushed myself and cultivated 16 hours, I had to do a mote every 9.5 minutes. I focused and tried to align two motes at once, but they both vibrated wildly, and I had to stop.

Next, I tried aligning a mote in my hand and one in my foot. It hurt a lot, but they were far enough apart not to interfere with each other, but I felt ill afterwards. The two motes had taken 50 minutes together, and I had been really pushing myself. That was 25 minutes per mote. Still too slow. I moved my motes back into their places and fell asleep.

The sixth day, I did six motes at once, one each in my limbs, one in my torso, and one in my head. It was incredibly hard, but I would not give up after talking such a big game about my cultivation. I refused. I was Yuan Zhou, the number one cultivator in existence, who walked the path of defiance!

I was originally from Earth but died to a truck and was reborn as the son of the merchant Yuan Chen. Because of being aware since birth, I had the heaven’s blessed ability to see Qi motes and had gone all out in my cultivation. I looked at that picture my sister had drawn of us and our parents. My mother, Yuan Wen, the biggest drama queen to ever live.

My master Yi Rong, who had put his hopes and dreams onto my shoulders. I couldn’t fail. I had to succeed, no matter what. If I was going to die, then let me die. But I would succeed in this path. I didn’t put my mind to something to just give up halfway. That wasn’t who I was.

The motes locked into place, and I quickly built the linkages in my left toe before the motes settled. It had taken 36 minutes to do 6 motes. I had gotten my time down to 6 minutes per mote. If I cultivated for 16 hours per day, that would put me at 160 motes per day.

It would take 31 years to clear the second stage with my cultivation plan. Well, time to keep working. I couldn’t afford to slack off and focused while gritting my teeth. As I pushed the motes into position, I forced myself up and to move about. I was slow and barely aware of what I was doing, but I did six motes while slowly walking around my room. I had to pause briefly as I put the linkages between motes in place.

I could do it. It was hard, painfully hard. The mental exhaustion was immense. The pain was eye-watering. But I could function barely while cultivating. But I would not give up. In fact, I was going to speed up, if anything.

I did 12 motes this time, 2 in each section of my body. I felt like I was going to rip apart. The other motes inside of me were going crazy, bouncing all over the place. Oh gods, the pain. I felt like my head and guts were going to explode out of me.

Just standing was excruciating. I could barely breathe as I forced the motes to align with my astral soul. The pain kept hitting me in waves. Keeping my mental grip on the 12 motes was a struggle. It finally ended, and it had taken me 40 minutes. I made the connections I needed with the motes before I collapsed on my bed drenched in sweat. That was a mote every 3.4 minutes.

I wanted to keep going, but that would not happen. I felt ill, tired, and sore. Trying to find some way to recover, I made my way to the bathroom and got into the bath. Water came through a large sect wide formation and plumbing to move it about. It would drain out into the gardens.

Once I was in the warm bath water, I did another round of cultivation with 12 motes once again. The pain was immense. It took an hour this time, which meant 5 minutes per mote. It wasn’t getting any better. My teeth ached.

I needed to check if something was wrong. Teeth weren’t supposed to ache like this. I got changed and made my way to the healing hall.

“What seems to be the problem?” the older woman I had talked to before when I was injured asked me.

“Every time I cultivate, there is a lot of pain. Tremendous pain. My teeth have started to hurt even,” I replied.

“Sit. Did you enter a new stage?” she asked.

“Yes, Foundation Establishment four days ago,” I said. She leaned in close and held one of my eyes open with her hand while she looked at it.

“The first mote is the hardest. But after that it just requires time,” she said.

“I… I am aligning multiple motes at once,” I replied sheepishly.

“Idiot! That is how you blow yourself apart. Doing two motes at the same time is a lot, even if you do them in different parts of your body. When motes are aligned with your astral soul, they vibrate. It is fine with one mote, but with two motes, the vibrations impact each other and your astral soul. You are lucky to be alive.”

“It… Well, I was doing over two.”

“How many?” she asked.

“Twelve.” She took a step back and stared at me in shock.

“Twelve! That is madness. How are your body and soul still functioning? You should be blown apart!” she asked. “Don’t answer that. This… Wait here,” she said and left. A few minutes later, a younger looking woman was brought in, and she was an elder.

“Junior greets-“

“Don’t worry about that here. I am the chief healer of the Cloudy Moon Sect, Elder Healer Meihui. Do I have your permission to scan you with my energy?” she asked.

“Yes, elder healer,” I replied. She put a head on my hand and another on my chest. Her face grew pinched, and I felt weird. After a minute, she let go.

“You are Yuan Zhou,” she said.

“Yes, elder healer,” I replied.

“Foolishness!” She lightly smacked me on my head. “What you have done, and the number of motes you have taken in, is something unheard of. I thought Li Fu was playing a prank on me. No one could be this idiotic, stupid, foolish, brain dead, and a blight to all intelligent life!” I kept my mouth shut. The older looking woman who was a sect member and had first looked at me appeared shocked.

“Your astral soul is on the verge of collapse. Your body has only held together since you have so many motes. That is the only reason why your astral hasn’t since it is extra tough, ‌but if you keep doing what you are doing, you will rip it apart. Also, your physical body is under great strain with all those motes inside of you. Let me guess. No one told you about the medical risks of your cultivation plan?”

“No, elder healer,” I replied.

“Foolishness! It is too late to cast aside the motes you have. They are trapped inside of you. You can cultivate, of course, but you are crippled.”

“What?!” I asked in surprise.

“Only lightly, but even then, the number of channels you will have is dangerous. You will tear yourself apart from the strain, most likely.” She held up her hand as I opened up my mouth. “Don’t speak. Your foolishness sickens me.”

I closed my mouth and Elder Healer Meihui continued. “You are not to cultivate for three days. I mean it. No cultivation. That should stabilize things hopefully. The damage isn’t permanent, but it is close. Anymore and your astral soul will rip. Come back here in three days.”

“Yes, elder healer,” I said, and she snorted.

“Long term. I don’t even know, since no one has ever been this idiotic. How many motes? I know it is over a million.”

“1,788,606, elder healer,” I said.

“Foolishness!” she shouted. I sat there quietly with my head bowed. “Three days, I mean it. Long term, I know you won’t stop cultivating. And with all those motes, you will want to rush forward. If this was the damage done with a couple cycles of twelve motes, then you should be okay at six. But you will need regular checkups.”

“Also, you will need medicine to ensure your astral soul heals during all of this. If you wish to cultivate at a high intensity, then you will need time in the Astral Stabilization chamber. The formation will make sure the fraying is reduced. We use it for injured members as they attempt to rebuild their cultivation.”

“It won’t be cheap either. Whoever paid for you to get all those motes will have to pay for this as well. I would recommend a treatment session once a month for half a day. It might be a bit more or less as I monitor you going forward.”

“How much elder healer?” I asked.

“Half a day would cost 100 sect contribution points.” I wanted to die at that amount. “Or you could fund the 100 spirit stones needed to run it.” I really wanted to cry now.

“Should I get a session now?” I asked.

“Yes. And we charge healing prices at cost. But proper healing is expensive. Who is your master? I plan to yell at them for a bit,” she said.

“Master Yi Rong passed about a decade ago,” I said.

“Then I shall curse his grave for allowing this to happen and Li Fu will hear a piece of my mind. Give me your badge.” I handed it over. She deducted 100 points from it without even asking me and then gave it back. “Come!” I followed her out of the treatment room.

She led me to a door and into an underground chamber with a bench. “Sit there, focus on your breathing and the edge of your astral soul.”

“Yes, elder healer,” I said, and she left, slamming the stone door closed behind her. The chamber glowed a light blue, and I felt the constant pain diminish.

I sat there into the night, and then the chamber finally stopped glowing. Surprisingly, I was feeling much better. I had taken this time to move my motes back into their proper positions. The door to the chamber slid open and Elder Healer Meihui was back.

“Come,” she said more calmly than before. They brought me back to the treatment room. Elder Li Fu was there as well. She had me sit and checked my body once again.

“The fraying was corrected. His astral soul is quite resilient, but cultivating that many motes at once is impossible,” she said to Elder Li Fu. No doctor patient confidentiality around here when you were a disciple.

“I see, but you say he could handle six?” Elder Li Fu asked.

“Possibly, with checkups and time in the Astral Stabilization chamber. Even then, it will be risky for him. The only other option would be an Astral Recovery Pill, but those would be even more expensive. Or if someone is hiding it, an Astral Soul Stabilizer,” she said.

“No, neither of those. Disciple Yuan Zhou is walking the path of defiance. New and uncharted territory,” Elder Li Fu said while looking at me. “Well, he might come up with something. An Astral Recovery Pill would cost 5,000 sect points and would have to be specifically requested. It would last about a year, isn’t that right?” Elder Li Fu asked Elder Healer Meihui.

“Yes, it would. But it would only do so much. For 6 motes, a cultivating session constantly, even such a pill would struggle. To do 12 is impossible long term and would only worsen his condition,” she answered.

Elder Li Fu nodded at this. “As for the Astral Soul Stabilizer, it would be an astral device that is implanted into your soul. I can see your curiosity. The issue with such a thing is that it is immensely valuable. To put a price on it, even if someone had one, they would not easily part with one, it would be 500,000 sect contribution points at a minimum.” That was insane.

“I see you understand. It also requires a rare material to be made, an astral shard. Remnants of lost things in the astral plane, where your soul resides. Only an elder has the qualifications to make such a trip with their physical body and risk retrieving something like that. Even for a child, no elder would undertake such a risk lightly.”

“Then if they retrieved it, well, it would need to be made into an Astral Soul Stabilizer and implanted into you. That would require knowledge. Only one elder and the Sect Leader are qualified to make astral equipment. That is why such a thing would be quite expensive.”

“There is one other option,” Elder Healer Meihui said.

“Oh, what would it be?” Elder Li Fu asked.

“He could go himself,” she replied. “He would probably die, but you claim he is a genius blessed by the heavens themselves. The hardest part of the Astral Soul Stabilizer is getting an astral shard. The rest isn’t that much.”

“You just don’t want to deal with this,” Elder Li Fu said.

“I also am curious to see what will happen in the third and fourth stage. If he dies, it was not meant to be. He chose this path. We might as well toss him to the wolves and either see him progress or not waste our time or resources,” she said.

“He could make it to the third stage with just normal methods,” Elder Li Fu said.

“But that would be it. There would be no time for anything else. Almost one point eight million motes. He will be stuck at the second stage trying to get to the third stage and then die.”

“The astral plane is something even I would not take lightly, and you want to toss him in?” Elder Li Fu asked again.

“That is my official recommendation after thinking about the situation. I would even be willing to pay for the entry cost.” Elder Li Fu’s eyebrows went up at that.

“Truly? Well, we should probably explain this option to Yuan Zhou before he dies of curiosity.” Well, ‌my second stage of cultivation would not be as simple or easy as I thought.

Chapter 21 – The Astral Plane

Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui both fixed their intense gazes on me. The second stage of my cultivation would progress too slowly without an astral shard to construct an Astral Soul Stabilizer. Astral shards could only be found on the dangerous astral plane, which even posed a threat to elders.

"The cost to enter the astral plane is not insignificant for a person's physical body. Your soul, your astral soul, exists on a single point in that plane. The fifth stage is about expanding that limit against the pressure of the astral plane," Elder Li Fu explained.

I nodded, trying to understand. "The cost to enter would be four level 4 spirit stones to form a portal for your physical body to pass through. Elder Healer Meihui has generously offered to cover this cost," he added. She wanted me to either succeed or die, and I only favored one of those outcomes. Clearly, healers in cultivation land didn't adhere to the Hippocratic Oath.

"Once inside, you would have to survive encounters with astral beasts and traverse the treacherous astral plane until you found an astral shard. The true challenge would be returning. Things shift, so even if we wanted to keep a portal open, we couldn't."

"You also lack the ability to use techniques to exit the astral plane. That means you would have to find a natural emergence point to the physical world, evade the astral beasts, and then make your way back to the sect with the astral shard," Elder Li Fu continued.

"Additionally, the astral winds will damage your astral soul, so you must hurry. It's a difficult task, but you might have a chance. I would estimate a ten-day limit before there is crippling soul damage, wouldn't you agree, Elder Healer Meihui?" She nodded in agreement.

"Yes, ten days would be the maximum before the damage became too severe. That's about as many supplies as you could carry anyway."

"It isn't impossible, and you might die, but an Astral Soul Stabilizer would solve your problems. If you managed to return, I would persuade the Sect Master to make one for you at no cost, with Elder Healer Meihui's support, of course."

"Indeed, it would be valuable research to observe such a device in action against twelve-mote alignment cultivation. To counteract that many vibrations of one’s astral soul would be quite impressive," she added. These people were mad scientists. I knew that before, but now I truly grasped it. They wouldn't care if I died, but they were eager to see if I could accomplish this challenge.

"Alright, but no sect fees until I return, and no back charges either," I said, ensuring I wouldn't be burdened with a huge bill upon my return.

"Of course, that's a minor issue," Elder Li Fu agreed with a smile, and Elder Healer Meihui nodded. They likely thought I was going to meet a gruesome end and were happy to be rid of me and the headache I represented. I noted that no one was volunteering to go with me.

“Easily handled for a case such as this under my authority. Hmm, your astral soul needs to recover a bit, so let’s say ten days from now. That should be more than enough after your session in the Soul Stabilization chamber.”

“It will take that long to prepare a portal site, also you should use this time to read up on the astral plane. You won’t be able to do anything to the creatures there, but you might come up with something clever, you will be given access to the astral section of the elder’s library during these next ten days,” Elder Li Fu said.

“Also, no more cultivation for those ten days and come back after three days so I can check you,” Elder Healer Meihui said. After that I was sent on my way trying to process everything. It was almost dawn. I made my way to the assignment hall and sat outside, waiting for Fan to show up.

“Yuan Zhou, what are you waiting out here for?” he asked while stuffing his face with an egg wrap of some kind.

“I will need to cancel both my jobs for the foreseeable future. I don’t know when I will return,” I said.

“Leaving the sect?” Fan asked and I shook my head.

“No, I am being sent on a journey to fix my cultivation,” I replied.

“Hmm, well that sounds dangerous. Thanks for letting me know. Good luck and remember the most important thing of any journey is good food,” he said and I nodded at that.

“Thanks Fan,” I told him and left. I got some breakfast and then went to my room. I screamed into my pillow in frustration. The astral plane? Neither of them thought I would make it. They were just using this as an excuse to get rid of the headache I represented. If I did return, then they could just say that they believed the Heaven’s would protect me or some other nonsense like that.

One of them could come with me, but neither of them offered. That was how I knew this was complete and utter garbage, but I couldn’t refuse. They were both right. I needed to fix this issue so I could cultivate quickly, and an Astral Soul Stabilizer appeared to be the only realistic option.

I could pay for time in the Soul Stabilization chamber, but it would be slower, and deplete the resources I was hoping to build up for the third stage. I wanted the best possible option possible, that meant getting an Astral Soul Stabilizer.

After I was done screaming into my pillow, I decided that I needed something positive to boost my mood. I had been holding off since entering the second stage, but now seemed like the right time. I brought out the low rank spatial ring. I focused on the motes already aligned and then on the ring.

The energy moved and an image snapped into my mind. There was a sheathed sword, two bound tomes, and a letter. Focusing, I reached out and grabbed the items as the spaces overlapped in front of me and set the objects on my bed. The space was fairly long and narrow, to accommodate a weapon.

The sword was a double-sided blade, which was way too big for my small stature. I looked at the letter and it was addressed to me.

Personal Disciple Yuan Zhou,

I am not good at writing things. But I have written this to let you know my thoughts. You are a genius. Do not be daunted by the impossible. I can see aspects of your cultivation plan that make me sigh and call you foolish. But I am a failure.

There are only a handful of immortals and one thing I have heard about all of them is that they laughed when people called them foolish. You must defy the heavens themselves to grasp immortality. I entrust you my personal notes on my cultivation.

They are most likely useless, and I already shared my insights, but I would have you submit them to the sect on my behalf as a personal disciple whose master has passed should. I was too cautious, too timid, and too weak to attempt anything you are trying. And now I am dead.

The second tome is the instruction manual on the Parting Cloud Sword Style. It was developed by Elder Yi Meifeng, an ancestor of mine. She taught it to me and entrusted me with this knowledge and the blade. In time I hope she will look as fondly on you as she did me.

Regardless, that is a rank 5 blade. My greatest treasure besides my spatial ring. On the blade itself was etched my favorite saying, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth. The instruction manual will explain more. It will not be much use to you until the fourth rank, but the blade itself is mighty. To strike with it, would cut through almost anything, even the defenses of an elder.

That is all, my foolish disciple blessed by the Heavens, but I was a foolish master.

Cultivator Yi Rong

I set the letter down and sighed. I picked the sword up and carefully unsheathed it by pulling it out of its sheathe while it was resting on my bed. It was heavy, very heavy, but I could lift it barely. Even with my cultivation. It was about 2.5 feet long or just under 0.8 of a meter. That was just the blade. The hilt was a bit more.

I was about 4.5 feet tall or 1.3 meters. I could see the characters etched into the blade. The hilt had a large cloudy gem partially covered up with metal to look like the Cloudy Moon Sect symbol. I carefully put the sword back into its sheath.

I carefully put the sword, instruction manual, all 165 of my spirit stones, and a money pouch of 100 tael into the spatial ring. I hung the ring back under my sect robes. I left and got some food before going to the center of the sect where the Sect Leader’s home was and the attached second library only available to elders.

I went up to the doors of the library and they opened automatically. I entered and a core disciple paused mid-bow. “This area is for elders only,” he said.

“Junior greets senior. I have permission to look in the astral section by Elder Li Fu,” I replied. I could see that the disciple was a core disciple by the three clouds covering the moon on his robes.

“Name?” he asked.

“Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou,” I replied. He nodded at that.

“Wait here, do not move or leave or you will be punished. If anyone enters do not speak to them. Do you understand?” he asked me.

“Yes senior,” I said, and he left. I waited there and he returned after a couple of minutes. Nothing had happened.

“I have spoken with Elder Li Fu and you have permission for the next ten days for that section. I will leave a note in case any other core disciple is managing this post. Now follow me. There are a few rules you must follow on top of the rules the regular library has.”

“First, don’t speak to anyone except me or the attendant on duty. It is a great privilege you are here. Second, do not make noise. The elders studying are quite focused and will be upset at any disturbance. There are none here presently so I may speak. I will assign you a reading room. You may only take one scroll or tome at a time. You will treat them carefully and I will be personally inspecting the section once you are done.”

“If there is the slightest damage, drop of sweat, breath, hair, cough, thought, or other contamination left on the reading material, you will be punished.” I gulped at that. I hoped he was exaggerating.

“You may take anything from these two shelves. Your reading room is through that door. Now I must return to my post.” I didn’t even get the disciple’s name and he was already gone. I took a steadying breath and checked the reading room. It was like the one in the other library but far nicer. They had two chairs, a regular one and a rocking chair.

I smiled at that. I returned to the shelves and picked the book that looked like it had been read the most. Astral Beasts, Instant Death, Or Lingering Death. That was a terrible title but time to learn what horrors awaited me in the astral plane.

Over the next nine days, I carefully read through the material as quickly as possible, and things were quickly clarified. While a person’s soul intersected the astral plane, it was a point at first. That was why astral beasts didn’t bother to go after it. They couldn’t target lower level cultivators and mortals.

As for the higher level cultivators who had expanded their astral soul into a true soul, an elder had to learn to conceal their true soul’s presence or it would be attacked. While very tough, such attacks tended to happen at the worst times, since that was when defenses lapsed, and astral beasts nibbled away.

A true soul was also bound to a point in the astral plane. That was why elders couldn’t just use it to run around for them. A person could cross a portal and would enter at the point their astral soul or true soul existed and it would merge with them.

That was how people could move about. They would think and their soul would propel them through the astral plane. When they left their soul would be stuck at that point. There was a warning that one should never leave at a bad spot, otherwise their true soul would be constantly attacked.

If I even found an exit, I would no choice where my astral soul was left. Which would create a problem down the line if it needed to be moved in the astral plane. But that was a future headache for fourth or fifth stage me.

The astral beasts came in many shapes and sizes. The most common was an eel type creature that liked to clamp on and not let go. Normally a person would use their true soul to empower themselves to strike at these creatures, but that wasn’t an option for me.

In terms of hiding, it was questionable. Some astral beasts had set territory, others roamed, while a few prayed on other astral beasts. They all desired matter and flesh. The one thing I had going for me was that without a true soul, it should be very hard to sense me, but once they locked on, it would be hard to lose them. That was an inference I made since almost no one below the fifth rank went into the astral plane.

The astral rocks were not truly real and if brought back through a portal, they would disperse into energy of the heavens and the earth. There were no major landmarks in the astral plane either, or at least none that were known.

Also, astral winds which would do nothing to an elder with a true soul, would corrode my astral soul, since it would be expanded to the size of my body instead of a single point once I entered. As for an astral shard, it was considered a high rank 6 treasure.

A physical piece of astral energy that had turned solid. Most things couldn’t leave the astral plane like the astral beasts and the debris there, but an astral shard could leave through a portal while still being tied to the astral plane.

The important part for me was that it wouldn’t explode once taken out and a simple artifact carrying case would be enough to contain it. I had requested one from the supply hall and one was given to me free of charge. Apparently, they were made of rank 3 spirit metal and cost 5,000 sect points normally.

I almost choked on air when I heard that. Elder Li Fu had already given permission. With that I would be able to carry an astral shard out of the astral plane. I was also given a breathing mask. It would require I put in one rank 1 spirit stone per day, and I was given ten, and it would allow me to breathe on the astral plane. That only cost 200 sect points normally.

Other than that, the main piece of advice was to avoid any large dark spots or areas since something was draining the astral energy and probably wasn’t friendly, since they were concealing themselves.

In my pack I put food and water, along with a change of clothing. I had a letter sent to my sister, letting her know I was going into seclusion for a while and didn’t know when I would visit again. With my preparations done, I spent the last day walking around the perimeter of the sect plateau to calm my nerves.

When the appointed time came, Elder Li Fu picked me up from my room and brought me to a place down the mountain and an hour travel away by carriage.

One I arrived, I saw that there was a platform set up with numerous symbols etched onto it and four level 4 spirit stones had been set around it. I waited next to Elder Li Fu as several elders fussed about the platform with my pack on my back and the carrying case in my hands.

Elder Healer Meihui came over. “Well everything is ready, let me check you,” she said and I nodded. She placed a hand on my head and another on my chest and then let go. “Your condition is stable, so you will have ten days. Any longer and you will begin incurring permanent damage. You won’t survive long once that happens,” she said.

“Good luck, we will hold your room for ten years, before declaring you dead. Try to get back in that time,” Elder Li Fu said with a small smile. That wasn’t reassuring! I made sure the breathing mask was secured tightly on my face and activated by pushing energy into the array etched inside of it. The mask covered my nose and mouth, was made of metal, but had padding, and also came with two leather straps that went around the back of my head.

He led me up to the center of the platform and one elder took a position near each crystal including Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui. They all raised their hands, and I felt a massive pressure come over me. A multi-colored orb appeared right in front of me and suddenly expanded.

One moment I was on a platform and in a forest near the Cloudy Moon Sect and the next moment I was in a rainbow hellscape. I had to steady my breathing, so I didn’t panic as I clutched the carrying case in my arms. Looking down, there was the occasional rock floating around, but the background was a swirling rainbow collage that was constantly shifting.

I felt an itch all over my skin, but that was from the astral wind. I looked around and looked for a glowing white shard. Nothing, but I did notice some larger rocks in the distance. The books had indicated that larger clumps of rocks had a higher chance of astral shards, but also a higher chance of astral beasts. I focused on the rocks and my body began flying in that direction.

There was no wind, and I mentally thought I was standing still while everything shifted around me. That could very well be happening for all I knew. A lot of the more technical explanations had gone over my head while reading and it seemed as if the authors were unsure themselves.

As the rocks grew larger, I didn’t see any astral beasts. I willed myself to a stop and carefully checked my surroundings again. Nothing, I went for the rocks directly. I then paused when I saw a large translucent eel drifting through them. An astral beast. I maneuvered myself out of the way and behind a rock. I carefully looked around but didn’t find an astral shard. I left the batch of rocks and the astral beast behind as I continued my exploration into the astral plane.

I checked various rocks, but no glowing shards and I spotted the occasional astral beast in the distance and made sure to steer clear. There was no sense of direction in this place as I moved about randomly in three dimensions.

After about a day of looking I found a small cave in a larger rock and stopped there. The lack of swirling colors was nice. I took off my pack and drank and ate. I couldn’t breathe while my mask was off. Once I had eaten, I popped a Digestive Cleansing Pill so I wouldn’t have to use the bathroom.

They cost 10 sect points each and weren’t recommended to use long term or there might be health complications. But it was speculated that astral beasts would track down a person by the waste they left behind, which is why one book recommended the pills.

I also removed my master’s sword and strapped it to my back, on top of my pack. I had turned in his personal notes before I was sent on this journey and there was nothing interesting there. His cultivation was fairly standard and there were no new insights I could gain from what he had written.

Next, I put the carrying case inside the spatial ring. That was much better than before. I slept uneasily after that. I woke up feeling off slightly and the itch had gotten worse. I left my hiding spot carefully and continued to explore the astral plane for an astral shard and an exit.

Rock after rock was checked. I kept clear of the astral beasts floating about but wasn’t making progress. Or maybe I was, but there was no way to tell. That was the big risk to elders, finding their way through the astral plane once they entered.

Astral souls weren’t visible to me either. Even with my special sight, I did not see any. If there were any, they were probably using concealing techniques to avoid astral beasts.

You could wander about completely clueless for a long time with nothing to show for your attempt. I saw another large clump of rocks. I had been finding that the clumps of rocks tended to around the size of a house. I hadn’t seen a rock larger than a mansion yet. This rock had to be the size of a large estate with several house sized rocks around it.

I approached carefully, keeping a look out for astral beasts. I slowly orbited the large rock at a distance first. There were multiple tunnels leading into the interior. No astral beasts nearby. I drew forth the overly large blade and held it both hands and approached one of the tunnels. Since there was no gravity, it was easy to carry in my hands.

Entering, I slowly floated forwards, the sword held in front of me like a spear. If anything came at me, it would impale itself first. I was hoping a blade of this caliber could kill astral beasts or make them think twice.

I arrived at a dimly lit cavern in the center of the large rock. There was always a little light everywhere no matter what. There was a large astral beast, which looked like tentacle type, curled up around a glowing white shard.

While they couldn’t consume them, astral beasts were known to like astral shards.

Free me.

I blinked as I heard a voice echo in my head. The astral beast didn’t twitch. The astral shard had spoken to me. It was unknown what they were originally from, but they were quite valuable as high rank sixth material.

A thousand thousand. Power untold.

Thank you shard, but shut up, I was trying to focus. I brought up my blade and looked carefully at the astral beast. Tentacle beasts were tough, since their main body was buried under all those tentacles. I looked around at the nearby terrain. The astral beast was like two squids that had been merged together with tentacles coming off in every direction.

I took aim and then shot forward. The sword plunged through a tentacle and then into the astral beast’s main body. I didn’t hesitate and visualized myself instantly moving back while I gripped my blade. The beast began to twist as I pulled the blade free.

While it hadn’t bothered me too much since there was always the slight sound of static in my ears in the astral plane, the astral beast did not make a noise as it trashed about. I retreated to one of the smaller tunnels. The astral beast spun and rushed at me. I kept retreating up the tunnel as it raced after me.

After clearing the tunnel, I rushed over to another one and back inside the large rock, the astral beast right on my heels. I focused and pulled out a spirit stone from my spatial ring. Once inside the main chamber, I tossed the stone to the side slightly.

I kept flying towards the astral shard and visualized the carrying case in front of me, while putting the unsheathed sword in the spatial ring. The carrying case was already unlatched and I quickly moved the case around the floating shard and snapped the case shut. I took off again, the astral beast right behind me after having overcome the distraction of the spirit stone.

After leaving the rock I picked a direct and kept flying. The astral beast was matching my speed. That was another thing, everything moved at the same speed regardless of power. Only direction changed here. Astral beasts didn’t need to rest and were relentless, which was the real problem. I tossed out ten spirit stones from my spatial ring.

The astral beast paused, confused as it lashed out and consumed the spirit stones. I got a lot more distance on the tentacled astral beast. It didn’t pursue me any more thankfully. I then made sure the carrying case was secure and put it in my ring and took my sword back out.

I flew forward, sword in hand. I had spent six days finding the astral shard, but there was no sign of a natural portal to the regular world. Also, that voice was concerning. I found a rock to hunker down in to rest one last time before I spent the last few days constantly looking before I died. The itch was a lot worse, which would make sleep impractical after this.

After getting some rest, I pulled out the carrying case and opened it up. The glowing white shard floated inside the carrying case. “Are you aware?” I asked.

Join me.

“You need to user proper sentences, what are you?” I asked.

A thousand thousand.

“Can you help me find an exit?” I asked.

Power untold.

It was a mentally ill astral shard. I snapped the case shut and put it away. I had been hoping for some help here, but it could only whisper things to me. Touching it was a big no. But there hadn’t been anything about an astral shard communicating.

Well time to get looking again. I set out once more into the astral plane hoping I would get lucky again and find a natural exit portal.

On the ninth day I was starting to get really worried when I saw a large black spot in the distance. Well might as well see what super beast was there before I died. I was resigned to my fate at this point. A quick death was better than having my soul erode. I flew in the direction of the black spot. I couldn’t see any astral beasts and I could only tell I entered the black region as it quickly grew to encompass my flanks and then the rainbow technicolor hell was a blob behind me.

The itching died down. Oh, maybe there was no astral wind here. But what was causing this? I looked around but there was just utter blackness in front of me. I backed up and circled the blackness along the outer edge. I kept the rainbow hell behind me as I orbited whatever was hiding in the center.

“Either come in or leave!” a deep male voice called out and I froze. I could hear that with my ears. Well, if it was an invitation, I wouldn’t be rude. I might just find a way out of here. I floated towards the center of the darkness and put away my sword. I didn’t want to start a fight I had no chance of winning. Anything that lived out here and could speak was completely out of my league.

That was when a massive golden eye opened up in front of me. I felt like I was going to get crushed. “So, what is a humanoid doing out here. Come to fight?” This thing asked. I couldn’t see a mouth and its eye was about my height.

“Junior greets senior, I was looking for an astral shard to fix my cultivation and found one, now I am trying to leave,” I replied.

“Oh, a cultivator, your kind don’t like coming out here. And when they do, they like to fight. No one talks. Show me this astral shard,” it said. I didn’t dare refuse and pulled out the carrying case from my spatial ring and opened it.

The eye peered into the case and I heard a snort. “An astral shard, well the shard part is right at least, and it is probably what you want, put it away.” I closed up the case and put it back into my spatial ring. “Hmm, well I could help you leave, but that would mean moving and I am quite comfortable. Tell me about yourself,” the thing said. The only thing I knew about it was its large yellow eye and silted pupil staring at me.

“My name is Yuan Zhou. I am an inner disciple of the Cloudy Moon Sect in the Soaring Peak Province. I grew up in Half Moon City and from a young age I was aware.” I continued narrating my story leaving out my reincarnated nature. Once I got to the present time and finished the thing spoke again. I had even presented it with a spirit stone which had disappeared the moment I had held it up. It hadn’t interrupted the entire time.

“Interesting. Very interesting. To grab particles of energy to gain power and to forcibly alter oneself in this way. I always wondered about this cultivation, but it is nothing impressive. Well, you entertained me despite disturbing my nap little cultivator. Also, that spirit stone you gave me is amusing. To concentrate energy into a core, those beasts truly are idiots.”

“Well, I will give you two boons. You can ask me a single question and I will send you back to your little portion of the Firmament.”

My mind raced. The creature clearly had no knowledge of cultivation, and it didn’t use a human system. Whatever it used to gain strength was probably incompatible with me. I didn’t dare ask it anything personal since it might offend the creature. I couldn’t not ask a question or the same reason. If that astral shard was going to be made into something that would be placed inside of me, I wanted to know what it was exactly.

“What is an astral shard, it spoke in my head and said a thousand thousand and asked to be free?” I asked this thing. For all I knew it could just be a floating eye watching me, but I felt there was a lot more behind that eye staring at me.

“It is a thought made manifest. A seed of a Great Devourer that has been split and broken. Its words are remnants of the being that spawned it. There are a thousand multiplied by a thousand of them spawned and spread across the Firmament per batch. Each looking to consume. Many are broken during this process and you are left with a shard. It merely remembers that primal memory when it was formed as it seeks to complete is purpose of becoming a new Great Devourer.”

“As for its current state, I would not worry. It is just a small fraction of a seed. Your elders as you call them will not even hear the voice and it has no intelligence. It is just lashing out. A larger shard would be much more dangerous and a whole seed would force even me to rouse to crush it.” That meant that whatever the Great Devourer was, it was probably at or maybe even beyond immortal level. This thing had fought elder cultivators, since he knew about cultivators, and only elder cultivators came into the astral plane. The seed matched this being, which meant a seed was elder level and the Great Devourer was immortal level or higher.

The Great Devourer was not a nice sounding name for something pleasant either. “Now relax. I am going to propel to the nearest portal to your home.”

“Thank you senior for your help and kind words,” I replied to this thing.

“Well you amused me and crushing you would not have been worth the effort of moving. Come back in the future so we can battle to the death to see who is stronger. Goodbye,” the eye shut, and I was suddenly out of the blackness which grew to a tiny speck hurtling away through the Astral Plane. I never wanted to come back to this psychedelic rainbow hellscape.

Chapter 22 – Where Am I?

The black spot disappeared, and I turned myself around as the colors rushed past me. I saw astral beasts glance at me, but they were too slow. Whatever that being was, it could alter speed inside the astral plane. Even elder cultivators could not do that.

At least it considered me too weak and amusing to kill. I saw a rippling orb in front of me after traveling for about a minute at super speed. There appeared to be greenery and the physical world on the other side. I hit the orb and came tumbling out into a forest.

I rolled along the ground and slammed into a tree. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I slowly got to my feet and looked around. It was a forest, but I had no idea where I was exactly. It didn’t look like one of the local forests, but I couldn’t be sure. I would need to find civilization.

I removed my mask and breathed in the fresh air. I put the mask away inside my spatial ring and considered what direction I should head. Downhill and following any streams or rivers was my best bet. Once I reached the coast or a city, I could hire a carriage to transport me back to the sect. I set off with a smile on my face.

Despite the impossible odds, I had done it. I had retrieved an astral shard, which was a shard of the seed of the Great Devourer. Well, that thing didn’t seem that worried about using it, so I wouldn’t worry either. I then paused and realized it had said ‘a’ Great Devourer instead of ‘the’ Great Devourer. That meant there might be more than one super monster with that name out there.

Well, it wasn’t my problem. Once I was an immortal and standing at the top of the continent, then I could worry about Great Devourers. Until then, that was someone else’s problem. It was like worrying about the sun exploding billions of years from now. A pointless worry that would just waste my time. I trudged through the forest in the direction that appeared to be downhill. The trees were quite old and large.

I only had a day’s worth of supplies remaining in my pack and a single Digestive Cleansing Pill. Minor issues. I could go for a while, and I just needed to find a stream. Eventually after a half the day when it was getting it dark, I heard some water running.

There was a small stream, one I could easily leap across, but at least it was running water. I stopped to eat the rest of my food and water. I used my Digestive Cleansing Pill after that. I couldn’t afford to be caught with my pants down right now. Once I was back in civilization I could relax.

Also, I would take a break from cultivating for at least the next month. Based on my conversations with Elder Healer Meihui I should take a month off unless I took any medicine or went into a Soul Stabilization chamber after my stint in the astral plane.

While the damage from astral winds and aligning multiple motes was different, she had called me foolish and told me I had better wait until I cultivated again. Then she had lightly slapped me on top of the head and told me to focus on other things.

A month would allow the damage I had accumulated to fade away. The constant itching across my skin was still there, but it had decreased by a lot and slowly going away. The biggest problem was that very few cultivators below the fifth stage entered the astral plane, and even fewer returned alive.

After finishing my meal of salted meat and water, I slowly made my way along the stream. It was getting dark, so I had to be careful of my footing. That was when I saw something glowing in the distance. I pulled out my sword that was on my back as a beast burst out of the woods.

It was the size of a car and it raced towards me roaring, “RAAWR!”

“AHHH!” I screamed and leapt forward with a lunge forward, sword held outwards. It struck the shoulder of the beast and just kept going. The beast turned its head to bite me, but it was too slow since I was diving forward through the air, sword outstretched and had tried to avoid it with the limited intelligence it had. Blood, muscle, organs, bones, the sword just passed through them all and kept going. Our momentum carried us past each other.

I barely kept a grip on the blade and managed not to cut myself in half as I landed on the ground and rolled. The idea for a lunge like that came from my time on the astral plane. But it was not a real sword technique when there was gravity and three dimensional movement. I slowly got to my feet and turned towards the beast, bringing around my sword with both my hands.

The beast had stumbled a bit more, but the blow I had delivered was excessive. A long gash had cut through the side of it and pieces poured out of the beast, leaving a mess. It had collapsed and was dying rapidly.

I walked over quickly and got my right arm out of my sect robe. I then plunged my hand into the beast and ripped out a level 1 spirit stone before it could break apart. I then made my way to the stream and cleaned my arm, sword, and spirit stone off. I put the spirit stone in my spatial ring and the sword back in its sheathe.

I set off again, I needed to make tracks before more beasts showed up to devour their kin. I hadn’t brought any of the equipment for hunting. There was only so much room in my pack and my focus had been on the astral plane and astral beasts, not the regular kind of beasts.

Night arrived, but I kept following the stream. It was hard and I was tired, but I needed to keep moving if I was going to get back to civilization safely. How stupid would that be, surviving the astral plane and getting an astral shard, to die by a to a regular beast just wandering about.

The stream was getting bigger at least as I continued to follow it and it merged with other streams. Dawn came and around the middle of the day, I stumbled across a stone bridge and a dirt road. Roads between major cities were paved, but a dirt road was useful, but it ran perpendicular to the stream. The stone bridge was fused, which indicated a cultivator had most likely made it sometime, which was a good sign.

I didn’t know what direction to go. I was going to follow the road, but I had no idea which direction. I just picked right and went that way. Later in the afternoon, I came across a paved road it was connected to and let out a sigh of relief. It was probably a mining road, only without gravel and I had picked the right direction.

Since I had found a road, I put away my sword. It barely fit in the spatial ring with the carrying case, but it was too valuable to just carry on me and visible to everyone. A rank 5 blade probably cost at least 50,000 sect contribution points.

That represented decades of labor to purchase. I was not qualified to have such a blade or my low rank spatial ring. It would be too easy for someone to kill me and stael them. I got out my pouch of 100 tael and put 50 back into my spatial ring and put a single spirit stone inside the pouch. Nowhere near my total wealth, but a reasonable amount for a second stage disciple to have on them.

Now which way on the main road. There were no signs, but I could see dirt being dragged to my left off the dirt road onto the main road. I picked that direction and stayed near the right edge of the road, keeping my eyes and ears open.

It was getting dark, when I finally saw a wall ahead of me. Civilization at last, thank goodness. Time to find out where I was exactly. I moved to the middle of the road and approached the wall with confidence. I was a cultivator of a sect. Even if I was in a domain controlled by another sect, I would be politely sent on my way. I was just a disciple, and I didn’t have anything that valuable on me at first glance.

There were four guards standing outside the closed gate and I saw more on top of the wall. They watched me approach in the fading light. I didn’t recognize the city flag or the symbol on their armor. Instead of a half moon it was a clawed paw.

“Greetings, I am Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I greeted the guards. They quickly bowed their heads and then one stepped forward.

“Greetings, Cultivator Yuan Zhou. I am afraid that Five Claw City has been closed by orders of the Thousand Sword Sect,” the guard said.

“Closed? Why would an entire city be closed?” I asked tiredly.

“I would not dare guess about the affairs of cultivators,” the guard said. That was annoying but made sense. He didn’t want to get into trouble. I let out a small sigh.

“Is there anyone higher up you can contact? I would be willing to pay them and you for the inconvenience. Five taels for you and five for your men. And a spirit stone to the person who can show up and deal with this,” I replied. The guard looked pained at this. It was a hefty bribe just to get into the walls and we all knew it.

“I am sorry, but my orders were quite strict. No entry, not even from caravans while the Thousand Sword Sect has issued its orders.”

“It would be showing my Cloudy Moon Sect great face if you could figure something out, I have been lost in the wilderness for some time and merely seek to find out where I am before moving on and returning return to my sect,” I replied.

“I am sorry Cultivator Yuan Zhou. I do not have the authority to let you inside and was left with strict instructions.” I frowned at this.

“So, you would have me camp at the side of the road like a beggar?” I asked harshly.

“No, please forgive me, but if I let you in, then my head will be removed,” he said and bowed his head.

“Then bring out a table, food, and a bed. If I cannot enter the city, then I shall camp outside. A single tael for such a service,” I said and pulled one out and tossed it on the ground. I was a cultivator, even if I was from another sect, this disrespect was tremendous.

“I can’t-“

“I am tired of your excuses. I have the confidence of Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui of my sect. When I return, I will spend any amount of money and time to have your head and that of your family delivered to me if I hear you speak one more word that isn’t ‘Yes Cultivator Yuan Zhou’. I will respect the Thousand Sword Sect by not entering, but you will bring me your table, your food, and your bed and you will do it now,” I commanded.

The guard picked up the tael and then ran off. Soon a table, chair, food, and a bed were brought out from the wall and set up on the side of the road. I sat down to eat with the guards looking on. This would cause enough of a fuss that someone would hear about it and let me in. I couldn’t risk killing people and creating drama with my low cultivation rank.

He should have just accepted the bribe, let me sleep inside in an isolated room and then contacted his superior. I collapsed on the bed in my clothing and fell asleep after my meal.

I awoke to a light drizzle in the early morning. At least I hadn’t been attacked during the night. Breakfast was brought out to me and I sat there on the side of the road. After finishing my meal it was morning, but no one had come to address the situation, the guards were looking at me nervously. I approached the gate again and the same guard from last night was there.

“What city is at the other end of this road and how far from here?” I asked.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou this road leads to Side Wall City. It is twenty days away by carriage and past the great canyon,” the guard said.

“What province is this?” I asked.

“Great Canyon Province,” he said, and I thought about that and wanted to groan. I had looked at caravan routes when my brother planned out a caravan trip. Great Canyon Province was in the West part of the continent, under the authority of the Blazing Sun Sect, not the Imperial Sect.

A caravan this far was a ten-year trip, one way. But that included stops at various cities to trade. I was not about to waste ten years of my life. Getting back would be a nightmare and my authority was even more limited than before.

If I was in the East, I could appeal to a sect that was under the Imperial Sect as cousin sects under the same high ranking sect. Out here anyone who knew where the Cloudy Moon Sect really was would realize that my words and threats had the strength of a fart.

The guard didn’t know this, since people rarely knew anything beyond their own city and the cities next to them. “I will purchase supplies then for thirty days. Five taels should be more than enough. Once I have them, I will depart this city,” I replied.

“Yes Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” the guard said, but then there was a commotion inside the wall and the gate was opened. A stern looking woman in sect robes and a huge sword on her back exited the gate. Her eyes immediately snapped towards me.

“Junior greets senior,” I replied with a slight head bow. I was unsure of her rank, but no reason to be impolite.

“I am Member Fan Ruolan of the Thousand Sword Sect, name yourself,” she declared with a haughty tone.

“I am Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect, and am looking to get supplies and hire a carriage to return me to my sect senior,” I replied.

“Cloudy Moon, what faction are you aligned with?” she asked while staring intently at me.

“I am afraid that it is not aligned with any faction since it quite far from here and I got quite lost. Please forgive me senior,” I said with a bow. I saw her glance at the bed and table outside the wall on the side of the road.

“You, why did you have him sleep out here like a dog?” the woman yelled at the guard.

“The orders were explicit-“

“Idiot!” She then brought up her sword and beheaded the guard in a single swing. His head went flying away and his body stood there, neck fountaining blood for a moment before collapsing to the ground. I blinked a couple of times, that had been sudden. Too sudden.

“Forgive my sect. It has been a trying time. Come, I will help you sort out a carriage,” Fan Roulan told me and turned and began walking back through the gate. She swung her sword, the blood on it splattered on the ground before she put it away.

“Thank you senior,” I said and hurried after her not daring to comment about what happened. She had killed that guard for disrespecting a cultivator, myself. That was why I thought the guard was an idiot. We got past the wall and got on an open-air carriage. It was drizzling but I didn’t say anything.

The carriage took off. “So Cloudy Moon Sect, what province are you from?”

“The Soaring Peaks Province senior, it is far to the East,” I replied.

“I have not heard of it, so you truly are lost. Lost doing what. A sect would not let its disciples wander,” she questioned me.

“I was sent out to fix my cultivation. Unfortunately, I failed to recover the item I needed. Now I will seek to return home and to my mortal life,” I said with a sigh. Fan Roulan looked at me intently.

“What item?” she asked.

“An astral shard senior. I was sent into the astral plane and come out in the forest near here,” I replied. She relaxed at that and smiled. I figured sticking close to the truth was important, since I was so far away and there wasn’t a good explanation for my presence otherwise that I could think of.

“Daring then. To venture into that hell and return. An accomplishment to be proud of. I apologize for the questioning, but things are on a blade’s edge right now, since the members of the Clawed Hand Sect killed two of our members. They have retreated to their sect, but we will not take this insult lightly. We will starve them out.”

Oh no, it was a sect war. I did not want any part of this. I reached into my robes and pulled out a spirit stone. “I do not have much, but hopefully this meager token of my appreciation for your help and assistance in getting a carriage and leaving as quickly as possible will be accepted senior,” I said and held out the spirit stone.

She plucked it out my hand and tucked it away. “I will arrange carriage. I also suggest you don’t linger so you aren’t caught up in the fighting.”

“I won’t even be spending the night and will leave immediately,” I replied. Fan Roulan nodded at this. The drizzle stopped as the sun rose, and we entered Five Claw City. She brought me to the caravan plaza and hired a carriage for me to take me out from the city on the East Road.

I got into the carriage and said my goodbyes as it quickly set off. I let out a sigh of relief. Even staying a single night or hour could see me caught up in the fighting or some kind of plot. If you wanted to leave, then leave, don’t linger.

The carriage would take me until the next city then I would have to catch another one and hop from carriage-to-carriage service all the way back home. It would be insanely expensive, but it was the fastest method of travel that I knew of. I also had more than enough money with all my spirit stones in my spatial ring.

There was an older gentleman in the carriage with a young girl as well and they didn’t appear to be cultivators and kept silent, since I would need to open up conversation first as their senior. I wasn’t interested. I just wanted to find a decent place to sort myself out for a few days and just sleep and eat.

I was exhausted from my adventure. “Halt!” A voice called out. “Exit the carriage.” The old man and young girl looked worried, but I would deal with this. I left the carriage and there were three cultivators with a Clawed Hand Sect symbol on their robes. In addition, they had large metal claws on their right hands.

“Junior greets seniors,” I said with a slight bow.

“Who are you?” one of them asked.

“I am Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect. I was lost and ended up at Five Claw City. I immediately got a carriage to return to my sect since I have no part in your dispute or conflict senior,” I said and bowed slightly at that.

One of the cultivators came up to the carriage and dragged out the girl and old man. “We have them.” I stood off to the side quietly. The leader took the girl in his hands and then killed the old man with a swipe of his metal claw. He didn’t have time to react as he was ripped apart and died.

“Dispose of them. We will return with her,” the leader said and left. What?! That was bullshit. Two of the cultivators left with the girl, leaving me behind along with the carriage driver and the enemy cultivator. He moved and killed the carriage driver before the man could even protest.

This was bullshit! I wasn’t involved! I didn’t see anything! I focused and reached out as the enemy cultivator raced for me. I grabbed onto the hilt of the sword and planted my feet to brace myself. The sword materialized in front of me, and his gut was impaled on the sheath. I stumbled backwards and he collapsed to the ground, wheezing heavily. I swung my hands to the side and the sheath went flying off the sword. I then stabbed forward as the cultivator tried to get off the ground.

My sword pierced his head. He jerked slightly and then slid off the end of my blade. I looked around, but the horses had only slightly stirred. They were trained not to panic no matter what as carriage horses going between cities. I wiped my blade on the dead cultivator’s sect robes and put my sword and sheath away.

Time to make tracks. Sorry young girl, but you weren’t my problem. Hopefully they didn’t refine you or rape you, but that was life. Some people were born destined to die. I was going to live. I checked the man I had killed. A pouch of nine spirit stones, a sect badge which I didn’t dare touch, his clawed weapon which I put in my spatial ring since it was clearly made of spirit metal. Sorry spatial ring, you were packed to the breaking point, but you just had to deal.

I came across a leather pouch inside his robes. I carefully checked inside, and my eyes went wide. It was a book. I pulled it out and checked it. It was a basic book on body cultivation. I shoved it into my spatial ring, which was at maximum capacity now. I then tucked the leather pouch back in his robes and put two spirit stones inside the pouch. Hopefully that would make people question if he was really robbed and create confusion.

I paused since I could see the core of the man inside of him. Before people’s cores were blocked out, but now I could see it like a beast. I pulled out my arm from my sleeve and plunged it inside of him. I felt something hard and pulled it out. It was a core of some kind, but instead of being smooth like a beast core it was bumpy. Once it was removed it stopped breaking down. I carefully slid it into my spatial ring, which I could feel resisting putting in the tiny core with how full it was.

Wiping off my bloody hand, I then dragged the cultivator’s corpse off the road and then did the same for the corpse of the old man and the driver, tossing them on top of the cultivator. I had no idea what someone would make of this crime scene, but it was time to get the hell out of here.

I climbed up on the driver’s seat and picked up the reigns. I snapped them. “Hah!” The horses took off down the road. I was slightly richer than before with stuff I didn’t know the value of. What was the value of a human core? I had no idea. But if I could use it to enhance my own cultivation I would. It was a resource after all and wasting resources was a bad thing.

There were buildings constructed along the road travelers could use. They weren’t maintained, but it was a cultural thing to leave them just a bit better than one found them. I didn’t bother stopping. The horses bred for inter-city travel were tough and the four pulling the carriage were no exception.

After two days of traveling, even they were getting exhausted, and it was hard not to dose off. I pulled off in a rest area and uncoupled them to let them rest. There were supplies on the back of the carriage which I removed to feed them and got water from a nearby well. I slept that night hidden in the rest area, there was no one else there.

In the morning I hooked up the horses to the carriage and set off again at a high speed. The next city in this direction was only six days away by carriage. I would arrive and then pay for another carriage immediately after getting a change of clothing. I had also added some more tael and two spirit stones to my money pouch from my spatial ring.

No one caught up with me, but I wasn’t going to relax until I was five cities away at the very least. Having an entire sect come after me was a scary thought. It wasn’t so much about that disciple I had killed, he was too weak to be a member, but the fact that I had killed him to begin with and it would damage the reputation of the sect to let a killer go.

After a certain point it just wasn’t worthwhile and they could make up some story about killing me, but that meant I had to get past that point. I judged five cities to be a safe distance. In the third or fourth city, I would hire a body double just in case, and pay for them to go to another city. I might do that in both cities to make it even more confusing.

Trying to trace my trail would become a nightmare. I arrived at the next city and was let through the walls without incident. I got some looks since I was a cultivator driving a carriage, but people just assumed someone more important was inside and didn’t ask questions.

I left the carriage at the depot and paid a fee for it to be maintained for five days for five taels. I then made my way into the main part of the city and found a tailor. After throwing ten taels at them, I got a new set of high end mortal clothing and packed away from sect robes into my pack.

With that done, I made my way back to the carriage stand and hired an express carriage to the next city for twenty taels and immediately set off. I rested in the carriage as it made good time away from the mess. I had spent a lot of money, but sticking around was just too risky.

Since I didn’t have to drive, I took a look at the cultivation manual I had gotten. It just covered the basics which were very similar to the soul cultivation method I used. Except that the motes were aligned with a person’s physical body, not their astral soul.

In the later stages, body cultivators would be very hard to kill, but they couldn’t use elemental techniques. It also appeared that the fifth stage was a result from imploding their core, instead of exploding it. I considered the core I had extracted from the cultivator I had killed.

If I was reading this manual correctly, then he had been near the start of the second stage. The core had been physically made, but wasn’t filled with energy. And there were no channels. No, his channels weren’t there. He had made his core first but no channels yet, so the start of the second stage. No wonder he was so weak.

Using disciples to fight? The Clawed Hand Sect sure was desperate or didn’t take me seriously. Didn’t they know that the younger the cultivator the more dangerous they are? Maybe they thought I was just a brat from a sect, but why would I be traveling without a guardian>

Clearly their intelligence was lacking. That was the joke I had heard a couple of times at the yearly celebration in the Cloudy Moon Sect, that body cultivators had muscles for brains. Still, this was a complete guide that I had picked up, just without specific technique details.

To let such information outside of their sect written down was foolish. No wonder why the Clawed Hand Sect was kicked out of their own city. I felt a bit better but would still take my precautions and use decoys just in case.

No sense in using half measures to conceal my departure from Five Claw City. But this manual gave me an idea about my secondary false core. When my four main cores detonated, I could use that explosion to create an implosion.

It would let me advance to the fifth stage on the path of both body and soul cultivation. I would need to decide sooner than later since I was aligning motes. Hmm, instead of a sphere, I could use the design they had, which was this bubbly structure.

There wasn’t a clear reason in the manual, but the idea was to probably induce fracture points to the core. An implosion was triggered by surging the compression in one’s core. So having fracture points would make this easier.

Imploding a physical core would draw in energy as a vortex to enhance one’s body instead of forming a true soul. But I knew that soul cultivators would look to draw in energy at the later stages and to perfect their understanding of a Dao concept.

It appeared body cultivators did it the other way. They set up their future cultivation by drawing in energy from their core implosion. Then in the later stages sought to build up their true soul and perfect their understanding of a Dao concept.

That implied there was a third cultivation method where one would use their core in some way to gain an understanding of the Dao. But it was all based on motes. One couldn’t use both body and soul cultivation since their astral soul would destabilize.

Then I realized what this entire trip had been about and smiled. It was to get the material for an Astral Soul Stabilizer. I could align my false secondary core with physical motes and the channels for that core with the physical side.

Then when my core four main cores exploded, I would implode the secondary core at the same time! I had an image in my mind of Elder Li Fu screaming foolish and Elder Healer Meihui slapping me on the head and yelling at me. Still, it sounded like a great idea.

Chapter 23 – Three Years Traveling

I was used to the various types of carriages. Some had springs, some didn’t. I liked the ones with springs a lot more. Some had cushions, some didn’t. I liked the one with cushions. I had been working on aligning motes while I traveled. I wasn’t touching the secondary core or its channels. But there was nothing else for me to do in the long carriage rides.

Exploring the cities or the vistas might be interesting, but I wanted that Astral Soul Stabilizer as quickly as possible. Then I would trade the manual I had stolen in for access to the elder’s library to look at body cultivation techniques.

I had noted a section like that in the library. They probably didn’t want disciples doing something like that and creating confusion. Also, it wouldn’t give that much useful knowledge to what the sect was aiming for, earth and water soul cultivation.

It would be effectively opening up another branch of cultivation and limited their overall progression. That was why sects tended to focus on specific elements and one cultivation type. Only a high ranking sect that was assured of its position due to an immortal would have multiple paths for people to explore and train as disciples.

I didn’t spend more than a single night in any city. Only getting my hair cut, a shower, and changing the occasional spirit stone for tael, which I easily made up for by killing the occasional spirit beast that attacked while I was being transported.

After a month of traveling and six cities after Five Claw City and a non-spring non-cushion carriage I had enough. I purchased a small well-made carriage in the next city for two occupants, lots of supplies on the back of the carriage, and four young horses.

I even hired a young driver, who wanted to see the world and get a lot of money and didn’t mind leaving the city. Song was now my personal carriage driver. He was only sixteen years old, but I had agreed to pay him in Qi Pills. He had the dream of becoming a cultivator and I wanted someone who would travel quickly and not put up with bullshit.

Song was quite good. He would switch out the horses every city so that way we had fresh horses and could keep traveling as quickly as possible at high speeds. I was paying him an insane amount, but it was hard work driving a carriage at high speeds day in and day out, making sure we had food and water, dealing with the guards.

I also didn’t want to deal with the hassle of riding in shitty carriages without springs or cushions. It made cultivating that much more annoying. That was why I was paying Song in Qi Pills so he would handle everything. Only one pill per city, but that averaged out to about one every six days.

In the three years it was estimated to get back to the sect, he would get about 20,000 motes from pills. I noted he would occasionally use a candle when we stopped to find motes and collect them as well. Being quite aggressive, going around rest areas to locate motes with a candle.

He had been saving up and had money from his father. I also suspected he was driving a hard bargain at whatever cultivation stores were located in the cities and possibly doing some trading on the side. Again, I only cared if we traveled quickly without interruption.

That was the good thing about this society and culture being around for so long. They had good roads between cities. While the distances were insane, at least we didn’t have to travel through the wilderness.

We finally reached Boarder City, a city with a wall through the middle that separated the region controlled by the Imperial Sect and the region controlled by the Blazing Sun Sect. We got to the city late at night and got a room.

“Master Yuan Zhou, I have news,” Song said after he entered our shared room.

“What is it?” I asked.

“The border has a checkpoint and inspection, even for cultivators. Everyone is searched without exception.” I had told Song to let me know the instant he found out about anything that might cause delays or inconvenience us.

“What is the inspection like?” I asked.

“We need to apply for a permit to enter. There is questioning and a sizable fee. I heard it was one spirit stone per person and per wagon or carriage,” Song told me.

“Highway robbery,” I muttered. They were bandits, only official bandits. Well time to do something I didn’t want to do. While my spatial ring would pass a cursory scan, a detailed inspection of my person would reveal it.

The elders at the Cloudy Moon Sect would not stael from a disciple. The shame, drama, and headache that would bring would be a nightmare. They would just squeeze the disciple legally as much as they could. I was thinking of Elder Li Fu and how he came out far ahead after I had helped catch that Demonic Cultivator in Half Moon City.

They would ask me to reveal the contents. I might get away with the sword, but the manual, metal claw, and human core would be highly suspicious. In addition, I had an astral shard. A senior from another sect would not be polite about confiscating something like that.

“Thanks Song, first light we will get that permit and cross the border,” I told him, and he nodded.

Before dawn the next day he left to get everything ready, while I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. I had just used the bathroom and wasn’t going to have breakfast. I unclipped my spatial ring from my silver chain and then shoved it up my butt.

I made sure to get it up in there, nice and snug. With my cultivation and number of motes I had, it would be very hard to see inside of me easily, unless an immortal took a look themselves or they laid hands on me, which would be too rude.

Walking with a slightly stiff gait out of the inn we had stayed in, I got in the carriage. Song didn’t ask questions. That was another reason why he was getting paid a lot. He took off and we reached the permit office.

I exited the carriage and made my way inside. I was wearing my Cloudy Moon Sect robes which had been washed and cleaned. I didn’t normally wear them, but this was important, so I had to look like a cultivator. I had grown a little bit, but not enough to make them hang poorly on my body.

“Welcome Master Cultivator to the Boarder Permit Office,” a smiling clerk said. I recalled the clerk from the Coinage Guild in Half Moon City. They could have been brothers with how similar their smiles and appearances were.

“Thank you,” I replied, and he gestured to a seat across from a desk.

“I will be conducting a preliminary interview. Afterwards a cultivator will inspect you and ask any follow up questions. But first the fee and any declarations of cultivation resources?” the clerk asked.

“Myself, my carriage driver, horses, and a pouch of spirit stones. I believe the fee would be three spirit stones?” I asked.

“The standard fee, but a cultivator can pay an expedited fee for twice the amount. Instead of waiting ten days, you can cross in one day. That does not include the fee and processing time from the other side of the boarder.”

“I will pay the expedited fee,” I said and laid out six spirit stones. This was highway robbery. Complete and utter highway robbery.

“Excellent, now which sect are you from and why are you traveling?” the clerk asked me. I explained that I was from the Cloudy Moon Sect and was returning to the sect after getting lost in the astral plane and not getting the materials I needed.

The clerk wrote all this down and then I was taken to a room, where an elder looked me over for a couple of minutes and then paused.

“Your cultivation, what did you do?” they asked in surprise. I saw the emblem of the Blazing Sun Sect on their robe.

“I have accumulated a large number of motes during the Qi Gathering stage, which is why I was trying to find an astral shard in the astral plane for an Astral Soul Stabilizer. Unfortunately, I failed but managed to find an exit.” I had practiced this so many times I believed it myself.

“A shame. What an interesting cultivation. He is clear, now to inspect the wagon and your driver,” the cultivator said. Song was brought in, and he was cleared in few seconds. A team of people went over the wagon with a fine-tooth comb and found nothing.

After that we were given a fancy looking permit with the Blazing Sun Sect symbol stamped on it. I could present in the future at the border crossing as proof that I had passed a previous inspection. It would entitle me to expedited processing without the additional fee.

I thanked everyone, even if they were all robbers. I passed through the large wall dividing the city and then had to repeat the process with the Imperial Sect. But it was the same thing basically and I had to pay another six spirit stones as an expedited processing fee and got a second permit from the Imperial Sect.

I had also noted Song had loaded up with mortal goods from one side of the border to take over to the other side. He would probably hold onto them for a while until we got some distance so he could make more of a profit. I didn’t care about such things as long as we kept going as quickly as possible, which Song ensured that we did. The amount he was earning from trade was another method I was using to keep us moving as quickly as possible.

With the border cleared, I breathed a sigh of relief and did not eat and only drank lightly for the next two days, before I was forced to expel the spatial ring. Just in case someone was observing me from a distance, I could afford to be extra careful. I figured two days was more than enough for anyone secretly watching to give up and return to Boarder City. I carefully cleaned the spatial off and put it back around my neck.

Two years to get to Boarder City and then another year from here at the speed I was traveling. I was averaging 30 miles or 48 kilometers per day. The Earth was about 40,000 kilometers around. By the time I was done traveling I would have crossed over 58,000 kilometers. The continent was massive.

I had considered alternate routes, but the coast would take too long to reach, and sea travel was unreliable. This was the absolute shortest route that could be taken in the quickest amount of time to return to the Cloudy Moon Sect. A caravan would have taken 10 years covering the same distance.

With a proper carriage of my own along the way and Song to handle everything for our day to day needs, I focused entirely on my cultivation. The only exception had been the very rare beast attack and Boarder City.

Song explained that if a carriage had a cultivator, they would hang little flags near the driver’s seat to let guards know not to cause problems. Sometimes the occasional guard would ask a few questions, but we kept passing through, rushing towards our destination and paid the small city entrance fees of a few bronze coins.

Only when we reached Boarder City did I need to get personally involved with the fees to get through. After two years of focusing on my cultivation I had hit a solid rhythm at the age of twenty-two and a half. I cultivated 4 motes at a time over a one-hour period. There was no pain when I did it at that speed. I would cultivate for 20 hours per day. Which meant 80 motes per day and 60,000 motes over two years.

It was too slow. That was a mote aligned every 15 minutes. At this rate it would take me about 58 more years to complete the second stage. An average cultivator should reach the second stage in 40 years. A focused and skilled cultivator that had a chance of making the fifth stage would only take 20 years. Being able to triple my speed or more would drastically cut down on that time.

The climate got a bit warmer and wetter. It was probably my imagination to some extent since I was rarely focused on the outside. I had been over mountains, through deserts, and seen countless cities. I occasionally left the side window open to look outside, but that was rare.

It was far more important to focus on my cultivation during this time. Also, once you see a sight once, there wasn’t much more to see. Song only paused twice on our trip to ask if I wanted to look. The first time was for the Endless Waterfall, which rushed off a mountain and disappeared into a giant pit. It was one of the wonders of the continent. Only saw it from a distance, since the area had high beast activity.

The other time had been when we could see the great Primordial Ziggurat built in the first age by unknown people and used as a meeting point for the desert tribes. It was tall, shiny, and not that interesting after I had taken one look at it. Just a lot of shiny black stone in the desert sticking upwards.

Anything less than a wonder of the continent, I didn’t care too much about. Scenic vistas became all the same and the night camps tended to be built at points like this. There were some nice ones like seeing a forest with the leaves all changing with the seasons.

Thankfully we had avoided the snows with the timing of the journey, being in lowlands and warmer areas during the winter months. If we got delayed because of a snowed in mountain pass, I would have been pissed. Thankfully Song did a good job in checking for news about the road ahead.

About three years after I had left on my quest to get an astral shard, we approached Half Moon City. I had removed the carrying case, claw, and manual from my spatial ring so questions wouldn’t be asked. We entered the city no problem and it was just like I remembered, but I had us get a new set of horses right away and push onwards to the sect. Returning to the sect was more important that visiting my family.

Three days later, I arrived at the foot of the Cloudy Moon Sect. The carriage was stored at the bottom of the sect and Song given some regular letters to deliver and a spirit stone as payment. He was quite happy and promised to come back at the next intake.

I approached the base of the steps and there was an outer sect disciple, guarding the bottom of the stairs and watching the mortal village at the base of the sect mountain. I had seen these poor souls occasionally while sweeping. At least I got exercise going up and down the stairs. “Junior greets senior,” he replied and bowed.

“Announce my return to Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui. Inner Sect Disciple Yuan Zhou returns triumphant!” I declared forcefully. The poor outer sect disciple looked at me in shock. What I was doing was quite brazen, but after being sent to my death and returning alive with an astral shard, I felt I was allowed to be a bit brazen.

“Are you sure senior, if I declare such a thing, there will be punishments,” he said nervously.

“I will take full responsibility. After the journey and battles I have endured, it is no joke to say, that this Yuan Zhou has battled astral beasts, enemy cultivators, and traveled the length of the continent to stand here today!” The disciple’s eyes got wider. He then raced up the stairs.

I ascended the stairs, carrying case for the astral shard in hand. It felt good to be back. I arrived at the top of the stairs I had swept countless times. I reached the top a few minutes after the disciple had gotten up there. Elder Li Fu suddenly appeared and a moment later Elder Healer Meihui showed up as well.

“Junior Yuan Zhou greets Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui,” I said and inclined my head. Two other elders who I didn’t know then showed up as well. “Junior greets elders,” I said, inclining my head towards them as well.

“You were successful?” Elder Li Fu asked me. I could hear the excitement in his voice.

“Yes, elder. It was a great journey filled with hardships, but I have returned successful,” I replied. Elder Healer Meihui marched over and I gave her a nod. She put a hand on my forehead and chest.

“Well, your astral soul is shaky, but it isn’t fraying. At least you listened to my advice,” she said and removed her hands. “How exciting, I have only heard about this,” she said with a smile as she backed away.

“Indeed, we must meet with the Sect Leader at once and hear your story. Come with me Disciple Yuan Zhou.” I followed Elder Li Fu as the other elders disappeared. I needed to learn that trick. We made our way to the Sect Leader’s home and entered. I got looks from the core disciples at the doors, but none of them dared stop Elder Li Fu or me since I was in his wake.

He then paused at a set of ornate doors carved with the symbol of the sect and knocked three times and waited. After a minute I heard the Sect Leader call out, “Enter.” We entered a large hall. I noted 27 total elders sitting on either side of the room including Elder Healer Meihui. I also noted some other elders I knew like Elder Zedong, Elder Sun Ru, Elder Yi Meifeng, and Elder Ping.

At the back of the room on a raised dais sat the Sect Leader. In front of him sat the two elders I saw from before along with an empty cushion. “Elder Li Fu greets Sect Leader Jiang Fengge.” His eyes darted towards me, and I bowed deeply and introduced myself as well. Now wasn’t the time for insolence.

“Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou greets Sect Leader Jiang Fengge,” I said.

“Take your place Li Fu. Disciple you may sit in the center of the room on the cushion provided. Your return has provided a welcome break from our current discussion,” the Sect Leader said. I didn’t ask what they had been discussing and took a seiza seat on the cushion with my legs under me. I carefully set the items I had been carrying in front of me.

“Many of you might have heard rumors or talk of this tale but let us listen to our wayward inner disciple that has gone to the astral plane itself and the reasons behind it. You may speak Disciple Yuan Zhou,” Sect Leader Jiang Fengge said.

“Thank you, Sect Leader. My cultivation method treads the path of defiance. With the support of Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui, I ventured to the astral plane for an astral shard to be constructed into an Astral Soul Stabilizer.” I then detailed my experiences inside the astral plane, all the elders listening intently.

The Sect Leader nodded slightly as I described how I had lured the astral beast to chase me and then used spirit stones to distract it from continuing its pursuit. There were approving nods at this. I had my sword on my back since it was too big part of the story to leave out. I hadn’t had it out when I left, and I knew Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui wouldn’t miss that detail.

“I only had a day left before I suffered permanent damage. I decided to take a gamble. I went into a black zone inside the astral plane. Inside I encountered a being. I only ever saw its eye. It was my height yellow and silted like a cat’s eye,” I said.

“It wanted to talk a bit saying it was bored and I was not worth bothering getting worked up to crush or beat. I explained to the being my history. Afterwards it granted me two boons. Since it was unfamiliar with human cultivation, I dared not ask for something of that nature or ask about the being itself in case it was offended. I also needed a boon to escape the astral plane as well.”

“I asked for knowledge of the astral shard and its origin. Once the being had explained it, it cast me from-“

“The knowledge! What was the knowledge-“ an elder began to ask.

“Silence!” the Sect Leader boomed out. “I too am curious. I am guessing our inner disciple wishes to trade such knowledge for a favor?” the Sect Leader asked.

“Yes, Sect Leader, I will give you the being’s answer, but I would humbly ask for access to the elder’s library.” There was silence at that, and I bowed my head. It was a bold request.

“The pursuit of knowledge. But one could argue that you owe Elder Healer Meihui for paying the cost into the astral plane. What do you say Elder Healer Meihui?” the sect leader asked.

“I am happy studying the effects of his cultivation long term and would consider that significant reimbursement. Already it has improved my Dao of healing,” she said. The Sect Leader nodded at this.

“And library access is simple enough for such knowledge. Very well, it is granted, now let us learn what this Ancient said,” the Sect Leader declared.

“Yes Sect Leader, it called astral shards remnants of seeds of a being called a Great Devourer. It specifically said it was a thought made manifest.” I also explained how the astral shard whispered to me and the words it had said. I was asked to repeat my explanation two more times. After that I was told to continue.

I explained my arrival at Five Claw City and my quick departure and the ambush, also killing the cultivator from the Clawed Hand Sect. The Sect Leader held up a hand and I closed my mouth and he nodded to an elder. An elder who wasn’t wearing a shirt got up and came over. His muscles had muscles and he was built like a brick factory that bench pressed other brick factories.

He picked up the metal claw. “Rank two, well made, but a common design. Clearly given to a low ranked disciple to train early on in their martial art.” He then set it back down in front of me and picked up the manual. He flipped through it quickly and then set it back down as well. “Basic body cultivation instructions, nothing special.” He then made his way back to his seat.

“Thank you, Martial Elder Lei. Since the Clawed Hand Sect is under the purview of the Blazing Sun Sect and there has been no pursuit, and no one has come forward, I believe this matter can rest, unless there is a disagreement?” No one spoke up. “Continue Disciple Yuan Zhou,” the Sect Leader said.

There wasn’t much after that, as I explained how I had raced back to the sect. I paused for a moment at the end and decided to not say anything. This wasn’t the right environment to ask what I had in mind.

“Impressive Disciple Yuan Zhou. Elder Li Fu, do you wish to add anything?” The elder nodded while sitting in front of the Sect Leader.

“Yes Sect Leader. I will use my favor to ask you to construct an Astral Soul Stabilizer and give it to this disciple,” Elder Li Fu said.

“The favor I owe you is too much for something like that and I am indeed curious as well. His cultivation is a mess, but if he advances, there could be many answers we had not looked for but would be quite illuminating. I will construct the Astral Soul Stabilizer and will help install it. But I am interested in what further thing you have on your mind Disciple, I see you had a question. Do not be afraid, I am curious what you wanted to ask,” the Sect Leader said, and I gulped but spoke up regardless.

“Sect Leader, I was thinking of altering my cultivation plan to create a physical secondary core, using the explosions of my main cores to assist in the implosion process, since the Astral Soul Stabilizer should allow for the contradiction between cultivation processes,” I said.

“Foolishness!”

“Insanity!”

“How intriguing.”

“Oh hoho, now this was worth coming out for.”

“He seeks even more!”

“How bold!”

There were several exclamations from the surrounding elders. Elder Li Fu brought his hands up and lowered his face into them. The Sect Leader looked at me in surprise as the elders chatted for a minute before finally calming down.

“That…is that even possible?” The Sect Elder asked and looked to the side at an older man.

“The astral side yes, but on the physical side no. His body would not be able to handle the strain. He would need something equal to the Astral Soul Stabilizer to firm up his body. I would say the best option would be a drop of refined beast essence of the sixth rank turned into a pill.” The Sect Leader nodded at this.

“A sixth rank beast is no simple task even for an Elder or a Sect Leader, but I suspect you will want to get one?” The Sect Leader asked me.

“Yes, Sect Leader, this disciple seeks your guidance,” I said and bowed my head.

“Li Fu, I know why this Disciple stresses you out. But he will either succeed and become an immortal or die a most gruesome and horrible death like countless geniuses before him. Searching for solutions for his cultivation deviations and crippling.” The Sect Leader paused. “But he did succeed in returning from the astral plane successfully. For a disciple barely in the second stage to do so is not a sign of heaven’s favor to be taken lightly. I will take this burden upon myself.”

“Yuan Zhou!” I straightened up even more at that and even the rustle of clothing from the occasional movement of the elders stilled. I felt a pressure on me as the Sect Leader looked down upon me. “Do you swear to the heavens and the earth and on your cultivation to protect the Cloudy Moon Sect until the end of your life?”

“I swear by the heavens and the earth and by my cultivation Sect Leader that I will protect the sect until the end of my life,” I said without hesitation.

“Very well. Then I name you my personal disciple Yuan Zhou. Take the items with you. Escort him to my office, I will speak with him after,” the Sect Leader said.

“Thank you, Master,” I replied and was then escorted out of the meeting room by a servant. They were wearing member robes. None of the elders said anything. I was led to an office and sat down. I looked around but didn’t dare touch any of the objects or books.

Several hours later the Sect Leader entered, and I quickly stood up. “Disciple greets master,” I said.

“Sit,” I quickly sat back down, and the Sect Leader took a seat behind his desk.

“Consider being named my disciple a reward for helping me find a way out of the impasse in the meeting room. Each faction has wanted me to name a successor or take up a personal disciple from their faction.” I nodded at this but didn’t say anything.

“Now you are my disciple, the Sect Disciple. But you will get no handouts from me. We are a poor sect, Yuan Zhou. While we are a mid-rank sect, we are not a battle sect. We produce spirit wine to sell to other sects and maintain this province, but we are the lowest of the low compared to other mid-rank sects in terms of cultivation resources. While our knowledge is extensive, that means nothing in the face of power and the ability to kill beasts.”

“Mid-rank sects are looked at for battle power and special resources. Your capture of the demonic cultivator years ago helped a bit. But we are looked down on for good reason. We have nothing of value beyond knowledge. But now you come, walking the path of defiance. You being named my personal disciple means that even the Imperial Sect will dare not recruit you or target you lightly. Even more so other sects.”

He had cut off my path in that direction, making it clear I was now committed to the Cloudy Moon Sect. “But your cultivation plan is a never-ending hole that will consume countless resources and time. An Astral Soul Stabilizer is a great treasure, that even elders would look at. While its use is very limited at the later stages, it still has value which is rare.”

“But you need that, and refined beast essence made into a pill from a sixth rank beast!” The Sect Leader raised his voice, and I cowered a bit. “Just for the second stage. Rare treasures, priceless ingredients, will be consumed by you. We could afford one, maybe two before we go bankrupt.”

“And before you bring up that there are elders to gather resources for your pig self, only myself, Martial Elder Lei, and two others are qualified to fight. Elder Li Fu is a manager. He would not dare hunt a sixth level beast or go into the astral plane. That is why our sect is weak and why I am annoyed,” the Sect Leader said. He wasn’t mad so much at me, just at the situation. At least I hoped that was the case.

“You will have to get the materials by yourself. We can process them, since the heavens know all the elders do is study and study some more.” That was the problem with being in the mad scientist sect, you still needed people to go out there to get materials to experiment with. “We have been trying to position ourselves as the sect to handle such requests outside the high ranking sects, but it is slow, and the requests are few.”

“So, you will need to get your own resources for your cultivation, and I will use my authority to have them turned into cultivation resources. Also with your new status, you should be able to get past any bullshit you encounter much more easily. While an inner disciple can be overlooked, the personal disciple of a sect leader of a mid-rank sect will not be.”

“As you travel about to gather resources, you will be our sect mascot and advertisement for unique cultivation paths and processing of rare ingredients.” I wasn’t sure if this was a promotion or demotion. I hoped I didn’t have to wear an outfit like a mascot at a sports game back on Earth.

Chapter 24 – New Status

The Sect Leader pulled out a piece of paper and began writing on it. “Do everything on this list. Then rest and no cultivation or Elder Healer Meihui will yell at me.” I had to hold back a grin that she would yell at the Sect Leader. “The Astral Soul Stabilizer will be ready in five days. Now leave that case, take the manual and claw with you in your spatial ring and get out my office disciple,” he said. I put the stuff away and I quickly took the piece of paper and quickly left his office.

Of course, he knew about the spatial ring. You don’t live for thousands of years being an idiot. Well at least I didn’t have to share the part about shoving it up my butt. I had left that portion of my story out. That would have been humiliating.

Update Robes
Update Sect Badge
Move To Disciple Room
Construct Soul Lantern
Prepare Cultivation Plan For Review
Prepare Report On Rank 6 Beasts
Prepare Report On Refined Beast Essence
Write Book About Travels
Write Book About Astral Plane Experience
Rest-No Cultivation

Sect Leader Jiang Fengge

I had actual homework. I should have expected that from the Sect Leader of this sect. It should be Crazy Scientist Sect and not the Cloudy Moon Sect. Well, the first thing to do was to get new robes and a sect badge.

I went to the administrative hall. I had only been here twice before, once when I had entered the sect and the second time when I left to visit Half Moon City for my sister’s wedding. I entered the hall and made my way to the clerk.

“I require new sect robes and a new sect badge, my status has been increased.” The inner disciple gave me a look and my robes, seeing that I was also an inner disciple. I then put the piece of paper with the Sect Leader’s signature down. “I am now the sect disciple,” which meant I was the personal disciple of the Sect Leader himself. Otherwise known as the sect mascot. I really hoped I wouldn’t be forced to wear a costume of some kind. That thought kept nagging at me.

“At once senior!” the disciple in question replied. “Your badge, I will transfer your contribution points to your new badge,” I nodded at this. I passed over my badge. Soon I was given a new one that was shiner and slightly bigger. It took a bit longer for the robes, but he came back with five sets of sect disciple robes for me. There were five clouds, the full symbol of the sect, on the disciple robes.

“You can also mark my room as cleared, room 320, by tomorrow. I will be clearing it out today,” I said.

“Yes senior, I will handle that for you,” the clerk replied.

“Thank you,” I said and left. After that I went to my old inner sect disciple apartment room. My badge gave me access to the room. I didn’t have much. I paused at the hilarious picture my sister had drawn as a kid showing our family. I carefully put that away and left the room emptied of my personal belongings.

I then made my way to the Sect Leader’s house. A sect member greeted me and showed me to my new room. I unpacked my personal belongings. I also got out the manual and the metal claw and set them on a table to study and look at in the future.

With that done I asked a member about a soul lantern and was told to go to the martial hall that was normally for members only. I went there and member greeted me. I explained why I was here and was shown to a room and left there.

Eventually Martial Elder Lei entered. “Junior greets Martial Elder Lei,” I said.

“Sit. You are getting a soul lantern. Normally this is reserved for members only who leave the sect for extended periods of time. It lets us know if you are alive and allows us to witness your final moments if you do die. It will also allow us to track you if you are captured.” Or run away, but I didn’t mention that.

“The cost to make them isn’t cheap, but the Sect Leader said to make one for you. In addition, you disgrace that sword with your fighting style. A week from now, you will come here daily and I will supervise your use of a blade. I will talk to the Sect Leader about this.”

“Thank you Martial Elder Lei,” I said with a head bow.

“If you are going to be running around and the Sect Leader investing into you, then you better not die easily. Now this is going to hurt, try not to scream. Hold out your arm.” I held it out and Martial Elder Lei pulled out a large metal contraption from a spatial ring and began strapping it onto my arm.

“This will draw out blood and slowly compress it. It will take about ten minutes. That blood will then be infused into a lantern. I get stuck with this job, since it is blacksmithing and there is no smithing hall. Now breathe,” he said, and I breathed. He pulled a lever and I had to bite back tears. The pain was immense.

“The old method was right from the heart, but this new device works on the arm, much safer.” My entire body began to ache. “It takes a minute part of your astral soul as well. But you should be used to that pain by now.” I wasn’t! I didn’t like pain, but I didn’t complain. Complaining wouldn’t change anything.

The one thing everyone hated in this society were complainers. Anyone who complained too much was viewed as mentally retarded. It didn’t make sense to me, but that was what the culture was like. If you didn’t like something, then work hard to fix it. Life was unfair, too bad and learn to suck it up.

“You can’t be spied on with a soul lantern. Once you become an elder it will break, since it is tied to your astral soul. A new one would have to be made then.” I nodded through the pain at this. “All done and it is a clean draw too, so I won’t have to do it again,” he said. That was a possibility!?

“You can check that off the Sect Leader’s to do list. He likes his lists. Make sure you follow it, or he will yell at you,” Martial Elder Lei said and left. I staggered from the room and returned to my room in the Sect Leader’s home.

I spent the rest of that day getting my notes about my cultivation in order and reviewing it, while also making sure it matched up with the motes I had aligned so far. There were no issues. I had studied it so much I could recreate it from memory.

The next day I sat down and began to write out a book on the astral plane and then my travels to get these tasks done as quickly as possible. That is one thing I learned from my time in college, better to just get everything done as quickly as possible and not rush last minute.

I spent the entire day carefully writing out a fifty-page paper on each experience. With the symbols used for writing instead of words, I would put each paper at about the length of a ten-page college essay. I figured that was good and they were detailed with as little fluff as possible. I went to the administrative hall, and they handled the binding of papers into books.

They promised to deliver them back to me within a day. With that done, I spent my second full day back going the elder’s library and researching physical cultivation, rank 6 beasts, and refined beast essence.

There was a lot less information on physical cultivation than there was on soul cultivation. But I quickly gained a better understanding of what needed to happen. I updated my cultivation plan with new secondary core drawings and notes on how I hoped to form my astral soul, while also creating suction vortex to draw in astral energy.

The real risk was not clearing enough space for my true soul to form correctly and the suction interfering with it. I wrote that all up. The third day I spent writing up a report on what I found out about rank 6 beasts.

They were clever, could transform, had skills, and a serious threat to any cultivator below the immortal stage. Any beast rank 5 and higher was a huge threat with all the abilities they had. The rank denoted their power and ability to use these innate skills more than anything else.

While humans had the advantage at the lower stages and ranks, the beasts had the advantage at the upper stages and ranks, but were rarer in terms of numbers compared to humans. I wrote about them as well, summarizing their abilities and how the best option would be to attack from a distance with a single powerful attack to take them out from stealth if possible.

The fourth day I spent researching and wrote up a report on refined beast essence. Basically, I would need a device similar to what was used to make the soul lantern, and then extract blood from a still living beast.

I adjusted parts of my report from the previous day about using a stealth attack to cripple a beast and then this new report discussed how to use such an essence extractor and the best location to do it, over the heart.

Once everything was done, I took the time to relax. I had an operation tomorrow. I made my way to the dining hall and noticed Gen. I could have food delivered, but I wanted to get out and about.

“Gen,” I said with a smile. He quickly stood up and his eyes went wide at my new robes.

“Junior greets Sect Disciple Yuan Zhou,” he said. There was silence as people looked over. I returned his bow with a head nod.

“May I?” and he nodded, and I took a seat.

“Sect disciple, I heard rumors, congratulations Yuan Zhou,” he said.

“Thanks. It wasn’t easy. I had to go to the astral plane.” I noticed Wen Xue coming over as well. That guy truly belonged in this mad scientist sect. “Wen Xue,” I greeted him first, giving him a lot of respect and he smiled as he greeted me back. I invited him to sit with us and I told them of my adventure.

“Fascinating. The astral plane sounds truly intriguing, but incredibly dangerous. Perhaps a future expedition to collect more materials,” Wen Xue said.

“A claw weapon. Now that is interesting. How would one even use something like that?” Gen asked.

“Lunging like a cat maybe?” I suggested. “Well, you can borrow it for a while if you want. I would be curious to hear your opinion if it is practical. I already have a sword.” I replied. I was keeping it strapped to my back at all times now.

“Thanks Yuan Zhou, cultivation is exhausting, I get so bored sometimes,” Gen said with a slight groan. Wen Xue rolled his eyes.

“Well you need to focus if you want to succeed. I am almost to the third stage. Just another two years and I should be there. No substitute for hard work,” Wen Xue said.

“True. The work never ends.” After the meal, I retrieved the weapon and went over towards Gen’s apartments.

“Friends with the Sect Disciple, heh Gen, try to get some benefits.”

“Guys it isn’t like that,” I heard Gen say and slowed down my approach towards his room. “But he is like a lost puppy and his cultivation is a mess. Truly the heavens favor anyone even fools.” I closed my eyes and turned around, a pain in my chest, and it wasn’t from cultivating. Jealousy was an ugly thing.

I put the clawed glove back on the table in my room and laid down on my bed. I had considered him a friend, but I had forgotten the truth of cultivation. It was a solitary journey, and everyone was jealous of others having greater success on this path than them. For failures could be laid at no one’s feet but the person themselves.

It reminded me of my time fighting academically to get top grades and be the best. The same snide comments and jealous looks when people thought I wasn’t listening or looking. It hurt more than I thought it would. I had tried hard to bury my feelings and focus on my cultivation, but I clearly hadn’t succeeded.

I lay there the rest of the day. The following day I was called to the Sect Master’s office early in the morning after breakfast. I brought everything with me that he had requested.

“Disciple greets Master,” I said after I entered.

“Sit,” the Sect Leader told me, and I sat. “Have you completed your tasks?” he asked.

“Yes Master. I spoke to Martial Elder Lei and the soul lantern should be completed in half a month at most. I have prepared both books. I have submitted one copy for the elder’s library and a personal copy for yourself.” I removed both books from my spatial ring and handed them over. He accepted them and set them to the side.

“I have also prepared my notes on my cultivation plan and reports on rank 6 beasts and refined beast essence,” I said and removed a stack of notes with a small summary on top. I set this on his deck and then I set the reports I had written up on his desk as well. He looked surprised at this.

“You wrote them up?” he asked.

“My cultivation plan was already written up, but I included a summary and my research on integrating a body type secondary core. The main issue was that I didn’t understand the full impacts at the fifth stage and beyond, and how they would interact. I listed out my speculations. The reports contain the summarized information I got from the books available in the elder’s library I was able to read,” I answered.

The Sect Master carefully picked up each report and flipped through them nodding. He then looked at the stack of my cultivation notes and then back at me. “I have physical models as well,” I replied.

“Go ahead, I need to understand this so we can decide where to put the Astral Soul Stabilizer,” he said. I began bringing out my models and doing a full presentation on how my cultivation worked. Half an hour later I was finished, and he was shifting through my notes.

“Truly Elder Li Fu was right to break out the casks of thousand year old spirit wine to make sense of this,” he muttered. “The channel structure, are you sure it is sound?” he asked me.

“Yes master. I have reviewed it over 20 times and can do it from memory,” I replied, and he nodded at that.

“I just don’t see any room to put the Astral Soul Stabilizer since everything appears to be packed in there,” he said.

“How big is the device?” I asked.

“It is about the length of my little finger. A good chunk of the astral shard was shaved off. You aren’t being short changed, but the Astral Soul Stabilizer needs to be a certain size. Too big and you won’t be able to align motes, your astral soul will be too stable.” I nodded at this. I suspected the elders were using the shavings for their own purposes and research. But I had no standing to complain or ask for a larger share since the Astral Soul Stabilizer was being made and put in me for free.

“Are there physical effects from it?” I asked.

“Vibrations when you cultivate that will translate lightly to that part of your body.” I nodded at this answer and considered my cultivation layout.

“Just above the groin, would be the best place. Since it needs to be near the center of my body, but I don’t want it vibrating in my head. Also, the channels in that area are light. If you angle it just so, then it will be in one of the few empty spaces in my body but relatively close to my core structure. I also haven’t started building them yet either,” I replied. Shifting the channels slightly was a bit tricky, but something I could work out.

The Sect Leader nodded at this. “That is doable. Your notes will be returned later. Come.” He got up and I followed him out of his office. I followed him to an underground room that was well lit. Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui were both there as well. I greeted them. I saw the carrying case sitting on a wide table. I was told to disrobe and remove my under shirt. I was just in underwear now.

I laid down on the table. “You need to be awake for this. It will hurt immensely. Grab onto the grips on either side of the table and bite down on this,” Elder Li Fu said and I nodded, putting in the piece of thick leather in my mouth and laying down on the table.

“I will be holding you down.” He put his hands on my rib cage and I was looking up at his chest area. “Elder Meihui?” he asked.

“All set. Alright Yuan Zhou, your physical body and astral soul will be cut open at the same time and then the Sect Leader will ensure the Astral Soul Stabilizer is placed in the correct spot. I will be controlling the bleeding and ensuring the physical area heals properly. The Sect Leader will ensure that your astral soul is healed. Don’t try to get up until we say.”

“While this is happening. You need to keep your motes away from that area. They will want to bleed out of you, since your astral soul is being cut. Do not let that happen.” I grunted an acknowledgement and closed my eyes. “Alright, let’s get this over with, ready Jiang Fengge?” she asked the Sect Leader.

“I will follow your lead. Tell me when I can implant the Astral Soul Stabilizer.” I had already moved my non-aligned motes away from that area. The cut, hurt, oh it hurt so much. I felt weak as my motes were being pulled towards the cut.

They were saying stuff, but I couldn’t focus on that. It was all I could do to not pass out. I had to hold my motes back. I had to. It couldn’t all be for nothing. Slowly the pain lessened, and I felt the hands of Elder Li Fu come off my torso.

“Yuan Zhou, are you awake?” I heard Elder Healer Meihui ask me as he removed the piece of leather from my mouth.

“Yes,” I said shakily.

“I want you to align 12 motes now. Can you do that?” she asked me.

“Yes.” I focused and forced the motes to align. She placed a hand on my head and chest. There was no new pain, and it only took 20 minutes. “Done,” I said.

“Minor tremors in his astral soul. He is limited to 12 motes per session for a month. After that he can increase it until he feels pain. Remarkably sturdy soul,” she said.

“I suspect it was all those motes present for so long. His age is an obvious indication of the body astral soul alignment. Since his astral soul was stifled by taking in so many at a young age, so too was his body. It was always unclear, but I would say he confirms this,” Sect Leader Jiang Fengge replied. Of course the Sect Leader was also a mad scientist at heart.

“The physical healing will take a while. But I was able to reroute all the blood vessels and seal everything back up, but the flesh will be tender and sore for a while. So, no pushing that Astral Soul Stabilizer beyond what I told you since the vibrations could harm you,” she said.

“Yes, elder,” I replied exhaustedly. After that I had to dress myself back up and slowly make my way back up to my room. There was no blood, but my lower abdomen was all bruised and hurt. I collapsed in my bed and fell asleep.

The next day I got up, got cleaned up, and then had a large breakfast, feeling much better. I then began to cultivate 12 motes every 20 minutes. That was a rate of a mote of just under 2 minutes. I had already cultivated 90,000 motes, which meant I had about another 1,700,000 to go.

If I cultivated 16 hours per day on average, that would mean 175,200 motes per year, or just 10 years. If I could go even faster in a month that time would come down even more.

I was called to the Sect Leader’s office five days after the operation and took my seat across from his desk. I noticed another elder in the room, the one who had spoken up at the meeting about my idea of doing a body type core. I greeted them both.

“How is your cultivation?” he asked.

“It is going very smoothly. The pain has disappeared, and I can align 12 motes in 20 minutes no problem,” I replied. He nodded at that.

“Good. I am glad the Astral Soul Stabilizer worked. It is not easy to craft something like that. I will also say that your research skills are excellent. I was concerned that they would be lacking, but you are quite diligent. This is Elder Liu Chen. He specializes in divergent cultivation techniques and esoteric knowledge within the sect,” Sect Leader Jiang Fengge introduced the man.

“Indeed. I had heard about you, but looking at your notes and research, I am quite impressed. Why did you go with a quad core in your own words?” He asked.

“With the scope of my cultivation, a single large core would have been impractical with that many channels. The best option was the multi-core. Four cores would be the most stable formation across my astral soul due to their triangular nature, the braces between them, and for the detonation process,” I answered. He nodded at that.

“Good, you actually understand why a four core method is used instead of another structure. Now you are considering a secondary physical core and are wondering about the issues in the fifth stage and beyond?”

“Yes, Elder Liu Chen,” I answered.

“Well, if you get the beast essence, it will work into the fourth stage. Beyond that it is tricky to say. I have reviewed your research and conducted my own. No one has done such a thing. The simple fact is that even in the Imperial Sect, your cultivation plan is at least three times more complex than their most promising disciple. Not just in terms of number of motes, but sheer complexity. Your choices are all excellent and I have no issue with them. Even if it is a nightmare and the resources consumed will be horrendous.” Elder Liu Chen said this with a grin and I felt a shudder of fear go through me.

“A six-fold valve structure is the best with a triangular valve. And you have found a drilling method. Ingenious. It will require perfectly channels and meridians with the number of valves to use techniques. But I have recently developed a new valve methodology,” he pulled out a long wooden strip from a spatial ring with grooves cut into it.

“The curves away from the center, will slow down anything going the other way, while not impeding the direction from the other side. Watch,” he said and waved his hands. Water appeared and flowed through the wooden structure easily one way. Then he switched it around and it splashed everywhere and slowed down.

He made a mess of the Sect Leader’s floor, but the Sect Leader didn’t say anything. “After reviewing your cultivation plan. I think it should use three six-fold valves and then the Liu Valve design. Impede the energy leaving and allow it to enter easily.” He handed me the wooden model.

“How would it work in three dimensions in a triangular channel. Also, this side loops would be impossible to carve out in time,” I pointed out.

“Oh, that isn’t a problem. You just need to get the legendary rank 7 material, null metal. With some clever forging and also another rank 7 material, a focusing gem. Well, the carving process for your channels will be simplified once we make a Displacement Channel Carver. This sect could really use one to try out more esoteric valve designs, like this Liu Valve design. I have already made a three-dimensional model with your initial channel design in mind.” He pulled out another wooden model and handed it to me. It separated in half.

“Wait, you want these side channels to be off the main triangular main channel. Like curled leaves. They will go through the wall structures and their small nature is impossible to carve out. Then with three six fold valves as well, it will be perfect and better resist the pressure stresses. Put the valves at the weakest strength near your meridians and then the Liu Valve design the rest of the way.”

“The side channels will have to be quite small, to not impact the other side channels. Wouldn’t this compromise the overall integrity of my cultivation structure and the motes needed?” I asked.

“Your valve designs will have more than enough motes. Just use the seven valves’ motes instead. You can do two full rotations of the Liu valve design per valve we remove. So that would only be fourteen rotations, or forty-two curled leave side channels. Just use six motes per, and create a tube structure looping about. Even if it is small, it will redirect the pressure back to your cores and allow for easier technique usage.”

“Thank you elder, I will consider this design while I look at getting those materials for your Displacement Channel Carver,” I replied.

“Oh, you won’t find them. But just trying to build them will be quite enlightening.” I looked at the Sect Leader who had an impassive face. “But that is nothing compared to what I really wanted to talk about.” The elder seemed to get even more excited as he spoke.

“As a theoretical exercise you couldn’t have done any better with your limited knowledge. But this idea of dual cultivation is…bold. Incredibly bold. I almost feel young again thinking about it!” The Sect Master gave a light cough. “Ah, yes, excuse me. But the issue in the fifth stage and later on is an understandable concern.”

“I have considered many theoretical frameworks and all the literature. The biggest risk is not giving enough time for your true soul to fully form and allow for maximum stability. No one has ever done a quad core like yours successfully. But if we continue to apply your model of maximum cultivation without regard for difficulty or cost, then you will need at least 100,000 drops per core in the fourth stage to ensure that everything goes smoothly for the fifth.”

“Personally, I believe 120,000 drops is the optimal number, but no one has gone beyond 100,000 drops that is known. Still, that would be the best number to allow for 100% soul stabilization. Your cores with their buttressing and your interior triangular architecture help quite a bit. Your core designs could support such pressure, maybe. With the Liu Valve Design they will for sure based on my theoretical analysis. Since the pressure will push back on itself. The exact boosts of the Astral Soul Stabilizer and refined beast essence together are unknown due to their extreme rarity. Still, it should be possible.”

“As for the secondary core. You would need around 50,000 drops. With only a single icosahedron core, and no baffling. The pressure will be immense, but it should hold. That would be the best. In my opinion to form a suction vortex while not compromising your true soul stabilization. Though I would estimate you would only be able to get to fifty percent suction at most, this would allow the construction of pillars and their attunement much easier for your soul cultivation in the later stages.” The Sect Leader gave a light cough at that and the elder kept going before I could ask any questions.

“As for the conduits you would need for body cultivation, they could also be built. Maybe. I am unsure about this. We would need to consult with an elder in the body path for advice. When the time comes, I might have a contact or two we could use. They would be quite interested in such a cultivation.”

“Finally.” I noticed that Elder Liu Chen glanced over at the Sect Leader nervously who sighed slightly. “While the Sect Leader thinks it is foolish, I couldn’t help myself. I think we should also consider the Mind Cultivation method as well.”

“Mind Cultivation?” I asked. I had never heard of this path of cultivation.

“Very rare and very rarely done. It involves aligning motes with the motes outside your body, then dispersing a core to attune yourself to the energy of the heavens and earth. The hardest part of such a cultivation method is that it requires a high core density and dispersal. Also aligning motes in this fashion is not something that can happen normally, except in rare circumstances with individuals with the right constitution.”

“Now the explosions of your outer cores would allow your inner core to implode more easily. But you have constructed a baffle mechanism for each of your four main cores, which is truly inspired! Creating two inner core shell layers for your four cores, you were probably planning to keep this empty?”

“Yes, to allow some leeway as I condensed my cores, since the core can expand, hit the next buttress core, and that would help contain the immense pressure,” I replied.

“I propose you change the following channels to align with motes themselves and then have the outer two shells align with this third method of cultivation, mind cultivation. This would still allow one shell between your extra baffle cores to act as a buffer. As your cores increase in density they will push up against the outer structures aligned with mind, and the drops contained in a hollow sphere for mind cultivation. This will be quite interesting. It is normally pointless with a regular core, but with the mind cultivation path, it has a high chance of creating Astral cores where your main cores used to be, harmonizing with various Daos. A core encasement has never been done! For triple cultivation! Four Astral cores!” The Sect Leader coughed and the elder calmed down a bit.

“The only thing you would need to get is a celestial Dao fragment to allow all your motes to harmonize with the energy of heaven and earth. That way you can connect the motes from this mind cultivation method to you’re the rest of your motes for your middle core layer. I estimate only 20,000 drops for those outer shells encasements will be perfect. That would be the best option,” I had not cultivated any of those channels yet.

“Thank you Elder Liu Chen, that was quite informative. I will need to discuss this with my disciple.”

“Of course, of course Sect Leader. Just you watch, a triple cultivation method, why each of the four cores would develop their own Dao concept. It would be a masterwork, I say, masterwork.” The elder then left and the Sect Leader sighed.

“What do you know of drops?” the Sect Leader asked.

“That 1,000 is what most cultivators reached to become elders, and 10,000 drops is considered impressive,” I replied.

“For a single core. I reached 8,000 myself. With one core. It is called the great bottleneck for a reason. I did the math what it would cost just to get resources for all those drops out of curiosity, using the earth element as the benchmark, since I have no good idea what energy the other methods would use.”

“With 4 soul cores at 120,000 drops each, 1 body core with 50,000 drops, and 4 mind core shell encasements with 20,000 drops each. That is 610,000 drops. Not counting the value of having 610 almost guaranteed elders instead of just one very powerful one, the price would be everything.”

“The entire sect?” I asked and he shook his head slowly and looked at me like I was a stupid idiot.

“The wealth of the entire continent actually. While there is no such thing as an immortal or rank 9 spirit stone, that has a value assigned. I used the value of level 8 spirit stones. Each one is technically worth 10,000,000 rank 1 spirt stones in terms of energy. A single drop costs about 1,000 rank 1 spirit stones. So, with a level 8 spirit core, you could technically get 10,000 drops. There are issues in transference, but let’s keep the math simple to help you understand why you are such a pig.” I winced at that.

“You would need 61 such beast spirit cores. Let me repeat that number 61. All sects, cultivators, and mortals would have to fight the beasts as they battled us. Immortals would get involved and it would be the end of the third age.” The Sect Leader explained all of this calmly. I slowly nodded at this. That was quite a bit, and everything clearly meant as a literal description of the wealth I needed to progress my cultivation successfully.

“Getting an astral shard is not impossible. If I was willing to spend at least 5 years, I could retrieve such an object myself. I could get level 6 refined beast essence in about 3 years being careful and at great risk, but I could do it. But to get a celestial Dao fragment is pure luck. Not even for 61 rank 8 cores would a sect or cultivator ever trade over such a treasure unless they were a truly desperate cultivator trying to get past the fourth stage.”

“Then to use it on you, would be…it would be putting clothes on a pig. Let me finish.” I closed my mouth slowly. “The Dao is the understanding of concepts and the basis for the eighth stage and the step before immortality. It is a rank 8 treasure.”

“I do not know of anything less than that would work for the elder’s idea, and I told him not to mention it but he argued he had done the research and I do not wish to offend Liu Chen and lose his incredible insight into cultivation techniques.”

“But if you came across a celestial Dao fragment, even I would cough blood in rage and frustration. I would cry to the heavens themselves at the unfairness of the world.” There was silence after that it stretched on and finally the Sect Leader spoke once more.

“I will not stop you or take it from you. But understand, that if you come across such a thing, it would be your ticket to getting past the fourth stage. For it could be sold to the Imperial Sect and they would pay the beast cores you need to get that rank 8 beast cores for such a treasure.”

“I can see your mind thinking, how can I get one. If I had that answer, then I would not be sitting here explaining this to you. No true cultivator would share such knowledge or leave such a treasure unused.”

“I understand Master,” I replied.

“Good. Because I can tell your mind is already contemplating this. I will not tell you to stop, but I will insist you don’t slow down your cultivation. You can leave the motes that would be used for Mind Cultivation until the very end, but once there you must keep going. You need every scrap of time you can get for the fourth stage of Core Formation. Understand?”

“Yes, master,” I replied.

“Good. Now we are going to discuss what do about the drops and how not to ruin this sect and the continent in the process.”

Chapter 25 – Elements And Wealth

“I have looked at your plan to use the Force element.” I perked up at this curious to what the Sect Leader thought. “It is intriguing. I have discussed it with other elders and we are split on this issue.”

“Still, if it works it would allow our sect to use a third element and a different set of resources. But to do it properly then you will need at least a rank 6 chamber and array constructed. You will also need lots of spirit stones. I know you plan to hunt beasts for level 3 spirit stones and this is a decent plan.”

“However, you will not draw in enough pure energy with level 3 spirit stones. You will need level 4 spirit stones to achieve perfect grade channels and meridians. This is absolutely necessary for you to gather enough energy in the fourth stage and even have the slightest chance of finishing it. Unless everything is perfect, then you will not complete your cores in time. With perfect grade channels you just might if the heavens continue favoring you and that is with stuffing you full of resources that would make even an Immortal feel the cost and spew blood from their mouth.” That was a very graphic description. One did not call on immortals in jest. It was clear the Sect Leader was annoyed at me, or at how many resources I needed.

“That is why starting tomorrow you will train in the martial way with Martial Elder Lei. You will do everything he says without complaint.”

“Yes Master,” I replied, and the Sect Leader nodded.

“While I will front the cost of the force chamber myself, since it can be used by the sect if you are successful, I estimate that it will take four level 4 spirit stones per channel and meridian pair. That would mean you would need 5,216 level 4 spirit stones in total to get you perfect meridians and channels.” I nodded at this.

“You will train for a year, then you will hunt. You will need 1,200 level 3 spirit stones to purchase refined level 6 beast essence. Also, you will need to wage single handed war on the beasts. I will ensure a trade ratio of 11 to 1 for level 3 spirit cores for level 4 spirit cores. The difference is because the higher the level the more value it possess than just 10 of the lesser core. Since other people want Perfect grade channels.”

I nodded at this. “Yes, Master.”

“It is impossible for you to kill level 4 beasts and killing that many would cause issues. But the higher level beasts don’t care about level 3 beasts. Kill them all, well away from the sect. If you survive, then it was destined to be. If you die, that is on you. Try to avoid a beast tide, since that will be your death.” I nodded at this. I was once again being tossed out to see if I would live or die.

“With the Astral Soul Stabilizer now in place, you will train in the sect for one year. Until you become one with your blade your former Master gave you. You will become so good with it, that you will make Martial Elder Lei acknowledge you.” I gulped a bit at this and the harsh tone.

“Yes, Master,” I replied.

“Once the year is over, you will go kill and cultivate. Kill and cultivate. The only thing in that spatial ring you will possess will be beast cores. A low rank ring like that should be able to contain 2,000 cores. For your first trip, do not come back until it is filled up. You can fill it up with any level of core, but it must be filled. I expect this task to be completed in one year. You will return and your progress in both hunting and cultivation will be assessed. I sense you are concerned, speak.”

“That seems, like a lot,” I said. That meant killing around 7 to 8 beasts per day.

“It is. You will probably incur a beast tide or two in the wilderness and die horribly. But I have decided to adopt the mentality of Elder Li Fu and Elder Healer Meihui. If I am going to take you seriously and not toss you out of this sect as a joke. Then I will make sure you succeed or die trying. While your death is likely, if it happens, then your path of defiance was not meant to be and the heavens stopped favoring you.” There was a long pause as I didn’t know what to say to that. The Sect Leader then spoke up again.

“You can also give up. Just hand in your sect badge at any time. I will let you leave without crippling your cultivation and you will owe nothing to the sect.” My eyes went wide at this. “You think anyone else other than the Cloudy Moon Sect would take you? If they did, I would laugh at them.”

“Even the Imperial Sect, if you went there and somehow became a favorite of an Immortal, you would still be laughed at. You would be called a pig for how many resources you need. Your cultivation is absurd to such a degree it makes me feel ill thinking about what you have done. How many elders this sect could have with the resources you will consume.”

“But if you succeed. Then even I dread to think of what could happen. It is not widely known, but immortality is very, very rare. There are only six known immortals. Two from the Imperial Sect. Two from the Blazing Sun Sect. A wandering immortal. And the beast immortal. A seventh immortal would shake the continent. But that is a big if. The number of obstacles in your path is immense Yuan Zhou.”

“I understand Master. Thank you for your guidance,” I replied and bowed my head. He let out a sigh.

“I am harsh on you, because I wish for you to succeed and believe you can take the pressure.”

“I am not upset Master. I am the opposite. I am grateful. It is nice to know that I can put my trust in you and the other elders for my path,” I replied with a smile. They wanted me to succeed for their mad science. Even if it was mad science, success was still success.

“That is good. I will also have Elder Liu Chen look for something else other than a celestial Dao fragment that can be used for Mind Cultivation. As for his channel idea, I will leave that to you. Just be aware, null metal and a focusing crystals are very rare treasures. Just one step below a celestial Dao fragment. I will let you decide if you are willing to take that risk. But so you know, Liu Chen is a genius in cultivation methods, that even the Imperial Sect has acknowledged him. The balance between three cultivation methods would be amazing to see. Now go and show up to the martial hall in the morning.” It truly a mad scientist sect.

“Yes Master, thank you Master,” I said and left his office. I could understand where the Sect Leader was coming from. The number of resources I needed was massive. But it felt good to have these elders backing me up. Also, even the Sect Leader was a bit of mad scientist at heart, wanting to see what was possible.

I didn’t understand much about Dao concepts, but the comment from Elder Healer Meihui indicated that I was a source of inspiration for them to keep moving forward on their path to immortality.

Also, they were probably a bit bored. I was drama incarnate for them and it was about cultivation, so everyone got a bit excited about my path. So, they were willing to part with some assistance and a tiny bit of resources if I kept moving forward. The fact I came back from the astral plane with an astral shard was enough to get them to buy into me.

The hunting would be a test and to push me to gather resources quickly. The number of beast cores I needed was immense. I would have to go deep into the forest far from the sect and live off the land. I would need a self-filling water bottle and a portable stove that ran on level 1 spirit stones.

I would have to cook beast meat. I would need to look that up and see the best way and if there was anything special, I should do. I would also need beast hiding, repellant, and lure. Well, it was a good thing that rank 2 spirit bars were being stacked up in Cloudy Moon City.

I got one rank 2 spirit bar every ten carts of ore. In three and a half years and the other 6 spirit mines being under my companies management at 5%, that meant I got about 200 rank 2 spirit bars every year. In three and a half years that would translate to 700 bars.

That was a massive amount. Normally each one would cost about 10 sect contribution points. Most of it went towards cultivating the earth element. I would need to discuss with my Master about trading the bars for contribution points to buy alchemical hunting products and possibly a second low rank spatial storage ring.

Using my new authority, I had been able to find out how much one cost and what my sword cost. The low rank spatial ring would come in around 20,000 sect contribution points. The sword would cost 50,000 sect contribution points. That included everything from the materials to the sheath and the creation process.

I was hoping to get a line of credit from the Sect Leader for a second spatial ring. It would really help with bringing all the supplies I would need, which included a lot of alchemical products.

The following day I went to the martial hall first thing in the morning. Martial Elder Lei showed up right after I did and brought me outside the building to a large sand arena that was in a depression in the ground.

He tossed me a wooden sword, which was the same weight and length of the sword my former Master Yi Rong gave me. “Watch me,” Martial Elder Lei said. He had a wooden blade of his own and did a series of movements. He then repeated it twice more, slower each time. Then he turned towards me.

“Sword techniques must flow. These strikes are the most basic strikes, the seven strikes. The overhead slash. The thrust. The four side slashes. The upward slash. As a cultivator speed is our ally. Striking quickly and dodging is key. You will do each of these properly a thousand times every day. The first will be as good as the last. Begin, I will correct you if there are issues.”

I began moving the wooden sword in the same movements and stepping just like Martial Elder Lei had. “Turn your foot slightly when you strike.” He poked it with his wooden sword. I fixed that and repeated the move.

After a bit, I had them down. “Good, keep it up in this corner of the training area and don’t stop until you get to 1,000. You can start counting now. If you are sloppy at any time I check on you, then the count will go back to zero.”

“Yes Martial Elder Lei,” I replied and kept up the strikes, making sure they were perfect even if I had to be a bit slower than what I could do. I needed to get my form down, so it was second nature.

It took nine hours to finish. I was mentally and physically exhausted at the end. If it wasn’t for my cultivation strengthening me, this would have been impossible. Even with my cultivation, it was a struggle to complete the movements correctly at a decent pace. “Good job for the day. Get ready to do it tomorrow,” Martial Elder Lei said, and I left. No wonder why no one followed the martial path in this sect. I couldn’t think of anything but how to keep my body movements perfect. I couldn’t even cultivate.

I had dinner and got back to my room. I forced myself to cultivate for ten hours. Before I was forced to stop when I almost made a mistake. I fell asleep.

I woke up as the morning bell sounded across the sect, right before dawn and the start of the day. I slowly dragged myself to get breakfast feeling exhausted and then out to the sand pit. I picked up my wooden sword and carefully got into position. I did one set very slowly to make sure I remembered correctly and began doing them, over and over again.

After the first week, Martial Elder Lei gave me a different order to practice the strikes every day, so I could flow between each attack form. My cultivation was also progressing. After a month I increased the number of aligned motes, until I could do 20 at the same time in 30 minutes. It was a mental issue, not an issue with the Astral Soul Stabilizer that forced me to stick to 20.

Even so, that was 1 mote every 1.5 minutes. That was 400 per day. I would end up completing 138,000 over the course of the year, putting me at 228,000 motes. It would take me about 11 more years to complete the second stage at this rate. I would be around 36 years old then.

The Sect Leader called me for another meeting three months into my martial training and Elder Liu Chen was there as well. “Amazing progress, and you say the limit is your mind, not the number of motes?”

“Yes, Elder Liu Chen.”

“That bodes quite well. Quite well indeed.” The Sect Leader gave a light cough. “Ah yes. Well, you see I have been looking into the issue of Mind Cultivation. As the Sect Leader rightly pointed out, getting a celestial Dao fragment is impossible.”

“It would have been the best choice of course. But I considered other options and reached out to a contact of mine. Well, they clued me into the option of using a Pill of Peace. It will allow your mind, body, and soul to connect to the energies around you naturally. Not as good as a celestial dao fragment, but still a rank 6 pill.”

“The main ingredients would be a blue moon orchid, a red sun rose, and a green ocean lily. To tie your soul, body, and mind together. The ingredients are rare, but it is fairly easy to make. Once you have all of that. Even I could make the Pill of Peace without much fuss.”

“Thank you, Elder Liu Chen. You did excellent work,” the Sect Leader said.

“Of course, I did. Normally a Pill of Peace is used to soothe mental damage, but the effects on lower stage cultivators are quite interesting. Perhaps we should grow these plants? They might have other properties.”

“It will be considered.” After that Elder Liu Chen left, the Sect Leader looked at me for a bit before speaking.

“What he didn’t say was that the ingredients are not simple. A blue moon orchid is something only found in the wild during a clear night with a full moon. You can look for one while you are hunting. A special plant collection case will be provided. The elder was right, if you can get two, that would be for the best so we can try growing a few in the sect.” I wanted to cry at that request.

“The second ingredient, a red sun rose, is a specialty product of the Blazing Sun Sect. They use it to strengthen their physical foundations for their cultivators. They jealously guard their monopoly. They grow in the desert during the hottest days. You will have to make a trip to their sect to purchase one. I will leave the details to you, but around 1,000 level 1 spirit stones sounds about right in terms of price.”

“That will be difficult since we are aligned with the Imperial Sect. Still, your vast amount of level 2 spirit bars should be quite useful to trade with.” I wanted an extra spatial ring instead, but it appeared that wasn’t going to happen.

“A green ocean lily is probably the most difficult. They grow deep in the ocean around the continent, but at that depth you will be crushed or the rank 5 fish will eat you. Or the rank 8 sharks will nibble on you a bit. Still, with a bit of luck and the heavens watching over you, you should be able to get one. You have a question?”

“How will I survive the crushing depths?” I asked hesitantly.

“No clue,” the Sect Leader said while staring at me intently. “But occasionally a green ocean lily washes ashore. About one every five to ten years. They are incredibly valuable. Since it is a key ingredient for the Pill of Peace and very useful for mind cultivators and healing mental issues.”

“If you want to pursue a three-pronged path to cultivation, then you need to get a blue moon orchid, red sun rose, green ocean lily, and 1,200 level 3 spirit stones to get refined level 6 beast essence. All of that would allow you to finish up your second stage of cultivation. I have no idea how you would get a green lily or find a blue moon orchid.”

“You said a green ocean lily is sold occasionally?” I asked.

“Yes, but the price has always been very high. It is valued as a rank 7 ingredient even if it only rank 6 due to its rarity and use in mind cultivation. If you wish to purchase one, then you would need 20,000 level 3 spirit stones to even be considered instead of the Imperial Sect.” I wanted to cry at that amount.

“I suspect it will take you years to gather the 2,000 spirit stones I told you to gather after your training. And you already need 57,376 level 3 spirit stones for your third stage, not counting the additional materials I know you plan to find somewhere to carve out that insane channel design. That is already an astronomical amount. Your fourth stage of Core Formation will be even worse. But if you even reach that stage, it will be quite impressive.”

I almost wanted to go back in time and yell at my younger self for choosing this path of defiance. I knew cultivation cost a lot, but apparently my cultivation was continent ending in terms of resources needed. The more the Sect Leader explained to me, the more despair I felt. The only thing I could do was keep aiming for the best and do my absolute best.

That meant not just coasting by. But actually thinking. That was the hardest part of getting a PhD. Not the research but thinking an original thought. Doing something like that wasn’t simple by any means and incredibly difficult. I did it once with AI traffic control, I would do it again for my cultivation, over and over until I could go no further.

Just getting through the second stage of Foundation Establishment, was something I thought would be resolved by the Astral Soul Stabilizer. But I just had to open my mouth and things had become even more complex. Even ignoring all that, the fourth stage of Core Formation, loomed larger and larger in my future. It really was the great bottleneck for cultivators.

“I understand. I will find a way and look up information about those plants in preparation for my departure,” I replied, not daring to complain.

“This brings up the final topic that we need to discuss. As my personal disciple, and the sect disciple. You will be the mascot for this sect. This means that your presence and interactions carry weight to them with other cultivators and sects. Even those at a higher rank than you. I am a rank eight cultivator, and you have a soul lantern.”

“Any mid level sect will understand this and what it means. But a low level sect without proper history might not. There will be complicated situations outside the sect. You may defend yourself of course, but be aware that if you kill a cultivator and enmity is created with another sect, I will be annoyed. Very annoyed.”

“Yes Master,” I replied and nodded. The Sect Leader gave me a slow nod.

“Make sure that you do. We are not a martial sect Yuan Zhou and our standing is not high. But you may hold your head high and not let yourself be bullied. The Cloudy Moon Sect has a long and proud history since the dawn of the third age. Your decision making appears to be sound based on your history besides your insane cultivation choices, but there is a reason most sects prefer cultivators to settle their personalities before sending them out. Why do you think that is?”

“Rashness can lead to harsh words and then a death and then a cycle of revenge. Which will then involve higher stage cultivators,” I replied. That was something I had read long ago when I was just a kid learning about cultivators.

“Good. Keep that in mind. Be polite, but do not get taken advantage of. The Cloudy Moon Sect might be near the bottom of the mid-rank sects, but it has a rich history and a large roster of elders. Show the sect in a good light.” I nodded at this. “Now, do you have anything to bring up or ask of me?”

“Master, I was wondering about recruiting mortals to help with gathering beast cores. To purposely trigger a beast side to collect a large number of cores,” I suggested. I was hoping one of my ideas would get some traction and possibly offset the headache of getting the resources I needed.

“What you are suggesting is a large-scale extermination expedition. There is efficiency in such a tactic. But the risk quickly rises that a level 4 beast or higher will show up. Then you will die. You best bet is to move quickly and kill beasts in the wilderness. Moving from beast to beast, not lingering. Tracking them down and killing them.”

“Is that even possible for someone of my rank? How would I track the beasts?” I asked, since all hunting techniques involved lures as far as I was aware.

“No idea. But if you stay in one place you will either hunt too slowly, or be overwhelmed,” the Sect Leader explained. “What, you thought this would be easy?”

“No Master. What about business? I know the Sect produces Spirit Wine to sell to other sects. Perhaps that process can be improved and made more efficient,” I suggested. The Sect Leader shook his head slowly.

“I know of your talent for business. But the problem is not one of production. But one of demand. Spirit wine can get cultivators drunk. But cultivators rarely drink. We have tried selling to rich mortals, but they only have so much money. We have been strengthening the wine over centuries to sell to more senior cultivators. But they rarely drink.”

“Most cultivators do not indulge. To reach the lofty heights of an elder, extreme focus and dedication is required. Unfortunately, there is no drunk path to cultivation. But if you can solve our financial problems, I am more than willing to listen and evaluate them.”

“The sect has financial problems?” I asked.

“All sects have financial problems. Everyone and their ancestors want resources. There are only so many resources to go around.”

I sat there for a minute thinking carefully about the economy between cultivators. “You said there are beasts in the water? Rank 5 fish? Rank 8 sharks? Are they like beasts or are they beasts of the land that have just changed form?” I asked. The only source of spirit stones were beasts, no other animal could cultivate as far as I knew.

“They are beasts of the land that have gone into ocean. At rank 5, beasts can change their form and adapt to different environments. There is a lot of energy out in the ocean, but that just means there are higher rank beasts swimming out there.” That ruled out farming fish or something similar.

“Have there been any attempts to replicate what the beasts do in an artificial manner?” I asked.

“Yes, condensing formations. The problem is where to set them up? If you set them up in a sect or a mortal city, then it will cause issues with cultivation and people’s lives. In the wilderness the beasts would sense them and attack.”

“Even if you dug deep underground to make a chamber. Or tried to soar to the skies, the energy is that of the heavens and the earth. Not one or the other, but both. The mix of various types of energy are what makes beast cores suitable for human cultivation and why most don’t soar to the sky or go too deep into the depths. Also, such formations can’t be close together for the same reason that beasts improve more quickly when there are less of them.”

“Something that is ancient history. But the beast immortal came to be, once a huge purge of beasts was done. Their own competition limits them far more than humans killing them.”

That shut down several ideas I had. “What about refining iron into steel?” I asked.

“That is a monopoly of the Imperial sect.” Well, that answer ruled that idea right out.

“What about a place like the astral plane, to get valuable items for trade? Or perhaps training up mortals to become cultivators to gather resources?” I asked. The Sect Leader was quiet for a while before responding.

“I question your survival instinct. That was a death sentence you know. Before rank 5, going to the astral plane is incredibly risky, it is almost certain. And even after that there is risk. For you to have come back alive, is impossible. I can see where your thoughts are leading. To be so smart, yet so foolish,” the Sect Leader let out a sigh. I was quiet as he continued.

“This does not go beyond this room. Not even to other members of the sect. If this gets out, there would be huge repercussions.”

“Yes Master, I will swear to keep quiet,” I replied, curious what he was about to tell me.

“The knowledge is something that has been passed down, since the foundation of the Cloudy Moon Sect at the dawn of the third age over 200,000 years ago. I only tell you this, so you understand the danger of your line of thinking and where it is headed.”

“If you ever visit the Capitol, you will see wonders that the Imperial Sect has built. Marvels of technology and cultivation. But that knowledge isn’t spread or allowed to spread. There are limits. One cultivator killing beasts, and gathering resources is fine.”

“It would be easy to push pills into people and get them to live for a thousand years once they reach the fourth stage, but with no hope of going through. But this isn’t widespread. The same with many other things that raise up large groups of mortals to the ranks of cultivators and allow them to live longer.”

“Qi, the energy of the heavens and the earth is finite.” What?! That was incredibly hard to understand with everything I knew, and I kept listening.

“While you see motes floating about, there is also residual energy in the air. Beasts draw this in and to a far lesser extent other materials. The high-ranking sects don’t want the number of cultivators to increase, but they also want the number of immortals to increase.”

There was silence as he allowed me to process this. “But how limited? There were motes everywhere I went?” I could see motes of Qi even now in the Sect Leader’s office.

“Yes, since the Cloudy Moon Sect manages their territory quite well along with most other sects. But if all the energy was sucked out of the air, there would be still births. Deformities from births. More health issues in mortals. The beasts would also become enraged and the higher ranking beasts would act. There is a total cap on resources Disciple Yuan Zhou. Not just the ones you can see, but the very energy of the continent itself.”

“But then why keep this a secret?” I asked.

“I ask that myself quite often. But the high-ranking sects and the immortals running them cannot be questioned. Even me, a rank 8 cultivator with millennia of knowledge and experience, is nothing but a mewling child in front of them. I have neither the authority to meet or question them in any way.”

“You were playing in a small pond with your little businesses. But the high-ranking sects are much stricter. Training cultivators just to stop at the fourth rank is forbidden. Or even partially allowing mortals to cultivate for the purpose of allowing them to live longer. They want more immortals but not widespread innovation. Only innovation in cultivation techniques. I do not know why, and cannot question such things.”

“Then trying to start a business to earn what I need will be difficult,” I said, and the Sect leader nodded at this.

“You would need the Imperial Sect to sign off on whatever plan you have if it touches their bottom line about the energy of the heavens and the earth. But to even get an audience with one of their elders is not something you can do. I can do it, but it is not simple. The waters of the Imperial sect are deep and incredibly dangerous.”

“No training up an army to go out and kill beasts. If you want to do anything on a large scale, then you need my approval. Consider this a direct order as the Sect Leader and as your Master.”

“I understand Master,” I replied with a heavy voice. I just felt incredibly defeated. I had so many ideas to make money, or spirit stones, but they just weren’t possible. “Anything the old monsters like?” I asked a bit petulantly.

“As an old monster myself, no. We are aesthetic monks with singular focus on cultivation for the most part to reach this point with limited vices, beyond excessive cultivation. However, if you prove yourself in gathering materials for your second stage to complete your cultivation, there exists a possibility. An incredibly dangerous possibility, but if you can prove yourself in combat, then I will sponsor it.” I looked at the Sect Leader in curiosity.

“The Firmament is vast and endless. Leaving the continent and its shelter is a grave risk. You would be less than a bug and could easily be squashed. But the chance of finding rare materials you can use or trade for your cultivation is much greater out there.”

“With risk comes reward,” I replied.

“Exactly. Preferably we would wait until the fourth stage when you can use techniques. But the requirements for your third stage are massive. The only option for you to progress is to toss you out into deep waters. If you are truly blessed by the heavens, I am sure you can figure out a path forward. You will probably die horribly, but then you won’t be my problem anymore.” He confirmed what I already knew and was being hammered into my head. Either I would succeed, or I would no longer be a problem.

“Thank you, Sect Master, you have given me much to think on.” I was dismissed after that and went to my room. What a joke of a continent. I let out a long frustrated sigh as I collapsed onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. I would be upset today, and then start thinking of solutions tomorrow.

Chapter 26 – The Extractor

The Sect Leader looked over my proposal. It was expensive to build, but if I was going out to hunt beasts, I needed to move quickly. That meant a device to quickly extract cores. I could locate them, but the higher level beasts were tougher. I couldn’t just plunge my hand into them like rank 1 beasts.

That was why I had been spending time on research and looking at how the extractors were actually built. My idea was to create a revolutionary design to make the process much easier and then sell it to the Imperial Sect, with the hope of licensing it.

The base extractor was just a Qi sensing rod attached to a drill. There was a tiny formation connecting the gauge to the rod. It was fairly simple and difficult to damage. The formation could wear out over time, which would cause issues. That was what had happened to hunter Xiaotong’s old core extractor.

Since I needed to move quickly from beast to beast while hunting them, I couldn’t afford to linger around trying to force my small child hand into their large bodies. Rank 3 beasts were about the size of a car. I guess I could use my sword, but I also wanted something I could sell and make a lot of money on.

My hope was that I could get my foot into the Imperial Sect with my idea. That would be the opening I needed to go after more wealth that they were hording along with the other old monsters across various sects. I knew exactly what was needed and I had thought about it before. See a need, fill a need.

My new design for an extractor, was a thin sensing rod, wrapped up in spirit metal with various formations on it. It would also be counted as a weapon in a sense. The design was simple. It would use thin layers of force to separate a cylinder of space in front of it by its surroundings. On the backside was a formation that tied the rod to a small light that would be fueled by the spirit stone to indicate when it was pointed at core, instead of needle.

A level 1 spirit stone was used to power the device, but since it only was on intermittingly, it could last for a hundred uses with a level 1 spirit stone. The spirit stone was underneath a screwed-on cap, so it wouldn’t easily fall out when in use.

My reserves of spirit stones and spirit ore had been spent creating and paying for the initial design of the Cylinder Extractor as I called it to a formation master in the sect. The design of the formations was quite complex, which was why there was such a large initial cost. The Sect Leader was looking over the device along with the creation and instruction manual I had included with it.

“Quite clever. Using force to create a sheering plane. Also, quite a deadly weapon. But it won’t hurt anything above rank 2.”

“But a wounded and dying beast, will be struggling to maintain their defense. Beasts require focus to maintain their power and durability. That is why wounding them and then extracting their core is possible for mortals,” I countered, and the Sect Leader nodded.

“You want to use this, which is fine. But I suspect there is something else,” he added.

“Yes. I want to try and get a license, patent, or permission from the Imperial Sect to sell this design far and wide.” The Sect Leader spun the Cylinder Extractor in his hands. “I haven’t read about or seen such a device during my travels.” That sounded like good news, but I was still worried.

“It is unique, but the base cost, would be two level 1 spirit stones for the materials. Another three to pay a person to make this and distribution. Then the price is set to six spirit stones, you would get one spirit stone let’s say and then it takes a spirit stone every hundred uses. It won’t be allowed beyond the sect.” What?!

“You can use it for yourself as a one-off device and we can sell it within the sect. So, it isn’t a waste. But the fact it consumes spirit stones means it is something that won’t be allowed to be sold. The various devices that use spirit stones that we make are limited to sect members. The current drilling device uses the energy in the heavens and the earth for the barest of purposes combined with the Qi Sensing Rod to function.”

“This is an active device, therefore it can’t be mass marketed to mortals or to cultivators,” the Sect Leader explained and set it back on his desk in front of me.

“I couldn’t even trade in the design to the Imperial Sect?” I asked hopefully.

“You could and would get a paltry fifty level 1 spirit stones at best for this idea. A fortune to other starting cultivators. But they most likely already have a design like this and wouldn’t pay you anything. I have seen similar weapons that the Imperial Sect has.” The Sect Leader shook his head. “A remarkable tool, but ultimately pointless.”

I picked it up feeling disappointed. It was a still a useful device to quickly get a core out of a beast and to stop it from breaking down as a beast died. “I had another idea. Before investing in it, I would hear your opinion first,” I told the Sect Leader. He nodded at this. The Cylinder Extractor was something I could use myself. My next idea was something that would be only useful for selling.

“A three-dimensional projection of light, that a person could look at their cultivation.” The Sect Leader smiled at me. “What? They already have something like that?”

“Yes, they do my disciple.” I wanted to puke blood at this.

“Since it uses spirit stones, it isn’t widely spread,” I muttered.

“Indeed. Some elders want me to purchase such a device, but we are a poor sect,” he said. I looked at the Sect Leader with exasperation. “I felt the same way as you. I came up with several ideas myself. But they had all been thought of before and horded by the Imperial Sect.”

I collapsed back into my chair. I had felt for sure that my idea was something I could sell to sects and make lots of spirit stones. “This is impossible,” I muttered.

“Indeed. The market for cultivator goods is quite stagnant. The high-ranking sects maintain their monopoly on anything that isn’t one off and hand crafted. Also, raw materials or really basic items, like spirit wine.”

“And raw materials are constrained by heaven and earth,” I realized. Another limitation on the production of spirit wine.

“Exactly.”

“This energy, where does it come from, or go? Since it clearly the bottleneck, is there something that can be done?” I asked.

“That knowledge is held by the high-ranking sects. I have investigated myself, since it is rumored as the path to breaking past the second bottleneck. I suspect it has to do with how much energy the continent as a whole can draw from the Firmament. But that is just speculation.”

“What exactly is the Firmament? I have heard that, but it isn’t a world, since it is endless and infinite?” I asked. I started wondering about the topology of this world when I had first traveled across the continent after being in the astral plane. I wasn’t in a place to ask questions and hadn’t been too concerned at the time.

“It is where the continent resides. I have gone beyond the continent once into the wider Firmament, and almost died. That is how I have managed to reach rank 8. Many elders leave and never return.” He wanted to send me out there as a rank 3?!

“The Firmament is existence itself. The boundary between order and chaos. Those are the words that are said. But true knowledge and more detailed information, would require one to be an immortal,” the Sect Leader explained. “Life and death can happen by accident. We are but specks of dust drifting along. But that is something we can work out if you reach rank 3. Now, your other preparations?”

“They are completed Master. It would be helpful if I could have a second spatial ring.” He smiled and shook his head. “Then, Martial Elder Lei just needs to sign off on my progress. He has issued no rebukes or complaints and I have diligently trained.”

“He has told me as much. You are free to depart in a month. The remaining month you will be instructed in the Parting Cloud Sword style by elder Yi Meifeng. I see you have one more question. Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Master. I was wondering about the path of triple cultivation. I have seen references to a Dao and a path. If I make past the bottleneck, how will it all come togeather?” I asked.

“Completely unknown. Well perhaps the high ranking sects know. But the higher stages of cultivation are about understanding your cultivation on a deeper level. Your three-path cultivation of mind, body, and soul has a lot of potential, but only if you aren’t ripped apart by getting the resources you need, and getting passed the bottleneck.” The Sect Leader shook his head. “Just getting to Core Formation is going to be a struggle, and then getting past the first bottleneck is a whole other challenge. Worrying about the later stages won’t help you disciple and will only distract you at this point in time. Is there anything else disciple?”

“No Master,” I replied.

“You are dismissed disciple,” the Sect Leader said. I got up and bowed my head towards him before leaving his office with my Cylinder Extractor and the booklets I had written up.

What a disappointment. I really needed to take a look into the Imperial Sect once I left and began my travels in earnest. This trip wouldn’t be that long. Since the goal would be to get enough level 3 beast cores to pay for the level 6 refined beast essence. I had a time limit of one year. But the Sect Leader had made several statements that he thought it would take me longer.

I wanted to see how deep these waters were for myself. To see if there was any kind of market I could break into and get wealth without risking life and limb.

The next morning, I greeted by elder Yi Meifeng instead of Martial Elder Lei and his massive muscles. “The Parting Cloud Sword style can only be fully expressed with cutting techniques. I have been told you have mastered the basic movements. Show me,” she commanded.

I quickly went through each slash and thrust. “Acceptable. No hesitation and you flow between each form without issue. As you climb up the ranks, form becomes more important. The power you exert can strain and damage your body if you aren’t careful.”

“Techniques are created by pushing out your energy, which is only possible at the fourth stage and above. But in the fourth stage this will slow down your cultivation progress. Still, having the sword forms down is important if you ever wish to use such techniques without injury. Watch closely as I demonstrate.”

Yi Meifeng, lunged, bringing her sword up from pointing at the ground towards the sky in one fluid motion. “That is the first form.” She then went back to a neutral stance before repeating it once more. A bright beam of energy left her sword, sailing across the training yard. The sand was parted. A bright white barrier appeared at the far wall of the training courtyard blocking the energy that was imparted into the attack.

“That is the first form with a technique behind it. Now watch as I demonstrate the other two forms.” The second form consisted of a very wide horizontal slash, where the sword was behind her and brought all the way around to her other side. The last form consisted of thrust and twist of the sword. When a technique was used it punched deeply into the sand.

Those forms matched up with the instruction manual my first Master, Yi Rong had left me. “There are only three forms to this sword style. Questions disciple?”

“Why the exaggerated movements elder?” I asked.

“To gather energy and aim. It can be improved with practice, like all techniques. But the base forms are necessary along with mastering the technique before you seek to improve upon them. Now demonstrate them.”

I repeated each form slowly and carefully, making sure I got them right. “Decent, but you need to move faster. If you reach the fourth rank, feel free to seek me out for further instruction to combine energy as part of your techniques,” she said and then immediately left. That was sudden. But she probably felt this was a waste of time and had been imposed on by the Sect Leader.

Getting into position I carefully went through each form in the corner of the training yard. In the past year I had very rarely seen Martial Elder Lei instruct some members in techniques and fighting style. I couldn’t wait to hit rank 4, so I could unleash rock walls and pressurized beams of water that cut through things, like a hot knife through butter.

The month quickly went by, and I departed the sect with a pack of supplies for living in the wilderness, my sword at my side, and my spatial ring with two carrying cases in case I somehow found some blue moon orchids.

It didn’t escape my notice, that I wouldn’t get anything for finding an extra one and that it was expected to a certain extent. I was being used to get resources from the wilderness for the sect. I was also being supported quite a bit. So, I couldn’t exactly complain. Just an annoying position to be in.

My carriage arrived in Half Moon City. I was taking a couple of days in the city to visit my family and attend to my business before moving on. My carriage pulled up in front the Yuan family estate. I was twenty-five years old, and I had aligned 260,000 motes. I needed hurry to get my resources for my cultivation in the next five years to go with the three-path cultivation plan. The Sect Leader had insisted I not slow down, no matter what.

This was something he was insistent on. Since the fourth stage would take forever. If I couldn’t get the resources, I would just cultivate using the soul method, without body or mind cultivation methods. I wanted to be the best. Even with the setbacks, I had experienced, that still hadn’t changed.

I still looked like I was 12 years old and that wasn’t going to change for a long time. At least I didn’t look like 8 years old. But it was still annoying. My father, first brother, and my mother were waiting outside for me. There were other family members, but I didn’t care about them. The simple fact was that my extended family was too big to worry about each and every one of them.

I had let my family know ahead of time when I was arriving.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou, it is an honor,” my brother spoke first as patriarch and bowed his head deeply, along with the rest of my family.

“Patriarch Yuan Yun, it is good to see you. Father, mother,” I greeted them. She rushed forward and gave me a hug. I gave her a light hug back, making sure to be careful with my strength.

“I have missed you so, my genius son.” She let me go. I could see some age lines around her eyes. My father came forward. He had a lot more wrinkles and a lot of his hair was graying.

“My son. It is good to see you. After the wedding we were worried. I am glad everything is well,” my father came over and gave me a hug.

“As well as things can be father.”

“How is he a cultivator? He is my age?” Yuan Yun’s eldest son, Yuan Zhu, said. He was only ten years old. When he was three, I had left for the sect. Everyone winced at his statement. It was incredibly rude, and I could see my brother paling a bit. I raised up my hand to stop anyone else from speaking.

“I am your uncle Yuan Zhou. A genius under the heavens and a cultivator of the second rank of the Cloudy Moon Sect and the personal disciple of the Sect Leader himself.” Several people stumbled backwards in shock. There was even a dramatic gasp from my mother. “By the time I was your age, I was making more money than the entire Yuan family combined and had progressed my cultivation quite far.”

“That is why I look like this. My aging has slowed as I search for the path to immortality. It is a sign of my prowess and ability. I have journeyed to the astral plane and across the continent, fighting enemy and demonic cultivators.”

“Bow!” his father slapped him on the back of the head, and he quickly bowed.

“My apologies master cultivator,” he quickly said.

“It is forgotten. Now I am told we have a family dinner tomorrow and my sister will be in attendance?” I asked.

“Yes, it has been arranged for tomorrow,” my brother said.

“I am sorry for the imposition, but I will not be in the city for long. It would be nice to see everyone while I am here and my other nephew and niece,” I replied.

“It is good to have you all back,” my mother said with another dramatic sigh and brought up a handkerchief to the corner of her eye. Wait?! That was an actual tear. She had somehow learned to cry on command. I was seriously impressed. If there was a cultivation path of drama, my mother would be an immortal already.

“Come let us retire. I heard a rumor you went on an adventure,” my father said.

“Indeed, I went to the astral plain to recover an astral shard for my cultivation. The worst part was the long journey back from the other side of the continent, not the astral beasts,” I replied. I followed my close family into the estate. The rest of them dispersed.

The next day my sister showed up early with her family. “Brother,” she said and rushed forward and hugged me.

“Sister,” I replied and hugged her back.

“I was so worried. I heard you disappeared.”

“Just a small visit to the astral plane for a small adventure,” I said with a smile. She lightly slapped me on my arm.

“Silly brother. Making me worry. Let me introduce you to your nephew and niece,” she said.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” her husband Yao Yang greeted me with a deep bow.

“Yao Yang, you have been treating my sister well?” I asked while glaring up at him. He paled a bit.

“Of course, like a princess,” he quickly replied.

“Brother don’t pick on my husband,” my sister said and lightly bonked me on the head. “I am your big sister after all.”

“Really, you are going there?” I glared at her.

“Yes. The only thing I have beat my genius brother in. Height,” she said with a grin. I rolled my eyes. Servants escorted her two kids forward. “This is my son Yao Zhou,” she said.

“Really?” I asked.

“My husband was insistent along with his parents. Hopefully he inherits some of your genius,” she replied. “Your niece Yao Lan.”

“A great beauty like her mother,” I replied with a smile as I looked at both kids.

“You tease brother. Also, I have something for you,” she replied. A servant came forward and removed a cloth cover revealing a framed portrait of the four of us. Our youngest dead sister was something we never talked about. She had died young and had been forgotten. I felt a pang of sadness at that, but it was the way of people to move on. The portrait was about the size of pillow. Our father, mother, and then both of us. “I have developed some skill in the painting arts after constantly being asked what I painted for you.”

“It is lovely,” I replied. “You captured my glare perfectly.” My sister giggled at that.

“Of course. You are always so serious.”

“Thank you, I love it. Still not as good as your first piece of art,” I replied with a grin. My sister let out a huff.

“Silly brother. Has anyone praised it?” she asked out of curiosity.

“Well, the Sect Leader did say that it is one of the most unique pieces of art he has ever seen,” I replied.

“No! He didn’t.” She blushed heavily and covered her face with her hands.

“Yes. I showed it to him, to get his opinion one time. It made him chuckle,” I replied. He had also rolled his eyes and told me to stop creating pointless trouble.

“You are evil brother. Pure evil,” she replied.

“You have to show me this painting. It has reached legendary status. What is it exactly?” her husband got enough courage to ask.

“Don’t you dare brother!”

“All I will say, is that my sister, channeled all her genius into one drawing. All others pale in comparison and words can’t do it justice. So great is the drawing, that even an Immortal would be moved by the sight,” I replied. I could tell my sister was holding back giggles at what I was saying.

“Hmm, you sure do like to tease. I guess I will be left forever wondering,” Yao Yang said. I resisted from glaring at him. I was talking to my sister, but he was her husband. It would make her unhappy if I got annoyed with him.

The following day after the family dinner the day before, I went to see Zheng Ting my senior director for Zhou Holding Company Limited. There was no big welcome this time, since I didn’t want a fuss. I went to her office and looked over the reports she had prepared.

“You are keeping things stable,” I finally said after looking through her reports. There had been no expansion, but no losses either.

“Yes, Cultivator Yuan Zhou. That seemed like the best option moving forward.” I let out a long sigh. This was pocket change compared to the amount I truly needed. It was daunting how much I needed. Mortal businesses just didn’t have the market to support a cultivator, especially one as demanding as me. It was like trying to trade pennies one at a time to get a billion dollars. It was too slow and painful. Also, there weren’t enough pennies in circulation to make a billion dollars.

“I need a lot of money Zheng Ting, a lot. My cultivation requires resources in large amounts,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“How much are we talking about?” she asked. I chuckled softly.

“A conservative estimate, to reach the start of rank 4, I need six billion tael.” That wasn’t counting special materials I needed to find. There was utter silence at that.

“Six billion?” she asked, just to confirm the number.

“About that much. Or six million, rank 1 spirit stones,” I said with a strained smile to lighten the mood.

“That’s quite a lot. I wouldn’t know where to being,” Zheng Ting replied softly.

“I am going out into the wilderness to hunt beasts. But even then, it will be difficult to get enough. And that is not even counting rank 4.” I shook my head. The words of the Sect Leader still ringing in my head. “Everything.”

“Everything of what?” Zheng Ting asked. It was so absurd as to be hilarious.

“Everything. The entire wealth of the continent,” I finally replied.

“Ah,” she said quietly as the scale of what I was saying hit her. Everything was quite a lot after all. The sheer absurdity of that thought made me want to laugh in despair.

“For now, I want you to arrange for a residence to be purchased in Imperial City. A team of people sent there to gather information on the markets in Imperial City. They are not to make waves. But to get a better understanding of the powers that control the city, and what cultivators want. Is there a demand somewhere.”

This was my plan. I needed to do market research. Before I could just bully my way through my business ventures. But now I was in a position of weakness both in terms of backing and understanding. Correcting the first would be difficult and was offset being the personal disciple of the sect. The lack of understanding I could correct by having people do research for me.

“That will cost quite a bit,” Zheng Ting told me.

“I know. But when I arrive, I want the information ready for me, rather than trying to dig it up myself,” I replied.

“It will require someone you trust quite a bit as well,” she said.

“Indeed. What, are you thinking about volunteering?” I asked. She looked off to the side. I had only been joking, but she was serious about this.

“A bit. I am getting old. I am already forty years old. I have no children. I would like to see more than this city before I die,” she replied with a sigh.

“Why haven’t you gotten married?” I asked bit rudely. Since she had a last name, she could find a husband easily.

“I never found someone Yuan Zhou. Everyone was fake. I went from a servant to a noble. Now I am too old and a pregnancy would be risky,” she replied with a sigh. I didn’t want to press her anymore. Her using my name like that was a subtle rebuke, even with the massive difference in our positions, I didn’t call her out on it.

“All right. Arrange for your replacement. I will leave the arrangements to you. You are authorized for ten level 1 spirit stones or coins. I will probably show up in a decade or so,” I replied.

“That long?” she asked me.

“It takes two or so years to get there by caravan. Ten years is short,” I told her.

“Thank you, Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” she told me.

“Consider it a reward for a loyal service. Is there anything else you would ask of me?”

“Just to meet with my replacement. Seeing you in person, would help stabilize things once I depart.” I nodded at that.

Everyone was getting older while I was stuck in the appearance of a child. The weight of time was immense. Learning how to deal with that weight was important. The only way I knew how was to take things one day at time.

I had started on this path out of a desire to be challenged and not wanting to die again. I did not know what allowed me to come back to this land, but I didn’t think I would get lucky enough for a third life. Even if it was possible, I didn’t want to take that risk any time soon.

After meeting with Zheng Ting’s replacement, I got into the carriage that had been prepared for me. It set off for a remote section of road that was quite a distance from Half Moon City. There would be no carriage that would come to pick me up. I would be out in the wilderness until I got enough beast cores or spirit stones.

Perhaps I would be struck by enlightenment and come up with an idea for a business. Everything came back to the limited energy of the heavens and earth. It was the absolute bottleneck. All other resources were derived from that source, which was unknown.

If there was a spigot of power, I would not give up the source, which was what the high rank sects were doing. The wonders I had seen on my trip, the Endless Waterfall and the Primordial Ziggurat were locations of interest. There were other such places, but the one thing they all shared in common was death. Cultivators poked at these locations with some hope that they could gain some treasure or insight.

What happened instead was that they died, their soul lanterns triggered. There was very little knowledge gained, since the deaths were often sudden and unclear in how they occurred. It was rumored that a few of these special locations were hiding locations of the demonic sects and they knew ways around soul lanterns.

It was tempting to rush to one of these sites, battling my way through. But the joke was that the demonic sects used these sights so they could farm cultivators without having to make a fuss. It would not be surprising if there was a rank 8 monster at the end sharpening their teeth and filling their belly on idiots that ran into their gaping maw.

While I had been training in swinging my sword for the last year, I was no sword master or expert. I might be able to hold off a low rank 3 cultivator since my cultivation was insane compared to other cultivators. But after that the difference in speed in strength would quickly become insurmountable. Skill might take me to a high rank 3 cultivator. The problem was that I had a very low level of skill, and my small stature didn’t help my reach.

I wouldn’t stab myself or swing my sword around like an idiot. But I would struggle against a cultivator on the martial path. Looking down at the sword in my lap, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth. While that wasn’t the name of the sword, that saying of my former master was etched onto the blade. It was an immense gift he had left me. I vowed once more in my heart to not squander his faith in me.

I gripped the sheath, taking comfort in how sturdy it was. The sheathe was made of spirit wood that had been dyed light blue and white. It was dyed, not painted so the coloration would last as long as the blade it housed did.

I looked up at the large cloudy gem partially covered up with metal to look like the Cloudy Moon Sect symbol on the hilt of the blade. Yi Rong had urged me to get good at fighting, but I was not a fighter at heart. Unfortunately, the path of defiance and the martial path overlapped quite a bit. Even if I traveled to other places or to this Firmament outside the continent, then I would need strength regardless of my intentions.

The pressure of cultivation was weighing down on me. I knew I had gotten incredibly lucky so far. With my innate talent to see the concentrated energy of the heavens and earth, or Qi. Coming back from the astral plane was another fortuitous event.

I did not like depending on luck, even less than I liked fighting. Depending on luck meant that one did not properly plan. While I had planned, I had been too sure of myself. Thinking that I could rapidly align motes without considering the consequences. Now I was trapped, and there was no way off the path I was traveling.

To slow down meant death. Hopefully Zheng Ting would find information I could use in Imperial City for when I finally journeyed there. While I was giving her a lot of trust, the amount I had given her was a small amount compared to what I needed. Not even a drop in the bucket.

I really was a pig with how many resources I needed. The Sect Leader had been right, even if it hurt to admit that. Well, I was going out to get some myself. I set my sword to the side. Might as well get changed now. I was not about to travel in the wilderness in my sect robe. I was keeping my sect robe with me, for when I returned to avoid trouble.

The clothes I put on were specifically commissioned, since they were made with spirit thread. That meant they were tougher than normal. A dark gray t-shirt and dark gray shorts. While it might get chilly, I could use my sect robe as a blanket. Gone were the comfortable padded shoes I normally wore.

Instead, I had sandals that had straps going around the back of my ankle. They would let my feet breathe and allow me to adjust my footing more easily. Martial Elder Lei had made it clear, that dodging was far superior to taking attacks unless I was a body cultivator.

Even then, dodging was preferred. That was why I was wearing such light clothing that didn’t constrict me in any way. While my sect robe was easy enough to move around in, I had no doubt there would be copious amounts of blood, grime, and all manner of terribleness spilled upon me. Better to keep it clean.

It would take a couple of days to reach the location I was planning to start hunting from. The hardest part would be finding the beasts quickly, while avoiding a beast tide.

Chapter 27 – Hunting Beasts

The carriage took off immediately. There were two guards on the carriage along with the driver. While we hadn’t been attacked on the way out here, it was dangerous traveling between cities. Even if the main roads were well maintained and paved. With how well the roads were made, it was obvious cultivators had been involved in fusing stone togeather, and creating a slightly elevated roadway between cities.

I made sure my pack was tightly secure to my back along with my sword sheath. I pulled the sword free and held it in my hand as I set off down the dirt path away from the main road. If I was attacked, there would be no time to get my sword free in time. Better to have it in hand.

Quickly picking up speed, I bounded across the ground in large leaps along the dirt path. If I walked it would be too slow and I would have to watch my footing too much. Getting used to high-speed movement was important. Martial Elder Lei had shown me how to do it properly. It was all in the ankle to properly angle oneself and staying close to the ground. Adjusting my position in the air wasn’t possible until the fourth stage when I could use techniques.

I occasionally swung my sword to cut through a branch or vine in the way. Each move was crisp and assured. While I could use only one hand to wield the oversized sword, it unbalanced me due to my small stature. If it wasn’t for my cultivation strengthening my body, I would have struggled with it, even with two hands.

But the more motes I aligned in the second stage of cultivation the stronger I became. Even my senses felt improved as everything had a crispness to it that it didn’t before. I could only imagine how higher rank cultivators viewed the world.

When I wasn’t scanning my path, I was scanning the forest for any signs of beasts. I needed to be ready the moment any beast attacked me, otherwise I would be killed.

My current destination was a wilderness outpost that the Cloudy Moon Sect occasionally used for hunting expeditions. Sects had several such outposts scattered in the wilderness near their sect for such purposes. They consisted of a single stone room built deep into the ground.

One such outpost was my first destination to make sure it was clear, and I could use it as a fallback point if needed. Ensuring a path of retreat was important in my mind and something the Sect Leader had recommended.

There was something glowing that was approaching. I could see it through the trees. A beast core! As my cultivation improved, my ability to concentrate on Qi and see it had improved. I had been ignoring the motes for the most part, ever since I entered the second rank. The fact I could see the approach of a beast core was a huge boon and eased my mind for the trials I was about to endure.

The wolverine like beast was quite large. It was rank 2 if I had to guess since it was the size of a very small compact adult car. I had both my feet planted on the ground as it charged at me through the various shrubs covering the forest floor. I stepped to the side and slashed out, my form perfect, my timing impeccable.

The beast was cut open horizontally. Blood and viscera spilled out as it crashed into the ground. I did a follow up swing to get the blood off my sword while I checked around me. There were no other beasts. It was unlikely, since they rarely got together except for a beast tide. But better just to be sure. I put my sword away into my spatial ring to free up both of my hands.

I quickly pulled out my Cylinder Extractor and used it, aiming around the beast core. The flesh parted easily. I grabbed chunk of fur and pulled, a large amount of beast flesh and bone in a cylindrical shape was pulled free. The core was pulled along as well. I quickly plucked it free, with a pair of clamps. I put the core and then the clamps into my low-rank spatial ring.

The cleaning of the spirit stone could happen later. I pulled my sword out of my spatial ring and set off once more. Quickly rushing forward, there would be another beast or two moving in on the beast corpse I left behind.

The more I learned about beasts the more their very nature threw me off. They had similar organs to other mammals. The only difference being a core. There were no weird cultivation organs. Then at the later stages, intelligence and then shapeshifting.

It was honestly quite confusing, how all this worked at a fundamental level, but there had been nothing on what Qi actually was beyond the energy of the heavens and the earth. If anyone knew it would be the high ranking sects, but they weren’t sharing. There was a black hole of information around the most critical aspect of cultivation. But I had neither the backing nor the personal power to contest this or get answers.

Following the dirt path, I paused when I heard another beast approaching, but didn’t see a core. It was smaller than the last one, so only a rank 1 beast. It rushed at me and leapt. I stepped to the side and slashed out. The beast was mostly bisected. It would have been if I had stepped in closer, but I didn’t want to get blood on me. That risked drawing other beasts.

Using my Cylinder Extractor and the pair of tongs, I retrieved a rank 1 beast core. Useful to power my equipment, but not much else. Even such a priceless item was nothing but a bronze coin to me, with how much money and resources I needed.

No wonder mortals said cultivators were rich. They could just rush out and kill a couple of beasts and make an incredible amount of money for a mortal. But for a cultivator, this was just spending money at best. The scale difference that the Sect Leader had spoken about was more evident than ever with how my thinking had shifted.

I had been playing in the kiddie pool this entire time with my all my businesses. A single beast core would be an immense source of wealth for any cultivator. I would have more wealth from killing a level 3 beast than all my businesses earned in a single year.

It was humbling in a sense. I thought I was the next Steve Jobs, instead I was the kid with a lemonade stand that made a lot of money with it. My genius meant nothing compared to old monsters that had lived for millennia. Even if they only had one original thought per century, the sheer amount of time had entrenched their positions more than any amount of wealth ever could.

Not even considering the command-and-control economy that the high ranking sects used, it was the sheer age of elder cultivators that was just completely overbearing. As I made my way through the forest, I felt despondent about the scope of the problem in front of me.

I did not want to be out here in the wilderness fighting. But it was both the only and best source for cultivation resources any cultivator could get. I had spoken with the Sect Leader about why more cultivators at the Core Formation stage and at the first bottleneck didn’t go out and hunt.

They did, and they died. Others tried other things in order to breakthrough. Many just gave up as the sheer amount resources and headache was too much. Even with all that effort, countless cultivators failed in their attempts to break through the bottleneck, which had a failure rate of around 99.9%. That meant for every thousand cultivators that reached Core Formation, only one would break through to the fifth stage.

The more martial sects did what I was doing. Send their members out to fights beasts. Countless died, more were crippled. There was a reason why my former master Yi Rong wasn’t out fighting. Cultivators feared injury. Since any serious damage to a person’s body before the fifth rank would cripple a person’s cultivation short. Imagine spending centuries working on something and it is ruined in seconds. This fact combined with the patience necessary to cultivate made cultivators outside martial sects risk averse.

For me there was no other choice. Being confident in swinging my blade the right way to cut through low-ranking beasts was easy enough. But one mistake, and I was finished. One rank 4 beast with human level intelligence, and I would be in a very tough position. The two beasts so far had just mindlessly raced at me. A rank 3 beast might circle a bit and be weary of my sword like a dog, but they would still attack. A rank 4 beast would have patience and be willing to wait and stalk me.

Scanning around me, there were no other beasts nearby. It would take a couple of days to reach the outpost. It was set deep in the wilderness to avoid any beast tide from impacting a nearby city. The Sect Leader had kindly told me that if I didn’t return within five years, he would stop worrying about me and I should just give up if I was still alive.

The basic implication being that I was dead, and the beasts had ripped the outpost out of the ground to get to me in a frenzy. “Crazy sect, crazy sect leader,” I muttered. It had been a mistake speaking about body cultivation in that sect meeting. Now my cultivation was even more complex. But I wanted to be the best, and I was going to be the best. That meant focusing everything I had into completing my cultivation.

There was no more easy mode, of bullying small business owners and running around to collect motes. I had come to terms with the sheer difficulty my cultivation would bring and the market environment of the continent for cultivators.

Another beast rushed out of the forest, another level 2. It was easy enough to kill and get its spirit stone. Mindless beasts were easy with my cultivation level and all the practice I had put into swinging a sword properly. I was just forced to endure simple swings as part of my training.

There had been no sparring with other cultivators. If I needed to fight other cultivators, Martial Elder Lei told me I would die instantly or crush the opposition with my cultivation. Nuance in fighting came at the fourth stage of core formation when techniques could be used. Against a martial cultivator who had trained with weapons since birth, thinking I had any chance was a quick way to die.

I was thoroughly disabused of any notion that I could fight my way out of such a predicament. The hardest type of fight where I would have a chance of surviving but be challenged would be against level 4 beasts. Their intelligence and size would make them tricky and an easier target. But their cultivation and the benefits of increased strength and speed would make it a hard fight.

My sword, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth, was a rank 5 treasure. That meant I could kill things at that stage with my sword without a technique imparted into it. Hitting a cultivator or beast at that rank would be impossible though. The sheer speed and range of the techniques cultivators could use would allow them to crush me like a bug. Beasts could transform and had even more options.

These were the martial lessons imparted upon me. As for my current rank, I would dominate all under the heavens with my cultivation and partially into the next one as well. I kept thinking about this as I ran into the occasional beast and killed them. Only beasts at rank 1 and 2. I did not like killing or blood. But I had to prove I could fight and get resources. Even my first master Yi Rong had indicated as much to me before he died.

Once it got dark, I could kind of see, but had to slow down. That was when a rank 3 beast rushed out at me from the forest. It was the size of a car or personal truck. I leapt to the side and swung, but it twisted towards me. My blade cut into its flank, but it wasn’t a mortal wound. It spun around and was slightly weary now, as its blood dripped down.

I had to hurry, or other beasts would be drawn in. Fighting two on one was incredibly dangerous. Beyond that was death. I kicked off the ground and the beast rushed forward. I feinted moving to the same side it was injured and then moved the other way. While rank 3 beasts did not have human intelligence, they had dog like intelligence and were smarter than their lower ranked counterparts.

The beasts head was out of position, as my sword cut deeply into its side, parting muscle and bone. The beast collapsed behind me, and my breathing was still steady. The countless hours of swinging my sword in the training yard had made it second nature. I didn’t even need to think about it as I moved myself around in combat, which was the point of the training.

Much better than the frantic sword swinging when I had been on a carriage returning to the sect. I would have struggled greatly and possibly been crippled or killed by a rank 3 beast back then if I had run across one.

Checking around me, there were no other beasts. I put my sword away while I extracted the core from the beast. I was really grateful for my extractor device, since the core was buried deep inside the beast near its gut. Just cutting right to it and being able to pull it out, made the task much easier and quicker. It also kept me clean of any blood, something I was quite meticulous about so I wouldn’t be easily tracked down by other beasts.

With the core extracted and put away I quickly set off once again. I encountered a few more rank 2 beasts and another rank 3 before making it to the outpost the following afternoon. It was exactly where it was indicated on the map I had been shown.

A small mountain with the outpost dug into the rocky peak. It provided a commanding view of the surroundings when it wasn’t covered in damp fog. Small shrubs and other plant life existed at this altitude and there was a slight chill in the air, that even I could feel with my cultivation. My clothing clung damply to my body.

Reaching the entrance to the outpost, I found the large stone slab with the Cloudy Moon Sect symbol etched into the rock. I pushed the slab to the side with a great bit of difficulty. This was meant for stage 4 cultivators. Not someone partially through stage 2. Thankfully my cultivation was enough to give me the strength to move the stone slab.

There were damp stone steps leading underground. Every so often the sect would send a small group from outpost to outpost, to hunt up their century tribute and to maintain the outposts. The walls were sealed stone and there was very little dampness. I made my way down the narrow stone stairs about two floors underground to a second stone slab with the sect symbol. This slab rested in an indentation into the ceiling and the floor, which also prevented the little bit of moisture that came down the stairs from outside from entering the main room of the outpost.

This one I had to be careful about. There were four holes on either side of the narrow passage. Left, third up from the bottom. I had to stand on my tiptoes and really stretch my arm for this. I reached in and gripped a handhold and twisted. The stone slab slid to the side with barely any sound. Clearly not built for children sized cultivators.

If I had guessed wrong, formations would have triggered and crushed me. That was why mortals and other sects didn’t use outposts made by a sect. It took time and energy to make a place like this. If people were intruding, the sect would like to know. Also, these traps were to keep demonic cultivators and beasts from using this place as a base or lair.

The underground stone room that was the outpost was quite small. Like a very small studio apartment in a crowded city. But I knew that it was heavily reinforced. The walls were a couple feet, or about a meter, thick compacted stone made with techniques. This place was meant to be a refuge against level 4 beasts and below and might even survive a beast tide. But that was unlikely.

There was a stone table, four stone chairs built into the center of the room. They weren’t moving. And two stone bunkbeds on either side of the table. I leapt on top of the table in the dim light and placed a rank 1 spirit stone into the center of the formation built into the table.

Small white recessed lights on the table’s surface lit up illuminating the room. The stone slab then slid back over the entrance. I let out a sigh of relief. I had made it. I took my pack off and collapsed into a chair, that was too big for me. I got out my flask of water and drank. I then used scent concealer on myself and this room.

Once that was done, I began cleaning off the spirit stones I had collected before putting them back in my spatial ring. The bloody water was collected in a small pot I had with me. I would throw it away a distance from the outpost to be safe.

With my tasks done, I had a bit of salted beef jerky, before settling in for some much-needed sleep on one of the stone slabs. I used my sect robes as a pillow. Cultivators sure did like their hard living. I let out a long sigh as I drifted off to sleep.

After arriving at the outpost, my day and life quickly settled into a routine. I left my pack behind at the outpost, while I would make a three day loop at a distance from the outpost. I picked a different direction to leave each time.

The average level of the beasts quickly began to rise. At first, I encountered mostly rank 1 beasts with some rank 2 beasts, and the occasional rank 3 beasts. But after a month, I rarely saw level 1 beasts anymore and encountered level 2 and level 3 beasts in greater frequency as well.

I was riding the edge of destruction. Any more killing and I would trigger a beast tide on my location. The wolverine like beasts would go into a killing frenzy and they would target me as well. The risk of a higher ranked beast would massively increase.

The fact I hadn’t seen a rank 4 beast yet was a sign that if there was one out there, they were being incredibly careful. Human level intelligence, meant they were willing to wait and assess the situation and not rush in like their mindless lesser.

Sitting in the outpost, I cooked a small portion of meat I had harvested before returning. I only drank some water while hunting and ate once at the end of every three days. The meat of rank 3 beasts was quite invigorating. It made me feel stronger and refreshed, but it didn’t provide any cultivation benefits.

The main portion of a beast’s energy was in its core. While its body was diffused with the energy of heavens and earth, it wasn’t a large amount or in any specific form. At best it was like a meat form of coffee and energy drink combined. It didn’t taste that good either, but I just had a bit of salt to season it with and I had to ration my salt.

I didn’t know enough about wilderness survival to find food in the wilderness. And while I had never been a fan of streak, this was the cultivator lifestyle. If I left to get more supplies and comforts but didn’t meet the deadlines the Sect Leader threw out, he would be very annoyed.

While he was helpful in many ways, I was under no delusions that he was my friend. Our relationship was one of mutual benefit. I didn’t really understand the full picture of how he benefited, but there were several things that had been mentioned in passing. Being the sect mascot, helping elders with their Dao or path, getting resources, and charting a new path for cultivation techniques. Becoming an elder or even immortal wasn’t even part of their consideration.

After my meal, I went to sleep. The next day I took the spirit stone off of the table, left the room, and sealed it back up. Just as I was about to clear the top of the stairs to the mountaintop, I felt a sense of unease. I looked around but didn’t see anything. My sword was in my hand like always, when I left the outpost.

I carefully poked my head out of the top of the staircase and looked around, even above me. There was a massive form hiding behind some rocks that were behind the staircase’s direction. I checked again and there was only one beast. A rank 4 beast.

I wouldn’t be able to ambush it. Their senses and intelligence were too good along with their cultivation. I might surprise it, but with the beast focused on me, I wouldn’t be able to easily kill it. This was what the Sect Leader had told me would happen. I would kill too many beasts and would attract attention I couldn’t easily handle.

Initially I had thought I would just run back to the outpost if a rank 4 beast appeared. Their large size, about the size of a semitruck, made it hard for them to maneuver. But it was clearly willing to wait and ambush me at the outpost. It wasn’t stupid, which was the problem.

I looked at my sword. Against such a large beast it would struggle to get to a depth that would kill it in one blow. And while large, it would be more than happy to wait until I engaged another beast to ambush me.

The only option was to fight, here and now. I felt nervous. This wasn’t like fighting the other beasts that were animals. This was an inhuman intelligence I had to kill no matter what, otherwise I would be eaten or trapped. Even if I ran away, I would run into another beast and then the rank 4 beast would do a pincer attack.

I might be able to kill two rank 3 beasts at once with a bit of luck and positioning. But against a rank 4 beast I knew I wasn’t capable for that kind of combat. I took a deep breath to steady myself and exited the staircase and turned around.

I slowly began to circle where the rank 4 beast was hiding. For a massive creature, it picked its location very well, behind several rocks and almost looking like another off-colored rock in the group.

“So, you spotted me,” it muttered with a growl as it quickly emerged and stood up, turning to face me. I jumped slightly at the voice. The beast was massive. “A bit small, but your cultivation smells delicious,” it said with a grin that had far too many teeth.

“I am Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I introduced myself while keeping my blade extended. It was a common courtesy for introductions before fighting to the death. Even with beasts and demonic cultivators. Most wouldn’t observe such a thing, but when the beast was already speaking, then it did not matter.

“I am Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens,” it replied. Its yellow eyes never leaving me or wavering in the slightest.

“I don’t suppose you will just leave or be willing to make a deal?” I asked. If it had human level intelligence and could speak, that meant a bargain was possible.

“Perhaps, but why should I cooperate with someone as weak and tasty as you?” The other reason why cooperation never worked in all recorded texts was that the beasts would attack the moment they sensed weakness. Cultivators were delicious treats to them, that they couldn’t resist.

“Weak? Then I will gamble with my life,” I boldly said while my heart was about to burst out of my chest. “If I wound you, you will obey me. If I lose, well then you will devour me,” I replied.

“A deep wound. And if you are ever wounded in turn, and not by me, our deal would be over and I would eat you then. But if you manage to hold my life with your sword, then I will obey unless my life would be forfeit,” Roaring Twilight said. “I swear to this by the heavens and earth as witness.”

“I swear by the heavens and earth as witness,” I replied. While there was nothing holding us to our words, breaking them would be considered a great shame. It made no sense, and I am sure there were cultivators who lied. But this deal only had upsides for me. I took a step forward and Roaring Twilight took a step back. I wasn’t going to get anything better. Beasts weren’t lawyers unfortunately.

“Little human, I will wait. We do not have to fight now. Go hunt. I will accompany you,” Roaring Twilight said with a massive, malicious grin. Dammit, human level intelligence, meant it could see obvious loopholes and exploit them. It was also reassuring in a way, since if I did manage to deeply wound it, I would have a temporary ally. His wording was fairly loose, but a level 4 beast at my side would be a big help.

The problem was getting to that point. I kicked off the ground and the beast easily leaped backwards with a chuckle. “Oh no, I am so weak, please don’t hurt me,” it teased. The effect was ruined by how its voice came out as a growl.

“Fine, then attack from behind, I will be ready,” I replied and turned away. Roaring Twilight followed me at a distance. I didn’t even look at the beast anymore. How annoying. It was content to wear me down and attack at the worst possible moment.

One thing it didn’t know was that I could locate it at any time. Its attack would not be surprise. Its shamelessness was impressive as well, but also revealed a fear. Being overly cautious was not always a good thing. It showed weakness of spirit. That was another thing Martial Elder Lei had talked to me about. Being decisive was just as important as any skill or technique in combat.

Roaring Twilight clearly was not willing to attack me head on. That lack of conviction showed that it was burdened with consciousness. It was overthinking things too much. Human level intelligence was also a weakness as it suppressed its instincts to shadow me. It was probably wondering how I had noticed it and wanted to observe anything I did.

I just needed to lure the beast in for an attack and be ready. As I left the area around the outpost, there was a level 3 beast who was rushing up the mountain at me. I adjusted my positioning to be on a nearby plateau.

The beast leapt at me. This time I didn’t move to the side, but stepped forward and drove my sword directly into its head with a thrust. With my low stature, the blade was aimed upwards and I had moved into a position, so the beast had to rush right at me and wasn’t pouncing.

Its bulk hit me, and I let go of my blade. Normally a foolish decision, but I needed to lure Roaring Twilight closer to in order to deal with that rank 4 beast. “Ahhhh!” I let out a fake scream of pain from under the massive rank 3 beast on top of me. Pushing the beast off I weekly crawled out. Roaring Twilight was closer than before.

Just as I was starting to crawl free. It leapt. While it had some patience, it didn’t have that much. My cry of pain, combined with everything else, was enough for it to think attacking was a good idea. While beasts might inherit basic knowledge from the heavens and the earth through their cores, that didn’t give them experience to recognize a trap that had been laid for them.

Chapter 28 – Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks

I was already moving for my sword and pulled it free from the dead rank 3 beast. Spinning around, I kicked off the ground, staying low. Roaring Twilight was leaping down, but it was midair. It couldn’t change its direction. I moved under it and slashed my sword upwards. It tried to twist out of the way, but the beast couldn’t dodge in time.

Blood poured down upon me as I struggled slightly to cut through its flesh. It slammed into the ground past me and I spun. It was quickly back on its feet, and I brought my sword back up in front of me once more. It let out a massive growl. “Just a minor wound.”

“Fine, then I will deliver another minor wound!” I said and kicked off the ground. Roaring Twilight didn’t rush forward or leap at me. I closed the distance and its head shot out. I interposed my blade and slashed out, delivering a shallow cut on its massive face. It jerked back and I didn’t hesitate. I kept moving forward, leaping for its head.

The beast seemed confused. It had never experienced this situation before and had already been wounded twice. Roaring Twilight lived up to its name and roared as my blade stabbed into the side of its massive neck. I pushed the blade in deep, and kept a hold of my blade.

I then pushed off the beast and pulled my blade free. A massive paw came up at me. I twisted my blade sideways in front of me and moved my left hand behind the flat of the blade. I managed to angle the blade to intercept the massive sword like claws. The impact from the attack sent me slamming down into the ground. I was already rolling out of the way as a massive set of teeth bit down where I had been, shattering the stone. I quickly got back up to my feet and brought my sword back up.

If I hadn’t practiced for countless hours, learning how to position my sword exactly where I needed to, I would have never been able to react in time. Also, I was helped out by the fact this was a new rank 4 beast, and not an older one. Its lack of experience and poor reactions made this clear. I would never get a better chance than this.

“I could have cut open your neck completely by moving my blade to the side,” I said as Roaring Twilight growled at me. We stared at each other for over a minute. If it didn’t make down, I would have to go for the kill in my next strike and end it.

“RAAAWR!” Roaring Twilight brought its head up and let out an even louder roar as blood leaked down its neck and belly. It then landed back on the ground with a massive thud. “The shame,” it muttered out. There was silence and I didn’t say anything or lower my blade.

“Fine, small human. You have bested me. I will obey until you are wounded and will not give up my life to you. But I will listen and hold off from eating you until then,” it replied with as much petulance a massive beast could put into its words. I let out a small sigh of relief at that. My entire body hurt from that swipe I took. I had avoided being skewered, but I would bruise heavily and had a concussion, from the way my head ached.

“I accept your vow of obedience Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens,” I said officially with as much confidence as I could muster against this truck sized beast.

“I was overeager, and you tricked me. I will remember,” it replied in a sulking tone. We weren’t about to become friends now. One misstep and this beast would attack without mercy. If it had been more experienced, then I would have been in much more serious trouble.

“I will keep my blade ready for when the day comes,” I countered back. I couldn’t afford to show weakness here. Roaring Twilight was like a bully. It would sense weakness and pounce. I went back over to the rank 3 beast I had killed and got out the core. Thankfully it hadn’t broken apart yet. The higher the rank, the longer the core lasted after death.

I turned back to Roaring Twilight who was still watching me while it laid down to recover. “Can we talk safely here?” I asked it.

“Yes. No other beasts will come with me here,” it replied. I nodded at this. It could be lying, but until it showed itself to be untrustworthy, we would speak. Beasts didn’t have a notion of honor, but they also lacked the guile of words from their inherited memories from what I had read.

“Then, let us talk,” I went over and sat in front of its head far enough away it couldn’t just lunge and eat me. I wasn’t stupid and Roaring Twilight wasn’t stupid. One misstep and it would end me without hesitation. But I would use this beast to get information to improve my grinding speed.

“I need a lot of rank 3 beast cores. Can you call beasts to me one at a time?” I asked.

“No. They are driven by instincts. Only when we gather, would I be able to direct the horde,” it replied.

“Other rank 4 beasts or higher ranks, would they show up?” I asked.

“Maybe, if enough blood is spilled. But if they come, I will tell them to kill you so I can be avenged,” Roaring Twilight replied. Yeah, definitely not my friend, but clearly not lying or it wouldn’t have said that. Like a newborn with some knowledge, but completely lacking in others. “I will be laughed at and shamed, but such is my failure. Losing to such a small human. But perhaps you will kill them, and I will feast on their flesh,” Roaring Twilight said with no guile whatsoever.

“You want to eat that beast I killed?” I asked him.

“No. Ripping out the core like that ruins the meat and power within them. While lesser beasts will eat it, higher rank beasts like myself won’t care. I only found you since this area was in turmoil little human.”

“I need rank 3 beast cores, a lot of them. Can you help me?” I asked. Roaring Twilight was silent as time dragged on. A minute went by, then two, but still the beast was silent. I occasionally glanced around, but no other beasts showed up. I waited patiently and after five minutes it let out a small huff. It was clearly being difficult on purpose, like an unrulily child. Another bit of proof that this rank 4 beast had very little experience.

Inherited memories that rank 4 beasts gained were like snapshots or a movie. They weren’t ingrained and internalized memories. Just limited knowledge it could draw upon. The beasts would pass down fighting and violence for the most part, with the language. But there was no nuance or experiences to help it deal with this situation. It is not like beasts did business as far as I knew. If Roaring Twilight recently reached rank 4, then it could very well have the mentality and experiences of a child. Just a truck sized murder beast of a child, with some memories passed on.

“There are rules.” Of course there were heaven cursed rules. Even the stupid beasts had rules. I wanted to puke out blood at this statement. “I can’t hunt other beasts, but I can sit on this mountain and keep a beast tide from forming or another level 4 beast showing up.”

“And if I leave rank 1 and 2 beasts behind me with their cores inside of them for you to eat?” I asked, since I learned something that would give me leverage over Roaring Twilight. It wouldn’t hesitate to eat other beasts, but it couldn’t kill them itself.

“I could gather more energy to reach the next rank. It would be small, but I would get stronger. Why help me? I will eat you one day regardless of anything you do,” Roaring Twilight asked me curiously. I had to be careful here in what I said. No hasty words or foolish declarations.

“If you could point me in the direction of beasts nearby, I could go more quickly and collect more rank 3 beast cores. You are just waiting for a chance to attack me. If I don’t want to gather up the lesser cores, well that is nothing you decided. If there are no beast tides or rank 4 beasts showing up, well there would be quite a feast for whatever beast was just following me and suggesting directions I should travel in,” I replied.

Roaring Twilight considered this. My biggest hurdle was finding the beasts. Sure, I could see them if they got close enough, but actually finding them was a struggle. I had been averaging only 3 to 6 beasts a day. Only 1 or 2 of them were level 3 beasts. I needed to be killing at least 5 such beasts per day. Roaring Twilight could clearly tell where other beasts were located, and I could leave the lesser beasts for it to eat. That would motivate the beast to not create trouble for me during this hunting expedition.

I wasn’t about to capture it or tame it as a pet. That was pure idiocy. There was no possible long term cooperation between beasts and humans. Even the Sect Leader had said that maybe at the immortal level such things occurred, but he wasn’t qualified to ask.

Still, if I could leverage Roaring Twilight to find beasts faster, then I would quickly complete my hunting expedition and get the beast cores needed to trade for rank 6 refined beast essence. Now to see if I could get something even more important. “I am also looking for something special. A blue moon orchid. A blue flower that only appears during a full moon at night,” I added.

“A treasure. You also want a treasure.” The massive beast shook its head slightly and leered at me. “I might know where a few are. But they aren’t simple to get. Let us work on simpler matters first.” I nodded at this. At least I had a lead on the blue orchids as well. I would trade the beast its life and freedom for two of them.

“That is fair. I will release you from your service then. So, cores, can you move safely?” I asked.

“The wounds you have given me have shut, I am no mewling newly born cub. That way is a rank 2 beast,” Roaring Twilight raised up a massive paw and a claw pointed in a direction. I nodded at this and set off in that direction right away. A glance over my shoulder, showed that the beast was following me at a distance.

I soon came across the lesser beast. I killed it with one sword stroke and left the corpse behind, not bothering with the core. Roaring Twilight showed up. “Rank 3, that way,” it pointed and began devouring the beast I had killed. I set off again, making sure I kept track of where the mountain with the outpost was. I didn’t want to get lost or turned around.

After two days, I had killed 25 beasts. Of those 16 were rank 3 beasts. The rest were mostly rank 2, some rank 1 beasts, all of which Roaring Twilight devoured. I was forced to call a break and returned to the outpost to clean off the spirit stones and rest safely. No way was I sleeping where Roaring Twilight could lead another beast to eat me.

I wasn’t stupid, the beast was only helping me for its own purposes. Sure, it was gaining a bit, I had no doubt it would pounce on any sign of weakness. With my hunting speed picking up, I killed beast after beast, getting those all important rank 3 beast cores, increasing my average to around 7 rank 3 beast cores per day. A huge improvement from before.

After the third expedition out, I came out of the outpost in the morning. Roaring Twilight eyed me as I came up the steps. At least it was doing its business a distance away. It wasn’t childish enough to leave excrement all over the steps.

“You are early this morning,” Roaring Twilight said. While there was still no trust between us, it was time to get some more information on the beast side of things. I had been ignorant for far too long and this was a perfect time to get more information.

“I wanted to talk with you. I ask you questions about beasts, and you can ask me questions about humans,” I replied. It considered the question for a couple of minutes before replying.

“Alright little human, but I ask the first question.”

“That is fine,” I replied. I was willing to bend a bit over a small matter like this.

“Why do you need so many beast cores?” That was an easy question.

“My cultivation has issues that can only be resolved with powerful resources. While I don’t need them, they will help me quite a bit.” It seemed to consider this answer and then nodded slightly. It was my turn to ask.

“Is there anything beasts would like from humans that you would trade for? Food, alcohol, or something else?” I asked. It seemed surprised by that question, but I needed leverage if I wanted resources from the wilderness. And a longer relationship based on mutual self interest could be quite profitable. Asking about the beasts’ social structure was pointless.

The higher rank beasts were in charge with the beast immortal at the top. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. And going against higher ranked beasts wasn’t possible for me. That’s what almost all the other cultivators would think about. Killing more beasts.

For now, I could get by with killing lots of low ranked beasts. That was easy enough with my super sword, cultivation level, and their mindlessness. But anything with a bit more weariness that Roaring Twilight or a rank 5 or higher, then I would be dead. It was foolishness to think I could fight and win against something like that.

I knew beasts drew in the energy of the heavens and the earth naturally, but there might be an untapped market where I could trade with them. I would have to do it discretely, since I had no doubt the high ranking sects would not allow something like this, but I wasn’t entirely sure. I could claim ignorance if I never asked.

Roaring Twilight was thinking really hard about this question, so I decided to jump in again. “If I got stuff from us humans and brought it to you, would you be willing to look it over and consider trading instead of eating me?” I asked.

“Very well. I will see if any of your so-called human goods interest me. Something to make me stronger, so I can eat you one day. Now why do you wish to trade?”

“I need things only you can help me find like the blue moon orchid. And there must be something that humans can make that would interest you. Food, drink, knowledge, there has to be at least one thing you want me to bring?” I pressed Roaring Twilight.

It went back to thinking over this question. That was fine. I would let it think about what it would ask for. Armor or weapons made no sense. The beast’s body was both its method of attack and quite sturdy. I wanted some mortal goods I could foist off on it, and get a treasure in return. Less hassle than trying to constantly beat this beast into submission.

Roaring Twilight had enough weariness or respect not to eat me, or try to eat me right now, but it wasn’t an ally or a friend. That was why I had no issues exploiting its ignorance and trading something at the mortal level for a rank 6 treasure. It would be a learning experience. If I could get more off it, in time, then I would take this beast for everything it had and leave it with trash it couldn’t get otherwise.

“A helmet. Of good metal. If you can get me a helmet that can fit on my head and isn’t weak, then I will trade you a blue moon orchid for it. Something that can match my strength at the very least,” it finally answered. It clearly wasn’t completely ignorant.

“Alright, let us spend more time hunting. I will make a small wood carving of your head and record other measurements. I will go back, get the helmet made, and other goods. And will trade you for a blue moon orchid,” I replied with relief.

“It better be good little human,” it replied.

“I will make sure it is rank 4, so comparable to your strength and will deflect a serious wound. It will give you some protection from an attack,” I replied. I didn’t want to oversell things and there was no way I would be able to afford anything at rank 5 or higher. Rank 4 was pushing it and I would order a fake rank 4 item.

It would be rank 3, but with formations built into the metal. I had learned quite a bit about formations when having my extractor commissioned. Nowhere near enough to do them on my own, but enough to know what was and wasn’t possible. It would be possible to have the material enhanced with an array, and the effect would wear off over a decade.

This was one of many scams that was known to formation experts. A formation would draw in energy to enhance an item, but it would eventually break down from wear and tear. A true rank 4 item, would stay rank 4 regardless of time. A millennium from now, my rank 5 blade would still be rank 5.

It was a useful technique at the lower ranks, but people at the higher ranks, wanted other formations as part of their weapons. Not more durability and general power, since combat was about techniques for the most part, not about hitting another cultivator. True martial cultivators that were willing to risk crippling were quite rare.

“A beast that way,” Roaring Twilight pointed with a giant claw. I nodded and set off to start up the hunt again after our conversation.

During the hunt, I was doing the math. I had been out here for about two and a half months and had 180 rank 3 beast cores. My earning rare was about 8 per day, let’s call it 6 to be on the safe side. If I stayed out here another 210 days, or 7 months, that would net me 1,260 more rank 3 beast cores at least, and put my total around 1,420 rank 3 beast cores.

Of those, 1,200 had to go for the refined beast essence. Another 20 for the red sun rose, which was twice the price the Sect Leader had suggested since I knew there would be complications or a tax since I was from the opposite end of the continent. That would leave me another 200 rank 3 beast cores to commission a helmet of the size I needed.

That was the other problem. Since Roaring Twilight was the size of a semi-truck, I needed a semi-truck sized helmet. The amount of metal could probably make 20 swords at the very least. That was the cost of my low rank spatial ring. I considered this issue. A helmet I would have to commission and would be hard to hide. It would also make my trade with Roaring Twilight quite obvious.

I would stay out longer, another month so 240 more days. That extra 30 days would net me enough to buy another spatial ring, trade it to Roaring Twilight for another blue moon orchid. I would trade the helmet first of course, get one flower. Then trade the ring for a second, to get a mid-rank ring from the Sect Leader in return for bringing back the flower or some other prize. It was a rank 6 treasure after all.

If I brought back a second flower, he wouldn’t be able to refuse and be willing to give me more support. Getting a helmet made would raise questions. But the sect people wouldn’t argue if I threw rank 3 spirit stones at them. They would want to get such a thing made without questions and I could directly trade for the ring.

A low rank spatial ring wouldn’t be able to hold much, but it would let Roaring Twilight keep anything it found after killing a cultivator and trade it for other stuff. If the beast ever reached rank 5, it would be incredibly invaluable. I am sure it would figure out ways to use such an item or come up with something in time. That wasn’t my problem. I needed to arrange for this deal and get the helmet, which would be a massive headache, pun intended.

As the months went by, I killed more and more beasts. Roaring Twilight pointing out the ones in the area and me killing them without incident. When I asked why another level 4 beast or a higher rank one wouldn’t check on the area, it just said it was still alive and that unless I started killing twice what I was now, then no beast would look into the issue.

I guess it was a good thing for me, that this land belonged to the Cloudy Moon Sect, and that they weren’t a martial sect. There were no other cultivators out here. The Sect Leader had told me as much. One wrong move and their journey of cultivation was over, they didn’t want to risk it.

It was honestly sickening how many beast cores I was collecting. I had found an exploit. I had also been observing Roaring Twilight and its method of cultivation. The beast had no idea, it just naturally drew in energy over time and liked to consume sources of energy that were available to it. Just no consuming other beasts that were still alive, but there was an instinctual draw to their downed comrades.

During this time, I kept aligning motes diligently, the Astral Soul Stabilizer making it incredibly easy. As for other information, Roaring Twilight didn’t have much. I traded information about human society and learned beast society was exactly what I envisioned. The strong were in charge, the weak obeyed.

Roaring Twilight, once it became a rank 4, was given a section of territory to watch over and do with as it wished. Higher ranked beasts were much rarer than humans, and tended to be secluded for the most part, only rarely passing through if ever and not all of them were sociable.

Beyond the ingrained instinct of beasts to obey stronger beasts, there was nothing interesting about beast society. They were like some kind of bioweapon that had been used and now was just chugging along mindlessly to push back against humans and give them resources.

I asked about reproductive processes, and it was incredibly embarrassing when I had to answer in turn. I did learn that beasts didn’t have true genders, which was in the books I had read. Instead, they just became pregnant if there was an instinctual drive to. This often occurred in higher ranked beasts between ranks 5 and 8.

They would birth little rank 1 beasts, and the inherited memories would carry over. Something about the ability to shapeshift, allowed them to separate a portion of themselves to form children. The less beasts there were the stronger the remaining beasts grew, and the greater the drive to reproduce. The beast immortal above rank 8 was in its own category. This all but confirmed beasts were a cultivation experiment gone wrong, or possibly gone right. It was hard to say, but spontaneous parthenogenesis for such a creature was unheard of back on Earth, at least for mammals.

Beasts were incredibly efficient at collecting the energy of the heavens and the earth. More so than any array or formation. That was why sects didn’t bother making such things, and just hunted beasts instead.

One thing I picked up on was that Roaring Twilight didn’t want the older beasts to know that it was working with me. While it would escape punishment it would be told off or something bad would happen. I wasn’t sure what, but I didn’t care too much beyond the fact that Roaring Twilight had reason to keep our dealings secret. I said I would return in two months to the mountaintop, and it should be here to trade and end our partnership. It had agreed to that without any issue.

I wouldn’t be selling to the beast collective any time soon, but a market of one was more than enough for right now. Once I collected the beast cores I needed and then some, I returned to civilization. The first stop was the sect of course and to see the Sect Leader after getting some chests to put the spirit cores in.

Trying to go around him or do things without his approval would just be a hassle. Entering his office, I carried eight small chests balanced on top of each other, with 200 level 3 spirit cores each. I set them down to the side of his desk.

He checked one and only spent half a minute looking inside it before closing the chest. “Well done disciple. Very well done. And in less than a year. I count eight chests, I suppose you want some things in exchange?” he asked me.

“Yes Master. I have made an…acquaintance while hunting down rank 3 beasts. I would like to commission a large false rank 4 helmet with one chest and a low rank spatial ring with the other,” I said. The Sect Leader’s small smile turned into a frown.

“How big a helmet Yuan Zhou?” he asked me.

“Fairly big. About a quarter the size of your office,” I replied. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

“Of course you allied yourself to a rank 4 beast. That is now allowed.”

“By the high ranking sects?” I asked.

“Yes. What will it give you in return?” the Sect Leader asked.

“For the helmet, a blue moon orchid. I am hoping for a second in exchange for the spatial ring, to trade for another blue moon orchid, to then trade for a mid-rank ring from the sect,” I said with utter shamelessness. The Sect Leader rubbed his forehead.

“Those resources are critical. You may make the trade and I will commission such things, but the beast is not to survive. No matter what. You will bring me its core Yuan Zhou. I am taking a big risk in even allowing this. An official censure by the Imperial Sect is no joke. We cannot afford such an incident or the trouble it will bring.”

“A censure?” I asked.

“Our century tribute would multiply by ten for the next hundred thousand years. It would crush our sect. But such a treasure is quite useful. If an elder or another member goes with you, the beast will expect a betrayal. You will make the trade, then kill it yourself,” the Sect Leader said and I winced.

“I was kind of hoping for some long-term trade, or to use its help for rank 3?” I asked.

“No. The risk is too great. Beasts cannot lie to beasts stronger than them. You gave it your name you foolish disciple?”

“Yes, but it hasn’t used it,” I replied but that didn’t matter.

“Then there is nothing to discuss. A beast sized helmet would invite questions. Questions we cannot afford to answer. Beasts and humans are forbidden from working togeather. Kill it Yuan Zhou. This is a direct order from your Sect Leader and Master.”

I winced at this. While I wasn’t friends with Roaring Twilight or even allies, we got along. To betray it now after all we had hunted togeather left a bad taste in my mouth. But to disobey the Sect Leader would be courting death. He was a rank 8. While I might be slightly cheeky with him, since he liked insulting me, I couldn’t disobey him.

“I will bring back a rank 4 beast core, or die in the process,” I replied with conviction. The Sect Leader narrowed his eyes.

“Good. You have impressed me disciple. I will arrange for the refined beast essence to be applied to you when you return. Also request two cases for the blue moon orchids you are retrieving. I will speak to an elder to make this helmet myself in secret and withdraw a low ranked spatial ring as well.”

“Ah, could I get a mid-rank spatial ring to carry the helmet in? In return for an extra blue moon orchid?” I asked. Logistics were half the issue in dealing with this.

“Hmm, well you did succeed, even if in a way that brings trouble. Very well. A loan until you bring back a blue moon orchid for the sect’s use. Their rarity is impressive, but with our knowledge hopefully we can grow and market them. It would give us quite a bit of leverage in the centuries to come. Which is the only reason I am even considering this foolishness disciple.”

Chapter 29 – A Trap

I brought out the large false rank 4 helmet in front of Roaring Twilight on top of the mountain. Its eyes went wide. “Try it out,” I replied. Roaring Twilight picked it up in his massive paws and slid it on. There were spots left open for the ears, and the back laid flat against his spine. It wasn’t a human helmet, that was for sure.

“This good, comfortable too. Sturdy as well,” the beast said while appreciating it. There was a slight bit of padding built into the helmet Roaring Twilight turned his head around. “Very well follow me. The full moon is three nights from now, so you can get one of the flowers then. Just one, unless you have something else?” it asked.

“A spatial ring, a low rank one in exchange for a second flower,” I told it. I held it up and it brought an eye close to the ring. I had my sword in one hand. I wasn’t taking any chances. “It is where I put and take stuff from. While a bit small, once you get to rank 5 it will be quite useful,” I told the beast and it nodded at that.

After a bit of back and forth, I slid the ring into a slot on the helmet after Roaring Twilight took it off for a moment, making sure not to leave myself open to an attack. I had left a few rank 1 spirit stones inside. “Small, but useful if I find a trinket,” it said with a nod. “Definitely worth a second flower.”

With my half of the trade completed we set off at a fast pace. Beasts would often make gardens, or grow them once they hit rank 4 and above. To supplement their draw of the energy of heavens and earth. Lesser beasts would stay away, while higher ranked beasts would mostly respect other beasts’ gardens.

Their bottleneck to the fifth rank and beyond was worse than the humans’ bottleneck. I still wasn’t sure why it was so tough, but since they gained the ability to shapeshift, it most certainly had to do with that. My personal guess after months of hunting and observing Roaring Twilight was their body would become too big and they had to shapeshift to survive.

The square-cube law limited the size of creatures, even in cultivation land. It basically was the rule that the bigger the object, the more its internal volume needed to be devoted to support structures like bones and muscles to move it. That was why the bones of an elk were larger than the bones of dear, since the elk was bigger. There was also the issue of heat transference.

I had noted that Roaring Twilight was a lot warmer than the other beasts the few times I came close. It radiated off a lot more heat. It also liked to plow through water sources. While cultivation might help with its size, there were other facets of biology that limited the beast.

It had also grown another foot, or a half a meter in length from when I had met it. Again, not easily noticeable, but it was getting bigger. That was the confirmation I needed that the beast’s bottleneck was one of size, where they would be forced to alter their organs and move their consciousness into their core.

They had brains like regular creatures, but if they could shapeshift, that meant their brain had to shift as well. Otherwise, shapeshifting was pointless. If the brain shapeshifted, that meant they had to have their consciousness elsewhere.

Unfortunately, higher ranked beasts were very rarely fought, or their cores captured. I had no idea how the Sect Leader would get rank 6 refined beast essence, but he would somehow do that. He had promised on my return that he would have it and be ready to integrate it into my body. I just needed to pay for the refined beast essence, and he would handle all the arrangements as my master.

My guess was that some more martial sects had higher ranked beasts imprisoned, or killed such beasts, and extracted everything they could out of them. Regardless, my cultivation progress for body cultivation would now occur and I wouldn’t rip my body apart or explode. While an elder would not steal a low leveled item like a low ranked spatial ring, anything above rank 5, needed to be handled with care in case someone got ideas.

I was more than content to let the rank 8 Sect Leader take the lead procuring the difficult cultivation ingredient and figuring out the technical applications of applying it to my body. While he might have been annoyed with me working with a beast, I could also tell he was impressed I had fulfilled his requirements so quickly.

All these thoughts went through my head as I followed Roaring Twilight and kept an eye out on my surroundings. I had a plan for what I wanted to do, and a plan of what needed to happen no matter what. If I returned without a rank 4 beast core, the Sect Leader would not be happy with me. While it made no sense for him to betray me or kill me, I couldn’t afford to cross his bottom line.

He would be more than happy to kick me out of the sect or punish me, or it could be what he wanted me to think. Unlike a computer game, I had no easy measure to judge how annoyed or pleased he was with me. I knew I would eventually screw up or hit a rough patch, and I needed to build up good will until that point.

Roaring Twilight while useful, was not a friend. It was an inhuman intelligence, which would kill me without the slightest bit of hesitation. I also suspected there would be trap or betrayal coming up in some way. With the direction and distance, we were traveling.

Before it was a three-day loop around the mountain. I wasn’t worried about running into another level 4 beast. But this time we were headed in a straight-line path away from the mountain outpost. That meant Roaring Twilight would ‘accidentally’ lead me into the path of another beast, or perhaps claim its garden for his own.

I had prepared a surprise with the support of the Sect Leader who was content to let me handle this situation I had created. He had made it clear he wouldn’t be bailing me out and there would be no secret elder or member watching me. I gripped my sword tighter and kept my head on a swivel once we cleared the previous hunting area.

With Roaring Twilight in directly in front of me no other beasts bothered us. I did see the occasional one watching at a distance, but they quickly left as we traveled. There was no large pack behind us either, when I called for a halt after a day for a quick water and bathroom break. I checked behind us for a kilometer quickly and there was no beast horde that Roaring Twilight had formed.

That meant it was a probably a high-level ambush of some kind. If there wasn’t, then I planned to have an honest conversation with Roaring Twilight, but I doubted that would happen. Humans and beasts were enemies. Still, Roaring Twilight had kind of grown on me like a dog. But just like tigers and bears weren’t real pets, Roaring Twilight was not a pet, it was a sentient creature that wanted to eat me.

It was evening of the third day when we finally slowed down and entered a steep canyon area with a small stream. There weren’t cliffs on either side, but very steep tree and rock covered slops. There were also a lot more motes in the air.

That was when I saw the ambush that was planned. The stream was connected to a pool of water and there were several plants growing around it pool. A small waterfall fell down from an actual cliff. The ambush was in the form of a hawk that was watching from a nearby tree. I kept my face controlled as I scanned the rest of the area.

“Here we are. You can get your flowers when the moon rises, and then we shall part ways. When the time comes I will eat you little human,” Roaring Twilight said. I was nervous as the elder beast was watching me from a tree. There was no way that Roaring Twilight didn’t know about it laying in wait. I didn’t turn my back to it, since I didn’t want a fight to break out now.

I could feel my life hanging my thread. I had no frame of reference to determine what rank the elder beast was. If it was rank 5, I had a chance. If it was rank 8, then I was instantly dead. “Is this place yours?” I asked Roaring Twilight.

“No. You will only take what we agreed on and nothing more,” it said with a growl. It clearly didn’t want to elaborate, and I didn’t press Roaring Twilight.

“Two blue moon orchids. That’s all I want,” I replied while scanning the other plants for anything valuable. There were several valuable plants, but no red sun rose, or green ocean lily. This was clearly not a simple garden in the wilderness. “I won’t be coming back either or mentioning this place.” I added.

Roaring Twilight seemed surprised, but the fact it hadn’t said anything about this was more confirmation that this was a trap. “Good,” it grunted. I kept my sword ready in my hands. The beast disguised as a hawk was still sitting on a branch and watching me.

If it could hide itself, it probably didn’t care against a baby cultivator like me. And that was reference to my low cultivation rank, not my stature. The sun slowly set. There was a low amount of cloud cover in the sky.

The full moon was out and came out from behind a cloud. Ten blue moon orchids materialized around the pond at various locations. I approached them and pulled out a trowel. I had to put my sword on the ground next to me, but no attack came as I carefully moved two of the plants into carrying containers. I sealed the containers up and carefully put them away in my spatial ring.

“Or deal is completed, I am free?” Roaring Twilight asked me.

“Once I leave. Otherwise, you would try and eat me. Consider it fulfilled three days from now,” I said as I picked up my sword again. The beast disguised as a hawk was still watching me.

“Three days then, goodbye little human.” I wanted to repeat my name, but no need to leave it behind. That had been a foolish mistake.

“Goodbye Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks,” I said and quickly left, retracing the route that had been used to arrive to this place deep in the wilderness. I wanted to attack or say something, but I couldn’t with that elder beast watching. If I mentioned about wanting to kill another rank 4 beast, I had no doubt it would intervene. The Sect Leader would not be happy with me, but picking a fight with an elder beast was beyond me.

I occasionally checked behind me and noticed a large source of energy of the heavens and earth in the sky following me. Dammit! It was the elder beast. It would definitely attack in three days. I kept the same pace, since this was a marathon, not a sprint. Once I left the canyon I made a zig zag pattern.

The outpost would be a tomb if I went there. I needed to make it back to the sect, but that was a month away on foot. This meant I needed to lose an elder beast that could shapeshift and had three days leeway to do so. I pulled out scent concealer and repellant and used both liberally. Once I cleared the canyon, I tossed scent attractor to the sides behind me as I kept rushing through the forest in the night.

Dawn came, and the few beasts I had seen were moving towards the scent attractor at the start of the canyon. I altered my path to kill them to stir up the beasts in the area. That elder beast clearly valued its garden. I had no idea why Roaring Twilight was allowed to trade me two flowers, but it was. Perhaps some sort of communal garden and it used its share to pay me?

Regardless, the elder beast was following me, which meant I needed to force it away. Trying to fight it was like an ant trying to fight an elephant. There was little to no chance of winning. That meant I had to threaten the garden itself with a beast tide. My zig zag pattern intercepted several beasts. The elder beast was too high up in the air to smell all the alchemic products I had used, but it would quickly realize what I was doing. This was the most dangerous point.

More and more beasts began to arrive, one every ten minutes, now one every three minutes. They were quickly surging in this direction. Their corpses littered the forest. I killed another rank 3 beast and then quickly departed. I was grateful for all the martial training and hunting I had done, since my arms were tired from swinging so much.

I raced by more beasts, but they ignored me since I used the scent concealer and had left a lot of corpses around the entrance to the canyon. I felt something pressing down on me and quickly dove to the side while bringing my sword up. The elder beast swooped through where I had been and quickly turned into a humanoid beast.

The transformation was near instant. I saw the surge of energy twist out and ground from its core to form a new shell around it. A beast’s head and a man’s body. It was completely naked but was covered in fur.

“I was going to wait three days as part of my favor to Roaring Twilight, but I have a beast tide to deal with,” it casually said with only a soft growl behind the words and advanced.

“Junior greets senior. May I know the name and rank of the beast that is going to kill me?” I asked. This was purely for information and my personal knowledge. If it was a rank 8 beast, I would just slit my wrists and save myself the agony of being eaten.

“I am Water Running Over The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens. Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks is my sibling. A young foolish one letting you visit our garden, but I am rank 6 beast and will not let a human sully things they are not meant to have.”

The beast was walking towards me and my heart began to speed up. “I understand senior,” I said and brought up my right arm to cover my eyes which I shut tightly. I opened my mouth wide and exhaled. My left arm swiped out and I called on a flashbang from my low-ranked spatial ring. Activating it and pushing it towards the beast that was almost upon me.

BANG!

“Ahhhh!” There was a scream of pain as I felt the energy wash over me. It was a known device and each one cost 2 rank 3 spirit stones. One to charge it, and the other for the production. I lunged forward with my sword, whipping it around, using the Parting Cloud style.

The blade’s edge dragged across the beast’s chest, refusing to cut that deeply. Still there was a sizable wound left behind. I was already retreating back and dodging to the side when it lunged forwards. I tossed out another flashbang and an entire sack of dried hot sauce powder. There was another bright explosion, sound, and energy, which made my head spin even though I was ready.

The red dust settled over the wounded rank 6 beast and I quickly set off in a random direction. I quickly put my sword away. The blood I had drawn could be collected later and was quite valuable. That was only a flesh wound, and it would quickly recover in a few minutes. I wouldn’t have been able to kill it.

The fact my blade only cut half a finger’s depth into the beast was all the proof I needed that it was too tough for me to kill. With its ability to shapeshift it would quickly heal. That was why at similar ranks, beasts held the advantage in the upper ranks, their shapeshifting. Still those were valuable minutes to get distance and the beast tide needed to be dealt with.

I put everything I could into running and getting far away from this place. My hope was the garden was worth more than killing me. And that I would get enough distance to lose the elder beast. I couldn’t stop running until I got back to the sect no matter what.

These preparations could also have been used to ambush and kill Roaring Twilight, but that wasn’t possible now. All I could do was hopefully escape. It was a shame I didn’t have a chance of killing the rank 6 beast. It clearly was overconfident in defeating me and had every right to be. With 4 ranks separating us and its innate abilities, there was just no way to defeat it.

After ten minutes, I altered my direction once more, with my route turning into a long curve. Every minute I wasn’t discovered meant a lot more area that rank 6 beast Water Running had to explore. Beasts relied on their sight and smell, they had no special vision of the energy of heavens and earth like I did. While there was some energy sense, it wasn’t very strong and more tied into their sense of smell.

With the tree cover of the forest, I wasn’t too worried about being spotted, but I avoided open areas and streams. After a day of running, I was exhausted. I had traveled for three days and then ran for a day.

Finding a place between some large rocks, I used more scent concealer and pulled out a large gray blanket. Wrapping myself up in the blanket, I hid in the damp docks, and fell asleep instantly.

When I awoke, I wasn’t dead, and the beasts had not found me. I put the blanket away and set off again carefully. While I was celebrating in my head, I wouldn’t fully celebrate until I returned to the sect and was safe from the beasts.

I was disappointed I wasn’t able to team up with Roaring Twilight and ride it around. Or when it became a rank 5, it would travel with me. These were foolish thoughts. Beasts and humans weren’t friends. But enemies based on their very nature and needs. Just like the gazelle couldn’t be friends with the lion. It was the same for beasts and humans.

It took a month and a half to get back to the sect, but I finally showed up and presented myself to the Sect Leader once again. I explained everything that happened and my choices. He didn’t say anything as he stared intently at me.

“You kept your sword in your ring this entire time?” he asked me.

“I didn’t run into any other beasts and avoided them,” I replied. He considered that carefully. “I doubt refined beast essence is possible, but the blood should be worth something, regardless. Unless you know another way?” I asked.

“Elder Liu Chen will be here shortly. He will know such a thing.” A few minutes later the elder who had a lot of crazy ideas about my cultivation showed up.

“Beast blood? Really, you called me for something so mundane?” the elder complained and the Sect Leader sighed.

“Blood from a living rank 6 beast, on a rank 5 sword. As you know Yuan Zhou requires refined rank 6 beast essence. He wounded the beast in question.”

“Oh, now that is interesting. Single combat?” the elder asked me.

“Yes elder, I wounded it across the chest when it took a humanoid form and was distracted,” I said.

“Interesting. And the blade has been in your spatial ring?” he asked which I confirmed. “The essence would be weaker than essence extracted in the regular manner,” he said.

“We can supplement that, but it will help the later ranks if he ever makes it there. A trace of the martial Dao,” the Sect Leader said.

“Indeed. I have been considering the best Daos that he should pursue at the later ranks. With four mind cores, it would allow for four Daos. Anything of a martial bent would be enhanced by such a choice. But enhancing it to match regular rank 6 refined beast essence will not be simple. A lot of energy would be needed to purify the blood and slowly enhance it over time. It would take three years at least, if we had the spirit stones.”

“Would 1,200 rank 3 spirit stones do?” the Sect Leader asked, and Elder Liu Chen considered the question while I listened in. Like doctor’s discussing a patient, I only got cursory input. “It would be possible. And it would be an interesting diversion. The ring with the sword,” I quickly handed it over to the elder without question. He stared intently for a moment.

“Preserved quite decently. I will handle this. Give it three years or so and it will be done,” he replied.

“Thank you Elder Liu Chen.”

“An interesting diversion and seeing two cultivations in a single body will be quite interesting,” he replied and left. I glanced over at the two blue moon orchids’ carrying cases on the Sect Leader’s desk.

“Thank you, Sect Leader,” I told him and bowed my head. I didn’t know what he would do with the refined beast essence he already had, but I am sure he would figure out something to do with such a treasure.

“Since you are succeeding on your path of defiance, I shall make things easier for you. However, you did fail in a direct order from myself and allowed such a helmet to be used, and the beast in question to not be killed.” I was silent and wondered what headache I would have to deal with. “But I am not unreasonable. The extra blue moon orchid makes up for you what you did and the presence of an elder beast. The fact you wounded it shows you tried at least.”

“If anyone asks, you were exploiting and tricking the beasts to get resources, not aiding them. But the presence of an elder messed things up,” the Sect Leader decided. I let out a sigh of relief at this.

“Thank you, Master,” I said and bowed my head.

“Elder Liu Chen’s time is valuable as well as several elders I have working on things pertaining to your cultivation. The blue moon orchid you recovered for the sect, will go a long away in terms of silencing any complaints about your cultivation path.” I nodded at this.

“Now I wait?” I asked.

“And keep cultivating. Your age and aligned motes?” he asked me.

“Age 27 and approximately 400,000 motes are aligned. I am going to be starting on the valve structures soon for my soul cultivation, since the channels are progressing well.”

“Good, you cannot slow down, no matter what, and your progress while hunting is acceptable. You are going with Elder Liu Chen’s valve structure.” That was kind of a question and also wasn’t. I was an experimental platform of this elders and what kept their interest. Liu Chen had agreed easily enough once realizing it was for my cultivation. If I didn’t take the path of most interesting and complicated cultivation, they would lose interest.

“Yes, Sect Leader,” I replied.

“That means for Meridian Attunement, you will need a null metal and a focusing gem,” he said with a long sigh. “Those are things that cannot be purchased easily. I will inquire about them, but it won’t be simple. Also, the number of cores you need are immense. It isn’t possible here on the continent most likely, but I am hesitant to send you into the Firmament before you can use techniques at Core Formation,” the sect leader said out loud.

“Due to the danger,” I added in.

“Yes, the danger is immense. Rank 8 cultivators are nothing but cabbages on the side of the road, with how easily their lives can be plucked. But the sheer amount of resources you need leaves no other option, unless you come up with something else to get the items needed,” he explained.

“It is a death sentence?” I asked and the Sect Leader nodded.

“It is. Even with you absurd luck and heaven’s favored path, you will be in a precarious position.”

“There might be another way. I was considering heading towards Imperial City to see if I could do business there,” I said. The Sect Leader looked at me as if I was truly brain damaged.

“You can try. But you will stay until we can apply the refined beast essence. Then you may depart and see the futility of your business aspirations first hand. If you want to cultivate you will have to fight and kill. The beasts you have killed so far, are but a drop in the ocean of blood you will have unleash.”

“I would prefer spreadsheets to viscera Master,” I replied.

“If you succeed in Imperial City and aren’t taken for everything you are worth or give up since all your ideas have been thought of already, then I will bow my head towards you as an apology for my doubt in front of the entire,” the Sect Leader said. My eyes went wide at that.

He clearly doubted my business skills, and I was doubting them now as well after everything I had learned and this new challenge. But the Sect Leader taking responsibility like this would be a huge deal. The Sect Leader apologizing would be the equivalent of the sect apologizing. The amount of face he would lose and give me would be massive. It just wasn’t done. A cultivator at the threshold of immortality apologizing to someone in Foundation Establishment in public, was a legendary event. He probably didn’t think it would happen, but was willing to admit if he was wrong.

“I will do my best Sect Leader,” I replied.

“You have gone against my predictions twice. Returning successful from the astral plane and getting the blue moon orchid. I thought both would end in your death far away from the sect.” I noted he expected me to get the beast cores. Well, any cultivator could get there with focus and time. The amount was a lot but not impossible.

I left the blue moon orchids with him. Five days later I also got back my low ranked spatial ring and my sword. I was busy constructing the three six-fold valves per channel and the non-valve valves that Elder Liu Chen had suggested.

His physical model made it a lot easier to understand. Not having moving parts made it easy. The trick with regular valve construction was to make the plane that formed weak. It was a simple matter of not putting as much focus into it. Unfortunately, the plane that formed between the motes was all or nothing.

The one edge was connected to the side of the channel would bend slightly. There was no good way to set the strength of these barriers. There was very rigid and almost nothing. But the amount of pressure between the top and the bottom was different for each cultivator. That was why valves had to start at the bottom and have multiple valves for the best effect without guessing.

I would use the weakest three valve structures at the far edge of the channels, and then Liu Chen valve design for the remaining seven tenths of my channels. Since I had to fit it inside the existing channels I had constructed, it would be a bit narrower than I wanted.

My attunement would have to be perfect no matter what. Normally cultivators put one valve by their meridians and another at their core. Enterprising cultivators might go for a third in the middle. But with Liu Chen’s design, the flow of energy would be forced back on itself with a loop.

I had been fiddling with how I would lay out the motes and the walls for such a valve inside my channels for a while. Ever since he had explained his design, I was working to figure it out and looking at how water flowed in carved out models.

The real trick was to have the main path slightly spiral inside my triangular channel with the loops alternating directions. This would disperse the movement of energy inside my channels, instead of focusing it to one side. It was even more complex, but I was used to it by now. The goal of the valves was to stop the energy from flowing out, once it was pulled in by my meridians.

A cultivator could contain so much energy on their own just using their meridians. But the amount of drops my cores needed was immense. So immense, I had to have valves to contain all that energy, or there would be leakage. I couldn’t afford to lose a single drop with how much I had to get. As I finished up the valves in three years’ time, I could then move onto the body cultivation channels for my central core.

After that I needed to get the Pill of Peace, so I could do mind cultivation and align my motes with the world itself. I wasn’t entirely sure how that would work. Aligning motes with my body or soul was a simple process of focusing on them and pushing them into place. I could feel the difference on which direction I could push the motes inside of my body.

But apparently mind cultivation used a separate methodology. Something to look at investigate during my next three years while I wasn’t cultivating, so I would be read, for when the pill of peace was finally completed.

Chapter 30 – Body Cultivation

I was brought into the same operating room that the Sect Leader and Elder Healer Meihui had put the astral soul stabilizer into my body. Elder Li Fu and Elder Liu Chen were both there as well. I got up on the operating table and laid down.

“The essence has a slight instability,” the Sect Leader said while he held up a large vial of glowing red liquid. He then passed it around to the other elders who took a look.

“It required that instability, in order to increase the potency from the sample I was given,” Elder Liu Chen replied without hesitation or concern. “It should work. His soul is remarkably stable. Also, the decreased stability of the sample is optimal for allowing a triple path. The Pill of Peace will handle the resulting effects.”

“That would lock him into that path, but it is no matter,” the Sect Leader said. I wanted to speak up, but I didn’t have the authority or right to even question medical decisions made on my behalf. That was the bad thing about having to work with old fossils. I hated it, but if I wanted their help, then I had no choice.

“Well, he has managed to get a third of the required ingredients. I am sure he will figure out the last two,” Elder Li Fu said. I was going to succeed. I was on this path, and I couldn’t get off.

“My concern is the implantation process. It needs to be fused with his physical body,” Elder Healer Meihui said and looked over me. “The research on such a procedure is limited.”

“But it is possible?” the Sect Leader asked her. That seemed like a good thing to figure before I was laying on the operating table.

“It is,” Elder Liu Chen resolutely declared.

“The concern are his organs. The risk of organ failure is something I haven’t found a way to mitigate. It could lead to long term complications from the essence itself,” Elder Healer Meihui countered. That seemed like an important issue.

“His cultivation should be able to handle the strain? Lesser cultivators undergo this procedure?” the Sect Leader asked.

“With more stable refined rank 6 beast essence. This is well made, but incredibly volatile,” she gestured at the vial the Sect Leader was holding that seemed to pulse with red light. “You couldn’t have made it more stable?” she turned and asked Elder Liu Chen.

“It wasn’t possible. The blood needed to be stimulated heavily and then the essence gathered from it. Any less stimulation and such a harvest would not be possible,” he replied calmly and directly.

“The stress on his physical body will be immense, even with his cultivation,” Elder Healer Meihui countered.

“A pill?” the Sect Leader asked her.

“Might offset the issue slightly, but the problem is also, that the beast used isn’t dead. Until it is killed and its spirit dispersed, it is not a sound procedure,” Elder Healer Meihui said and there was silence at that. I did not like the idea of an enemy for no reason. I should have insisted that the Sect Leader find other rank 6 refined beast essence, but it was too late now. I wanted an advantage later on.

“The Pill of Peace will give him time. The instability and the lingering resentment are minor issues. Just think what impact it could have on a martial Dao. That is much more important,” Elder Liu said with excitement.

“What do you think Yuan Zhou?” Elder Li turned to ask me along with everyone else.

“Will I live, and will these issues be permanent?” I asked.

“Live yes. But the instability will force untold stress on your organs. Including your mind. The best outcome would be you killing the rank 6 beast, which would fully suppress any issues. Normally the Sect Leader would have done such a task, but then there would have been long term hidden dangers, that would surge up once he died. Using the essence of a beast you injured and will one day kill sorts that hidden danger out. What cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage can fight a 6 sixth rank beast and live?” Elder Li Fu shook his head as he explained.

“The beast essence will enhance your body, but it will also surge to try and corrupt you. The inherited memories will batter against your mind and war with your soul. The beast must die before you attempt to break through the bottleneck. If you get close enough, you will sense each other. If someone else kills it, then you taking the blood will counter things hopefully, but we cannot say. Your organs will be under a great amount of strain, but with your cultivation and the astral soul stabilizer you won’t die, but there will be pain,” Elder Li Fu finished explaining.

“Then it is fine. I can’t stop now? Can I?” I asked. The old monsters all shook their heads. I could technically stop, but then my cultivation would have issues. Their time and energy investing into something like this was not simple. It wasn’t peer pressure, but elder pressure. “Then let’s move forward with the beast essence.”

“Very well, but he will need a Calming and Restorative Pills just in case,” Elder Healer Meihui looked at the Sect Leader.

“I will pay for twenty each, and no more. He will have to regulate their use carefully,” the Sect Leader said.

“Then I have no more objections. The blood will be placed directly into his heart. Hold him down,” the Healer said. I felt hands clamp down on my body and keep me pinned to the table. “This will hurt quite a bit.” She dragged a finger along my chest, causing it to open around my heart.

I closed my eyes since I didn’t want to watch. “Needle. Let’s attach the vial. Good. Now the injection,” she said. That was when I heart felt like it would burst out of my chest.

“Ahhh!” I screamed.

“Now to just close him up. And done,” Elder Healer Meihui said.

“You went with the heart, not the bones, interesting,” Elder Liu said.

“The bones might produce blood, but this is essence. Since the astral soul stabilizer is in his lower torso, having the heart act as a focal point for the essence will allow him to calm himself and strengthen his physicality. The Pill of Peace will impact the mind,” she explained.

“Oh, how interesting. I can see how that would be much more interesting than trying integrate it into his bones. And allow more direct control over the essence. A good choice, I would say and there are case studies, so not a complete unknown. Too bad we didn’t put the astral soul stabilizer and essence in his mind.”

“The inherited memories would destroy him,” the Sect Leader said.

“Perhaps, but we could have done all three procedures at once. If he didn’t explode, it would have been amazing,” Elder Liu said.

“Are you okay Yuan Zhou?” Elder Li asked me.

“I…my heart feels like it wants to explode. It is beating so fast. My blood is pounding in my ears,” I replied.

“Enforced meditation and no pills for at least ten days. If he starts taking any pills at the start, then he will never manage the essence,” Elder Healer Meihui said. They all began removing their hands from me. There was no blood on my chest. Cultivation surgery was a lot more barbaric and advanced at the same time compared to Earth surgery.

It was over in a few minutes, but they didn’t put the person to sleep they were operating on. I wanted to go for their throats and rip them out. Why did I think that? I rubbed my head.

“Problem?” the Sect Leader asked me.

“I was thinking I should leap at and rip out your throats,” I explained.

“Inherited memories. No matter what, don’t draw on them, no matter how much you think you will gain insight. Anyone who has attempted that, has died horribly or gone mad. We are not beasts,” the Sect Leader said.

“Yes, Sect Leader. I think I should meditate and adjust,” I replied.

“First, align a mote with your body, since that was the entire purpose of this, just one,” the Sect Leader said. I focused on a mote I would use to build a body channel. I focused on pushing it to align with my body. The opposite direction of aligning it with my soul. I felt it snap into place. My heart surged and I gasped.

Elder Healer Meihui slapped a hand on my forehead and another on my chest. “The essence is surging.”

“Interesting, interesting. Beasts practice an offshoot of body cultivation. Or the paths are similar enough to cause a reaction. Align a mote with your soul,” Elder Liu said, and the Sect Leader nodded at this. I did this and there were no issues or feeling like my heart was going to explode.

“The pushback of body cultivation is being channeled into his heart. The bones might have been better,” Elder Healer Meihui said. That wasn’t good!

“It is fine. He is young and his cultivation is strong. But no more than one mote at a time for Body cultivation. Only 170,000 motes will be aligned with the Body method. So not that bad. He will just have to cultivate them diligently. Once he has the Pill of Peace he can speed up. It only took a two minutes to align one body mote, so he can go quickly regardless,” Elder Liu said. That was less than two years of focused cultivating.

“You are dismissed disciple. Meditate for ten days, no cultivation. Then you may cultivate as you see fit. I will give you your pills then. I am also commanding you to practice your martial stances every day. Just as aligning motes with your soul enhances your soul. Aligning motes with your body will enhance your body. Ensure that you understand your strength,” the Sect Leader command.

“Yes, Sect Leader,” I said, and they left.

I got changed and made my way to a meditation room inside the Sect Leader’s home. A plain stone underground chamber, with no light. I would leave to use the bathroom and get food but spent all my time in the dark stone meditation room. It wasn’t enforced isolation or meditation.

During this time, I focused on trying to still my heart. It wanted to get excited at the slightest stimulus. Once my ten days were up, I had some semblance of control. When I practiced using my sword, it was much harder to stop getting over excited as I felt my blood rush through me. Everything felt clearer, and easier to do.

“Catch,” Martial Elder Lei tossed me a wooden training sword. I caught it easily and then I put my actual blade away. “We are going to spar. Go all out,” he told me.

I nodded at this and raised the practice sword at him. He had a practice sword as well. I hadn’t sparred before with him. Since my goal wasn’t to fight other cultivators, but beasts. Fighting beasts was about precision and just hitting them. They had no defense besides their body.

But cultivators were different and harder to defeat. I stepped forward and began attacking Martial Elder Lei. He casually blocked my attacks. I felt angrier and angrier. How dare he block me! I kept going and going, my form getting sloppier, but I had to hit him. I took bigger and bigger risks, leaving myself open to a counter attack but I didn’t care. I couldn’t care.

“Bah!” I let out a gasp when he drove the tip of his wooden sword into my gut. I went tumbling to the ground. I was suddenly pinned to the ground with muscled arms pushing down on my shoulders. “Let me go! I will kill you!” I roared out. I was slapped across the face and my head went into a daze.

“I…what…” I didn’t understand what just had happened. The hands released me, and Martial Elder Lei got up.

“The Sect Leader was concerned this would happen. Refined beast essence is risky for this very reason. While you fought with the power of a stage 3 cultivator, your sword technique quickly degraded to that of a mewling babe. Beasts do not have sword techniques. Their instincts are incompatible with yours.” I nodded at this as I slowly got up.

“I lost control in the first minute,” I muttered.

“The good news, is that you recognized it and snapped out. Better to learn this here than out in the wilderness. If you must fight, then you will need to take a Calming Pill.” Pain then went through my body and I collapsed to my knees. Blood began to leak out of my mouth. “And a Restorative Pill.” I quickly took one of each. My heart calmed down and my body began to feel better.

“It only happened during the spar. Can I train to not succumb to the essence?” I asked.

“Yes, but it isn’t worthwhile for the time it would take. You have 19 more chances with the pills you have.” They were kind of expensive, only a rank 3 beast core each. My sense of wealth was completely messed up. The main issue was that the pills would become less effective the more I took. After the first 20 I would have to start taking two of each at once to get enough of an effect. That would risk poisoning and damaging my cultivation.

“Any way I can break out of that state on my own?” I asked.

“No. That is why it is incredibly dangerous. No more fighting, unless it can’t be helped. That includes hunting beasts. Once you have the Pill of Peace, then the issue should be resolved for a long time,” I nodded at this.

“Thank you, Martial Elder Lei,” I said and bowed.

“Well, you fought a rank 6 beast, lived, and even wounded it. Consider myself impressed. Also, if the Sect manages to grow blue moon orchids, then they can be used to enhance cultivator’s ability to use more advanced techniques safely. It will allow us to increase our martial power. And don’t worry, you will get the same benefit from the Pill of Peace, even better than just using the blue moon orchid in isolation.” I nodded at this and was dismissed.

It seemed the elders’ opinions of me had improved quite a bit. I guess coming back a second time with resources would do that. The flower was a rank 6 treasure, which implied it could be used up to the sixth stage of cultivation.

Now I just had the red sun rose, and much harder to get, green ocean lily. The first I could purchase from the Blazing Sun Sect, but the second was something that was rarely found. Well, it was time to go one of the two places where all cultivation ingredients eventually made their way to, Imperial City, the home of the Imperial Sect and immortals.

I stopped in Half Moon City before leaving. It was time to speak to someone I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. I made my way to middle class homes in the city. They were nice, but nothing compared to the family estate I grew up on.

Knocking on the door early in the morning, I heard movement behind it. “One moment,” a deep male voice said. Then it was pulled open. My fourth brother was standing in front of me. His once prodigious bulk had faded and he looked tired and worn.

“Master Cultivator,” he said and bowed deeply after seeing my robe. He knew who I was, but insulting me would be courting death.

“I have come to speak to you and your wife fourth brother,” I replied to Yuan Niu. He got a pinched look on his face. “Is there a problem?” I asked.

“She ran away,” he said. “Come in. Tea?” he asked me as he led me to the kitchen, and I took a seat at the table.

“Who did she run away with?” I asked.

“To another city. I went to retrieve her, but the caravan was attacked by a rank 3 beast. She was eaten.” I froze up at that. “She was upset that I wasn’t rich, and she didn’t have the lifestyle she envisioned. She wanted to run back to Imperial City.”

“Her name was Hou Jiaying, daughter of Hou Guiren?” I asked to confirm.

“Yes. A letter was already sent to him, letting him know of her death and the events that happened,” my fourth brother said as he poured me some tea. “I was an idiot brother.” I opened my mouth and then closed it.

He had still stolen 80,000 taels from me and basically pissed them into the wind. I had come here hoping to use his wife as a connection to Imperial City, but clearly it was closed off. “You are forgiven,” I told him.

“But not forgotten,” he added, and I nodded at this.

“I will not be able to trust you with business ever again, or any money,” I told him and he nodded at this and sipped his tea.

“I understand. I won’t beg. I have a decent life. I handle various work crews that repair buildings in the city. What about you? I heard rumors that you became the personal disciple of the Sect Leader?” he asked me.

“I have brother. It started with being tossed into the astral plane to certain death in order to fix my cultivation,” I told him of my adventures as I drank disgusting tea. I sipped it to be polite and to heal old wounds.

After an hour, he had to go to work and was already a bit late. I walked with him to his job, to give him some face and gave him a head nod in goodbye in front of his co-workers. That would hopefully make things easier on him. After that I visited my family members and checked on my company.

There were no issues. Everyone was doing quite well, but people were looking older. My nieces and nephews were growing up quickly. There was one meeting that was more important than all the rest combined.

“Brother,” my sister, a grown woman, greeted me. “Still taller,” she said with a grin. I rolled my eyes.

“Indeed, sister. But nothing compared to the massive beasts I have battled in the wilderness,” I replied.

“Yao Zhou greets Master Cultivator,” her son quickly bowed deeply and formally. I was 30 years old, and her kid was 9 years old.

“Yao Lan greets Master Cultivator,” her 7 year old daughter greeted me as well.

“They are cute,” I replied.

“I was thinking Yao Zhou would become a cultivator. She shows diligence and patience,” my sister said.

“And your son?” I asked.

“He will be heir to the Yao family if he works hard.” She looked at her son.

“Yes mother, I won’t let you down,” he said. She smiled and gave him a hug. Yao Lan was looking at me nervously.

“Well you have the funds to pay for her gathering motes,” I replied.

“To get started. I was hoping you fund her entire cultivation,” my sister said.

“And the Yao family, your husband?” I asked, since he wasn’t around.

“They want me to have another son and have them become a cultivator. But Yao Yan, can do it,” her mother said. I turned to the child in question.

“Yao Yan, cultivation is a long and hard journey. Don’t look at your mother. Are you truly serious about wanting to cultivate. Your mother chose to get married. You have options, other than cultivation,” I told her.

“I…I want to be a cultivator!” she proudly declared. The sheer cuteness even impacted my ice cold heart. I nodded at this declaration.

“Then let it be witnessed as a declaration to the heavens and the earth!” I declared with a sweeping gesture. My sister let out a giggle.

“So dramatic brother,” she said with a smile.

“Of course. She will have to work for it on her own.” I reached out and pulled out a rank 3 spirit stone from one of my spatial rings. “This is rank 3 spirit stone, worth 100,000 tael.” I tossed it at my sister who had to scramble a bit to catch it.

“Thank you brother,” she told me.

“I won’t help her out any more. I am still a disciple. When she enters the sect, I might be at the third stage of cultivation, but not the fourth. I cannot take her as a disciple and…there might be complications later on.”

“I am sure you will overcome them brother. Thank you. I wanted to give her a future that was closed to me,” she said.

“What?” I asked. “I would have helped you as well,” I replied.

“No brother, you did nothing wrong. I just don’t have the temperament for cultivation. But for her, it is a question of resources,” my sister explained.

“If there are any issues, send the letter to the sect. I am sure the Sect Leader will be paying attention,” I said.

“Nothing will happen, it is just… I want the best for my kids,” my sister said. I never had children, so I didn’t know. But it was understandable. “Thank you, brother.”

“Thank you, Master Cultivator,” the kids chorused.

“I will be gone once more. I already said my goodbyes to mother and father. But I am heading on another journey to Imperial City to get cultivation supplies,” I explained.

“I know you will succeed. You are the genius blessed by the heavens,” my sister said. With goodbyes said, I left her portion of the estate. A caravan would be too slow.

As I left the city, I noticed that the farmer Jian’s fields were filled with peppers. I smiled at the sight and the days I had spent wandering them to collect motes. I didn’t stop but kept running. I reached the outer city gate and passed without incident.

I switched out of my sect robe to travel clothes and put my sword on my back. My sect badge was hung on a metal chain around my neck as a necklace. My spatial rings were hidden under my shirt. Carrying a sword was one thing, but the rings would hint at wealth. I carried a small pack to make people think I didn’t have spatial rings.

It was time to see what the high-ranking sects were like, conduct business, and get rich. I rushed down the road towards the next city, while aligning a single mote to my body. Running along the road helped me focus as my heart beat furiously.

While I wanted to know more about the choice to put the essence into my heart, and not my bones, I had to pick and choose my battles. A lot of these choices had to do with the higher ranks of cultivation. Studying them was pointless for me, according to the Sect Leader. I had to get there and even if I did, my cultivation would be something that had never been seen before.

That was why I had to trust the instincts and research of the elders. Trying to understand anything after the first bottleneck was pointless until I crossed the bottleneck alive. Otherwise, it was just time I could be spending to try and get past the bottleneck instead.

It made sense but was annoying that I wasn’t able to make several decisions on my own. But the Sect Leader had made it clear, that while they were looking out for my best interests in terms of cultivation, that what I had done was so outside the norm, that insights of still living cultivators were needed to ensure I had some hope at the later stages.

I quickly went from one city to the next, sleeping in the wilderness. My pace was far faster than any carriage could travel. The occasional beast I ran across was easy enough to kill. Even though it got my heart pumping heavily each time and I got a headache from killing the beasts. The inherited memories were trying to leash me.

Beasts had a lot of innate instincts, like not killing each other. The essence inside of me was acting up, each time I struck down a beast and became more restless. Thankfully the fights were so quick, I didn’t succumb to a maddened state. It was a struggle sometimes and five times I had to take pills to heal the internal damage and calm down.

It took a year of hard traveling to finally arrive at the outer wall of the Imperial City. At least my spatial rings made things a lot easier during my travels. Unlike other cities, the sect was based in the center of the city, and the outer walls had a cultivator at them.

A glance at the cultivator showed they were in the second stage. I had put on my sect robes for my arrival. The outer walls were twice the height and appeared to be twice the thickness of other cities’ walls.

“Greetings cultivator, I am Zhong Hu, outer disciple of the Imperial Sect,” he said calmly with a soft smile but didn’t bow his head. The arrogance was quite strong, but even with my standing I was nothing to the Imperial Sect. Even their second stage outer disciples did not lower their heads to personal disciples of other sects.

“Greetings Zhong Hu of the fabled Imperial Sect. I am Yuan Zhou. Personal Disciple of Sect Leader Jiang Fengge of the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I replied. I also didn’t bow my head.

“Give me one moment to confirm your identity,” he said and pulled out a large book from a spatial ring. The casual display of wealth was clearly a sign that I was now in the big leagues. A nearby caravan had arrived and was being handled by the mortal soldiers.

“Your master is listed as an ally of the Imperial Sect and the Cloudy Moon Sect is listed in good standing,” Zhong Hu said and put the book away. “This means there is no entry fee for you into Imperial City. Are you familiar with the rules?” he asked me.

“I would appreciate being reminded of them,” I said and Zhong Hu nodded at this.

“Very well. No violence. No techniques. No disturbing the peace. No theft. No insulting the immortals or the Imperial Sect. If you wish to converse with members of the Imperial Sect, then you need to submit an application which will be reviewed. Any questions?”

“And if I wanted to sell goods, or start a business?” I asked. Zhong Hu gave me a smile that reminded me of a shark that was about to eat a tiny little fish.

“You are more than welcome to. But selling or manufacturing cultivator goods requires a permit for each activity,” he replied.

“And how would I go about getting a permit?” I asked.

“Just one rank 3 spirit coin is enough for each permit,” he casually said. “And before you object, this price is one set by the Imperial Sect itself and will last for a 100 years. A wise investment for an aspiring cultivator.”

“And you can sell such things to me?” I asked surprised and suspicious.

“No. You will have to go to the Coinage Guild for such a thing. Oh, if you want identity papers, that will require a fee,” he said.

“I am guessing I need such papers to get these permits,” I replied.

“Of course. We can’t have any riff raff selling junk in Imperial City. We have standards.”

“How much?” I asked resignedly.

“Only one rank 1 spirit coin.” This time I flexed a bit and reached into my sleeve. A trick I had practiced on my trip and used my spatial ring to pull out a rank 1 spirit coin.

“Easily done,” I said and tossed it over to Zhong Hu who caught it. His eyes went wide at such a casual display. He really looked at me for the first time and seemed to realize how young I was. He inclined his head the smallest of fractions.

“I will get your papers right away Yuan Zhou.” After that I got my papers and was let through the outer walls. There was a small town at the gate, which supported the massive fields. The buildings reminded me of modern buildings. They were all made of concrete and glass, four or five stories tall. And this was just a town on the outer edge of Imperial City.

The first thing I needed to do was to meet up with Zheng Ting. It didn’t take long to find an information broker, paying out 100 tael, I got her address. She was based in the middle ring of Imperial City. They had streamlined even this, since she purchased property, her name was recorded. Any of the other plans to meet up weren’t needed thankfully since the issue could be resolved very quickly.

I hired a fast rickshaw for 500 tael. A cultivator pulled the rickshaw, which was surprising. But for the cost it made sense. I didn’t want to waste two days, with a regular carriage, and a rickshaw could enter the middle portion of Imperial City without issue. I was a bit impatient, and the amount of money was nothing to me.

Only in Imperial City could such a thing occur. Wealth was everything here. If you were poor and needed money to cultivate, then you struggled. I also noted the amount of motes in the air was lower than other locations.

As I was pulled to Imperial City, I saw the gleaming towers in the distance. My heart seized up in my chest. This was a modern city. The outer village was a clue. But seeing massive skyscrapers dominate the central portion of the city, with smaller buildings in the middle ring, was shocking.

When so much of the world lived in squalor and was so behind, the sheer breathtaking nature of Imperial City showed that I was a frog at the bottom of the well glimpsing the sun for the first time. A ramp led up to a gate that was situated in the middle of the wall into the middle portion of the city. There was no issue entering and I was quickly taken to where Zheng Ting was.

Chapter 31 – Imperial City And Market Research

Going through the streets, I felt like I was back in a modern city. All the steel, glass, and grim looks from people moving through the streets. I had seen such sights before, but I was still going through culture shock right now.

There was a mortal doorman at the entrance to the 20 floor building. Rickshaws, carts, and people moved in a constant flow in the street behind me. “Name and purpose of visit,” he said in a bored tone.

“I am Yuan Zhou, here to see Zheng Ting,” I explained and the man nodded.

“She is on the 15th floor. Stairs are free, but for an honored cultivator like yourself, the elevator is only 10 tael to use.” I nodded at this and took the elevator, wanting to experience it. It was just like elevators back on Earth. Except there was someone there inside to hit buttons.

Of course I should have realized all of this. The games were a clue, but anyone with Earth knowledge would sell it to the Imperial and Blazing Sun sect. They would in turn exploit it for all it was worth. I reached the floor, and the mortal elevator person gave me a nod as I left. It would be another 10 tael to go down.

I made my way to Zheng Ting’s door and knocked. It was opened and I saw her for the first time in years. She looked much older with graying hair, but smiled when she saw me. “Young Master Yuan Zhou!” She bowed deeply.

“Zheng Ting,” I said and bowed my head to her in return.

“Please, come in. I will put on some tea,” she replied, and I entered her apartment. It was quite small. “I am glad you have made it.” I took a seat at the table in her kitchen. At first I had thought she would have a small store or something, but it was just her in an apartment.

“I am glad as well. How have you been?” I asked.

“It is tough. I have had to budget carefully since everything is so expensive. But I have compiled quite a bit of research on the market and other issues you will run into. It is not good, to say the least,” she got up and returned with a stack of books.

She then laid a sheet of paper in front of me on top of the books. It was a summary sheet, just like I had showed her how to do, condensing information to make it quick and easy to consume. “Nothing? None of the ideas I had?” I asked after looking through the sheet.

“Everything is made by certified masters of the Imperial Sect. There is some market for lesser items, but the top of the market is completely locked up,” she said.

“With permits?” I asked.

“You can sell and craft. But you would have to buy a store. Since you aren’t part of the Imperial Sect, you would not get favored rates and property is not cheap. There are collective stores. Where cultivators have banded togeather, but they struggle to get by or act as embassies for their sects within the city,” she explained.

“Clothing, games, drinks, even hot sauce?” I asked.

“They have their own production. Hot sauce has taken off slightly since there have been imports from various cities, but the imports struggle to get traction. The city takes in raw goods and produces finished goods,” she explained. I got that, but it seemed that the issue was one of supply.

“The energy of the heavens and earth,” I muttered. Everything came back to that bottleneck.

“Even mechanical devices are quite complex. Look at this,” she put a radio on the table and began to fiddle with nobs. A voice began to come over the radio. I wanted to cry. No wonder the Sect Leader believed I had no chance here for business.

Looking at her sheet, gambling was strictly controlled. “What about food?” I asked as she turned the radio off.

“There are restaurants that serve rank 4 beast meat and several lesser restaurants,” she replied.

“Of course,” I muttered. “What about a green ocean lily or red sun rose? Are either of those for sale?” I asked.

“The red sun rose is for sale for 400 rank 3 spirit stones.”

“That much?” I asked with a sigh.

“It is imported and has to be kept alive. It goes for only a tenth of that in the Blazing Sun Sect,” she replied. It was only supposed to cost 20 rank 3 spirit stones “As for the green ocean lily. You are looking at the equivalent of 30,000 rank 3 spirit stones. Or at least that is what the last one sold for.”

“The Sect Leader said 20,000,” I muttered, but he was just estimating.

“Well that is what it sold for two decades ago.”

“Any martial tournaments?” I asked with my last bit of hope, and she shook her head.

“No. They are forbidden. There is underground fighting between mortals with low rank cultivation resources on the line or bet on the match itself,” she said.

“I am a businessperson, not a gambler,” I muttered.

“There is a lot of business, but nothing I have been able to find at the wealth range you are looking at. You could easily get a job or do something small scale, but that isn’t what you want.” She got up and prepared tea for both of us. “I have been looking extensively, but the Imperial Sect has manufacturing tied, up. Selling raw materials is the best option.”

“But a poor option,” I muttered while looking at the electric light above me, illuminating the kitchen. “How much to replace the light?” I asked.

“A tael,” she replied. “Bronze coins are only used with children.” I wanted to puke blood at all of this. I felt ill. Even the delicious tea wasn’t helping.

“Plays?” I asked.

“There are two playhouses in the city,” she replied. I really didn’t want to gather raw materials. I wanted to sell services.

“What do cultivators spend money on?” I asked.

“Equipment and cultivation resources, but the market is very limited. Most of the large scale transactions occur between large companies or families with the Imperial Sect. These factions maintain the standard of living for the city,” she replied. I sipped my tea and then got up. Zheng Ting showed me about her apartment, explaining various devices and their respective costs.

It was on par with on 21st century Earth apartment. Ovens, microwaves, lights, carpets, solid walls. There was electricity, which powered everything. This energy came from inside the center of the city, which the Imperial Sect controlled directly. There were strict export laws as well. Another permit was needed to export items. Most caravans only stopped at the outer towns, and not the inner portion of Imperial City due to that reason.

Zheng Ting then invited me to look around the area. Just like when I was a kid, only it cost 10 tael to take the elevator down and then 20 tael to rent a rickshaw from a mortal rickshaw puller. I noted the occasional cultivator flying overhead as well in the distance around the central portion of Imperial City.

When we passed by a gun shop, I ordered the rickshaw to stop. I got out and checked the store out. I just couldn’t believe it. “Welcome Cultivator to the Imperial Gun Shop. We offer many amazing options for your needs,” a clerk said.

“How much and the cost to fire?” I asked as I saw various makes and models

“Just one rank 4 spirit coin for our basic model and it costs one rank 1 one spirit coin to fire. But that is our basic model. A cultivator of your standing, would want something for the elites. A rank 7 rifle,” the man said and gestured to a stand in the middle of the room. I felt myself puke in my mouth a little bit. It was an intricately carved piece of wood and metal. Something that looked as impressive as powerful as it was.

It was like I had been in a third world country in Africa and then suddenly in the middle of a major American city. I understood it, but my mindset was taking a beating. “While rank 7, the techniques used have been streamlined. Only 5 rank 6 coins to purchase such a treasure and you can use rank 1 to rank 5 spirit stones to power its attack. It will last you your entire cultivation journey. Definitely a steal at that price.”

“I...forgive me. I am interested but overwhelmed, I will need to think on this,” I quickly left the shop and got back in the rickshaw.

“Now you see,” Zheng Ting replied with a depressed tone.

“I do. I was a frog in the well, but this is insane,” I muttered.

“I know how you liked focusing on your cultivation, wait until you see this,” she replied. We went more towards the center of the city. We stopped at a major street that looped around the inner portion of the city where the Imperial Sect resided. There was no wall, but no one dared go into the inner portion of the city. I could see Imperial Sect members moving about beyond the unspoken barrier.

So great was their power, they didn’t even need a wall. Just the threat was enough to keep any riff raff out. I was that riff raff as hard as it was to accept. We went into a towering building. The sign at the base of the building labeled this shop as Cultivation Guidance.

The clean-cut modern lines, too much white, and bright lights, made me think of an apple store. “Greetings honored cultivator to Cultivation Guidance. We use the latest techniques to assess your cultivation plan and to assess any issues.”

“For a fee, I am guessing,” I replied.

“Of course. Just one rank 3 spirit coin, and we will perform an evaluation. Completely confidential of course. We have an elder from the Imperial Sect on staff, who will not share your secrets. We will identify any problems or issues,” they replied.

“All for one rank 3 spirit coin?” I asked. That seemed awfully cheap.

“That is not expensive at all. For the evaluation we do, it is quite impressive,” the clerk said.

“Forgive me, I thought it was cheap,” I replied, and their face had some shock but quickly smoothed out. “An elder of the Imperial Sect’s time is probably quite valuable.”

“That is true. So, you can understand the deal you are getting.” I looked at Zheng Ting who shrugged at me.

“You always said your cultivation was complex. I thought this would interest you,” she replied. The clerk jumped back into the conversation.

“Indeed. We are the premier shop for consultations on cultivation methodologies. Soul, body, and even mind. We can evaluate anything,” he replied. The lack of business clearly showed this was a passion project of an elder, or a service the Imperial Sect offered lesser cultivators.

“Very well. Let’s see what the Imperial Sect has to say about my cultivation,” I replied and pulled out a rank 3 spirit stone and held it out. The clerk took it like they were handling something dirty and it quickly disappeared into the fold of their robes. “Come with me,” the clerk said. Zheng Ting followed along as we were led to another room.

Unlike the stone chambers of the Cloudy Moon Sect, this one was a simple room, with white walls, and white lights, and lots of inscriptions on the floor around the chair. There was a large stand with inscriptions off to one side of the room. “You sit in this chair. The scanning rings will move around you to analyze your cultivation. Then a display will come up over here, which I will look at and the elder will add in their notes.” There was no elder looking at things. It was partially a scam. My guess was they had some formation, or even a computer type system that was set up by an elder that would perform an analysis.

I lay down in the oversized chair, that clearly wasn’t child size. I wasn’t afraid of my cultivation being known. As the Sect Leader pointed out, if the Imperial Sect wanted to take me in, he would be more than happy to give me up to let them stuff expensive cultivation resources down my throat. Zheng Ting and the clerk stood to the side as intricately carved metal rings rose up from around the bed and began to spin around me. They had to be at least rank 7, possibly rank 8.

“Hmm, it is taking a while. You are at the first to fourth rank?” the clerked asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Hmm, odd. Well let’s wait,” he said.

“Problem?” I asked as the rings kept spinning around me.

“Just taking longer than I thought it would take.” There was a chime, and the rings slowed down and then went back into the floor. “And now it is done.” A three dimensional display popped up and it was fuzzy. “That shouldn’t happen. I apologize. Please let me contact the elder,” the clerk said and quickly left. I got up and went over to the holographic model.

Some of motes could be seen, but the area with the astral soul stabilizer above my groin and my heart were fuzzy. The clerk came back and a younger looking man who had an annoyed look on his face came as well. “See honored disciple, the display has errors,” the clerk pointed out. The young looking man looked over the display. He had to be in his early twenties, but was fourth rank.

“Small too. Too small,” he muttered as he stared at me. The clerk gave a light cough and nodded in my direction. The Imperial Sect member frowned as he looked at me. “I am member Xiaosi of the Imperial Sect. Who are you, I don’t recognize those robes.”

“I am Yuan Zhou, personal disciple of the Sect Leader Jiang Fengge of the Cloudy Moon Sect. My papers,” I pulled them out of a spatial ring and held them out. He took them, glanced over them and handed them back. He then looked back at the glitched holographic display.

“Why is he here?” Xiaosi turned to the clerk and glared. “It is clear that he has standing, and unique cultivation methods based on his size and age.”

“A thousand apologies-“

“You may remove yourself from the premises and yourself from Imperial City. Your mistake has annoyed me and I will have to handle your responsibilities, since you are clearly incapable of using your eyes,” Xiaosi said. The clerk paled, but didn’t say anything as they rushed off.

“So many useless mortals running about. My apologies for not executing him for his mistake,” Xiaosi said but didn’t bow his head. That was the sign this was not really a mistake in my mind.

“It is not a problem senior. I have already forgotten the mistake,” I replied, and he smiled at me.

“Good, then come with me. It is clear you need a much more advanced array to assess your cultivation. It takes more power to run and the elder in charge is very busy cultivating. It would take 5 rank 3 spirit coins to continue,” he replied. I instantly saw the scam.

They would check out boring cultivations for a huge price, give some cursory information. But anyone with a unique cultivation, the array would have issues. They would have a cultivator come in, berate the clerk who would probably be back, or moved to another business. I would feel grateful and ashamed for causing trouble. Then they would do a higher-level evaluation for more, since I was clearly a big fish on the hook.

My cultivation indicated as much. The real question was if I wanted to keep playing along. I only had so many rank 3 spirit stones. It also didn’t escape my notice they used coins, but using stones was a clear sign I was a rube from outside Imperial City.

But I had come this far, so I decided to double down. “I have no issue, as long as there are results equal to what I am paying for. Would give the word on behalf of your elder and the Imperial Sect?” I asked with a smile. At this Xiaosi’s smile decreased slightly and they stared at me intently. My cultivation was so inordinately complex and the fact I was paying out so many rank 3 spirit stones, I was going to use this to leverage an in with the Imperial Sect.

“Of course. There will be no issues, as long as you are not a demon in disguise?” he challenged me. I smiled back at him even more.

“I was inspected in a soul reflecting chamber, and have a letter verifying my identity from my Sect Leader and Master himself,” I countered.

“Then there is no issue, the funds please,” Xiaosi asked, and I paid them over and was brought to another room. Zheng Ting kept following me, letting me take the lead.

This time there were even more arrays in a much larger room. I laid down on the reclining chair. Rings descended from the ceiling and my chair actually floated up into the air. I felt pressure on my cultivation as they spun. I was pulling on a tiger’s tail by doing this, but it was necessary in my mind.

I needed an elder of the Imperial Sect to take an interest and support me. That was the only way to do business. Being only rank 2, I had to tempt them with the only thing interesting about me, my cultivation. The rings went back into position and the chair settled down. A holographic display popped up at the side of the chamber where Xiaosi and Zheng Ting were.

Going over there, I had to restrain my smile. It was a much more detailed scan, and the outer portions of my motes had been observed, but around my lower abdomen and heart the blur was still there. I guess they didn’t have many people with unique cultivations come through. I could see Xiaosi frowning heavily at the display.

I was silent as I waited for him to say something. I was honestly curious what he would do now. After a couple of minutes, he turned towards me. “My apologies, I will have to contact the elder in charge of this building to handle this,” he said.

“Not a problem, I don’t mind wait,” I replied.

“Please follow me to a waiting room, we have refreshments for you and your companion,” he said. The waiting room was very nice on the second floor and overlooking the street outside. Small sandwiches and fruit juice were served. I only had one to be polite while waiting.

Zheng Ting didn’t say anything and I was content to wait. This entire situation was amusing to me. After an hour an older woman entered the waiting room. I quickly stood up and bowed my head the moment I saw their robe. “Junior Yuan Zhou, greets elder of the Imperial Sect,” I replied. Zheng Ting bowed even more deeply but didn’t say anything.

“Raise your head Yuan Zhou. I am elder Xu Xiaoli,” she said in a kind voice, and I brought up my head. “Let us sit, you clearly have a unique cultivation, and I would offer my insight with a personal consultation.”

“Thank you, elder Xu Xiaoli,” I said and sat, only after her. Zheng Ting remained standing to the side of the room.

“With your appearance and being at the second rank, you started cultivating at around four years old?” she asked.

“Six years old elder is when I first started cultivating,” I replied, and she looked thoughtful at that.

“Your cultivation must be immense, to lock you into the appearance of a child of twelve. A million motes?” she asked me.

“1,788,606 motes elder,” I responded. Her eyes went slightly wide at that.

“How bold!” she said with a small chuckle. “I doubted Jiang Fengge put you up to this? So Liu Chen?” she asked me.

“They have offered advice, but I chose this path of defiance myself,” I replied. She asked several questions about my cultivation. I brought out notebooks and diagrams from my spatial ring. It got dark outside, but we kept discussing all the plans that had been worked out for my cultivation. After going over everything she gave her judgement.

“You clearly have figured out the optimal known choices. I might have rearranged your channels slightly from their current layout. I would estimate they are 97% efficiency, so decent, but the lengths vary a bit too much to my liking. The valve design of Liu Chen is something we know about. The real issue is pursuing multiple cultivation paths,” Xu Xiaoli said, and I listened intently.

“It has been attempted two times before. One of those times by another sect. It failed in the third stage. Attuning to a specific aspect for your channels and meridians is not as simple as you make it out. A force chamber can work, but the input needed is much higher than you think to get perfect grade. I would put the cost at around 100,000 level 3 spirit stones.” I winced at that.

“I won’t get into needing a refraction crystal and null metal to carve your unique valve structure. Such an item would be considered a sect treasure. The one individual that the Imperial Sect sponsored for a cultivation plan that pursued multiple paths failed to collect enough drops,” she replied.

“They had great backing, but the sheer amount of drops you will need is insane. I suspect you will find a way past the Meridian Attunement, but Core Formation will be your end. The end of all geniuses like yourself,” Xu Xiaoli said and shook her head.

“Do you have any changes to recommend or to make my cultivation base better?” I asked.

“No. Liu Chen’s advice is sound if completely impractical. You did enlighten an old woman with a triangular channel carving method. That combined with my failure to offer you any useful advice, you may make one request of me,” she said. I already knew what I would request. The most important thing one could have on this continent.

“I would like to request your support and backing to start up a business,” I said.

“You aren’t going to ask me to acquire a green ocean lily? Or give advice on the type of force chamber you should use?” she asked me, clearly surprised I didn’t request something more material. That was what an idiot cultivator would do. But I needed to leverage this rare chance for business, not cultivation.

“No elder. The green ocean lily is far too expensive for the information I have provided, even getting a favored price for me to purchase one is too much to ask. As for the force chamber, I will trust in my sect. For now I need to accumulate a tremendous amount of wealth, which means a business,” I replied.

“And what source of business?” she asked with curiosity. I had been using this time to think about what kind of business to start for a while. If I was stuck in Beijing, what kind of business would I start? Anything with cultivation, using the energy of the heavens and earth was out. That meant pills, formations, or anything that the Imperial Sect could do was off the table. I had thought of a restaurant, but it would have too much competition. Entertainment was another area I would struggle in. Cultivators were aesthetic monks for the most part and hated to part with their wealth unless it was for cultivation resources.

I needed a business I could break into their heavily restricted market without stepping on toes and I needed backing. Before I had my father and the Cloudy Moon Sect, but here I needed the Imperial Sect. There was no need to reinvent the wheel either. Rocking chairs would be laughed at and go nowhere.

“I want to be able to open up new mines, authority to manage mines, and favored status to ship refined metal and process ore across multiple cities with a headquarters being established in one of the outlying downs of Imperial City. A multi-city permit, Imperial City permits, and a letter of support,” I explained.

“You want to be able to start a multi-city business involving ore. That wouldn’t seem very profitable?” she asked while considering me carefully.

“But there are refineries. Getting higher ranked metal is just a question of combining lower ranked metal. Imperial City takes in shipped goods and processes them into finished products, but the demand is quite high for metal. High ranked metal for weapons and equipment. I want to operate at scale across the domain of the Imperial Sect and have done quite well managing the mines around my home city of Half Moon City,” I replied.

“Boldness, hmm. That is the domain of youth. Two options then. I can get you the permits and sign them, and no more. I would not assist you beyond that. Or I could back you officially and take twenty five percent of your revenue,” Xu Xiaoli said.

That was highway robbery, but I would not get such a chance again. I was also lucky she wasn’t asking for fifty percent. I would have had to say yes to even that much. Greed was good, but too much and one might choke on it. The power of the Imperial Sect was immense, and I didn’t understand their internal politics. Better to get an elder on my side while I had her attention.

Even if she just sat around and did nothing, her very presence, and the ability to reference my backing to her was more than enough to give her a cut. I couldn’t wait until I was an old monster and people had to give me loads of money to get some nebulous backing. But that was the way things were done. When in Rome, pay the Roman taxes as cost of doing business.

It would be complicated, but I would create a franchise model. Get various cities mines under my management, process iron bars up to rank 2, then ship them to Imperial City. This was to keep transport manageable.

In addition, I would set up a headquarters in one of the outlying towns to process the rank 2 iron bars into rank 6 steel bars. It would take around 10,000 rank 2 bars to make one rank 6 bar and 100 rank 3 spirit stones for the arrays and formations needed. A single rank 6 steel bar would sell for 3 rank 6 spirit coins.

All told I would spend about 120,000 rank 1 spirt coins to get 300,000 rank 1 spirit coins. That was with shipping and everything else. There would be a massive investment required, but I would start up an official company to process ore.

That was the thing about the energy of the heavens and earth. While it wasn’t completely balanced in the earth, it accumulated over long periods of time. Hence the spirit ore, which could be refined down. Such a scale of operation across multiple cities and selling in Imperial City, wasn’t possible without their support.

The demand for metal was quite high. I noted the guns were mostly wood, not metal. I knew mining and had experience in it. The consulting business was also one of the most profitable. The hardest part would be setting this all up without stepping on toes of other sects. Which was where guaranteeing escort contracts, and the backing of the Imperial Sect came into play.

Zheng Ting could keep an eye on things in Imperial City for me and manage the first decade of the company before retiring to an advisory role. Zhou Holding Company Limited was about to get a huge multi-city, multi-national expansion.

“I would be honored to give you twenty five percent of all profits, the business earns, and any issues will come out of my share,” I said with a deep head bow towards the elder. No matter what I couldn’t mess around with her.

If I had to admit it to myself, while it was highway robbery, I was getting a steal. An elder of the Imperial Sect would not back just anyone. The heavens smiled upon me once more, I would just have to make the most of this opportunity.

Chapter 32 – Going Multi-National

I didn’t think I pulled one over on elder Xu Xiaoli, offering profits, not revenues. But she didn’t call me out on this, which I was grateful for. Perhaps she didn’t understand the difference, which would be a bit dangerous if the confusion persisted. My hope was she had decided to treat the entire investment as a minor issue. Regardless I planned to give her detailed statements about the company on a yearly basis and make sure she was paid off.

Taking any risk about her backing was unacceptable. And 25% of the profit would be a sizable chunk. But she might have to pay up to one of the immortals in charge of the Imperial Sect or the Sect itself. I had no way of knowing this or the internal politics of her actions.

The elder left and then Zheng Ting and I left. As I made my way back to Zheng Ting’s apartment and paying the elevator fee. We settled as I thought about what had just occurred. “You really like causing trouble Young Master.” She used an old expression for me, to show how amused she was by my antics. She handed me a cup of tea which I sipped.

“Thank you. If you aren’t making some trouble, then you aren’t living. We need to work out the plan. This time I will need to get directly involved,” I explained. Zheng Ting sat down with her own cup of tea.

“What’s the plan Yuan Zhou?” she asked with a smile. I was glad she wasn’t complaining and was invested in this. I needed her help since it was going to be a massive headache.

“It’s about a five-year caravan loop from Half Moon City to here. And a year of hard traveling for a cultivator. There are three main issues as I see it. The first being setting up mines and digging up the ore in various cities and refining it into spirit iron. The second shipping the finished bars here. And third, making spirt steel from the shipped bars.” Zheng Ting nodded at this and then spoke up.

“For the first issue, we set up an individual in each city, to manage mines, and prospect for new ones. New ones would be easier and less headache involved, but more money would be needed. A new sight, with a cultivator helping get things set up so it doesn’t take years, you are looking at one rank 3 spirit coin. How big is our war chest?” she asked me.

“I have 94 rank 3 spirit cores left. I have that much in coin,” I replied. I had several lesser spirit stones for personal expenses, but this was going to be my war chest and start up funds.

“The chance of hitting spirit ore is fairly low. So, if we set up 50 mines across 10 cities, about 5 might get spirit ore. We can arrange our own caravan, or have you transport things directly with a spatial ring. But I don’t have any idea how we can afford a formation to make rank 6 metal.”

“Ah, that is where I have some ideas. We make mines in the wilderness, deep in the wilderness. Then construct formations that draw in energy of the heavens and the earth. We make our own spirit ore,” I replied.

“Is that possible? I mean why hasn’t it been done?” I smiled at that question, since it was one, I often asked myself while looking at various businesses.

“The risk of attracting a high-level beast. But it would be a matter of trapping the entrance. And having people live underground to manage the mine. Each mine only needs 20 or so people. We might lose a few. But they would all be trapped at the entrance. Something like I saw at the Cloudy Moon Sect’s outpost.” I was getting excited as my knowledge all came togeather for this idea.

“We dig into mountains, with hard rock. Scatter these mines about. Even if one is taken out, there would be a lot more. The formation drawing in the energy and the mining efforts, don’t have to be that much. Also refining can happen on sight,” I explained.

“What about food and other supplies?” Zheng Ting asked.

“Shipped in twice a year, to limit the risk. I can start this up in the territory the Cloudy Moon Sect controls for the most part,” I added. I would be infringing on some other territories slightly with how the arrays were pulling, but it should be fine.

The issue with condensing arrays was that they tried to pack the energy into a specific item or core. I would have poorly designed arrays set up to pull in the energy, but then disperse it locally. Mine out the iron, and store it around the condenser. Heck, the ore could be left alone once mined and then picked up after a long period of time.

That was a better idea and I explained that to Zheng Ting. “So hidden mining locales, that are made. Ore is mined, the condensing array placed, but it diffuses in the area with mined out iron ore. Then you seal up the mines, and come back five years later,” she explained back to me.

“Exactly. Keep the condensing arrays a low rank and the beasts might get annoyed, but they won’t be able to get at the ore itself. I could get a team. One senior cultivator to dig these places out and place the arrays for condensation and defense, a group of mortals to spend a month mining out ore. They get sealed up and then go back around and collect all the ore, smelt it on site, and then ship back bars. A portable array to condense rank 2 spirit iron isn’t that expensive,” I explained.

“Let’s say that is possible. You will have to do all the moving yourself?” she asked me.

“The optimal time would be every five to ten years to go around. But it could be longer and the spirit ore would just get better. Low rank arrays for combining spirit ore have been around for a long time and have been fairly optimized. No one has done this, since the set-up cost is so high, the headache is immense, and getting a payout is a nightmare,” I explained.

“You need an elder, or someone who can use techniques who you can trust,” Zheng Ting said. “I don’t think you will find an elder who wants to work like this. You are trading one problem for a more complex problem. While your idea has merit, depending on other cultivators and not mortals is a big flaw.” I frowned at this.

“What do you suggest?” I asked.

“Set up mines near cities. A lot of them will be missing but we can set up more. Play a numbers game. If you can use a condenser array for the ore, can you use it for the bars?” she asked.

“No. Since they aren’t natural, they resist the energy of the heavens and the earth. But most people do it like that, since it easier,” I explained. It was similar to how high-ranking spirit wood was created. But the process was not in favor, since pulling out the energy from the surroundings caused issues with the beasts and other forms of life.

“Cultivators will make mines easily. We move into a city, set up 20 mines, a fair distance out. Get a road built. And some cultivator support to make the initial mineshaft. From there we use your mining strategy. Eventually we will hit spirit ore,” she suggested.

We had two different business strategies. “Ah, my idea is more guaranteed, but the room around the condenser is not enough,” I muttered as I thought over both of them. I sipped my tea. It had been an interesting idea and I could see a family doing something like that to create treasures for their descendants, but it wasn’t practical. Mortal mining near cities was the only option.

I took a deep breath to recenter myself. While I had a vague idea how all this would work, the devil was in the details. I thought I had hit on a shortcut, but it wasn’t useful for this start up portion of the business.

“How big was the vein of spirit ore that we found?” I asked Zheng Ting.

“It goes for a while, but it only aligns with the iron ore. Once that runs out, then no more spirit ore,” she explained. It wasn’t like mining out a layer. We had to find deposits. Most mines were located by finding samples of ore on the surface and then digging down from there.

“But the mine I own was still going?” I asked.

“Mines tend to last quite a while. A decade to a century, then they run dry. The only option to make this economically feasible is to mine out on a vast scale using mortal methods. If we go only with mortal means and not cultivators, we are looking at least 5 years per mine and 50,000 tael,” she explained. This was why I didn’t even consider starting up new mines back when I was in Half Moon City.

“That will depress the price of iron. We could ship the excess out of one city without issue, but having excess iron in several cities will be an issue,” I replied and considered the issue. “We could ship it back and make steel here, is there a market?” I asked. Zheng Ting got up and got a book before coming back. She flipped through it.

“There is a market, but not a huge market,” she replied. That meant it was high enough to get a huge profit by shipping iron bars all the way out here.

“I am an idiot,” I said as another idea came to me. “We ship the iron here. Make it into steel, and turn that steel into finished goods, which we then ship out.”

“Several other people do that,” Zheng Ting said, but I waved her off from telling me about people doing this.

“We create a new device. The rickshaws have a coating around their wheels?” I asked.

“Yes rubber,” she replied, and I nodded at this. One thing that was missing was bicycles. I hadn’t seen any around. But she corrected me on that issue. Bicycles did exist, but there were issues.

“They are priced too much. Rickshaws are used by wealthy people. But cultivators get around with either rickshaws or on their own power. It is also on the list of restricted goods to ship out of Imperial City,” she replied. That was some nonsense right there, and I collapsed back into my chair. “Anything made of steel needs a special export permit, like the pumps we used for the mines.”

“With the backing of an elder can we get around that restriction?” I asked and she shook her head.

“No. Pumps are one of the items that is released in limited quantities, but we couldn’t get parts in Half Moon City. They had to be ordered, besides the leather for the valve. Anything with rubber is completely banned from export,” Zheng Ting explained.

I was silent and upset. She spoke up again. “It is just a matter of scale and then consolidating the spirit ore we do find,” she explained.

“I know that, but I was hoping for a shortcut, rather than trying to go city by city. And all the regular ore we dig up, what do we use it for? If we push the metal market, then a lot of vested interests will be upset,” I replied.

“Your idea of using condensing arrays, you can’t use it with bars?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“No. The energy of the heavens and earth won’t be easily absorbed. It can happen but it is a hundred times harder and normally not worth the effort. Using spirit stones defeats the purpose as well. That is why I liked my idea of guaranteed spirit ore, even if there are a lot of hassles,” I replied.

This would be a lot easier if we could do a large strip mine, but that wasn’t even worth talking about. The beasts would become enraged at something like that, and it would draw too much attention from cultivators.

“We need 10,000 rank 2 bars to make one rank 6. We can worry about the spirit stones later. That is the real bottle neck. We start up 100,000 mines. If a tenth of those hit spirit iron, then that means 100,000 carts of spirit ore per day. Or 10,000 rank 2 bars per day. We need to think bigger not smaller,” Zheng Ting told me.

“There are 1,000 or so cities under the Imperial Sect, so a 100 mines per?” I asked and she nodded.

“Yes. Operations can be made for by shipping iron to Imperial City. While it isn’t much, it will offset operational costs. The biggest issues then are the initial funding and organization. But that is the only way to make this entire thing work,” she replied.

“That would be immense. Most cities have 30 to 50 mines. You want to double that and do so for every city,” I felt my heart speed up at this.

“Yes. You taught me that the key was working smarter, not harder. We can get permits easily enough in each city with the backing of the elder from the Imperial Sect and a promise not to sell iron bars in the city. The city owners will just be happy there is more business,” Zheng Ting explained. That was true. As long as there wasn’t a disruption, there would be more work, and business flowing through the city.

No one would consider the issue of me taking all the iron out from this half of the continent, leaving it a barren wasteland. “Let’s say this is true. How low can we get the costs?” I asked.

“With multiple mines per city, we can use local cultivators to make the roads. Only 50,000 tael, per mine. Or half a rank 3 spirit stone. We would need 50,000 rank 3 spirit stones,” she said.

“And there is the problem. If I had that much, I would just cultivate, not open up mines,” which was what everyone else most likely said. “We need a loan,” I muttered. No one would loan this much. There was still the issue of setting this all up and processing the rank 2 iron bars into rank 6 steel, which would be another expense.

To make money, I needed money. There was a long stretch of silence at this. “Alright, we will go with that plan” I finally said.

“What?” Zheng Ting asked me in surprise. I was going to take another gamble. Even if it failed it should impact things too much. There was also prep work that needed to be done. Trying to fight my way up through the third rank, to get the resources I needed, sounded like a nightmare.

I was going to take another gamble. I had time in Imperial City to sort things out over the next couple of months and get arrangements into place. My mind sped along as I realized this was the only path forward.

“I will get the funds. Somehow. I need a green ocean lily for my cultivation. I need to grab a second one. That will be another 30,000 rank 3 spirit stones right there, based on your investigation into the price?” I asked to confirm.

“Yes,” she replied. If I got one, getting a second shouldn’t be that hard. Either I would die, or the problem would be worked out. There just wasn’t any other way for me to get that kind of money. No one would give me a loan like that. Cultivators didn’t like loans. They might give discounts and show face, and maybe a small helping hand between friends. But cultivation was viewed as a solitary journey, so asking for loans wasn’t done.

There was no stock market or any kind of interest returning investment. Giving a percentage to elders and the Imperial Sect was the cost of doing business, but the elder wouldn’t be selling shares of the business. They would horde them like a dragon would. Since it all came down to the energy of the heavens and the earth, there wasn’t much of a market to exploit. Everything could be priced out based on this energy.

What they didn’t realize was that the spirit ore was an untapped resource. I was going to go after this and hopefully and get a second green ocean lily. There was no way I would be getting one through purchasing one. If I had to try and get one, getting two was like getting one in my mind. The difficulty only went up slightly, but not that much after the initial massive jump of getting one in the first place.

While I could have used a second and hunting to fund my cultivation in the third rank, that was not something I wanted to do. Hunting beasts was for muscle bound idiots who couldn’t think or talk stuff out with their main helper. Cultivators just rushing off and killing things and hoping not to be killed. That was feudal age thinking, even here in Imperial City, that mindset was carried through by the elders and the culture.

I was aiming for something different. And while other cultivators might have done something similar with the guilds, this wasn’t going to be a trade organization. It was going to be a massive mobilization of mortal power to get spirit ore, to make rank 6 steel bars. Something like this would get me laughed out of any sect or city.

The sheer scale of what I was doing would be massive. I had been thinking silly thoughts about setting up collection arrays. Zheng Ting was right. It was go big or go home, and I was going big.

“Then that is the only way. I want you to begin setting up operations here in Imperial City. I am guessing moving on all 1,000 cities isn’t going to be quick or easy?” I asked.

“No. I can run a test case with a nearby city to work out the issues, then when you come back with the funds, I can aim to go to every city,” she replied, and I nodded at that.

“I can fund 60 rank 3 spirit stones to get set up and test run on a nearby city,” I told her and she nodded.

“That would work. We would still be in the shadow of the Imperial Sect, and the travel time isn’t that bad,” Zheng Ting said.

We spent the rest of the evening and the next two days going over the details. She would get property at one of the towns near the outer wall. A headquarters would be set up. It didn’t matter if the property was out of the way since we weren’t selling to the public.

From there it was a matter of hiring people and managing expenses. Zheng Ting would operate through the Coinage Guild, since while they reported to the local sects, their overall masters were the high-ranking sects, or the Imperial Sect in our case.

It was easy enough for me to deposit 60 rank 3 spirit stones with them and let Zheng Ting make withdrawals based on that. There was a conversation with the manager of the main branch here in Imperial City, to get favored status from elder Xu Xiaoli’s backing. I had no doubt they would check with her, or her assistant and it would be passed on in whatever internal method they used.

Once that was confirmed, with a letter from the Coinage Guild, it was much easier for Zheng Ting to begin making moves in Imperial City to set up the future headquarters of Zhou Holding Company Limited. I was keeping the same name. The directors in charge of each branch, would be instructed to start up businesses that didn’t conflict with others once money began flowing.

The model would be simple. A team of three people would be appointed as directors. An operational, financial, and hiring director. No one person would have total control of the branch. They would go out to a city, and withdraw money they were allocated from the Coinage Guild.

They would be paid based on shipments of bars that were received in Imperial City. Once they got operational and making money, they could look at other businesses, with the primary rule of not starting any kind of drama.

They would get a bonus depending on performance and standards. I wanted the same level of operations I had with my mines back at Half Moon City. While the people were debt slaves, I wasn’t trying to spread human misery. There needed to be strict guidelines and procedures, with the hope to keep these people around long term and promote them to other areas of the company as it grew.

The first test city would provide a pool of candidates, then there would be waves of expansion, drawing on people that had moved up the ranks in other cities, promoting internally. Safety would fall under operations. Each city would stockpile up the bars and a caravan would eventually be used to get them back, by tagging along with another caravan. In time we might do our own.

In Imperial City, we were easily able to get some land, and bars would be stored there. In time a building for a rank 6 array would be constructed to make the rank 6 steel bars. It would be insanely expensive, but that was something Zheng Ting would be looking into and getting priced out. Once I came back with the money, she would be ready to go.

My main role was showing up to several meetings during the first month to smooth over everything. Since a cultivator was backing things and I had the backing of an elder of the Imperial Sect, there would be no issues. I just needed to show my face a lot at the start with Zheng Ting, giving her my full respect to make sure there were no issues from the people she hired. Even the mortals of Imperial City tended to have their noses in the air. We passed on anyone that was difficult to work with. We already had connections, so we didn’t need anything else.

With that done, it was time to work out how I was going to get the money and two green ocean lilies. The first stop was to make a trip to an information broker. As I was going there, I paused when I saw a woman walking down the street with a couple of guards. She looked familiar.

“Excuse me, you look familiar,” I said to her. The guards looked at my robes and let me speak to the lady.

“I am Hou Jiaying of the Hou family master cultivator,” she replied.

“Are there many children of the Hou family with your name?” I asked.

“No? Why do you ask master cultivator?” I frowned and wasn’t sure if I should let this go. It was pocket change for me currently, but there was also the principle of the matter. She had been the wife of my fourth brother and scammed me out of a lot of money. Now she was here, when she was supposed to have died to a beast attack. That was clearly a lie.

“I wish to speak with the Hou family patriarch,” I replied. She winced at that.

“I am sorry, but I can’t speak-“

“This was not a request. If you refuse, things will get difficult. Let us go now,” I replied.

“Very well, master cultivator,” she gave in and she had a carriage pull around. It was pure luck that I ran into her. The information brokers lived in the nice part of these towns around Imperial City, and she just happened to be out at this time. I chose not to get in the carriage but ran behind it as we made our way to an estate at the edge of the town.

I got through several layers of guards to finally arrive at a room with the Hou family patriarch Hao Guiren, her father. “Master cultivator, welcome, but to what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked, but didn’t even bow his head.

“That is nephew master cultivator, if you daughter hadn’t run away from my brother,” I calmly replied as I took a seat, making sure to put my sword across my lap. I had gotten it out of my spatial ring just for this meeting. The man paled and stumbled back.

“You…you are Yuan Zhou?!” he said.

“Yes, I am that Yuan Zhou, the genius under the heavens. Also, your daughter is in debt to me for 73,000 tael plus interest. There was no official divorce. Since she ran away here and faked her death.” It was 73,000 not the 80,000 since I had taken off my brother’s salary.

“We will pay that back at once,” the man said and bowed his head, but I shook my head.

“Plus, interest. I charge 100% per year, compounded. Since it was my brother, I never followed up on this. But for your daughter, it is now, after 15 years, 2,392,064,000 tael. Will you be paying that in silver or spirit coins?” I asked. That was 23,920 rank 3 spirit coins.

Hao Guiren’s face began to turn red, and he appeared to have trouble breathing. “You better be careful, my family has members in the Imperial Sect,” he replied. So, we were having a face off. The pun was terrible but great in my mind, since we were using our backgrounds to one up the other. A battle of how much face each of us had.

I pulled out the note from the Coinage Guild and held it up. “I have the backing of an elder from the Imperial Sect.” I couldn’t call on them for this, just as he wouldn’t call on his people backing him. It was now a battle of how much support each of us could bring to bear.

“I have three family members who are cultivators, including her brother,” he replied.

“I am the personal disciple of my sect leader, who is rank 8.” I easily defeated his attempts at trying to save face.

“Fine! Then you can have her back!” he told me. I nodded at this.

“That would have been the case if you hadn’t stolen her. I know she didn’t have the money or resources on her own to get back here. You had to have paid for it. While she isn’t property, a bride price was paid to your family, not her. It could be you considered stealing from me directly,” I countered. He wasn’t going to weasel out of this.

“The amount is too much. No one but an immortal could afford that kind of price. No woman is worth that much,” he countered. Now we were arguing about price, it was all over.

“What would you consider reasonable for my brother’s pain and suffering. A brother whom I dearly love and cherish. Who helped me growing up and taught me many things,” I said with a glare. The man was wincing with each statement. A bit overexaggerated, but I was going to squeeze everything I could for this man to save his family.

He knew he would lose if this went to the Imperial Sect. If no bride price had been paid, then he could have shrugged and said young love. But with a bride price, a divorce wasn’t so simple. And the fact she had run back here even more so.

I had considered asking the information broker about her family, but I hadn’t considered it important enough or worth my time. But since Hou Jiaying paraded in front of me, I couldn’t ignore that. I had my pride, and the pride of my fourth brother to defend. Also, a lot of money.

“One rank 3 spirit coin,” he finally said through gritted teeth. I considered the amount. It was worth 100,000 tael.

“Very well then, 23,919 rank 3 spirit coins,” I replied with a malicious grin.

“You can push, but you can’t get blood from a stone. We don’t have that kind of money and it is excessive,” he was finally calming down, but still glaring at me. I also didn’t want to push things too far and get enemies. I had my fun and avenged my fourth brother by raising the blood pressure of his former father-in-law.

“Five rank 3 spirit coins and you can keep her, or one rank 3 spirit coin, and she will be shipped back to Half Moon City and put in one of my mines as a debt slave,” I countered, curious to see how much he loved his daughter.

“Five,” he said. He actually did love her. That was surprising. I was sure he would give her up, when he yelled about sending her with me.

“Then we can go to the Coinage Guild to have a contract signed that this matter has been laid to rest and your daughter owes no more debt to her former husband. We can consider it as finalizing the divorce,” I replied.

It took the rest of the day, and he was clearly unhappy with me, but I got my payment. I now had 39 rank 3 spirit coins left. After some thought, I spent one to send 80,000 tael and a letter to my fourth brother. I explained things to him and that her family had paid up as an apology. I included the entire situation and my original demand to her father.

That was enough that he would be able to live comfortably or fund another caravan. Or he might run back to Imperial City. I made it clear the divorce was finalized and included the paperwork. I could do all of this on his behalf since I was a cultivator with backing. In cultivation land, it was all about the backing one had.

Chapter 33 – The Crashing Wave Sect

I looked out at the massive waves crashing onto the coast. I knew the ocean was rough, but this was crazy. The waves were about ten feet, or three meters tall. And this was supposed to be when things were calmest at the coast. The coast was all rock, there were very few sand beaches, with how rough the waves were.

Looking out at the crashing waves, I didn’t expect anything to get easier in my hunt for a green ocean lily. I was now 35 years old with 1.2 million points aligned. I was running short on time. While I could delay things, the more I dealt with all the little details I knew why the Sect Leader had been insistent on time.

Even my first master Yi Rong had run out of a time. Hundreds of years seemed like a long time. But sorting out massive headaches, traveling, and just spending cultivation ate up day after day. Right now I needed to get green ocean lilies. At least two. One for myself, for the Pill of Peace, to pursue mind cultivation, and one for my business plan involving mining everywhere. The one lily would fund everything.

My visit and payments to information brokers had shown that the one sect that might be able to help me in my quest was the Crashing Wave Sect based on the coast. I needed their help, if I was going to have any chance. I had some rank 3 spirit stones for trade, which might prove useful, but it was the backing of my Sect Leader that I was hoping would see me through this.

This sect was located at the top and the side of a massive cliff, and series of rocks that jutted out from the ocean. It wasn’t a mountaintop, but it was unique in its own way. Cultivators like dramatic places for their sects. Having an amazing backdrop for their sect was another form of prestige and inspiration for higher ranked cultivators.

There was no wall around the Crashing Wave Sect’s location, but I am sure they had formations ready to go in case they needed to defend themselves. While there was no wall, there was a gatehouse across the road. A sect disciple stood under the gate. I noted their symbol was three waves rising up from the ocean.

“Greetings,” I said and inclined my head slightly as I came to a stop in front of the disciple.

“What brings a disciple from another sect to our gate?” the disciple asked me.

“My name is Yuan Zhou, and I am the personal disciple of Sect Leader Jiang Fengge of the Cloudy Moon Sect, and have the backing of elder Xu Xiaoli of the Imperial Sect.” I gave my backing right away and I could see the disciple’s eyes get a bit wider and he straightened up. “I have come here to request a trade. I look to journey into the ocean and was told your sect would be the one to speak to.”

“You swear you mean no harm and will obey all rules?” the disciple asked me.

“As long as no harm is done to me and any rules are explained,” I replied with the standard response to the disciple’s greeting. It was mostly used when members or elders traveled. Very rarely did disciple ranked cultivators traveled about like I was doing. Still the formalities existed for a reason.

“Steal no secrets and tread carefully.”

“I am honored to be hosted by the Crashing Wave Sect,” I said and inclined my head towards the symbol on the gate, much deeper than I had done for the disciple. I was showing respect to the sect, not the disciple. Since I was coming to ask for help, I had to be humble. If I had been a disciple of the Imperial Sect, I could have kept my head eye and looked down on others.

“Come, I will show you to Elder Bo. He will speak with you,” the disciple said. I followed him from the gatehouse to a building that was clearly reserved for visitors. A mortal woman served me tea and biscuits, while I waited.

An hour later, the Elder showed up. He was an older man with the smell of salt about him. “Disciple Yuan Zhou, greets Elder Bo,” I said while quickly standing up and bowed. Enough to convey respect, but not too much, since I had quite a bit of backing of my own.

“Welcome Yuan Zhou, sit, sit,” he said. I nodded at this. “The Cloudy Moon Sect, and the Imperial Sect, what brings a disciple like yourself out to our remote corner of the coast,” he said.

“Matters of cultivation elder. I am looking to explore the ocean depths. I was told that your sect has specific arrays that could be used for such a purpose. I was hoping for a trade,” I said.

“The ocean is death for someone of your rank. Either rank 3, or rank 2 it doesn’t matter. The beasts of the water are not simple. And you seek a treasure. It will be even worse,” the elder replied.

“I have accepted that I might die, but it is very important for me to find the resources, I need for my cultivation. There will be no consequence if I run into death myself,” I explained. The elder gave me another look at that and was silent for at least half a minute while he considered me.

“The ocean is fierce, and without mercy. The beasts in its depths are all rank 5 or higher. The crushing pressure, salt, cold, and lack of light are just some of the many things that will kill you,” he said.

“I understand, but there is no other choice for me. That was why I was hoping to purchase the arrays your sect uses for descending into the depths,” I asked. The Imperial Sect might have such things, but they weren’t for public sale, and they didn’t focus on the ocean.

The Crashing Wave sect was focused entirely on the ocean to a much greater extent. Their knowledge of the issues that the ocean presented for lower level cultivators was much greater, since their sect was based on the coast. Even now I could hear the crashing of the massive waves against the cliff nearby.

“You would need a full body protection formation, built into a diving outfit. You would also need vision goggles. I am guessing you want to go incredibly deep, so rank 5 equipment at the minimum. Can you afford it?” he asked me.

“I would like to leave a sword as collateral. When I return with the equipment, I would want my sword back, minus a small fee to use it,” I explained.

“Show me the sword,” the elder replied and I pulled it out of one of my spatial rings. He carefully pulled it out of its sheathe before putting it back inside. “The sword is worth slightly more, so it is acceptable. You have the spirit stones to power it?” he asked me.

“Rank 3 spirits stones. How long would each last?” I asked.

“Depends on the depth. There will be a power gauge on the suit itself. There are two other major issues. The first is your low cultivation rank, even if it feels odd. Your body can only take so much pressure, before you can no longer breathe.” I nodded at this. “You will have a depth gauge, for someone of the second rank?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied, and he let out a sigh.

“Of the second rank. If you enter the yellow or the red markers, you will have to manage your ascent carefully. Otherwise, your body will be ripped apart. The suit will help, but it can only do so much. The second major issue is stealth. At the depths you will be going to and the water, it isn’t possible to hide from the beasts.”

I nodded at that. “Thankfully, most of them prefer not to move. They have fought for their areas, and are content to let things be unless provoked. No treasure under the water is unguarded. If you do not see a beast, it is merely hiding.”

“And escaping?” I asked.

“That would be on you. Also, your spatial rings. Be careful about placing stuff into them. Water will rush in from the pressure. While you can extract stuff, putting anything inside will pull a lot of water in as well and stress their capacity,” I nodded at this.

“That is it?” I asked.

“No, but we would not teach you any techniques. And do not bring trouble back here. We have a truce with the beasts near our sect. Only with your master and the Imperial Sect’s backing would I even consider this,” Elder Bo replied, and I nodded at that statement. “You are going to die.”

“That is my choice. But heading into the ocean is something I must do.” I had my own plans after spending time in Imperial City. I had spent 10 rank 3 spirit stones, for various supplies, but I wasn’t a complete idiot.

“Well, this sword will be quite nice. I promise to hold onto it for at least ten years for your return. Come Yuan Zhou, let’s get you fitted in your diving suit and vision goggles,” he said.

He disappeared my blade and I felt my heart pang at its separation. While I didn’t like fighting, it had kept me safe several times. Now it would be used as collateral as I made another gamble with my life. Elder Bo took me down the cliff from the sect, to a building built into the rock.

We descended down in the ground and then took a passage out into the ocean, under the water. I didn’t say anything. An elder wouldn’t even think of robbing me or killing me. Not with the negative attention it could bring., with my status. It just wasn’t worth the headache or a fight breaking out. Even if he killed me and claimed I disappeared in the water, the risk of an actual investigation and negative attention was too high. The risk versus reward of such a thing, had too little reward for an elder and too much risk. That was why I wasn’t worried about my safety.

We went through an airlock, I felt the air pressure go up, but it didn’t affect me too much. “This is our deep dive chamber. If you return, you should return here. Going by the shore, can be difficult,” Elder Bo said. He began looking through a rack of various wetsuit looking clothing. “You are quite small,” he said. I looked like a 12-year-old.

“Well, no matter. This diving suit will do. Take off all your clothes, everything. Since the suit will process wastes,” he said. I began to strip down, including my underwear. I even put on my spatial rings into their designated slots in the diving suit. The first thing that went on was a special set of underwear. A bear of wetsuit shorts, with metal plates around the portions that went over my rear and groin.

The entire setup reminded me of a spacesuit. A very high tech one, that was one single complete package for long term exploration. At least there wasn’t a catheter and arrays were used instead. I don’t think I could have dealt with something like that.

“When you use the bathroom, the waste will be pulled through an array and expelled into the water. This will reveal your location very easily. Now the main diving suit goes over everything.” I put it on and he made sure the connection between the paired undergarment and the suit was secure.

“With all the arrays, you will get a single day per rank 3 spirit core. This is one of our better diving suits.” Thick boots, gloves, and support were all given to me, and I put them on. Elder Bo made sure they were secure. The goggles were put on, and then a helmet went over that.

I gave Elder Bo a rank 3 spirit stone, as he put on the belt and showed me where to put the stone. “Once I clamp the breather in, you will go into that pool of water. There are three gauges in your goggles. Pressure safety, is the first one. If you go into the yellow and red, you must ascend slowly,” he said.

“The second one, is a power gauge. Once it hits the mark, add another stone to the pouch on your belt. No matter what happens, this is incredibly critical. If you go past the second mark on the gauge, many support features will shut up to preserve your life. But you may still die. The last gauge shows the direction back here,” Elder Bo said.

“Got it,” I replied. He then put on the breathing mask and locked it in place. He showed me the quick release clasps, but told me if I used them, the diving suit would be compromised, and I wouldn’t have the skill to hook it all up again. A helmet went on, meshing around the goggles and facemask. The air felt a bit stale, but I didn’t complain. This kind of diving suit was clearly a sect treasure.

While not that valuable or important as an individual item, it represented years of work by the sect into creating something like this diving suit. With the preparations complete, I was pushed into the water. I struggled for a moment in panic, but quickly calmed down.

Everything was quite clear, only a short distance away from me. After that everything became fuzzier. I felt slightly warm and there was no discomfort. I could breathe without issues. Looking around, the entry point into the ocean from the sect, was a large stone extension, built like the little letter ‘r’. There was a hanging portion, I had entered the water from a hole in the floor.

While it seemed counterintuitive, it was better to stay right above the ocean floor. I wouldn’t find any green ocean lilies floating about. On top of that, any beast roaming would do so in open water. The resting beasts would do so on the ocean floor. The resting beasts, while incredibly dangerous, were the safer of the two options.

The green ocean lilies would not be simple or easy to find. They grew at great depths. I would need to descend quite deep to find one. I slowly began kicking my way through the water. One neat feature about the diving suit was that the boots would extend into fines while in the water.

Swimming through the water. I was slow. My cultivation rank only stopped me from getting too tired. But it provided limited help in going quickly. That was frustrating, but I knew quick escapes wouldn’t be simple deep in the ocean. Humans weren’t sea creatures naturally.

At least there were no low level beasts, which was why I was comfortable using my sword as collateral for this diving suit. I just kept swimming deeper and deeper. The sun was quickly lost to my sight. Only the one gauge indicating the direction of the Crashing Wave Sect along with the distance, kept me from losing my direction. They had this whole diving suit ready to go.

While the Imperial Sect might be able to sell any individual component, getting everything powered from one spirit stone and as streamlined as it was, showed that there had been a lot of research into this one topic. That is why I had come to this sect, over any other sect near the coast. The Imperial Sect had good information brokers, which greatly sped all of this up.

Time was something I lost track of. There was a straw in the breathing mask to sip from a small reservoir of fresh water that was filled up using the spirit stone. My spatial rings were somehow linked with the suit, so I could take pills and have small pieces of jerky pulled from my spatial rings inside a portion of my breathing mask.

It was an imperfect system, but I had no complaints. This meant I could go for quite a while, with the hope I would find a green ocean lily. I was keeping my eye out for any concentration of motes. If the green ocean lily was out here, it would probably be like the beast garden I had gotten the blue moon orchids from.

There was very little life in the ocean. Just a lot of water. Most of my travel just consisted of staying a certain height above the ocean floor and moving away from the sect. I didn’t have a map for underwater areas either, which meant I had to search blind.

I kept track of the time, by the number of stones I switched out. I had 24 rank 3 spirit stones left. Using more than ten would be a huge risk, in terms of getting back to shore. No one said what was really far out in the ocean. The Sect Leader had mentioned the Firmament, but from what I could gather, it wasn’t some place reached by boat. But I could be wrong about this, since I hadn’t done any research.

One problem at a time. I needed to keep my eyes open. Whenever I saw a beast core in the distance, I steered clear. It was not worth getting near resting beasts. I also saw one beast moving through the water above me. Their bulk was massive, a Levithan. They ignored me completely. It would have been nice to have had Roaring Twilight team up with me, to make this simple, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The depth gauge was yellow after a day. After three days in the ocean, it was edging into the red. I was also quickly losing hope, not having found anything that might point me in the right direction. I had taken a look the beasts, but there was nothing nearby. I only kept track of time by the power gauge in the goggles I was wearing.

Going to the bathroom was uncomfortable, and I made sure to do it far away from any monsters. I could have used pills to keep myself going, but was warned not to do that. It was important that my body function normally with how the arrays interacted with it and kept me safe. If I took pills, there could be side effects, at least long term, if I was down here for more than twenty days.

The middle of the third day in the water I came across a deep canyon, descending into inky blackness. Looking up showed blackness as well, above me. The green ocean lilies were rumored to be incredibly deep. That meant this canyon had a good chance of having some.

I descended into the canyon, keeping a watch for any beasts. At least my sight for the energy of the heavens and the earth wasn’t impacted by the water. There were occasional plants, but none of them were cultivation plants.

The depth gauge was rapidly moving deeper into the red, the lower I went. The temperature inside my suit began to get chillier. It had been slightly cool before, but now it was getting cold. The diving suit could only handle so much.

I paused when my depth gauge was maxed out. I could feel a slight pressure. But it appeared the refined beast essence and body cultivation was coming in handy. I could go deeper, but ascending would have to be done carefully. I also had to pay careful attention to my body. If there were any issues, I would have to ascend.

The deeper I went, the harder it became to move. The water was getting thicker. I finally came to the bottom of the underwater canyon. I set out in one direction. I noted there weren’t any beasts down here. Which was a good thing in my mind.

I was getting exhausted. I found a small hole in the rock wall of the canyon and curled up inside after confirming nothing was hiding in here. I made sure my power was fine before I fell asleep.

I woke up when I bumped my helmet on some rocks. The water was churning. A large beast was moving through the canyon. I stayed still as it finished moving past me and waited for it to disappear. I then set off again through the canyon in the same direction. This was the direction the beast had come from.

Moving through the canyon, I saw an indented rock wall with film of energy covering it. I would have normally missed this without my sight. A hidden treasure area or a beast garden? The portion of the canyon wall covered in energy was big, but not Leviathan big.

The beast could shrink down. Or maybe it was a test. Only stronger beasts could survive the depths. Since their body toughness was based on their cultivation. Lower ranked beasts would have to turn back when the pressure became too much. That Leviathan I had seen, was probably a rank 7 or 8 beast at these immense depths.

I was even more grateful to the Crashing Wave Sect for letting me have this amazing diving suit. Without it, I would have had no chance of getting this far. I began checking the energy covered rock face and soon found an indented hole, big enough to put a large claw through.

Higher ranked beasts were intelligent, so it made sense they could use formations. Probably knowledge stolen from humans in some way, but still usable. Or they could have made a deal like I had done with Roaring Twilight.

I knew enough about arrays, to know this array, in this large hole was tied to the wall, but I couldn’t tell if it was connected to other arrays or a formation that would alert the owner of this place. I reached inside, and put a rank 3 spirit stone at the center of the activation mechanism.

Normally a beast would have channeled their energy to trigger the array, but things like this were easily hacked. Just put a stone on the activation portion of the array, touch the stone, and then focus. It was a bit harder with the gloves I was wearing, but I managed.

The energy infused rock wall opened outwards like a double doorway. I swam around the overly large doors and looked inside them. It was a beast garden, hidden down here in the depths. I swam inside the garden, looking for the green ocean lily, but I didn’t spy any.

There were other valuable plants, in the rank 4 or maybe 5 category, but nothing that I was particularly interested in or had enough value. I began to circle the garden to check every single spot, starting on the outside.

Nothing inside the beast garden that was worthwhile. I left and pulled the used spirit stone out of the opening array. It closed back up and I continued my trek through the canyon. It was possible that a single beast had multiple gardens down here sorted by plant type and possibly age.

The beast that had swam past might be the owner or caretaker, going from garden to garden. It was a more active way for a beast to get power faster than just sitting in one place, and also a way for them to trade things with humans.

While they might be very strong, they would be ganged up on if they caused trouble near sects. The risk was massive. You don’t become old by picking fights constantly. Well, some might, but most didn’t. That was why martial sects weren’t that prevalent. They had a hard time maintaining continuity. It was often low ranking sects that took this path to get funds, and get people to succeed.

I kept moving through the canyon. It was the start of day 7 when I found another hidden entrance. No new beasts had come by. This one had the same opening mechanism as the last one. I began looking about at the plants. Some rank 6 plants, bust mostly rank 5.

It hadn’t escaped my noticed the canyon was slopped slightly downwards. I sealed up the garden again and kept descending down the canyon. If there was anything other than blackness, I would have never seen the faint amount of energy for these entrances. But here in the inky void, they stood out.

I was getting worried. The canyon was looping away from the Crashing Wave Sect and the continent. The pressure and temperature was also getting to me. It was getting much harder to move. I started pulling myself along using the rocks of the canyon’s wall instead of trying to swim. At the end of the tenth day down here, I found another hidden entrance.

After opening it, I noticed there weren’t many plants scattered about. But each of them was a high rank 6. The most valuable plants were in the center. I noted a few green ocean lilies, but I went for the center. I had read a lot about plants, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

It had to be at least rank 7, and my heart sped up at that. It was tempting to take it, but I wasn’t prepared to do so. I had lucked now, now I just needed to get away. I pulled out two carrying case sfrom a spatial ring. They wouldn’t be going back in at these depths.

I carefully placed one green ocean lily in each and sealed them up. The carrying cases would preserve whatever was inside of them based on the environment they were retrieved from. These ones were designed by the Cloudy Moon Sect to handle the pressure, both internally and externally. They wouldn’t explode as I ascended. Once I got out of this canyon, I could put them in my mid-rank spatial ring without worry.

Now came the deception. I carefully pulled out two wilted plants, that had been infused with energy, which looked similar to the green ocean lily. The green swamp lily was near worthless. But they had a similar appearance and scent apparently.

I put them into the holes I had extracted the green ocean lilies from and moved some dirt very carefully, so it wouldn’t be obvious anything had been taken away. I doubted it would fool a beast for too long, but it would make it hesitate, and confused when trying to check if something was amiss.

It was a shame I didn’t have more carrying cases, but I would have to carry both with me, back up. I only had two arms. I then left the cave, and sealed it back up. With that done, I began returning back the way I had come down the canyon, while slowly ascending.

I was exhausted. I had never felt more tired in my life. Every bit of ascent, was incredibly painful, and I had to pause often for breaks and rests. What I didn’t dare do was sleep or rest in the ocean. While my scent would be hard to follow due to the diving suit and water, I couldn’t afford to take any more risks.

The closer I got to the top of the canyon was when I began to see beasts resting above occasionally. I kept moving quickly past them until I found a large section with no beasts, and then kept slowly ascending vertically there.

Just as I was nearing the top. I saw a beast rapidly approaching me. Not Leviathan size, but still quite big and it appeared to be rank 5 or 6. I quickly put the carrying cases away in my mid-rank spatial ring. I could mentally feel it groaning from the flood of water, but it held.

The beast was on a direct course for me. This was what I had been afraid of. Hopefully my preparations were enough to escape.

Chapter 34 – Escaping The Depths, Ensnared By The Heights

Activating my small spatial ring, I pushed out several cannisters. Each one of them was primed to burst upon release. A massive cloud of dark smoke began expanding. It was would hide my scent as I made my escape and smell terrible to beasts. I also tossed out a final bomb. It burst, three shattered rank 3 spirit stones went zipping through the water in different directions. A cloud of ground up spirit dust also emerged, which should hopefully confuse the beast even more.

Putting that much energy into the water with the spirit stones along with the smoke would hopefully disguise my position. And make the beast lose interest. With its human level intelligence, I could only hope this worked.

I was already kicking my way upwards while throwing out more smoke bombs. Getting them to work underwater was what had cost so much. I didn’t hesitate to exhaust my entire supply in the next minute. I felt the pressure as the beast rushed through the smoke with its eel like form.

I then pulled out the next round of cannisters and tossed them up and away from me in various directions. More smoke exploded outwards through the water. I followed one of the arcing trails of smoke off to the side. The smoke, and particulates, hung in the water, not easily dispersing. If I was nearer the surface, then they would have dispersed much more. If I had been deeper, then the smoke wouldn’t have gone that far out of the bombs.

Swimming upwards and then back down. I heard the beast zipping around, looking for me. I could see its energy clearly through the water. Once it was on the far side of the smoke cloud, I swam out of the trail of smoke I was hiding in and away from the scene of the encounter.

I focused more on horizontal distance, rather than ascending. The pain was getting worse and worse. The canyon disappeared from my sight beneath me. I had picked a random direction, which was taking me further out into the ocean.

My joints hurt, I had a massive headache, and finally it was hard to breath. Waves of dizziness assaulted me, and my vision was blurring. I forced myself to stop ascending and keep moving horizontally and descend a bit.

With the diving suit and my cultivation, I had gone to untold depths, far deeper than an ordinary human could dive. The problems with pressure still existed. With my body cultivation and refined beast essence, I would be matched up high stage 3, possibly low stage 4 cultivator. I was incredibly tough and difficult damage.

But the pressure of the ocean, especially that trench, where I had gone into the red on the depth gauge was too much. I had been hoping that the calibration would be off so that I could survive. I had survived, but getting back up to the surface would take time. I was also exhausted, both mentally and physically.

My reserve of rank 3 spirit stones was quickly running out. Swimming out further into the ocean, was the smarter choice, since if any beasts looked for me, they would assume I would head back to shore. I was glad the large number of underwater smoke bombs and energy decoy bomb had worked.

The Imperial Sect really did make some amazing equipment, even if it was incredibly overpriced. The diving suit was also helping hide me as well. It was designed to avoid drawing attention from beasts. Another reason why I went to the Crashing Wave Sect to borrow one.

I popped in another rank 3 spirit stone to keep the suit running and sipped some water from inside the mask. While I had found a hidden beast garden, and stole the green ocean lilies, I would celebrate once I was back on shore. Swimming through the water, I was half conscious as I kept avoiding any beasts I could see, as I made a big loop back to the shore.

I was on my last spirit stone and couldn’t keep my eyes open as I finally reached the shore. My entire body hurt massively. The waves slammed me up against the rocks, as I dragged myself up on the coast. I made my way to the tree line, pulling my mask off. It felt good to breathe air. I collapsed under a tree and passed out.

No dreams came to me while sleeping. I felt a pain in my neck and woke up. There was a cloaked figure looming over me. They had a horrid smell to them. I felt a collar around my neck. “I wouldn’t try pulling it off,” the figure said.

“What?” I asked as I tried to make sense what was going on.

“A little itty, bitty cultivator washed up on shore. The heavens truly favor me. I haven’t smelled a cultivation like yours. It will be delicious to consume,” the woman said. I placed their gender through the voice and the curves on the robe. Looking at them, they were in the fourth stage of cultivation, if I had to guess. She had a plump figure.

“Let me go, or else,” I said as I tried to get up. The figure snapped her fingers and my body lost all strength.

“A collar of dispersal is such a wonderful tool. You feel it don’t you. Your cultivation has left you,” she said while holding up a formation key, before tucking it away into her dark robes.

“How?!” I asked afraid. I was not in Half Moon City, and in tremendous pain still. I was in no condition to fight. Rage coursed through me, but was offset by the amount of pain I was in. That was a way to suppress the beast essence, overwhelming pain that racked my body.

“That little cultivator is a trade secret. Don’t want you getting any ideas and escaping. Oh, no. I am going to extract every bit of cultivation out of you, for myself. Now let’s get all that equipment off of you. Unless you want to take it off yourself. It looks expensive,” she said.

“It is. I will take it off,” I replied. She grinned under her cowl. I saw her fat jowls jiggle as she let out a giggle.

“Good. Good. So cooperative,” she replied. I was trying to sense what the collar did to me. But it was weakening me greatly. I wouldn’t be able to outrun a rank 4 cultivator. Without my sword, I would have a hard time hurting her. With my body in pain, I wouldn’t be able to fight hand to hand or to even think about running.

I had to defeat her, here and now. There was only one chance. I had forgotten something important. This would hurt us both massively. But the hope was it would wound her enough, to disable her. I twisted a hand and poked my last smoke bomb I had out of my small spatial ring. It exploded and I turned to run.

I didn’t get very far as I heard the snap of fingers and I collapsed to the ground once more. “That might work on beasts, but not on little old me,” the woman cackled as she came closer. “You are collared already? What hope do you have?”

“Please, please my sect will pay for me,” I begged and cried. The tears and fear came easily, they weren’t all fake. She took a step closer and looked down at my pitiful form.

“The strong take and the weak suffer. That is the way of our world. Now I am going to peel you out of your shell,” she said. I had tried to make a fake escape to lure into a sense of superiority. She would think I had used all my trump cards.

I had one left. A very dangerous one, as she came closer and closer. I tried to scramble away, past the tree roots, but was too slow and weak. An impossibly strong hand gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “AHHHH!” I screamed in pain as I felt my bones shudder under the pressure.

“What ripe cultivation for me to harvest. I so enjoy your fear,” she said as she flipped me onto my back. I brought my right arm up to shield my face to make it look like I was cowering from her. My left arm swiped out, activating my mid-rank spatial ring.

BAM!

I was slammed into the ground as the massive amount of water pressure shot outwards, along with one of the cases. Thankfully the carrying case was aimed at this demonic cultivator. It slammed into her with a massive amount of force, launching her away into a tree. As I struggled to get up to my feet, I saw the massive tree was shattered halfway through its base from the impact of the demonic cultivator. The carrying case lay on the ground, unharmed.

The tree toppled over to the side. I made my way from the ground zero crater I was in over to the obese older woman. My diving suit had protected me from the pressure explosion. I should have drained the ring at intervals was ascending. My encounter with the beast and with how tired I was, made me forget.

I put the carrying case back into my mid-rank spatial ring with the other one. I reached into her robe and pulled out the formation key to the collar. I quickly found the slot and put it in. The collar snapped off. I still felt terrible, but I no longer felt weak. I quickly spun and clamped the collar around her fat neck.

A hand reached up and grabbed mine, but I could feel it was weak. I didn’t know how to activate the collar, but I ripped my hand free and put the key back into my spatial ring. “You dare!” she screamed, specks of blood and spit flying from her mouth. Some of it hit my face.

“Yes, I dare,” I replied. I stumbled back away from her. The pain and aches from my joints made it hard to keep my footing in the soggy, ripped up ground. “I am going to leave and let you run away. I am sure you can get that collar off in time.” I said.

“Ahhh!” she screamed in rage, as I turned and began walking away. She didn’t pursue me thankfully. She didn’t have a spatial ring, otherwise she would have put the formation key in it. I also couldn’t be sure I would win in a fight. While that collar sapped her strength, I was in incredible pain.

After two hours of stumbling through the coastal forest, I came to a paved road. Checking behind and around me, the woman wasn’t following me. I quickly stripped off the diving suit and put on my sect robes. I did a little rearranging of my spatial rings. I knew which way I had to go back up the coast to get back to the Crashing Wave Sect.

I picking up a branch from the side of the road to help support me, I began stumbling along it. Each breath, each step, pain racked my body. I knew I had to get back to proper civilization as quickly as possible.

It was about midday when I woke up and it was getting closer to evening as I stumbled my way up the coastal road and I heard noises behind me. I turned and there was a caravan. I let out a sigh of relief as a guard rode up towards me on horseback. I turned to fully face them.

I could see the guard processing seeing a child in a martial robe, indicating they are a cultivator. They quickly dismounted and deeply bowed. “Master Cultivator. We are passing through and hope we didn’t disturb you,” he said. I had encountered similar reactions while traveling. Mostly I ignored them and kept moving. Now, I was tired and wanted to rest. My head was killing me.

“I headed for the Crashing Wave Sect, which shouldn’t be far from here. Five days?” I asked.

“Yes, Master Cultivator. They have a city, Calm Cove, which we are headed to. Do you wish to travel with us?” he asked.

“That would be useful. Just a place to sit, since I have been traveling for quite a while. A carriage is not necessary.”

“We already have a carriage, with another cultivator,” he replied. The main portion of the caravan was catching up now. Suddenly the soldier’s head was missing.

I blinked in shock as a fountain of blood erupted from the still standing body. “Attack!” the call went up. I spun around looking for the attacker. A cultivator burst out of the carriage. Rank 4 from what I could tell. They immediately rushed towards me with sword in hand. I quickly raised my hands.

“Not me! Someone or something else,” I shouted.

“Surrender!” they shouted and gestured at me with their sword. Suddenly the rank 4 cultivator spun around. Their sword shattered, a huge gash opened up on their robes, and they went tumbling along the road. They quickly spun up to their feet. I didn’t know what sect they were from based on their robe. I heard a familiar giggle on the wind.

The wounded cultivator slammed a hand on the ground. A pillar of rock shot up at them, while they were on it. Two more mortals in the caravan lost their heads. It was the female demonic cultivator from earlier. I had to act quickly. Taking my mid-rank spatial ring in hand, I placed it on a branch of my walking stick. I then threw my walking stick and ring away into the forest to the side of the road.

It wouldn’t be spotted easily or found. I couldn’t afford to lose the green ocean lilies no matter what. “Senior, it is a demonic cultivator, who is invisible!” I called out. I noticed he had already taken a pill and the injury on his chest had stabilized as he stood on top of the stone pillar.

Someone was behind me. I spun around and brought my arms up to defend myself. A powerful blow landed on my chest. I felt my cultivation shudder, shifting slightly, and the astral soul stabilizer vibrate heavily. I took a couple of steps back. I swung out with my fists wildly but hit nothing. I did see a slight blur of slightly denser energy, moving to the side.

“There! Senior!” I pointed out to the cultivator still standing on his pillar looking at the battle below. Stone spikes erupted from the ground. The heavy-set female demonic cultivator became visible as she flipped out of the way, far faster than her size would indicate. The collar was no longer on her neck.

“Brat! Die!” She rushed at me again. I tried to stumble back, but everything hurt too much. A stone wall erupted between us. More stone walls moved in on her from various directions, rumbling across the ground.

“Stone coffin!” The rank 4 cultivator on top of the pillar called out. The stone walls shook and then one shattered as the demonic cultivator leapt free from the technique. “Die!” she screamed and expelled a massive blood red cloud from her mouth. Her plump figure quickly became more saggy.

Everything in the path of the blood red cloud was corroded and began to break apart. I scrambled away as the pillar the caravan cultivator made crumbled, forcing him to leap back down to the ground. The woman rushed through her blood red cloud, and it followed along with her.

“Die demon!” the cultivator yelled while leaping forward with a sword strike. The female cultivator ducked under the blow and a hand landed on his face. It quickly began to melt away. He screamed and he swung his sword down. It cut off her arm that was grabbing his face. She had a gob smacked look on her face, as she looked down on her missing arm.

The cultivator brought his glowing sword back around and stabbed her though the heart, before he collapsed as he melted away. The demonic cultivator staggered back with a shocked look. The sword in her chest was melting, but the red cloud around her was already disappearing.

“How?” she asked and collapsed to the ground. I heard screaming in the distance. The mortals who had run into the forest were probably being eaten by beasts, which would soon descend on this area. I went over to a lone horse that had belonged to one of the guards. Thankfully it was trained not to run away in panic during combat.

It took a moment to pull myself on. “Yah!” I slapped its rear while shaking the reins. The horse took off down the road as I gripped the saddle. I was in no condition to fight. It was hard to breathe, and blood was dribbling out of my mouth. If I had my sword and was not crippled, then I could have easily cut down the beasts that were showing up. But in my wounded state, a well-trained mortal could kill me.

I kept urging the horse to keep going along the road. I went past one rest point and then reached another just as the horse collapsed, the following morning, frothing at the mouth. I stumbled into the small stone building built on the side of the road. I collapsed on the floor. “Ahhh,” I let out a half groan half scream of pain.

My body felt like it was ripping apart. For the second time in as many days, I passed out from exhaustion.

When I woke up, I didn’t have a demonic cultivator over me. Unknown cultivator who had been part of the caravan and who had helped me out, thank out. I focused on my cultivation and body. It wasn’t good, but it was better than it could have been. Breathing hurt more than before. There was a huge bruise on my body and several of my bones were broken.

My cultivation had shifted slightly from the impact of the hit I had received. It was minor but the channel structures I had been carefully building, had shifted a bit in relation to my physical body. I still had a headache and couldn’t work out the extent of the damage. Everything built quite compact, so the shifting wasn’t too bad, but my core area was the most concerning.

I hadn’t built my cores yet and the shifting of my structures was serious. There was no room for error in my mind. This was why stage 2 cultivators didn’t get into fights. One solid blow from a technique and there would be huge problems that would damage a person’s cultivation.

That hit I had taken would have killed most other cultivators. There was a technique behind the strike that had broken a few of my ribs. I crawled over to the nearby well, next to the building and pulled up some water. I drank heavily, but that didn’t help the issues I was experiencing. I needed a proper healer. I was also bankrupt.

“So stupid,” I muttered. Surviving high rank beasts, only to get found by a demonic cultivator. The lady had been far too crazy to get me. You would think she would have been smarter about the fight. But I guess she was too enraged and tired from chasing after me. She hadn’t properly assessed the situation at first. I was lucky they had killed each other, and the beasts would kill everyone else.

Stumbling back onto the road, I kept trudging along, in massive pain. I didn’t regret leaving my low-rank spatial ring behind with the two green ocean lilies inside of it. That was too much wealth to be carrying about. The mid-rank spatial ring was a bit of risk to bring along. But I needed to return the diving suit.

It took four more days, before I arrived at the gates of Calm Cove City. I was let in without hassle and quickly hired a carriage to go to the Crashing Wave Sect. I had a few rank 2 and rank 1 spirit stones along with a pouch of tael thankfully.

I arrived back at the sect I had left about a month ago. I was brought to Elder Bo once more. He seemed surprised to see me. I stood up as he entered the room, painfully bowing.

“Junior Yuan Zhou, greets Elder Bo,” I said and the collapsed back into my chair right after he sat down.

“You live. And you have depth sickness,” he replied with a shake of his head. “The fact you are still alive is impressive. But you will require medicine,” he replied.

“How much?” I asked.

“Five hundred rank 1 spirit stones. And that will just fix the worst of it.” I winced at that number.

“Let us conclude our other business. The diving suit,” I waved my hand and set it on the table from my spatial ring. He returned my sword. I had missed it. I was never going to give it up again. Its weight was a comforting presence.

“I don’t have the spirit stones, elder,” I replied.

“If you aren’t treated soon, the joint issues will become permanent and possibly mental issues as well,” he replied.

“I would humbly ask to be given some face, and the opportunity to repay such a debt at a later date,” I replied with a head bow. He let out a long sigh.

“You are causing our sect a great deal of headaches, Yuan Zhou,” he said. I winced at this. “We aren’t a rich sect, like your Cloudy Moon Sect that can send rank 2 disciples bumbling about into the ocean with more spirit stones than common sense. Or the Imperial Sect with its immense wealth. You will owe me a personal favor on behalf of the Cloudy Moon Sect.”

That was not good, since a favor could easily be worth ten times what was given. That was the common definition of repaying a favor. I would owe 5,000 rank 1 spirit stones. That was only 50 rank 3 spirit stones, so while bad, it wasn’t horrible.

“Thank you, Elder Bo,” I said and bowed my head deeply.

“Come, let us get you into a healing chamber. Did you even succeed?” he asked me and got up. I followed him out of the room.

“I am afraid not elder. I also took a blow on my chest” I replied while thinking that I didn’t have what I needed with me, and I had returned injured. He gave me a look for a moment but then kept walking.

“A shame. At least you returned alive. Many other cultivators fail to do so. Let us go see the healer first.”

I got a Healing Pill that was worth 5 rank 2 spirit stones. It would fix up my ribs and organs. But for my cultivation that was not something they could deal with. I now owed 100 rank 3 spirit stones. Not something I wanted to occur, but getting healed up was important.

After getting the healing pill I was put into a stone chamber with a bucket of water and an empty bucket. I was told I would be here for fifty days. Every tenth day they would bring me food and replace the two buckets.

I felt the pressure of the air increase, and began to feel better. I was incredibly hungry at the end of the ten days as the pressure decreased slowly. The pain came back along with the headache, but it was less severe this time.

During this time I focused on my cultivation. It wasn’t good. The carefully laid out internal structure was twisted slightly in my chest. The biggest impact was where I was going to put my cores. I tried to move the motes that had been moved out of position. It took time and was incredibly painful.

It was like pulling splinters out of my body and pushing them into another location. The amount of resistance, I faced was immense. The issue wasn’t the distance the aligned motes had moved, but the sheer number of them.

The treatment was repeated four more times. At the end of it, I was slightly sore, but no headache. I had only fixed about a twentieth of the motes that were not in the right spots. At my current speed, it would take another three years to fix the injury I had sustained. I left the chamber and was brought before Elder Bo once more.

“This is for your Master and Sect Leader,” he told me and handed me a letter. I took it carefully and put it in my spatial ring.

“Thank you, Elder Bo. I will it delivered without issue,” I replied and bowed deeply.

“Let it not be said that the Crashing Wave Sect turns its back on fellow sects,” he said and left the room. I left the Crashing Wave Sect with my sword on my back and a smile on my face. It was good to be able to move without crippling pain.

The soreness was still there, but that would linger for a while from what I had been told. It was time to recover my mid-rank spatial ring. Four days of traveling later, I arrived at the site of the battle. There was still rubble, and the road was damaged. The bodies were missing, and there were only scraps of broken up wood on the road.

I went into the forest where I had thrown my ring. I had been checking, but had seen no one following me thankfully. It took two days to find the stick, stuck up in a tree, with the ring on it. Nothing was missing. I let out a sigh of relief at that.

Now I just had to get back to Imperial City. Sell one of these green ocean lilies, buy a red desert rose, and then return to the sect. When I returned to the road, there was a young child that appeared similar to me waiting for me in a tattered blood red robe. I couldn’t see their cultivation, but a child cultivator like this was not a good sign.

“Junior, greets senior,” I quickly said and bowed my head.

“My disciple goes missing. I poke around and find this is the spot where she died. And here I find a young cultivator snooping around. Recovering a lost spatial ring. Tell me what happened,” he said and displayed his cultivation, letting whatever technique he was using drop. He was a rank 8 cultivator.

I was finished. I explained what happened. They then pressed me on my trip into the ocean. There was no point in lying here. It was clear that the crazy woman was his disciple.

“Interesting. A genius. And you survived through luck. I can see the currents of fate about you,” he replied.

“Thank you senior,” I replied politely like a meek little mouse before a massive tiger. My dark reflection just grinned at my subservient answer.

“You know you won’t make it with standard cultivation techniques. Past the first bottleneck,” he said.

“There was talk of sending me out into the Firmament,” I replied.

“HAH! Even I would not date such a thing at my stage. Only immortals are truly qualified to make such a journey. The aura of luck and fate that surrounds you, would mean nothing out there. But what if there was another way?” he asked.

“You mean demonic cultivation?” I asked.

“Hmmm, indeed,” the not child grinned at me. “You caused the death of one of my disciples. So, a debt is owed. There is no demonic immortal. And my path would be strengthened by taking one such as yourself under my tutelage. What do you say?” That wasn’t even a real question. It was like asking if I wanted to instantly die or not.

“Yes, Master,” I replied without hesitation.

“I know you are lying in your heart. But that is fine. Once you see the power that lies within the darkness, you won’t want to go back. And if you do, well, you can always object and fight me,” the not child said. That was never happening.

“Yes, Master,” I replied once more, and he grinned.

“I am the Blood Demon Aoyin. Your name disciple?” he asked.

“Yuan Zhou,” I said with a gulp.

“Yuan Zhou. A pretty name. I see your fear, but there is nothing to worry about. I am merely going to convince you the path of blood is the best. To corrupt your foolish notions of cultivation that have been put into your head,” he said as he approached.

A massive sword suddenly appeared in front of him and floated horizontally above the road like a surfboard. He stepped on the floating sword. “Get on in front of me,” he said. I quickly went over and stepped on the floating sword. A hand touched my back, and I froze in place unable to move. The sword I was standing on rose up into the air and then quickly set off, the wind rushing past us as we traveled at impressive speeds. I was forced to shut my eyes from the force of wind blowing into my face.

Chapter 35 – Demonic Blood Sect

We came to a stop at a desolate mountaintop. I had no idea where we were. The wind and rain rushed by. Aoyin stepped off the floating sword, he gestured at me to follow, and I followed him. He returned the flying sword to his spatial ring. We then went into the mountain, past several doors he easily opened and that slammed shut behind me. Glowing paper lights lit up and then turned off as we passed through the stone hallways.

Escape wasn’t going to be easy or simple. “What do you know about demonic cultivation?” he asked me as we descended into the mountain.

“That you take the cultivation of others and impart it into yourself. To use their power as your own,” I replied.

“Indeed, Yuan Zhou. Indeed. While the righteous sects reject this, I do not begrudge them. For there needs to be sheep for the wolf to eat. My own father only fed me the flesh of cultivators from an early age. I never expected to see someone looking as young as me,” he replied.

“You waited that long by the road?” I asked. He let out a deep chuckle.

“I once disguised myself as a statue and remained perfectly immobile for a decade to kill a rank 8 cultivator. Good times. It took some effort to work out that a spatial ring was still around, but it had clearly been hidden. I was willing to wait a year to find out who killed my disciple,” he said, and I gulped.

“That is very impressive Master Aoyin,” I said while trying to keep my rampant fear under control.

“Not really. You have made waves. My knowledge and spies are quite impressive. I was actually searching for you specifically,” he said.

“Me?” I asked in surprise.

“Hmm, indeed. You killed another one of my disciples in your Half Moon City.” I remembered the demonic cultivator. “That brought you to my attention. I spent time learning about you. A genius under the heavens. Then the personal disciple of Sect Leader Jiang Fengge. I would never be able to snatch you out from under his nose.” We entered a well furnished room with book shelves and a table. He gestured at me to sit at the table, I sat. He sat as well and kept talking.

“But then you went to Imperial City. I learn that you have managed to gain the backing of an Imperial Sect elder. Now that is truly impressive at the second stage of cultivation. You were tracked down to the Crashing Wave Sect and then disappeared into the ocean.”

“Then you escaped, my apprentice died. I had a soul lantern made of course. The Towering Tree sect the other cultivator that dealt the killing blow is a low rank sect, so no soul lantern. But you, you have one. Now you will serve me and help me become an immortal, or die,” he said. I gulped nervously at that.

“Yes, Master,” I replied, and he chuckled.

“I can see you deny the truth in your heart. But do not underestimate me Yuan Zhou. I am second only to the immortals on this continent. And even they would hesitate before my martial might,” he replied. The fact he was willing to say something so boldly, clearly indicated that he thought he was up there in terms of ability.

“And you aren’t going to consume me? To push you to becoming an immortal?” I asked. He grinned even wider at that. Oh no. My heart fell. This was not good.

“Indeed, you truly are a genius. How wonderful. I find lying distasteful. The truth is a much sharper sword. I want you to get past your first bottleneck. The unification of mind, body, and soul. To taste that truth, will give me the push I need,” he said. I closed my eyes. I had to accept this. I had no chance of escape or reversing things right now. In time, hopefully, I would come up with something.

“I know what you are thinking without a technique,” he said. “You want to reverse things and find a way to escape,” he told me.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Hahahaha, oh, so bold. You truly have the arrogance of a genius. To sit here in my lair and say to my face that you will counter my techniques that have been developed over the ages. That truly is an experience.” I suddenly felt my body lock. My right hand rose up and slapped my face. Aoyin was grinning at me as I slapped myself again, and again. After ten slaps my hand lowered to my side and I gained control of my body again. I let out a gasp, breathing heavily.

“Thank you for the lesson, Master,” I said as calmly as I could.

“At least you can learn. I like arrogance, but don’t look down on me so casually. I who have slaughtered sects for killing a disciple of mine. But you have arranged for the deaths of two.” I gulped at this. “You are going to pay me back with your life.” A twisted dagger with hundreds of tiny glowing red symbols on it, appeared above the table. The dagger then floated over to me.

“I will ensure you can’t escape. The Ever Seeking Dagger. Stab yourself with it,” he said with a grin. I didn’t hesitate, quickly picking it up with my right hand. I was planning to stab my left hand, but spikes shot out of the hilt into my right hand.

“Ahhhhh!” I screamed and tried to throw it away, but my hand wouldn’t open. I felt my blood being sucked out. A couple of seconds later I managed to open my bloody hand and dropped the dagger on the table. There were no spikes visible on the hilt. I opened my mouth to speak and a pill flew inside of my mouth. I gagged and was forced to swallow it.

“The Poison of the Unseen Snake. And now the final thing to make sure you never escape beyond my grasp.” A glowing black shard about the size of a needle appeared in his hand and he threw it at me. It struck between my eyes and there was quite a bit of pain in my head. “That one is quite special. I won’t tell you the name of it to keep you guessing, but it is something of my own creation. Call it Aoyin’s Fang.”

“What…?” I gasped out through the pain I was feeling. I glanced at my right hand and blinked as it was already healed. I focused on what was happening with my cultivation while he talked.

“If you escape all three bindings, then you truly are a genius blessed by the heavens. To escape even one, I would consider that a miracle. To escape two, even with the help of an Immortal that might be possible. But all three. No,” he said with a malicious grin.

“You won’t kill me now, not after having entrapped me,” I looked up defiantly and he nodded.

“Indeed. But what are you going to do? Go crying home to daddy Fengge. Help me daddy! Help me!” Aoyin teased me with the same evil grin he had. I wanted to say I would make him regret it, but didn’t dare insult him or look down on him. I was completely outmatched in every way possible. “I will tell you what any cultivator will do, after they know, you have talked to me. They will either kill you on the spot if they are smart, or hand you over to the Imperial Sect so they can try and find information about me.”

“You want me to get past the first bottleneck? How?” I asked. If I was going to suffer and be trapped, I would extract all the knowledge I could first, with the hopes of escaping Aoyin’s clutches one day.

“Pragmatic, I like it. You remind me of me. I am sure you are thinking about your revenge on me already. I did the same with my father. His screams were amazing as I devoured his cultivation. That is why you will make for a great demonic cultivator. The answer is simple. You will follow the path of blood. Killing other cultivators, to empower your cultivation.”

“And how does that work? I can get motes, but the rest?” I asked.

“You take in their energy and offload the negative effects of rapid cultivation. Well, you seem to be well on your way to offsetting the negative effects. Stealing from the high-level beasts, in their little secret underwater gardens. When they realize what you have done, they will be coughing out blood. That would be the case if I hadn’t killed one,” he said with a smile and put a spirit stone on the table. My eyes went wide at it. It had the most energy of any spirit stone I had ever seen.

“They followed me?” I asked in surprise.

“Oh, you sweet righteous child. Of course, they followed you. The Crushing Depths Of The Ocean, was quite a challenge to kill. But you were healing in the Crashing Wave Sect, so you probably didn’t sense the massive storm and tsunamis that were unleashed.” I shook my head numbly at that.

“A shame. Beast gardens are quite dangerous to steal from, since the beasts will pursue you,” he said.

“This wasn’t told to me,” I replied.

“Oh daddy sect leader, please tell me of the dangers of my idiotic plans, with my stupid cultivation,” he said with a chuckle. “You know they want you to die and are using you. But unlike those so called righteous sects, I let you know exactly what I am doing.”

“You plan to eventually kill me, they don’t,” I countered.

“That is true. But my methods are much better than their methods. Going into the Firmament? Bah! Your useless sect leader, ran back with his tail between his legs. Complete and utter trash. I won’t claim to do better, but I want you to stay alive until I come for you,” Aoyin said.

“So what? I kill a cultivator? Stick them in a pot and make a pill?” I asked.

“Hmm, that is normally what I have my lesser disciples do. Teaches them patience. But I think with you, I will take a different approach. One I reserve for my most promising disciples,” he said and waved a hand. What could only be described as torture device. It was a large coffin. “Just toss a corpse in here, and it does all the work. Self-powered by the corpses too.” He said with a grin. I got up and looked it over.

There were a lot of formations and possibly arrays all over it. I put the coffin away in my mid-rank storage ring. “Thank you, Master,” I said.

“Hmm, well follow me. Time to test it out first and fix your cultivation from the blow that was landed on you,” he said and picked up the level 8 spirit stone. He got up and I followed him out of the room into the depths of the mountain.

We soon arrived at horizontal indentations in the wall like a crypt would have. Most were empty. But few had a blue glow over them, with a person inside. “Set the coffin down,” he told me. I quickly got it out. “Hmm, well this is a stage three, so she should do.” Aoyin glanced at me and then at the woman frozen in place in the crypt.

The blue barrier went down. He reached out, grabbed her and then dragged her out. Before she could do anything, she was tossed into the coffin and Aoyin slammed the lid shut. “Hand there,” he pointed at a spot on the top of the coffin. I put my hand in the obvious hand shaped imprint on top. The entire coffin began to emit a sinister red glow from various carvings on it.

There was a scream from the inside. “The more they struggle and scream the better the result,” Aoyin said while I felt sick. There was no choice except to obey. His mere presence in front of me was like a gun to my head. This was going to be my fate one day.

The screams quieted down after a minute along with the occasional shaking of the coffin. The red light dimmed and then went out. “Open it up,” Aoyin said. I removed my hand and opened up the coffin. Inside was a large red spirit stone, not a blue one. “The red ones have a different property. It was tricky getting all the alchemical work integrated into it. Break off a piece and swallow it,” he said. I hesitated at this for a moment, but then obeyed.

The blood crystal shattered into smaller pieces. I picked a small non-jagged one and put it in my mouth. My entire body felt alive. “Feel the power. Shift your motes back into position,” he said and I obeyed. It felt much easier. I cut off half a year of hard work and pain.

“How?” I asked once the energy ran out. This made no sense. Aoyin grinned at me.

“The root of all demonic cultivation. The coffin senses your current cultivation rank and structures the crystal in a way that will help you the most. It only works up to rank 4 despite being a rank 8 demonic tool,” he said with a feral grin at me.

“Thank you Master,” I replied. I put away the remaining shards and the coffin into my storage ring.

“For the second stage, you could have used something like this instead of your astral soul stabilizer, or refined beast essence.”

“But not the Pill of Peace?” I asked. He shook his head.

“The path of mind cultivation is one that resists demonic cultivation. Which is why you will be my bridge.” He wasn’t even hiding his plans. “Get stronger. Counter my methods. Run away. It matters not. In time you will become more desperate and use demonic cultivation to harvest other cultivators in order to live. To break through the bottleneck, with the hope I won’t be there.”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said with a defeated sigh.

“Indeed. The best plans are ones that have no way to fail. Will you really kill yourself? I think not. That means you will fight. I suppose you can live out your remaining life, never cultivating again in order to spite me. But you have hope. Hope I will be killed or you will find a way around my methods before your time is up,” he replied.

“Yes…master,” I said with a weak glare. Aoyin just chuckled.

“I like it. Fate turns. Just like I had killed my father, you will try and kill me. So, the wheel of karma will complete, but I will break it.”

“And if you become an immortal through another way?” I asked.

“Then we will speak again. For immortality is but the first step on a great journey young disciple. Come, we shall depart. Where would you like to go?” he asked me.

“Imperial City,” I replied, and he chuckled.

“To sell one of your green ocean lilies and get a red sun rose for your Pill of Peace. Or do you mean to beg for help from an immortal?” he asked.

“To do research at the very least,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Prudent and smart. Well, I will return you to a nearby city and you can make the rest of the trek yourself,” Aoyin said.

“That flying sword?” I asked.

“A toy I picked up from a cultivator. Only something you can use after the bottleneck. A rank 8 treasure,” he said as we made our way back out of his underground base.

“Aren’t you worried, I will know where this place is?” I asked.

“It is already known.” What?! “I can sense your shock. But digging me out isn’t viewed as useful. If the immortals truly wanted to stop me, they could. But they allow demonic cultivators to exist,” he said.

“Why?!” That made no sense.

“Why is something I used to ask myself. But you know the answer,” he said.

“External pressures and they want more immortals,” I said, thinking back onto the conversations I had with the Sect Leader.

“Exactly. I know what their red lines are and won’t cross them. But you, well you have no backing that matters. Unless you plan to cry to daddy?” he asked malevolently.

“I just might,” I replied.

“Good. Good. When you do, tell Jiang Fengge that this is my revenge for him killing one of my disciples.” It was obvious that Aoyin was only using that as an excuse. He just liked killing people and causing suffering.

It was also obvious that there was a fourth and possibly fifth method he had used on me. The three methods he had visibly to get a hold of me again were too obvious. There would probably be another hidden method tied to this coffin. He made sure I consumed at least one portion of blood crystal.

But when his hand was on my back for the flight. I had felt something much more subtle, that I wanted to ignore as an itch or case of nerves. With the wind blasting me, it wasn’t easy to pin point, but he had done something to me.

There were probably five things I now had to fix as I left Aoyin’s mountain base. I also had no idea how much of what he said was true. I would need to find a formation grandmaster to sort what this coffin did exactly. I hated this feeling, my life not being under my control.

Another half day of traveling, who knows how fast before we slowed down to a stop. I couldn’t keep my eyes open from the wind, and I had no doubt Aoyin could control the strength of the wind getting through. If he wanted to travel without any breeze bothering us, he could have easily done that. A random mountaintop, would be impossible to locate.

I had not way of getting back to him. “Here we are. A short journey back to Imperial City, but you should be able to manage,” he said, and I took a step off his flying sword. I turned around to look at him. That dark hair, those malevolent eyes, and that tattered red robe.

“I had no chance?” I asked with a sigh, and he just chuckled.

“You really didn’t. If you didn’t return than the Crashing Wave Sect would have killed, you. I was ready to wait a year. A genius like yourself is rare. Even more so, one than just wanders around without any protection,” he grinned as his flying sword angled itself upright and he leaned back against it. “Also the coffin isn’t trapped.”

“I don’t believe you,” I replied, and he chuckled.

“Check it out. But it is a rank 8 treasure. If you show daddy Fengge that. What do you think he will do?” Aoyin asked me while floating around me with his arms behind his head, leaning back against his flying sword, in the most casual pose possible.

“He will take it away.” Aoyin waved his hand at me. “And most likely hand the coffin and myself over to the Imperial Sect for benefits.”

“Indeed. They like the chaos, I cause, just not too much,” he pulled out the rank 8 spirit stone from within his robes. “I will pay off the Immortals with this little trinket,” he said as my gaze locked onto the spirit stone.

“Just like that? They let you get away with this?” I asked, resigned. The answer was yes but he clearly wanted to brag.

“Indeed. A rank 8 beast dead and its spirit stone in hand. A little chaos is a small price to pay. What, did you think I would give this to you?” he asked me with a chuckle.

“No. Thank you for the coffin. But I wanted to ask one more thing before you depart Master,” I said.

“Oh, this will be interesting. Power? Knowledge? Want someone dead?” he grinned at me as he floated around, relaxed as ever.

“How will me progressing help you?” I asked.

“Ah, an interesting question, but a simple one. I will give you some insight before I depart, perhaps you will use this knowledge against me. That would be amusing and I hope you do something like that. The centuries can get quite dull. Unlike all those other righteous cultivators, I don’t sit around in a dark room for my entire life.” He was also much more unbalanced and manic, but I wasn’t going to say that. There were clearly issues with his mind.

Something I had heard in my past life, a crazy person telling their story on the street was just a crazy person. A crazy person telling their story in a country club was eccentric. Aoyin’s power meant that I had to take him seriously, even if he was completely off his rocker.

“Cultivation starts and ends at the same way. The divergence grows until the first bottleneck. The divergence to strengthen your true soul, astral soul, or whatever name any of the thousands of sects have come up for it.” I listened intently, since any knowledge would hopefully give me an edge and he was clearly willing to humor me.

“In the end there are three paths. Soul, body, and mind. Each of them different as you align your motes. The later stages of cultivation are about attuning the physical and your energy soul to become one. That is the second bottleneck, on the path to immortality.” I nodded at this. It was similar to what I had read.

“Daos, paths, or understandings, are about converging this understanding to a single point. What you are doing will completely negate the second bottleneck if you make it that far.” I heard his emphasis on the word ‘if’. “There is much more variance. Your daddy Fengge focused on the understanding of the soul itself. That is why he is quite skilled in certain areas.”

“And you will take this understanding from me?” I asked.

“Something like that. No demonic cultivator has stepped into immortality, you know why?” I shook my head. “The understanding is not their own. That is why the best of us get stuck at rank 8. You can steal understanding, and cultivation, but to bridge the gap in true understanding,” he shook his head.

“And I will fix that?” I asked.

“Yes, you will. While I might detest your sect leader, he is right. You are a pig,” my eyes went wide at that. How had Aoyin known he had said that? “Surprised? The truth is quite powerful, disciple. My knowledge is not simple either. Now I will leave you with that little mystery and wish you luck. Since your success is my success. Business is all about knowing who to invest in, not what,” he said. I couldn’t say anything else as there was a sudden blast of wind. I was forced to blink and turn away for a brief moment.

When I looked back Aoyin was gone. His parting words struck me deeply. He invested into people to empower himself, while I invested into businesses. I guess the big difference, was that he liked to kill cultivators at the end while my businesses would bring greater prosperity for just himself.

I turned away from where he had departed and began slowly walking up the road. I felt a strong sense of melancholy and frustration. The sadness came from the fact that the one to truly believe in me, who was a cultivator, was a crazy demonic cultivator. There was constant doubt.

Everything I saw could have easily been an illusion as well. A rank 8, with no scruples could do quite a bit. I had the coffin in my ring though and I could feel Aoyin’s fang pressing down on my mind. Like a tainted sliver, that didn’t help me, the opposite of the astral soul stabilizer. I could kind of sense where it was with my motes in my body, just like I could feel whatever he put in my head.

It was sadly obvious why he didn’t keep me around as well. My hardships and unique solutions would make my cultivation stronger. Also, he couldn’t afford it. While he could whip out a rank 8 crystal, he didn’t think I would make it past the first bottleneck. He was just hedging his bets and getting revenge at the same time.

What Aoyin had done was smart. I felt completely outclassed. It just wasn’t an issue of power either. I had no choice but to continue on my path of cultivation. The more desperate I became, the more I would want to use the coffin. If I had to guess it would make it easier for him to consume me or do whatever horrible thing he was planning if I relied on it.

But the temptation would be there, and he wouldn’t have to fund anything himself. If he kept me locked away, then he would have to take on the costs of my cultivation himself and the headache of me escaping in some way or ruining a plan of his.

The techniques and resources he had used, clearly cost a lot, but I was an investment. What was the value of a rank 8 coffin that turned people into cultivation resources compared to immortality? I had no doubt that he would gladly hand out a hundred coffins if it would be possible.

He might not be lying, but he clearly was bending the truth quite a bit and took a perverse pleasure in doing so. He might also have a connection with my Sect Leader. That was another can of worms I couldn’t even begin to open without a lot of headache. He clearly despised Sect Leader Jiang Fengge and it was personal. This could also be considered as revenge against him.

Aoyin was practically daring me to spill all of this to the Imperial Sect or the Sect Leader. He was right, there would be no mercy. And if there was, how much help would I really get? When he could just toss a rank 8 spirit stone at an immortal as a bribe. What did I have to match that kind of value? The two green ocean lilies in my possession, were nothing but trash compared to such an item.

It was no joke to say I had been put in a bind. At least I was free. “If you are watching, screw you Aoyin!” I said loudly. Nothing happened. Maybe I really was free. But he had patience. That much was clear. He had waited around to catch me on my return to the scene of the battle. I should have taken the spatial ring, but I hadn’t wanted to risk it getting taken as ‘compensation’ by Elder Bo. My paranoia had screwed me over.

The one thing I didn’t get was why bring me to his base if he was going to let me go like this? That was one thing that made no sense out of all this. There was a clue there, I just needed to spot it. And if nothing else, I would come up with a way to kill myself before he could stuff me in an alchemical pot. Aoyin may try to eat me, or consume my cultivation but I was going to stick in his throat regardless.

Chapter 36 – Super Charged Influx

“You requested my help?” Elder Xu Xiaoli gave me a look as she spoke.

“Yes, elder. I have acquired a green ocean lily and want to sell it,” I replied. Her eyes lit up at that.

“You did well to come to me. The fact you were able to return so quickly and unharmed, perhaps the heavens truly have blessed you,” she said. I smiled slightly. While many people would have tried to control their reaction, that would have been a mistake here. I just had to not think of Aoyin. That was that this was business. I had to separate the two situations at the moment.

“Thank you elder Xiaoli. I would be willing to sign over at least twenty percent commission for your support, and the vast majority of the value will be going into our joint business,” I added and she nodded at that.

“The reports that have been sent have been an amusing diversion. But the start up costs are quite a bit. A green ocean lily will certainly put things into overdrive for your business plans. “The sample box?” she asked me and I removed it from my spatial ring.

She looked it over and then put a hand on the box. “Under high pressure. Very high pressure. But that is good, so the flower doesn’t degrade. At least you know your handling procedures, so the value hasn’t degraded in the slightest. Thirty percent of the profit, will be my percentage. I didn’t forget you mentioned profit not revenue in our last discussion. I will handle the sale directly,” she said.

“Thank you elder,” I replied.

“While an auction is always a possibility, that normally happens with subpar items. A direct sale would be best. We can get a total of at least 50,000 rank 3 spirit coins,” she said the last bit with a nod. This is why I came to her and didn’t try to go another route.

First it would have been an insult to her as my supporter. By bringing the green ocean lily to sale through her, I was strengthening our partnership. If I tried to go through someone else, I would be touching on the politics of the Imperial Sect which I wanted to stay out of.

The second big reason was to get the best price. For incredibly rare items like this, elders wouldn’t quibble over a 10 to 20 thousand difference in the price. Sure, there was a market price, but I didn’t have a green ocean lily that had washed up on shore. This was one retrieved from the soil, completely intact, and under high pressure to preserve it perfectly.

Finding the right buyer would be impossible for me. Instead of drawing negative attention to me with an auction it would be better to do a direct sale. The Imperial Sect would do something similar. Their published rate was forty percent. It hurt to give up thirty percent, instead of twenty percent, but the increase was also a rebuke.

“That sounds perfect Elder Xiaoli. If I could have a document of some sort verifying all of this,” I said and she nodded. I relaxed at that. It was entirely possible she could have scammed me out of the green ocean lily. But with a document in hand, it would be too much of a loss of face for her to steal from me so blatantly.

“We will use a standard one of the Imperial Sect,” she said and pulled out three sheets of paper. Some fields were quickly filled in, saying the name of the item I was handing over, the percentage the elder would take, and a clause that another ten percent would be taken for an immortals of the Imperial Sect to give their backing to the transaction.

It would be nice to sit around and just earning money from deals and people using my name. But that guarantee also promised protection for 10 years and confidentiality with the transaction. If people could just rob anyone doing business with the Imperial Sect, it would be a slap across their face. The time period of 10 years was considered a small period of time, but long enough for someone weak like me to get more backing, or for someone to run and hide.

I would keep one document, elder Xu Xiaoli would keep another, and then the Imperial Sect would keep the third copy. As an elder of the sect, she had authority to sign on their behalf. As much as I liked to think this was a special situation, there were only two sects cultivators could sell these high level ingredients through, the Imperial Sect, and the Blazing Sun Sect.

Five days later, the payment was finalized through the Imperial Sect, and I was sitting with Zheng Ting reviewing the planned rollout strategy and the challenges she had faced with her test city.

“The biggest hurdle is communication and leaving people to their own devices. I have ten city level directors ready to roll out and handle mining tasks, but getting more people is a challenge,” Zheng Ting said, and I nodded at this.

“You did my test idea?” I asked and she nodded at that. Communication was always going to be an issue. We just thought of many different scenarios and made a guidebook for her people to memorize and follow. Then they would be tested.

“Yes. But Imperial City is not a good place for recruitment. People here are too stubborn. Also, some were hesitating about the lack of investment,” she said.

“Well use your best judgement? But we are ready to roll out? No issues with permits or anything else?” I asked.

“Minor issues, but things I have worked out the last couple of years. The biggest challenge will be as things get further away from Imperial City. There will be a lot more independence. A rotating senior director to help get things set up and stabilized, before moving into traveling about picking up ore as part of their travel itinerary,” Zheng Ting explained.

“You have things well in hand,” I said, while relaxing slightly.

“It hasn’t been easy, but your return stabilizes things. So, 30,000 rank 3 spirit coins?” she asked me. I chuckled at that. That had been the planned goal, and my eyes had gotten bigger at the higher numbers. But in the end, I got the amount I had heard here in the city. But that was incorrect, since the amount Zheng Ting had given me, was the sale amount from the auction house. The final payout to the person in question had probably been around 12,000 rank 3 spirit coins. You don’t advertise a smaller number. You hype that number up to appear larger.

“Yes. After the fees and payment to elder Xu Xiaoli, that is how much is left. I saw your prosed budget. A third for expanding. A third for building an ore compressor formation. A sixth for operating the array and general operating expenses,” I said while tapping on the sheet of paper in question.

“Each new city is going to cost 80 rank 3 spirit coins. It is more expensive, but there might be competition. We will need to outbid,” she replied.

“Wait, competition? Why haven’t you said this before?” I asked.

“Since there are only rumors. But we don’t have a monopoly. If someone from the Imperial Sect moves in on our business model, we need cash on hand to get cities. Hence the bigger budget,” she replied.

“That is 125 cities. No where near enough,” I replied.

“The main value is in the compressor array we will purchase from the Imperial Sect. With that, I can buy up spirit ore, and ship it at cost to turn a profit,” she replied.

“That will work?” I asked.

“There is one other operation that does something similar. But caravans go to them, to sell ore at set rates. I won’t be directly competing with them in Imperial City, but rather out in all the other cities.”

“Their backers?” I asked the most important question.

“The Han family. They are the biggest family in Imperial City. One of the immortals holds that family name,” she said. Thank you, Zheng Ting, for telling me the obvious. I closed my eyes as I processed this.

“This didn’t come up before?” I asked.

“They are using a branch family with a different last name. The Han family is insulated from casual knowledge. This only came out in the last few days with your return and Zhou Holding Company Limited, moving into full gear,” she replied.

“Set up a meeting. We might be able to come to an agreement,” I replied. I had Zheng Ting break out the details on the compression array, since that was the big bottleneck.

The fact was, it wouldn’t be active all the time. I could easily guess that from all the reading I had done. Running an array like that full time would be too costly. The issue was that there just wasn’t enough ore to run the array on a regular basis, it was underutilized. They had too much capacity, but not enough supply.

It wasn’t even their fault. A longer time period of compression, might have saved a little bit in terms of spirit stones needed to operate it, but the amount would be negligible for the size of the array. If we were compressing rank 4 spirit steel, then a long term array would be more reasonable to help defer the cost. But for rank 6 and higher spirit steel, there was no reason to drag things out for an extra percentage point in efficiency.

Building a second array, would create way too much capacity, and step on too many toes. There were cost savings to be had by renting out their array if an arrangement could be made. The cost to have my own made, was 10,000 rank 3 spirit coins. Still, they had a monopoly right now and might get more incensed with me meeting them.

It took another three days for a meeting to be arranged. I didn’t know who I was meeting, just they would be my proxy in the Han family. I was also invited to the top restaurant in the city in one of their towers.

I had to spend 10 rank 3 spirit stones just to get a new martial robe in my sect colors just for this event. Sure, it was something I would keep going forward, with all the useful anti-wear features. But this was the first step into the deep waters of the Imperial Sect. I didn’t really count elder Xu Xiaoli.

The elevator ride up was long. With my invitation, I didn’t need to pay an elevator fee, since that was covered by the invitation. Stepping off the elevator, I instantly put the Soaring Tower Restaurant as a place that would easily put any high-class restaurant on Earth to shame.

“Greetings Master Yuan Zhou,” a mortal host greeted me with a deep bow. “Your guest is waiting for you in one of our private rooms.” I had discreetly inquired at the cost of eating at this place. Prices started at 10 rank 3 spirit coins. This was one of the foremost cultivator restaurants in the city. Each meal was custom made by a cultivator who was also a chef.

I followed the host to a private dining room. I noted that there were about 20 or so people in the restaurant eating. All of them cultivators. Whomever was running this place was making a killing.

I entered the private room and for the second time in my second life, I was completely shocked. “You are dismissed,” the young girl said to the host. They quickly left, as I took my seat across from her. She appeared to be even younger than me.

“Granddaddy said I had competition,” she said with an imperious tone while looking at me, up and down. “I don’t see anything that special. You might be a bit younger, but a genius peasant has no chance against a genius who has connections.”

The battle had already begun. If I hadn’t run into Aoyin, then I would have been thrown off a lot more by this meeting. Now, I was nowhere near as shocked. I also noted the table and chairs were sized for me and her. I couldn’t tell if they would give larger chairs to other cultivators, but I would guess not, to put people off kilter. It was time to fire back so I wasn’t trampled over. “It is easy to succeed when you get everything handed to you.”

“Indeed,” she said without a hint of shame. I still hadn’t gotten her name. I had probably not earned it. I wasn’t going to show weakness by asking. “The green ocean lily, will be quite perfect for making a Pill of Peace.”

“Mind cultivation?” I asked.

“Yes. Triple cultivation, and the drops you need for the fourth stage? Hah! I will laugh as you fall behind and die,” she said. This girl was more evil than Aoyin. At least he was up front about it. She was just bratty, which for some reason irked me much more.

“So, your grandfather is an immortal?” I asked to confirm that this girl was a princess in every sense of the word. And she wasn’t really a girl, despite how she looked. She was a granny disguised as a young girl. Well maybe not granny, if she was around my stage of cultivation, but not a child.

“Of course. I am Han Xingjuan the 69th Descendent of Immortal Han Jiayi of the Imperial Sect.” I had to bite back laughter at that number. Apparently, I wasn’t that successful. “Is my name amusing to you?” she asked. I couldn’t even say it was the number either, since there was a different cultivation writing system. I couldn’t say that the Arabic numerals from Earth were what was amusing me.

“No, just smiling since I have the chance to meet with someone like yourself. Thank you for honoring this Yuan Zhou,” I inclined my head.

“Hmmpf! Of course you should be grateful. A peasant from nowhere, being allowed to look upon me and share a meal. Business first,” she said.

“Yes Han Xingjuan,” I replied allowing her to go first and set the tempo of the meeting. I was completely outclassed in this instance.

“You wanted to split the use of our family’s compression array, designed by the Immortal himself. You would be willing to pay a small fee for use including operational cost. Half,” she said.

“I am afraid you have to be more specific,” I replied.

“Half, since we have the array. We get half,” she replied.

“That is a bit excessive, since your array isn’t in use all the time. You would be getting spirit stones for free with this deal. I think operational cost plus 2,000 rank 3 spirit coins per compression,” I countered. Han Xingjuan whipped up a butter knife from the table and pointed it at me.

“And if I get nasty?” she asked. Her features that had been pleasant to look at took a much more sinister turn at that statement. The needles holding up her black hair, exposing her face, seemed much colder now. She had gone from young beauty, to ice beauty in a moment. Any possible attraction that might have been there quickly went away and died a quick death.

“And what would that say about you, getting nasty with a peasant?” I challenged her, while trying to think of a way in this situation. What was it and young cultivators screwing me over?

“That I know a scam when I see it. I can block the construction of a competing array. Since it would harm grandfather’s personal interests. Zheng Ting, your mortal helper, I can get five just like her,” she said with a snap of her fingers.

That was when five servers entered the room and began pouring drinks and laying food out on the table. Her gaze never left mine. That was a power move if I ever saw one. “No,” I replied, easily enough as I picked up a glass of some sparkling liquid, that actually sparkled a bit. The water was sparkling and all the food and water had traces of energy in it.

I sipped the water, and it was more than water. It was what water wanted to be. Purer than the best bottled spring water. It was more invigorating than coffee.

“No?” she said quietly, like a beast about to strike. It was like a little house cat snarling at me when I had already been in the jaws of a tiger. It was just amusing. The fact she was here and not someone more experienced said this was a test.

If my reading on her personality was right, she had probably pushed through any obstacles with sheer force of will. There was no real pushback if she had an Immortal’s favor, but I would take the risk he wouldn’t interfere directly. I could be wrong, and she could be his beloved descendent, but being the 69th person removed from me, that was a very long period of time.

The Han branch family had probably pulled her out here to counter me and my backing from elder Xu Xiaoli. It was a test of her ability to handle real world circumstances. She needed this deal much more than I did to prove her competence. A cultivator that couldn’t make deals and speak with other cultivators was useless. Her technique might have worked with friends and family, but not with me.

“I don’t need a deal with you. You need a deal with me. The array is under utilized and while you could copy my business model, it would be an expensive investment. Promises were most likely made and expectations are in place if you got that green ocean lily,” I replied and she was silent at that.

There were no communal dishes, so I cut right away into my meat. Whatever the chef had done and gotten the taste remarkably pleasant.

“Spit it out,” she said. I looked at Han Xingjuan as she gestured threateningly with her butter knife. “If you won’t even talk sense and insult me, then you can leave with an empty stomach.” I blinked as I tried to process this. What kind of business meeting devolves into the host telling you to spit out your food?

If she wanted to play this game, then fine. I opened my mouth and spat the delicious food back on the plate. Before she could say anything, I jabbed my fingers into the back of my mouth and puked up the water onto the table. I took a napkin and wiped off my mouth before sitting back down. She was staring at me with an open mouth, probably in shock I had followed through.

Who would spit out food in front off her? That would be rude. So, they would ignore her, swallow, and then she would probably go into a tirade on how the person couldn’t do anything right and that was why she was right. No one would punish her, and she probably had a high social IQ.

Like the most toxic of internet personalities. But her sponsor, the immortal, or her parents, put up with it all, since she picked her targets well. Unfortunately, she had miscalculated this time. “My apologies for spitting up on my plate and throwing up on the table, but I wanted to make sure to comply with your demand princess.”

I also didn’t dare spit on her. That would be going too far. But no way could she object when I spit and then threw up back onto my plate. Who was I kidding? Of course she would complain, that was her personality. I could already feel a headache descending on me.

“A pig. Throwing up as well,” she finally said and shook her head. “You should be grateful you even got to taste some of this cooking. How had the conversation gone so off the rails? I sat there in silence as she began to rant and talk about all my defects.

How my cultivation plan was sub-par. How I had no true backing. How I was a complete idiot. How I was born to pigs in the forest and raised by beasts. I sat there calmly taking all of the verbal abuse. It was amusing and I was curious to see where she was going with all of this.

She had even eaten her meal while gesturing at me and ranting. I had my line in the sand. I would obey all minor requests, but I wasn’t going to agree to anything major, and about any business deals I wasn’t backing down.

She snapped her fingers again and servers cleared out the plates. I got several dirty looks, but no one said anything. I decided to take a gamble. “Please tell the chef what little I could taste before being told to spit it out was delicious and most appreciated,” I said. Everyone paused at this. I then pulled out five rank 3 spirit coins. “For the wait staff as an apology for the hassle.”

“Thank you Master Cultivator,” one of the servers said and took the money, before rushing off. “Sorry to interrupt you. You were saying something about how my parents must have been part pig?” There was silence at this, and I noticed the servers were listening much closer to the exchange. Han Xingjuan was looking much more nervous now.

“Go, speak of this to no one,” she said. They all nodded and finished clearing the table before leaving. That ensured they would speak, at least to their boss.

“That you think the food is so nasty I needed to spit it out?” I asked with a smile.

“No! That isn’t what I said. Stop twisting my words. Ahhh!” She let out a scream and threw the butter knife at me. I saw it coming thankfully, and moved my head to the side and it sank into the side of one of the mortal servers who was leaving. They let out a scream and collapsed. Han Xingjuan looked surprised at what had happened. You throw things at home much?

The server was quickly carried out of the room and there was silence and the faint smell of blood in the air. “Going to attack me too?” I asked. At least it was only a light wound on the server. But actual violence here at the heart of the Imperial Sect, should have been cracked down on. Her connections would save her, but I needed to step lightly with such craziness.

“No. He should have dodged, and you shouldn’t have,” she told me.

“Well, I think we are done. I draw the line at getting attacked. Even if the array was free to use, I wouldn’t want to do business with you,” I said and stood up.

“No!” she yelled out and then mumbled something.

“I missed that last part,” I replied.

“I am sorry. But this needs to go well,” she countered. I was at a crossroads. I could walk out of here and get the crazy out of my life. But that choice would cost me thousands of rank 3 spirit coins and create a deep grudge from this cultivator towards me.

Even if I was insulted, bullied, or hassled, she still had the martial robe of the Imperial Sect on her and was clearly favored to be such a young cultivator, with the knowledge she had. She was crazy, and I was crazy for even considering this. I sat back down.

“Half is impossible. If the costs are too high, it is cheaper to build my own array,” I countered.

“Ah, but ours is a rank 8 array. We don’t advertise it, and it is rare we make something so high grade, but it is possible,” she said.

“I need to be able to sell the spirit metal and profit. I am investing and doing the work. I am more than happy to invest in an array of my own. The offer of 2,000 rank 3 spirit coins plus operational costs was more than reasonable,” I countered, and she grew pensive at this.

I was also incredibly annoyed at being bullied and attacked while trying to work this out. “Thirty percent and you cover operational costs. We can help you sell the metal,” she countered.

“I plan to handle the selling portion through elder Xu Xiaoli.” I brought up my backer to give her pause. “I can agree to ten percent of profit made and operational expenses, since elder Xu Xiaoli owns twenty five percent.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it. I had thought about this, but I was willing to go this far. It was better to get her side invested into this venture then start a pointless and cost feud. They had the compression array to make high rank spirit steel from low rank spirit iron. I had a business model to get all the ore.

I also brought up elder Xu Xiaoli, since I couldn’t give her family more than what I was giving the elder. It just wasn’t possible. If the Han family had sent in someone with more cultivation to this meeting, then I would have had to give up more of my share of the profits. But ten percent for literally doing nothing but share their infrastructure that wasn’t in use was more than enough.

“Fifteen percent,” she countered with much more business savvy than I thought she would have. The fact she didn’t ask for twenty percent showed she understood the position she was in.

“And your side assists with the compression of the spirit iron and using the array, but we aren’t charged for that assistance,” I countered.

“Deal,” she easily replied.

“You can speak for the Han family?” I asked.

“Puh-lease, I am Han Xingjuan, the 69th descendant of Immortal Han Jiayi.” My guess was that it was a status thing, how close they were related to the immortal in their family. And while the number 69 was amusing it was quite far away from the number one and being the main descendant of the Immortal. Like someone saying they were 69th in line for the British throne. While an amusing thing at a bar, and the person was probably well off, it wasn’t like they got to have tea at Buckingham Palace.

Still, if she really did buy the green ocean lily, combined with her youthful appearance, meant she was cultivation focused and had backing I couldn’t ignore as much as I wanted to. Even if she had a more toxic personality than an actual demonic cultivator.

“Well goodbye peasant. Hopefully we never see each other again. I will have someone send over a contract on what we agreed to,” she replied.

“Perhaps. But I won’t accept any additions or tricks you plan to sneak in. I will be asking elder Xu Xiaoli to read through it,” I countered any shenanigans before they could happen.

“I just need to wait for you to die. Your cultivation is a mess, and you should be ashamed of yourself,” she said as she got up. It might be a mess, even more so with Aoyin’s actions, but she was telling people to spit food out at a business meeting and stabbing people.

She didn’t give me a moment to reply as she walked out of the private dining room. I just sat there for a moment and a server came back in. “From the chef personally. He hopes you enjoy it,” the man said as he set down a single serving black cake in front of me.

“The server, will they be okay?” I asked.

“They will be,” he said.

“My apologies. That shouldn’t have happened. While I cannot take responsibility for Han Xingjuan’s actions, please give this to the server.” I pulled out another rank 3 spirit coin. “For any treatment he might need.”

“I…thank you,” the sever said and hesitantly took the coin before rushing away. Since the chef in charge of this place was going to be nice to me, I was going to show some care back to his staff. People would talk and get a reputation. I would have to make a point of following up with an information broker about Han Xingjuan.

I had no doubt I would be seeing her again and our paths would cross. What a truly obnoxious individual. As I ate the incredibly delicious cake, whose taste I couldn’t place, it reminded me of chocolate and home.

The chef doing the cooking was amazing. I should have become a cultivating chef, not a business person as my side job to cultivating.

My mind drifted back to Han Xingjuan and her about face at the end. Was it all a ploy? It could very well be. Well as long as the deal wasn’t bad, I could handle fifteen percent of the profit. That still left me sixty percent, once everything was finalized.

Chapter 37 – A Lesson In Trust

I looked up at the stairs to the Cloudy Moon Sect once more. I hadn’t even stopped at home first to see my sister or family. I was 40 years old and had 1.3 million motes aligned. All my traveling and my injury to my motes had slowed me down. It was frustrating in a way, that even little things would add up over time and there were larger concerns.

Climbing up the stairs, I did not brazenly announce my return like I had done in the past. While it was tempting to do so, I wanted to take my time. Even now after getting back to the sect, my mind was still heavy with the choice I had to make. There were two paths in front of me. Each had their own risks and rewards.

The first path was to keep silent about Aoyin. To not reveal anything, he had done and sort it out myself. The second path was to speak to the Sect Leader and my new master about the predicament I had fallen into. My Earth thinking was that it was better to tell the truth and deal with things. Honesty and straightforwardness felt like the best courses of action when I had been alive on Earth. Once a criminal always a criminal.

But for cultivation land, it was different. The threat of Aoyin was not simple. There might be nothing that could be done. I had made general inquiries in Imperial City and the information about demonic cultivators was not good for cultivators at my level.

They were hunted down and anyone who was demonic was purged without exception. The higher ups might have other considerations, and there might be a shady deal going on with Aoyin, but that was beyond me. I had no say in such things.

The morals and values of cultivation land did not match Earth. While I recognized this and adapted as best as I could, I still clung to my old way of thinking. Each stone step I climbed up, I felt heavier and heavier. I couldn’t play coy about Aoyin either. I either had to commit to explaining things fully or not explain anything at all.

It was a difficult decision in my mind. One that wasn’t easily resolved. One mistake, and I would be doomed. I might be killed on the spot to prevent Aoyin was using me as a cultivation resource. I would lose access to the coffin he had given me. While I didn’t want to use such a thing, its value was immense. I could sell it to someone else.

In the end it came down to a matter of trust. Did I trust the Sect Leader and Master Jiang Fengge enough to tell the truth. Aoyin could have done something that would only be visible to him, to make me lie and build mistrust as well. One thing about a criminal, was to never trust their word.

My heart knew what I should do, but my brain rebelled. I reached the top of the stairs far too soon. My cultivation was too strong in empowering my body. It made the hard climb easy and quick. I made my way through the sect to the Sect Leader’s house.

I was admitted without fuss and went to his office to wait. I had no doubt he would be alerted by one of the members standing guard or could sense my presence. After an hour of sitting, he finally showed up. I noted that he appeared older which was surprising. There were strands of white in his hair and a few more wrinkles.

The surprise came from the fact that cultivators only had their appearance change when they began running out of time. I had no idea if he had years or decades, but it was less than a century. “Disciple, you have returned,” he said as he took a seat at his desk.

“Yes, Master, I have. I…” I didn’t know what to say and hesitated in the moment. The words getting stuck in my throat. He was quiet, and allowed me to collect my thoughts, which I was grateful for.

“I have succeeded, but there were complications,” I said with a long sigh. The path of truth was the best way. I narrated my tale. Going to Imperial City, the Crashing Wave Sect, the beast garden, the demonic female cultivator, and then Aoyin. I finished explaining about my time in Imperial City and the crazy Han Xingjuan.

The Sect Leader did not ask questions as I explained it all. Once I finished, I looked at him, but his face was carved like granite before he sagged in his chair. “Well, the good news is that Han Xingjuan is no threat. The descendants of immortals like to brag and do have sizable wealth. But that is all. An Immortal would never back her up. Even a genius. They come and go. She might have been presented when she started cultivating or entered the Imperial Sect, but that is all.” I nodded at this relieved.

“There is a reason we prefer cultivators to be older. Child cultivators are unbalanced mentally.” He gave me a pointed look and I winced slightly. “The body and mind struggle to align properly. You are still growing. This is why when a cultivator starts to physically age, it becomes harder to cultivate.”

“I haven’t heard this before,” I said, and he shook his head.

“It is not something that is written down. But it is often considered the twilight of a cultivator and a sign they should get their affairs in order,” he said, and I could tell he was speaking about himself. I didn’t dare comment on this though.

“Aoyin and I have fought before,” he said, and my eyes went wide in surprise. “It is why he had a person in Half Moon City to cause trouble before and spy. It is why he is focused on you. I had been hoping he was busy, and your travels would hide you.”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine a fight at that level. That meant the Sect Leader was strong, in my mind. “And what he did to me?” I asked.

“The Ever Seeking Dagger will break just like the Soul Lantern once you pass the first bottleneck. They operate under similar principles. It is more of a threat if you don’t make an effort, he will likely kill you.” I winced at this.

“The Poison of the Unseen Snake, is easily countered.” My eyes went wide at that.

“It sounded…hard?” I asked, confused about what exactly the poison was.

“It is a poison that lingers and will get stronger, the stronger you get. Like a hidden wound. You have only cultivated so much, and your cultivation path is already so large. If you hadn’t told me about this before you took the Pill of Peace and finished the second stage, you would need the specific antidote.”

“As for the poison itself, it is something from a rank 7 beast. It is well known as a cultivator poison. The beast often sells this poison through the demonic sects for crafts from humans and black market traders,” the Sect Leader explained. I felt a wave of relief at this, which was quickly crushed.

“Aoyin’s Fang, is something far more sinister. It is something like the astral soul stabilizer, which has been implanted into you.”

“Can you get it out?” I asked.

“I can get it out, but you would suffer heavily. Aoyin’s knowledge of souls, is second only to my own outside the high-ranking sects. I would even say that he has developed new tricks. Stay seated, I will inspect you,” the Sect Leader said and got up. I didn’t move as he walked over and put both of his hands on my head. I kept my breathing steady and felt a headache appear and get worse. Just before the pain got unbearable, the Sect Leader let go of my head and the pain dissipated.

“As I thought, it is not something that can be removed.”

“What is it exactly?” I asked.

“A shard of his cultivation he has cut off. He is clearly hoping as you advance, this slice of cultivation of his advances, and then he will reclaim it. A risky strategy. If you die, he will be set back,” the Sect Leader said as he took his seat once more.

“I…can you do anything Master?” I hesitantly asked.

“No. And he will be able to find you anywhere. Such a thing is not simple in the slightest,” he answered without hesitation.

“What about using his cultivation for myself?” I asked and the Sect Leader didn’t answer that question for a couple of seconds. That pause gave me hope.

“It is like a parasite. Not a symbiont. You feel it don’t you. How that piece of him has fused with your true soul?” he asked me, and I hesitantly nodded at that. “To remove it, you would require strength greater than his? But even if you break through the bottleneck, that won’t be possible.”

“Really? Even with a three path cultivation method and multi-cores?” I asked and the Sect Leader shook his head.

“You might be able to cross one stage, maybe two, but you won’t reach that far. Once you cross the bottleneck, he will know, and come for you. With Aoyin’s Fang piercing your soul, it cannot be removed,” the Sect Leader shook his head at me.

“And the coffin?” I asked.

“Bring it out, and I will tell you,” he said. I pulled it out of my spatial ring onto his desk. He spent the next hour carefully inspecting it and not saying anything. I wanted to ask questions, but I held off until he was done with his inspection.

“Put it away,” the Sect Leader said, and I was surprised at that. I quickly put the coffin back in my spatial ring. “It is what it appears to be. Nothing more. It is pure evil though,” he said.

“Isn’t it just another means of power?” I asked and the Sect Leader shook his head. Good and evil weren’t normally descriptive terms for cultivation techniques. It should have been called demonic instead.

“It is evil since it grinds a person’s soul down. It will impact your path in a way nothing else would in the later stages. It would make you more compatible with Aoyin’s path of cultivation. Like flavoring a chicken to his tastes.” I winced at this metaphor.

“But you let me keep it?” I asked.

“Yes. Since Aoyin is not wrong. You will need something like this to have any hope of advancing beyond the fourth stage and past the bottleneck. When you are tossed out into the wilderness to get enough drops, you will need something like that coffin, even if it disgusts me.”

I couldn’t believe it. The Sect Leader was just going to let me go. “That seems…” I trailed off not knowing what to say.

“You will have left the continent, before you pull out that coffin again. It doesn’t just compress the energy of cultivators into something usable, it does it for anything below rank 8. It truly is an immense treasure. Aoyin wants you to succeed as weird as that sounds.”

“I have no choice, and then there will be a fight?” I asked.

“Yes. He will come for you after you cross the bottleneck. No matter where you are. Aoyin’s Fang will reveal your location and you will not have the strength to remove it.”

“What about asking for help?” I asked him and the Sect Leader chuckled.

“You are either brave or foolish to tell this all to me. I am your Master and that holds certain expectations of trust. Even beyond your position as a disciple of this sect and the wider picture. Your heart is much more righteous than mine ever was to trust so fully,” he explained, and I felt happy at that. “However, the same could not be said for anyone else. You would be killed without hesitation.”

There was a long stretch of silence as we both thought over the situation. The Sect Leader rubbed his wrinkled face. “I don’t have a lot of time left. A few decades at most, before my age catches up with me. Once I die, the sect will enter a period of crisis.” He shook his head and then looked at me. “My support can only go up to the fourth stage and then you must learn techniques. With your business plan, it might be possible to push your departure off until the fourth stage, which will be good.”

I was worried about this. I was about to lose another master. The fact his end was coming so soon was concerning. At least with my progress on the business side, I would not be sent away until the fourth stage. The hope being, I could get enough resources for my third stage of cultivation.

“Thank you, Sect Leader,” I told him with a head bow.

“Don’t thank me. You came to Aoyin’s attention because of me…” he trailed off.

“How did you two fight?” I asked. The Sect Leader shook his head.

“A story for another time. For now, we need to remove the poison from you.” He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a bottle. He set it on the table.

“A Pill of Purification. A rank 7 treasure,” he said. My heart sped up at that. He just gave me a such a valuable item so casually.

“Thank you, Master,” I said with a head bow. My heart filled with gratitude.

“It is the least I can do for what has been done to you. I cannot fight and win against Aoyin. Only an immortal would have such strength. Leave the green ocean lily and the red sun rose you purchased here with me. In a month the Pill of Peace will be ready. Take that pill while, you are a in tub so you don’t make a mess,” I brought out the two carrying cases and put them on his desk.

Once that was done, I was dismissed and went back to my room. After getting cleaned up with a shower, I found a metal tub after speaking with one of the servants. It was a medicinal tub, when taking certain medications. To either expose them onto the skin using a liquid, or to keep waste from making a mess when it was expelled.

The back part of the tub was angled, so I could lay down with my head elevated above my body. I popped the Pill of Cleansing into my mouth. My entire body felt like it was on fire. “Ahhh,” I let out a scream. Bile surged out of stomach and puked. It only got worse from there.

I couldn’t move for an entire day, after I was done expelling everything inside of me. My entire body felt wrung out. I got another long shower, tossed the lid onto the tub, latched it, and then collapsed onto my bed. Even my cultivation felt shaken slightly, by how much I had suffered from taking that pill. It didn’t feel like medicine, but I wasn’t going to question it.

The Poison of the Unseen Snake clearly wasn’t simple, but hopefully it was purged. After another day of resting, I felt good enough to put on my sect robe and venture out for some food. I noted that the tub had been removed while I had been asleep.

“Senior Disciple Yuan Zhou?” I looked up from my meal at a nervous looking core sect disciple. They looked familiar.

“Song, is that you?” I asked. He had been my carriage driver across the continent.

“Yes senior,” he said with a smile and bow.

“Sit, please,” I gestured at the table, and he took a seat. “How have you been?” I asked.

“Cultivating and working hard senior,” he replied. I nodded at this.

“I am glad to hear that. A core sect disciple as well. You clearly have been moving up in the sect,” I said with a smile.

“Indeed. I am lucky that Elder Sun Ru saw my potential and took me under his wing.” That elder had been skeptical about me when I had been brought to the sect by my first master, but that was understandable. There were no hard feelings.

“You got quite a few motes? Didn’t you?” I asked.

“It was all thanks to senior that I had such a good start. I was able to gather 125,000 motes when I was accepted into the sect. My cultivation plan was done diligently as well, like you suggested before I started aligning. My research impressed one of the elders to take me on as an apprentice,” he said with a smile.

“I am glad to see that the Heavens had favored you. Better than rushing across the continent in a carriage,” I replied.

“Those were fun times. I managed to get a lot of motes, by focusing on them while traveling,” he said.

“Oh, you never told me that,” I added.

“Ah, I didn’t want to disturb. Also, I am here on my job.” He brought out a letter and set it down on the table. “This arrived six months ago, addressed for you.”

“Thank you, Song,” I told him at bit distracted.

“Hopefully we can speak later. Thank you for your time senior,” he said and quickly left. It was nice to see that he had done well for himself and hadn’t allowed jealously to cloud his thoughts. But I was far more concerned with this letter.

It was a letter I had left with my family. I opened it up, my heart heavy. I closed my eyes as my heart hurt slightly. I finished my meal and checked with the Sect Leader. He had no objection to me leaving to see my family in Half Moon City. The Pill of Peace would take a full month to prepare. So, I wasn’t needed back for about three weeks.

I quickly left the sect and made my way back home. The servants and guards quickly let me through the doors. I reached a room with several doctors and servants around a bed. The man lying on it, looked so weak.

“Father,” I said. No one objected as I went over to his side. His eyes fluttered open.

“Yuan…Yuan Zhou, is it really you?” he asked with a shaky voice.

“Yes, father. I returned as soon as I got the letter,” I replied. He let out a wet nasty cough, a servant quickly leaned in and wiped the blood away from his mouth. Servants moved around me, to put some pillows to help him sit up.

“What is wrong?” I turned to one of the doctors in the room who appeared to be the oldest.

“Master cultivator, your father is suffering from organ failure. There are growths throughout his body, that are impeding all functions. We watch him and keep him comfortable. But he is beyond mortal medicine,” he said.

I turned back to my father. “I will pay for Elder Healer Meihui to come here,” I quickly said. My father smiled at me and shook his head.

“I had a cultivator look at me. There is nothing that can be done,” he replied. My eyes went wide at this, and I looked back at the doctor.

“Is this true?” I asked. The doctor bowed his head.

“A sect member took a look at your father. They know of your connection to the sect. The growths in his body have spread too far. If a technique is used, he wouldn’t survive the absence of the growths. The voids they leave in his body, would kill him. They slowed and stopped many from getting worse, but there is no cure,” the doctor said.

I closed my eyes. I wanted to yell at the doctor and call him incompetent. That with enough spirit stones, anything was possible. But I stopped myself from going on a rant. It would not do to upset my father. My brother and mother entered the room trailed by several other family members.

I turned back to my father. “Yuan Zhou. You are the greatest of my children. A genius,” he let out another round of sickly bloody coughs. A servant quickly cleaned his mouth. I reached out and took his trembling hand. It felt so weak, so frail. I blinked away a tear.

“Promise me Yuan Zhou,” he said.

“Yes, father,” I replied without hesitation. No matter what it was I would listen and hold it within my heart. While this was my second life and I had been standoffish growing up, this man had done well by me. He clearly had been holding on this long for my return.

“Don’t forget your family, when you become an immortal,” he said. I could not tell him of my hardships. Of the demonic cultivator who planned to consume me. The challenges with my cultivation.

“Yes, father, I promise,” I replied.

“I am glad,” he said with a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. I gently set his hand back down on the bed. The doctor came in and checked his breathing and pulse.

“Yuan Chen is asleep and will most likely not wake again. His pulse is unsteady and weak. I cannot say for sure, since only the heavens know. But he will most likely not live past this night,” the doctor said.

“Thank you,” I said and waved the doctor away. He bowed and went to the corner of the room. My mother came next to me and gave me a hug. My first brother Yuan Yun stood next to me as well and his son Yuan Zhu. There was silence as his family gathered around him and the former patriarch of the Yuan family, Yuan Chen passed away an hour after speaking his final words to me.

There was quite a bit of crying. I wiped a few tears from my face. We left the room and went to a sitting room. Just myself and my first brother. He poured me something alcoholic, I only hesitated a moment before drinking it. I shook my head when he tried to pour me another.

We sat there in silence for a bit. “I am surprised he held on that long. He truly loved you the most of all,” my first brother said with a heavy sigh while pouring himself another drink.

“I was a poor child. A genius of business maybe, but not a genius of family,” I replied heavily.

“Perhaps, but you are a cultivator.” I nodded at this. “Any family would kill to have you as part of them.”

“Thank you for your kind words brother,” I replied. “The funeral arrangements? Is there anything I can contribute?” I asked.

“It is handled. With you here, it will be a huge event. If we make it huge, the cost…” he trailed off. I just pulled out a rank 2 spirit coin and tossed it to him. He fumbled with it and then it dropped into his lap.

“That is a rank 2 spirit coin. Worth at least 10,000 tael. Don’t hold back on the expenses,” I told my brother and he nodded.

“I wasn’t planning to, but this will ease my heart. Thank you,” he said and I waved him off.

“He is…was my father as well. I might have been a poor son, too focused on other things, but father did care. Giving me 12 tael to start off so long ago,” I replied with a bitter smile.

“Now it is pocket change for you,” my brother said with a heavy sigh. “I am not upset. I am just disappointed that things reached this point.” He would one day pass as well. Millenia from now, would some brat claim to be my 69th disciple? I chuckled a bit.

“What is it?” my brother asked me.

“I ran into a cultivator who was the biggest brat possible in Imperial City. They claimed they were the 69th descendent of Immortal Han Jiayi. I was just thinking with father’s last words, would some brat from the Yuan family claim such things millennia from now,” I said with a shake of my head.

“A brat? You would call another cultivator such things?” my brother asked nervously.

“That is being kind. I never encountered a ruder, more unstable person.” I then told him about the meal we had, how I had spat out my food, how she had stabbed a server, and the general insults hurled my way.

Even my brother was chuckling at the end of my explanation. “Truly a brat. I don’t think third brother ever acted so entitled,” he replied.

“How anyone like that could be a cultivator surprises me, but it takes all kinds of people,” I replied.

“Even geniuses,” he said with a nod in my direction.

“Thank you. But every day I feel more inadequate. I have made foolish mistakes on my path to cultivation,” I said with a sigh.

“Perhaps, but you will come back. If anyone has an incredible amount of tenacity, it is your brother,” my first brother said.

“Thanks for hiding with me here. I don’t know how to deal with everyone else,” I replied heavily.

“I figured as much. You were never one for social engagements. You never liked the family dinners,” he said.

“You could tell?” I asked.

“It was obvious, trust me. It was amusing how much of a distaste you had for them. Everyone trying to suck up to you. It isn’t easy being in charge,” Yuan Yun said.

“I can only imagine. Pour me another drink. Let us toast father. To Yuan Chen. A strict father, and a tough businessman. May we all inherit his cunning and determination,” I said.

“To Yuan Chen, the patriarch of the Yuan family. While grandfather clawed our way out of destitution, it was our father, Yuan Chen who stabilized our fortunes. May the Yuan family last one hundred generations,” my brother said, and we both drank.

Perhaps I would be around to see a hundred generations. If each one was about 20 years, that meant 20,000 years. A long time, the length of time a rank 8 cultivator could live. But nothing for an immortal. It was humbling to think that a time span longer than the entire length of human history was a toast to be used to celebrate a figure like my father.

Would the Yuan family even be around for so long? Would I have the time or energy to look after them? It was a harsh question. I had only left three letters like the one that had been sent to me about my father. There was another one for my mother and sister. That was it.

Even now, that almost felt like too much. Seeing people pass away was a heavy feeling. It was tempting to rush out and try to spend spirit stones to find some cure, but it wouldn’t happen. While the sects might provide basic medical services with their cultivators to mortals for a massive price, services were limited for other reasons. To keep the mortal and cultivator spheres of influence separate, which is what the high-ranking sects wanted.

The money I gave to my brother was to help offset whatever cost the care of my father taken. The only reason a cultivator had looked at him in the first place was due to being my father. It wasn’t just a question of money. At least his final moments weren’t that bad. The fear, I had thought long gone, the fear of death was reignited in my heart.

I had died once, and I never wanted that to happen again. So, I kept pushing forward. To fight to improve my cultivation. But now I had another poignant reminder, why I was doing all of this. I didn’t want to be a weak old man, dying in bed. I wanted to be the best, to seize this second chance I had for life.

Chapter 38 – Life Marches On

I watched as my father’s corpse was burned on the funeral pyre. My mother was weeping, and there were actual tears, along with the rest of his wives. Other family members were weeping as well. “May the immortals watch over Yuan Chen as he journeys through the cycle of heaven and earth. His spirit rising up to the heavens and his ashes scattered to the ground.”

There was not enough room for millennia of tombs. If people really did have crypts it would be far too much. Instead it was customary that people were burned on funeral pyres. A stack of oil soaked wood. For my father this wood was well cut, pine I believe, so there was a pleasant scent. The pyre was also covered with a large cloak with the Yuan family name stitched upon it. “As his soul goes forth, we shall pray to the immortals he finds as much or more success in his next life as this one,” the funerary priest called out.

It was more of a job than an actual religious role, funerary priest. The religion revolved around the immortals. I didn’t want to say one of those six known immortals was a beast, but I thought that was a bit funny. Cultivation was the religion at the end of the day.

I had managed to shut the entire city down for the day, or my brother did for the funeral procession from the family estate to the city center. It was my name and the rank 2 spirit coin I had given my brother that paid for all of this. It wasn’t just a question of wealth to have such a large funeral, but also a question of connections.

“Let us all…” The funerary priest trailed off as everyone looked where he was staring. I turned and saw the Sect Leader approaching, two sect members behind him.

“Carry on,” he said and he came to stand next to me. I looked up at him in surprise.

“Ah, yes, of course. Let us all remember the many accomplishments of Yuan Chen.” The funerary priest began to list them off.

The Sect Leader gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Thank you Master,” I said quietly since he had given me quite a bit of face by showing up.

“Think nothing of it, my disciple,” he replied quietly back as the funerary priest kept talking about my father’s accomplishments.

“Yao Chuntao, the ninth daughter of Yuan Chen for her heaven gifted talent of portrait drawing. Finally, the seventh son of Yuan Zhou, a cultivator of the Cloudy Moon Sect and personal disciple of Sect Leader Jiang Fengge,” the funerary priest appeared nervous enough that he might actually soil himself. Thankfully he kept steady and didn’t squeak out anything he was trying to say. Also, by listing my name last, he was saying I was the greatest accomplishment of my father.

“Yuan Chen, an honored man under the heavens,” the funerary priest said and then turned back to the pyre and bowed quite deeply. I bowed slightly. The Sect Leader and two cultivators with him did not bow. Everyone else bowed very deeply towards the pyre. “That concludes the service,” the funerary priest said.

Anyone who had wanted to speak, already had a chance to do so before the procession and the burning. I had politely declined. While I appreciated all he had done for me, I didn’t feel like speaking with how heavy my heart currently was.

“I will be returning to the sect, disciple. I will await you there to take the Pill of Peace,” the Sect Leader said.

“Yes Master. Safe travels,” I replied. He gave me a slight smile and then quickly departed. Him showing up for just the last few minutes was an immense honor. I honestly hadn’t been expecting him or for him to know about my father’s passing. While he might have called me a pig, he wasn’t a bad guy.

He quickly departed, everyone bowing and making their way for him. He paused briefly and said something to my sister before departing. She had a look of shock on her face and then smiled at me, but her eyes had fire in them.

She walked over to me as other people began to talk and disperse. “Brother,” she greeted me.

“Sister,” I replied.

“Brother,” she replied.

“So, what did the Sect Leader say to you?” I asked with a grin.

“Just that he appreciated my art. That I, Yao Chuntao, have a gift given by the heavens and it was appropriate for me to be listed under our father’s accomplishments due to the first portrait I drew,” she replied.

“Indeed, it is a priceless treasure,” I said with a smile as she glared at me with her eyes.

“Thank you, brother. Now the rumors will never stop. Everyone asks me to recreate the legendary drawing,” she said.

“When I become an immortal, it will truly deserve a place above my head,” I said, which was the biggest compliment I could give. There were several people listening in wide eyed, since we weren’t exactly being quiet. This would confirm all the rumors.

“My children, come here,” my mother said and opened up her arms as she approached. We both went over and gave her a hug. While not entirely appropriate, for a funeral like this, it was okay to show some emotions and give hugs. Crying too much was not appropriate, but some family hugs were fine. My mother let us go.

“Uncle,” my niece, and daughter of my sister, Yao Lan greeted me with a slight bow. Giving her a look, she had already collected quite a few motes.

“Greetings niece,” I gave her a nod back.

“Come, let us walk back to the estate,” my mother said.

“Mother, may I go with uncle to speak with him?” Yao Lan asked my sister, who gave her permission. We began walking towards the family estate, people keeping away from us. There was silence for the first half of the trip. I knew she wanted to say something and I would not help her. A cultivator needed to have confidence in themselves. If they didn’t they would never succeed climbing up the stages of cultivation.

“Uncle, I have 100,000 motes already,” she said. Oh, that was surprising. She was only 13 years old. She clearly had been working hard for the last 7 years. That showed she was focused and determined, both very good traits.

“You are thinking about joining the next intake?” I asked.

“Yes. You have mentioned that it is important to plan my cultivation out and get started,” she replied, and I nodded at this.

“Hmm, I would say you should get more motes first. I cannot take on a disciple myself,” I replied. “Once you enter, you will have to work for sect points, which will not be easy or simple.”

“I can do it uncle,” she replied, and I just smiled at what she was saying. I considered her request. I would have to pay a ‘bribe’ to one of the elders to take her under their wing and make her a core disciple. Elder Li Fu came to mind. He was normally open to such things.

The next intake would be in two months. Only elders could invite guests into the sect. Still, she was technically a future disciple. I didn’t want to make waves, or give up more spirit coins. While I was rich, you only stayed rich by not spending money constantly.

“Keep collecting motes for the next couple of years. While I started young, rushing with so few motes will not be good. I will speak to one of the elders about taking you on as a disciple,” I replied.

“Thank you, uncle,” she gave me a big hug. She was as tall as me, so it felt weird. I had started young but had collected far more motes by her age. She could only use a candle or a sensing rod to see motes. The sheer difference was already there. In a couple of years she would show her temperament by focusing on collecting motes, and get more.

Having around 200,000 motes would not be a bad thing in my mind. While it was on the high side, it would allow her more variations for her cultivation plan. I would arrange things for her in about 5 years, when she was 18. That would give her a couple of years to come up with a solid cultivation plan ahead of time.

A generous donation for Elder Li Fu’s time to take her under his wing, would see that she encountered no problems within the sect. It wasn’t what you knew, but who you knew that mattered. That was true on Earth and true in cultivation land as well.

With the funeral done, I immediately left the following morning. I was emotionally wrung out and didn’t want to deal with the situation anymore. It was weak of me, but I was never good with emotional situations.

Once I reached the sect, I went to see the Sect Leader right away. Elder Liu Chen was quickly called to his office as well.

“It is done, a marvel, I tell you. Very high-quality ingredients,” he said with a smile. He then pulled out a glass container and set it on the table. The Pill of Peace was quite large and had a rainbow, metallic sheen to it that glimmered in the light. The Sect Leader picked up the glass vial and looked at it.

“Everything appears to be in order,” he replied. “Thank you, Liu Chen.” He then set the bottle in front of me.

“May I pull out some water to help me swallow?” I asked.

“No. No,” Liu Chen said while waving his hands. “You don’t swallow it. You put it against your forehead, and it sinks into your mind and cultivation. That was why crafting it was so hard.” Oh, I didn’t know that.

“That is something that happens with certain high-ranking pills. Swallowing something that large, really disciple?” the Sect Leader gave me a look. I just shrugged and didn’t say anything else.

“When you use it, focus on the energy around you. The Qi of heaven and earth. Also focus on a mote to align with that method of cultivation. A single mote. It is important you align a mote to the energy of the world while the pill is at its strongest,” Liu Chen said.

“Anything else I should be aware of elder?” I asked.

“Just focus on the sensation. Once you align one mote, do another one. Only one at a time for now. Mind cultivation is rare and very hard. It is easy to go to another alignment. So, it is absolutely crucial you get the first couple right to get the feeling down,” Liu Chen advised.

“Put the opening of the vial to your forehead, don’t use your hand. Close your eyes, and steady your breathing. Aligning is the hardest and biggest part. All your motes will experience a slight shift. You must ignore that and aim to get the correct alignment,” Liu Chen said.

“He is right. This is the hardest part. Getting that alignment correct will be like grasping water with chopsticks. Aligning to the mind path of cultivation, is about being at harmony with the world. The pill will put you in the correct state and leave a lasting impact on your cultivation,” the Sect Leader said. I gave them both a nod since it was clear they were done advising me.

I picked up the vial and opened it. I then tilted my head forward and put the opening against the vial and then tilted my head back. The Pill of Peace rolled forward and touched my head. All my motes went completely still in my body. They had been kind of still before, but this was stillness beyond anything I had experienced.

Closing my eyes and keeping my breathing steady, I felt a wave of calmness sweep through me. The pill felt warm, and I could feel it sinking into my soul, giving off the slightest ripples through the stillness of my cultivation.

I focused on the mote I was going to align with the energy of the heavens and the earth. I could grasp the mote, but it didn’t want to align. No, that was wrong. Before I had felt aligning motes was pushing one way or another from atop a hill.

But there was a third path. This was to settle the mote at the top of the hill. Neither in my body or my soul, but where it currently existed, in balance between the two, and in harmony with the energy of the heavens and earth outside my body.

It was a very slow process, taking over 20 minutes to just place one mote down with the alignment to my mind. I immediately started working on the second mote. I focused on the feeling of how to align each of these motes. Focusing on etching this experience in my mind.

Without the Pill of Peace, this would have been much, much harder. Now it felt simple and possible. If my mind wasn’t relaxed, there would be no way to do this. All my worries, concerns, and thoughts of other issues fell away.

I kept going, mote after mote, for 8 hours. I had aligned 24 motes by the time the Pill of Peace was completely gone. I opened my eyes. The Sect Leader and Liu Chen were both there, watching me carefully. I set the empty vial back down on the next.

“Cultivate a mote without the pill,” the Sect Leader said, and I nodded at this. The feeling of peace was still there. It was etched into the motes themselves. I closed my eyes and spent another 20 minutes carefully aligning a 25th mote with the mind method of cultivation.

“Done,” I replied.

“Amazing. To alter the very nature of the motes themselves,” Liu Chen said.

“That is what ties the cultivation method to the others. But it will be slow progress. Going any faster,” the Sect Leader said with a shake of his head. He was right. It would be impossible to do 2 or more motes at once. The amount of focus and state of mind needed were immense.

“It shouldn’t be that bad. It will get easier in time. The other limitations with his body and soul are also removed. Why didn’t you cultivate more quickly?” Liu Chen asked me.

“I wanted to hold onto that feeling elder,” I replied serenely.

“The mental impact. It will lessen in time, as he finishes his cultivation. That will offset the impact of the Pill of Peace and this cultivation method,” Liu Chen told the Sect Leader.

“That is good to know. Mental effects are always concerning, even the less sinister ones like this,” he replied. “Disciple, you are free to cultivate. Reach the third stage as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

“Thank you, Master,” I replied and got up. I returned to my room and fell asleep.

The following day, when I woke up, I felt relaxed and less stressed out than I had in decades. I knew it was the effects of the Pill of Peace, but I was not complaining. Laying in bed, I began to cultivate another mote with the mind path once more.

My cultivation felt still, but there was a slight disturbance. It was coming from my mind. Like a drip into a water bucket, I could tell that was where Aoyin’s fang resided. The ripples through my soul, carried down to the astral soul stabilizer and were absorbed. The rest of the ripples dispersed through my soul.

I kept my eyes clothed and breathing steady. Suddenly in the darkness of my mind I heard a whisper. ‘Blood. Power. Consume.’ Aoyin’s shard was constantly whispering in my mind. I could feel the ripples of thought moving through me.

The Pill of Peace had silenced them before, and before that I hadn’t been able to sense Aoyin’s Fang previously. It had been hidden from me. Even the Sect Leader had taken a long time to locate it and deliver his opinion on the piece of cultivation the demonic cultivator had placed within me.

Now the lingering effects of the Pill of Peace remained, but they were not overpowering. I considered how to deal with what Aoyin had done and what his ‘fang’ was doing to my mind. The whispers were easy enough to ignore, but I didn’t like them.

It was a future threat, I wanted to contain now. Thinking about the issue, I had an idea. It was tempting to just implement it, but since I was in the sect and I had a source of advice, it was better to ask. Getting up, and getting dressed for the day, I made my way back to the Sect Leader’s office. I had to wait several hours before he showed up. I took the time I was waiting to keep cultivating motes to align to my mind, one at a time. I was in no rush at the moment. It was better to get the feeling engrained into my mind.

“Master,” I stood up and bowed when he entered. He waved at me to sit back down as he took his seat.

“Are there issues? I was told it wasn’t urgent,” the Sect Leader said.

“I can feel Aoyin’s fang. It is speaking into my mind, saying blood, power, consume. I was thinking of adjusting my cultivation plan. To make a structure around the piece of cultivation he left within me using mind alignment,” I said. The Sect Leader leaned back in his chair and gave me a look before getting up.

“Stay seated, I want to inspect you,” he replied. I nodded as he came over and put two hands on my head and closed his eyes. I could feel ripples in my cultivation from where his hands were placed. Or I should say my soul. It was a weird feeling and I had never felt something like this before.

The ripples he released bounced around in my head, and the position of Aoyin’s Fang lit up. After a couple of minutes, he let go of me and sat back down. “It is a decent idea, but there are two major issues disciple. The first, such a structure would need to be built using all three cultivation methods intertwined, on a much deeper level.”

“The second issue is that you won’t be able to deal with Aoyin’s fang as easily later on. It would create an imbalance within you and your physical body to isolate it so. You don’t isolate the astral soul stabilizer, which is acting as a counterpoint for what he did,” the Sect Leader let out a short sigh.

“The astral soul stabilizer was next to Aoyin’s fang, then it would be worthwhile, to lock them togeather. The effects unleashed by what he has done to you would be contained and absorbed.”

“Can you move the astral soul stabilizer?” I asked and the Sect Leader shook his head.

“I cannot. Your best option is cultivate like it isn’t there. I know that is disturbing, but attempting to alter your cultivation could produce problems. I have given the issue some more thought. It might be possible to impact in the third stage and remove it,” he replied.

“Remove?! How?” I asked with quite a bit of hope and excitement in my voice despite the Pill of Peace constantly giving me a calming mental effect. I wanted to remove any trace Aoyin had within me.

“For that we have to consider polarity cultivation. It is a subset of soul cultivation that fell out of practice millennia ago. The principle behind it, would be to create two units of opposing cultivation in a cultivator’s body, to then draw in more energy. Since we know what Dao is based within Aoyin’s fang there is a chance, however slight you can keep moving forward while countering it.”

“There are downsides,” I said, while trying to think of them.

“Getting opposites isn’t simple. What are the opposites of blood, power, and consume?” the Sect Leader asked me. I frowned at that question.

“There aren’t clear opposites,” I finally said after thinking about the issue and the Sect Leader nodded at this.

“That is precisely the problem. Finding the resources needed to create the opposite pulls in cultivation. Right now the astral soul stabilizer is erasing quite a bit of influence of Aoyin’s fang. But it isn’t a counter. Like a waterfall and a hole,” the Sect Leader said and I nodded at this.

“We would need to change that hole into another strip of land, and the waters collide and still, this is how polarity cultivation works. A passive method to obtaining drops within one’s cores. The problem is, the greater the pressure in the cores, the more balance needed. For your cultivation you would need perfect opposites,” the Sect Leader said.

“Which is impossible,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Not impossible, but very hard to do properly. This also touches on Daos, which are in the later stages of cultivation. The procedure is best done in the third stage of your cultivation, before you begin collecting drops. Since the draw must be balanced. But if you succeed, then you will have a slightly easier time in the fourth stage,” the Sect Leader said.

“I am surprised Elder Liu Chen didn’t mention this,” I commented.

“It is a method of cultivation that is unsuitable. A dead path. What cultivator would give up a piece of their cultivation? The risk of imbalance is massive. It also impacts your Dao in the later stages, since the cultivation is not your own. The issues are endless. But this is the only option to counter Aoyin’s fang.”

“But it is not required,” I said to confirm.

“It is not required, but the path of polarity is the only option that I can think of disciple. In addition, you would need 3 rank 8 treasures to match the level of cultivation of Aoyin’s fang, consisting of the opposites of blood, power, and consume.”

“If I don’t then I have to accept it?” I asked.

“Indeed. I was going to bring this up once you reached the third stage and do my own research on possible items for you to use. It is not simple unfortunately to find rank 8 treasures that match exactly what you need. Indeed, any treasures you find are things Aoyin would desire.”

“Wouldn’t they go against his nature?” I asked.

“He would change their nature. While not as strong as using something in its original form, he would do so. Even I would do so. But there is good news. The astral soul stabilizer being used as a base will help greatly. Rank 6 treasures that are exact opposites would have enough power. Since the whole of his cultivation wasn’t used. Only a part of it. There are also techniques that can be used to weaken Aoyin’s fang when the procedure is done.” I mentally let out a sigh of relief at that. The difference between a rank 6 and a rank 8 treasure was massive.

It wasn’t just the cost, but also the rarity of the items that needed to be found. I just couldn’t imagine what opposites were for blood, power, and consume. With blood, that could be something like a solid? Was the opposite of power, weakness? As for consume, was that barf? I needed to find a barfing treasure, or something more icky?

“How are opposites normally worked out?” I asked the Sect Leader. He smiled and chuckled slightly at that question.

“That is why disciple, polarity cultivation is not done anymore. Even something like fire and water is not perfectly balanced. You need opposites. Somehow. It is a very complex question, involving multiple Daos that I don’t fully understand.”

“Aoyin. I would need to ask Aoyin,” I replied quietly.

“That would be the fastest answer, since he knows his own cultivation the best. You will also need to discover that answer as well if you make it past the first bottleneck. Many people have pondered over this issue, but there are no good answers,” the Sect Leader said.

I could imagine the headache now that the cultivators before me had when they came up with this method. “Will we be able to test how close we are in some way?” I asked.

“To a degree, measuring can be done. But the measuring techniques have not improved much over the millennia, since this cultivation method fell out of practice. I can only tell if you are within a 10% margin of error. But you need to have less than a 1% margin of error for the opposite treasures that are picked.” I winced at that.

So, the measurement system wasn’t useful, and it came down to a guess. I would be able to tell if I was completely off, but not to an accurate degree. “I will keep digging into this method of cultivation, but each situation is unique, yours even more so. That is also why it fell out of favor. It couldn’t be easily replicated.”

“And if it is wrong, or the polarity method is off?” I asked and the Sect Leader shook his head.

“Your core formation would be unbalanced, and you would perish when trying to cross the threshold of the first bottleneck. It is far more important that you get the opposites correct.” I wanted to cry, but it was a solution. A solution that the Sect Leader had spent time researching to save me.

“Thank you, Master.”

“No need to thank me. Your situation is partly my fault due to my history with Aoyin. You will need to conduct research, a lot of research during the third stage, and then need to acquire items that are opposites.”

I winced at this. I would have to give the measure a lot of thought. It wasn’t simple. The Sect Leader recommended several texts from the elder’s library to me to read and gave me a list to start off in my research. While he would do his own research, it was a dead cultivation method that was unique to individuals and was not widespread.

There were only a few scattered references that I would have, and the headache of finding actual opposites. That would be even harder, and I had no idea where to start. Thankfully, I wasn’t panicking due to the Pill of Peace. I had time. I just needed to research and work at the problem, and not give up. That was the most important thing. I was going to make it through the second stage, no matter what now.

There had been doubt before, but I was going to reach the third stage of cultivation. There were no more roadblocks in my way. It was just a matter of putting in the time and aligning my motes.

Chapter 39 – Research Into Daos

I let out a quiet sigh, so as to not create a disturbance, as I set down another scroll. I had been researching everything I could about using the path of polarity to cultivate. It was clear why it had been given up so long ago as a viable method of cultivation.

Finding opposite types of resources of a high enough rank, was near impossible. Each setup was also unique to each cultivator, based on their understanding of the principles involved. Or it could have just been variances in the materials used. It wasn’t entirely clear.

That was the problem with this method of cultivation. It was a path no one walked, due to the impossibility of getting an appropriate opposite. One of the biggest hurdles, the base structures had already been taken care of, and one half of the polarity path. In terms of work I had to do, there wasn’t much, but what was left was the hardest part.

Months of constant research, and nothing to show for it. This wasn’t a topic with its own section either. Sure there were a couple of specific tomes on the path of polarity, but I needed to look into opposites, which involved Daos.

The reading on Daos were incredibly thick and limited to the Dao the elder focused on for their cultivation. I had made some progress, by trying to understand exactly what a Dao was.

A Dao was a path of deep and comprehensive understanding. Soul and body cultivators would take on a singular Dao. Mind cultivators, would have multiple Daos. The later stages were based around setting up an internal structure to house Daos, and use one’s understanding to deepen one’s relationship with the Dao they had chosen.

The second bottleneck, to the ninth stage Immortal Ascension, was about harmonizing perfectly with one’s Dao. This would break the limits that constrained all cultivators, including their mortality. These Daos, or concepts, were often based on the path of cultivation a person took in the earlier stages and was very personal.

All of this meant that Aoyin, didn’t have three Daos, or paths. But rather that the Dao he had chosen, could only be encompassed by those three words togeather to form a greater whole. If I had to describe it, the best guess would be ‘The power of blood to consume’. But even this might not be entirely right.

That was the biggest headache of my research. Since the deeper the understanding, the harder it was to describe with words. Elders had written entire tomes about their daos, trying to explain their understanding, but the writing was lacking.

One cultivator might have measured everything precisely for their focus, while another tried for a more holistic understanding. The best example of this issue was the Dao of Fluidity. There were three tomes about this Dao. Each of them took a different approach to describing the Dao.

The first tome talked about states of mater and tried to quantify the fluidity of any object. The second tome used poetry to describe the cultivator’s understanding. The third tome was more of a story of understanding about fluidity. A journey of self-discovery. There were clear differences and similarities between each tome.

That was why I was sighing. The understanding at the later stages was much more personal to each cultivator. ‘Consume blood for power,’ was another valid interpretation. ‘Blood consumed is power,’ was a third interpretation. Even with a slice of Aoyin’s cultivation stuck inside of me, it wasn’t something that could be easily discerned. Getting as far as we had, was already tremendous progress.

Putting away the tomes I had been reading, I left the elder’s library. I had been focusing on my cultivation recently as well. Once I entered the third stage, then I would have a lot more problems to deal with and resources that I needed.

Going to the dining hall, I sat down. I noted that Gen was here as well. He gave me a look of regret but didn’t approach. A glance at him, showed that he was still struggling through the second stage of cultivation. I smiled to myself, it was good to know that I was on pace with the other disciples, even though my cultivation was far superior and much more complicated.

That was one reason I ate in the common dining hall. I could have arranged to have food delivered, but I wanted to see the other disciples and gain motivation about my progress. “Greetings Senior Yuan Zhou,” Wen Xue said.

“Wen Xue, please sit,” I gestured with my hand.

“Thank you. So, making progress?” he asked me.

“Some. But the higher concepts give me a headache,” I said with a sigh and poked at my food. He let off a light chuckle at that.

“More complications with your path of defiance?” he asked me.

“Yes. I need to look at Daos for the third stage. What about you? You have entered the third stage. How is that going?” I asked him.

“A struggle. I am focusing on earth attunement, but it is slow going carving out all my meridians and channels. I am getting better at it, but the amount of focus required is more than the second stage. That is how you know you have changed stages it takes more mental effort to do anything,” Wen Xue said.

“How many meridian and channel sets are you carving out per year?” I asked.

“About two and a half. But I should be able to get it up to three. I have about thirty more years of work.” I winced at this. That was another problem that needed to be dealt with. The speed of carving out my channels and meridians. It would speed up with null metal and a focusing gem, but that would help with the detail work I needed to do.

I would have 1,304 channels in total, compared to Wen Xue’s 100. I would have to find a faster way to cultivate. The problems were just piling up unfortunately. But that was the curse of my path of defiance. “That is good progress. The goal is two sets per year,” I replied and Wen Xue gave me a nod.

“Indeed. The issue are the resources I need to attune my channels and meridians. Unfortunately, I am going with the standard attunement for earth,” he seemed a bit depressed at that. I needed to get perfect attunement, which meant even more resources. I know there was a plan to use force was the element for attunement.

Normally the element people used, tied into their Dao. At least they would get a head start. Choosing something that wasn’t related to your attunement was a setback. The better the attunement, the better one’s understanding of their chosen Dao in the later stages. But it was all a race against time to get past the first bottleneck.

Cultivators didn’t have time to get everything done perfectly. They had to work as quickly as possible, otherwise they would be stuck. I had managed to clear all the requirements to reach the third stage. But the third stage required several special items and knowledge. The fourth stage required an insane amount of energy.

The challenges I faced were immense. I could understand now, why other cultivators didn’t go this path. The headache of trying to get over all these hurdles was immense. Having one or two hurdles, was doable, but they kept piling up in front of me.

“Well I am glad you are making progress,” I told Wen Xue.

“Thank you senior. What about yourself?” he asked me.

“I have no issues until the third stage, which I should arrive at in about five years,” I replied.

“On pace then with the other disciples, impressive,” he said. I shook my head at that.

“A headache. Fighting beasts, risking my life multiple times, and barely managing to get all the materials, I needed. It has been a massive headache. The third stage is even worse,” I said morosely while poking at my rice.

I kind of felt like a spoiled brat. Even with all the help I had, there were just so many hurdles to overcome. Even research and studying, both things I enjoyed, felt burdensome with the lack of progress I had been making in finding an opposite to Aoyin’s Fang.

“Even so, you have managed to clear your path until the third stage. When you make it to the later stages, you should have a much easier time,” Wen Xue said.

“Hopefully. Here is a tough question for you. What do you consider the opposite of blood, power, and consume?” I asked Wen Xue. He got a thoughtful look on his face for a bit.

“Well, blood is the life force of the body. I would say ash would be the opposite. It is dry, floats, and devoid of life. The opposite of power is weakness. The opposite of consume is expel. I would guess a weak volcano for your riddle,” he replied.

My eyes lit up at that. “A weak volcano, belching out clouds of ash,” I repeated while thinking over that. That was actually the kind of insight I needed. I was much more logical. One plus one, giving me two kind of thinking for my cultivation. But Daos were much more freeform.

While I couldn’t use Wen Xue’s exact understanding, I needed a more holistic approach and answer to the question I was confronted with. It was like mixing colors instead of numbers. Red plus blue would make purple. Now I just needed the same for concepts.

The idea of a volcano just resonated with me. Such a location was bound to have a treasure that could be used. I would have to do research on volcanoes and possible treasures I could find near one or inside one.

“I am glad I could help,” Wen Xue told me, and I gave him one of my brightest smiles.

“Consider this a thank you. I had been stuck in a mental rut for a while trying to think my way of a cultivation issue,” I told him and put a rank 2 spirit coin on the table. He quickly picked it up and gave me a look of surprise. He put it away and then bowed his head towards me.

“Thank you Senior,” he said.

“Trust me, it was worth it. I need to start thinking less math and more relationships,” I replied as I kept trying to play out the relationships and what I thought the opposites of such things were. Blood could refer to family. Aoyin killed his father and probably consumed it. The number of times he had brought his father up during our conversation togeather was a big clue.

Power could also refer to movement, ‘the cultivator is powered by blood’. The opposite of power then would be inactive. That made sense to me. This made much more sense to me on a fundamental level.

The final word I had learned about Aoyin’s Fang was consume. Consuming was using something up. I had been thinking too literally about the word for a while. The opposite of consume was preservation. Keeping something around and not using it.

Tying all this togeather, I needed something unattached to Aoyin, that was static, and preserved. I felt like I was making some progress in understanding and coming to a realization. But it wasn’t just about figuring out the opposite, but getting the resources that were the embodiment of such a thing as well.

I didn’t like any of this. The entire process was too imprecise. There needed to be a better way. After finishing off my meal and excusing myself, I went back to the elder’s library and began to look for texts on the energy of heaven and earth itself.

If it was a wave or ripple of some kind, then I just needed to find the opposing modulation to cancel out Aoyin’s Fang. I could scientifically make my way to the correct answer, rather than searching blindly. The Sect Leader had mentioned about being able to test if items were opposing Aoyin’s Fang up to 90%. That clearly meant there was a way to test and observe these things.

I needed more precise measuring tools, and then a way to adjust whatever item, or items would be used. Searching through the texts I didn’t find anything useful. The next day, after my time spent working on my cultivation, I went to the Sect Leader once more.

His help had been invaluable. Without his support, I would have never have been able to make it this far. “What is it now disciple?” he asked me once I entered his office. I explained my thinking to him.

“What I am asking Master, is if there is any way to get a better measurement, and check ingredients?” I asked.

“It isn’t that simple disciple. I am making the determination with my personal abilities. A lower ranked cultivator compared to myself, wouldn’t be able to even get that much accuracy. An Immortal would have far more,” he said with a heavy sigh. I knew he was frustrated about his lack of connections as well.

“And they don’t use the polarity path for their disciples?” I asked.

“There is only so much adjustment that can be done before items begin to lose their potency. And even that isn’t a simple procedure. You need a cultivator who is experienced in soul manipulation. Very few are, and I am one of them. Still, your idea is interesting,” he replied, and I got some hope in my heart.

“A special chamber would have to be constructed and built up. Something like this isn’t simple. A formation master would be needed. And there is no good way to isolate Aoyin’s Fang inside of you. If it wasn’t then something could be done, but with that there, it just isn’t practical,” he said, and I winced at this. “That is why, creating test samples could be done. But that would double or triple the resource requirements.”

“Testing? You mean altering my astral soul stabilizer and then seeing the effect?” I asked.

“Yes. Normally this is impossible. Since a soul would break under such strain. But you. Well, your cultivation is ridiculous. We could do three to five attempts. The closer we are the first attempt, the better.”

“Then make adjustments after that,” I added and the Sect Leader nodded. It felt nice for once that my cultivation was helping me, instead of dragging me down. It just kept putting up roadblocks, which was exhausting. Now a roadblock was being removed and a solution was now possible.

“Exactly. I should be able to make it work. Once both halves are functional, Aoyin’s Fang would be pulled into you as part of your cultivation. I didn’t suggest this before, since it has never been done, and the resource cost will be immense. I would need at least 4 different resources, in decent sized quantities. But realistically, 6 different resources, in large quantities would be the best.”

“That, is a lot,” I replied quietly as I thought over the issue.

“They would only need to be rank 6. But yes, it is a massive headache to get such things. The greater the difference between the resources gathered, while still being opposite of Aoyin’s cultivation, the better.” I didn’t understand the mechanics of exactly what the Sect Leader would be doing, but I trusted him. He had been helping and guiding me for quite a while.

“Could I learn what you do? The soul manipulation?” I asked him out of curiosity.

“I attuned to something different, which was what helped me on my path. We might want to consider three separate attunements for your channels and meridians based on their alignment,” he added.

“Why?” I asked.

“Using force is useful for your soul path. And even your body path. But with the mind path of cultivation, I would suggest something opposing force,” the Sect Leader suggested.

“What else is there, that can be used?” I asked.

“That a big question. I wanted to bring this up, since Liu Chen has been hounding me about it,” the Sect Leader said.

“But you don’t think I should do something like that?” I asked.

“No. Choosing an attunement or attunements for your channels and meridians is a deeply personal matter. This will have a large impact on the later stages of your cultivation. There is no hand holding after the first bottleneck. One cannot cultivate for another, or have the same understanding,” he explained to me.

“Could Aoyin switch up what he did to me remotely?” I asked.

“No. What he has done, is crippling to an extent. He removed a part of himself and put it into you to nurture. A very small part, and the damage done is also small. Still, it would have weakened him, however slightly. He cannot change his cultivation at his stage. His path is set,” the Sect Leader answered.

“Alright, I have an idea where I need to start. I will start looking through the list of known resources,” I replied and the Sect Leader gave me a nod at that.

“Your ability to focus and conduct research is important. It is good you are working hard. Your cultivation, any issues?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

“No, issues. Just taking time to align all the motes. I should be done in five years,” I replied, and he nodded at that.

“A decent speed, for a cultivator of your age, and the path of defiance. There are three other hurdles for the third stage. The amount of spirit stones that you need. Null metal and a focusing crystal. Finally a focusing chamber to draw out energy from spirit stones and change it to force energy. The good news, is the chamber is on track to be completed. Where are you on the other two hurdles?” he asked me.

That was the power of an entire sect. I would be a guinea pig for this new type of cultivation attunement in the third stage. The sect would gain knowledge. I just had to fuel the entire formation. “Getting enough spirit stones should be possible. You know of my business venture,” I replied.

“Yes, but explain it to me again,” the Sect Leader asked. I explained about the plan that was being implemented to gather spirit ore from across a large area on a regular basis. Taking my mine management scheme to the next level. I had brought this up before, but he hadn’t really dug into it, focusing more on Aoyin’s Fang and dealing with that.

“It is a decent plan. And you have an elder of the Imperial Sect, and a deal with a family in Imperial City. Also, the funds to see it through. I will ask for ten percent of the profits. In exchange, I will dispatch five members and an elder to support your operations in Imperial City,” the Sect Leader offered.

“That seems like quite a bit of support, and the percentage?” I asked, not understanding what he was bringing to the table.

“It would ensure there would be no long-term issues. The mortals could run things, but the transportation of the ore needs to be protected. It would also allow the Cloudy Moon Sect to insure your investment is protected, while also allowing the sect to create an embassy of sorts in Imperial City.”

I hated giving up even more, but there was no choice. I couldn’t say no with how much the Sect Leader was helping me. I needed him to get a cut as well, so the sect would continue to support my antics. What was left unsaid, was that it would tie me to the sect, and create broader support once the Sect Leader died. He was aging, which meant he didn’t have much time left.

While it was aggravating to be put into this position, the weak had no power to object if the strong decided to step on them. I had hired Zheng Ting. I had gotten the funding. I had arranged the other backers. Now the Sect Leader was coming in at the last minute and taking another bite out of my business.

“Very well, I would like to speak with the elder and the members who are headed out, so there are no misunderstandings,” I replied.

“I would expect nothing less. I will set up a meeting in a couple of days with you to go over who I will recommend. I will find people who won’t make a mess of things,” the Sect Leader said and I nodded at this.

“Yes Master,” I replied.

“That just leaves the two last treasures,” he said.

“I inquired about them in Imperial City. Unfortunately, these aren’t the type of items that go up for sale. Still, I did learn that null metal, is metal untouched by the energy of the heavens and the earth. It is incredibly rare to find any,” I replied.

“Indeed. The biggest issue with such a thing, is that such metal is very easily contaminated. Finding it is impossible for cultivators.”

“There is a special mine, that carefully extracts minute quantities. But it is under control of the Blazing Sun Sect,” I replied.

“A huge hurdle to overcome. It won’t be something they easily export like a red sun rose. And the focusing crystal?” he asked.

“A large clear diamond, cut at specific angles. The issue is the purity needed, and the energy imparted into such an item. There have been attempts to manufacture one, but they lack the focusing property that makes them so valuable,” I replied.

“Any leads?” he asked me.

“No. But there are diamond mines in the Sky Peaks, under the control of the Sky Peak Sect. A mid-rank sect, that is under the Imperial Sect. There have been two focusing crystals that have come out of diamonds from their mines. I just need to get a diamond from them, and then find a master to cut it,” I replied.

“That could work, but again it won’t be cheap. I am glad you had the idea for your business. Sending you out into the Firmament is not something I want to do until you can learn techniques at the very least. But if there is another path forward for the third stage that would be best.”

It felt good to be able to work through these issues with the Sect Leader. Like a teacher guiding me along my path and supporting me. Sure, there were issues and setbacks, but that was part of life. I couldn’t and shouldn’t complain.

Just thinking about Wen Xue, sure his path was easier, but he would struggle later on and never reach immortality. That much I knew. While there were many cultivators out there, there were only six known immortals. That meant the standard methods didn’t work.

I had asked about this, but it came down to a limitation of resources and techniques. It wasn’t so much about everyone reaching immortality, but making each stage a bit easier.

If there was a method found to make the first bottleneck more efficient, then that would allow more cultivators to eventually reach the eighth stage of cultivation and attempt to break through to immortality.

In full, it was about making each stage easier with limited resources. Someone like me who came along taking up all the resources in their path, was the opposite of the mindset the high ranking sects had been trying to cultivate for millennia. They wanted to increase the pool of candidates and make cultivation more efficient. They didn’t want to create super cultivators stuffed to the brim with special items.

That was the understanding the Sect Leader had passed onto me, and it felt right as far as I could tell. Regardless of what other people might do, my path was set. I needed to keep moving forward and aim to get the resources I needed.

The good news was that the polarity path of cultivation, and the resources for that, could be put off until the end of the third stage. There was no rush there. The null metal and the focusing crystal would be needed right away.

While I could carve out a meridian and a partial channel, through the six-fold valves up to Liu Chen’s valve design, stopping partway was not a good idea. They would then be attuned once completed. Technically a cultivator didn’t have to attune their channels and meridians until they were all carved out, but that just added in more time. So, most did it concurrently.

If I had to travel, I wouldn’t have that luxury. I wouldn’t be able to sit inside a specialty built chamber and attune my channels and meridians as I carved them. It would increase my workload, but I couldn’t just sit around like everyone else in the sect.

There would be an area of greater resistance, which would be hard to break. Still, it might be worthwhile, since I couldn’t afford to slow down in the slightest. That was still an issue that hadn’t been fully worked out either.

There was no good answer, since having as many channels and meridians as I did would be insane. I just had to aim to go as fast as possible to carve them out to reach the fourth stage.

Chapter 40 – Reaching The Third Stage

“Brother,” my sister greeted me. I was 45 years old now and still looking like a child. While it was aggravating, I had come to terms with it.

My cultivation in the third stage was just about complete. I had been spending quite a bit of time over the last couple of years focused on my cultivation. I was glad the number of motes I had to align with the mind path of cultivation were not that great.

While I had been hard at work, I could only do four at once. Any more than that, and I risked screwing up. As I got closer and closer to completing the second stage of cultivation, my entire body felt like it was a condensed ball of energy and very solid.

It was hard to put into words, but I felt like every part of me was becoming more muscular, even though I wasn’t getting more muscles.

“Sister,” I greeted her back with a smile. She was clearly middle aged. There were slight creases around her eyes. I felt a sense of heaviness in my heart at this. Her daughter Yao Lan was sitting off to the side. I had just come back from seeing our mother. She was doing well, living out her best life in retirement. With me being her son, and the allowance I gave her, she was living in luxury.

“I will be taking my leave. Please take of my child, brother,” my sister asked me. I nodded at this.

“I have made arrangements within the sect,” I replied. Elder Li Fu would take her on as a core disciple, after paying him a fee.

“Thank you brother, she has been working hard. Will you be staying the night?” she asked me and I shook my head.

“My affairs within the Half Moon City are done, we leave immediately,” I replied. My sister turned to her daughter and beckoned with her hands. Yao Lan, really was quite beautiful and appeared to be quite young, appearing to be around the age of 14 or 15. She should have appeared to be 18 instead of so young. I could imagine it would be both a blessing and a curse to appear as she was.

She gave her mother a hug. There were some whispered words from mother to daughter. “Take care my child. I love you. Never forget that. And if there are issues, speak to your uncle. While he can be difficult, he does care,” she said.

“Thanks mom. I would have never gotten this chance if it wasn’t for you,” my niece said. I carefully pretended I wasn’t listening in.

“Also don’t compare yourself to your uncle. He gets troublesome ideas occasionally,” my sister whispered back.

“Like your legendary painting?” my niece asked.

“Hush, you. Now make sure to come back and visit occasionally,” my sister said.

“I will mother, I love you.”

“I love you too my little flower.”

They broke their hug and my niece looked at me with a hungry yet determined expression on her face. “I am ready Senior Yuan Zhou,” she said to me.

“Then let us be off,” I replied. We immediately left the estate got into a carriage and set off for a short distance. I took the time to talk with her while we traveled. I was glad we were able to leave without too much fanfare. That would have been annoying.

“Uncle, um, what arrangements have you made?” Yao Lan asked me with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

“You will be taken as a disciple by Elder Li Fu. He has a steady temperament and often handles the day to day operations of the sect. Present this case to him,” I told her and pulled out a wooden case from my spatial ring and handed it to her.

“Can I open it?” she asked me, and I nodded. Her eyes went wide at what was inside. She quickly closed it. “That’s a rank 4 spirit stone, right?” she asked hesitantly.

“Indeed, it is. I have already paid him quite a bit to take you on as a disciple. But this will show your personal sincerity. Taking on a disciple is a serious matter,” I told my niece and she quickly nodded at this.

“Thank you, uncle,” she said with a bowed head.

“It is no issue. Your mother’s smile has been a bright spot in my life. I am not the best with family.” She hadn’t followed me on the path of cultivation. It was disappointing, but I had pressed for it. I could have done so decades ago. But there was no medicine for regrets.

Instead, I passed on the goodwill to her daughter. This would be the second rank 4 spirit stone Elder Li Fu was getting. We had only agreed to one, but I wanted my niece well taken care of and for him to invest into her. That much wealth being handed over, would ensure a lot would trickle down to my Yao Lan.

It helped that I could afford this, since my business had just paid out its first dividend to all shareholders by making rank 6 spirit steel. I only got 250 rank 3 spirit coins from the first sale of spirit steel. That was my fifty percent of the business.

My initial guess had been around 1,800 rank 3 spirit coins of profit, or 180,000 rank 1 spirit coins. I had been basing the sale price off finished products, thinking the raw material would be most of the cost. It was a large portion, but not 300,000 rank 1 spirit coins of revenue.

I would have gotten double, but Zhang Ting and I had agreed beforehand to have half the dividends go back into the business in order to expand. It was to expand until it could expand no more. I would have preferred to reinvest it all to get larger returns later, but the shareholders needed to paid and the business needed cashflow to keep operating. There just wasn’t a huge market for spirit steel. It was there, but it wasn’t large enough, I could push up the price based on demand.

It still galled me I had lost fifty percent of my business to others, but there was no choice. I had to give up portions of the business in order to do business. It helped insulate me from the powers that be, trying to take advantage of things.

Elder Xu Xiaoli got twenty five percent to represent the Imperial Sect and give them face. The Han family represented by the crazy Han Xingjuan got fifteen percent to use their compression array at cost. The Cloudy Moon Sect got ten percent to make sure cultivators didn’t try anything.

Elder Sun Ru along with four members had been dispatched to Imperial City to provide cultivator support to Zheng Ting and learn the management of the business. She was getting on in years. While she would remain in charge until she decided to retire, having cultivators work for my business was a massive step up in terms of prestige and power.

It also ensured my interests in the business not being stolen or taken away, since we were in the same sect and I was the disciple of the Sect Leader. Stealing from me would be like stealing from him. No one inside the sect would risk such a thing.

I had spent 25 rank 3 spirit coins to get those two spirit cores I was bribing the elder with. The further one went up the power scale, the more flexible exchanges based on need. Luckily, I wasn’t in a rush with my niece. So, I managed a fairly decent exchange rate.

Still, the entire operation had brought in 2,000 rank 3 spirit coins for the first batch of spirit steel in terms of revenue. But 100 of those rank 3 spirit coins went into a reserve to pay people going forward and ensure cash flow. Another 500 went to expanding operations into other cities. The remaining 500 rank 3 spirit coins were split up between the investors.

“This is it,” I said and let her off outside the city.

“I wouldn’t have believed you that this is standard unless I heard about it from other people,” Yao Lan said. I smiled at this. Walking to the sect and climbing up the staircase was tradition. To show that one was determined.

My sister was fussing and wanted me to take her the entire way by carriage, but that wasn’t going to happen. It was important for me to adhere to tradition, especially with how much I was already supporting her.

Giving such a large donation to Elder Li Fu to take her on as a disciple was kind of pushing things, but still acceptable. I was in the rare position of having a tremendous amount of wealth, but not being a member or an elder of the sect. It was a bit of a gray area. The Sect Leader had no problem with it, since it just tied me more deeply to the Cloudy Moon Sect.

There was also no reason to create pointless drama about the situation either. While she was my niece, she didn’t share the same last name as me, due to my sister marrying into the Yao family. That should help things as well if she wanted to keep her head down.

At least she wasn’t a brat like that granny disguised as a girl from the Imperial Sect. If my niece acted that entitled, I would have refused to support her. I had talked with the servants and other people of the estate, while she was a bit entitled, she wasn’t rude or cruel, if anything she was focused. I could live with her being focused and associated with me.

If she had screamed at me, and told people to spit out food, I would have just told my sister no. It was not worth the headache and the anger of Elder Li Fu by giving him someone who caused trouble. I let her know that once she turned 20, she would have to work to earn sect points to stick around, which she was okay with.

Yao Lan was already to go and shouldered a large pack and set off. I left ahead of her by carriage since everything was already arranged for this year’s intake. She didn’t need to be embarrassed by holding her hand into the sect.

The learning experience I had with Gen was important, as well as the connections I made during the intake. Gen was a reminder that people were jealous of me, and Wen Xue was always fun to talk about cultivation. He was the reason I had hope for the third stage. While my research and time spent speaking with the Sect Leader played a huge role, our conversations helped me put things into perspective.

She needed to build up those connections herself. Being a cultivator meant charting your own path. While there were cultivators that just followed the path set by others, you would never reach immortality that way.

Most cultivators only wanted to get past the first bottleneck, not thinking further ahead. Immortality was millennia away, while getting to the next stage was much more pressing. I had inverted all of that with my path of defiance, front loading all the challenges, clearing my future path.

Just the resources and headaches were immense though. I had thought my third stage would be more relaxed, but now I needed a vast number of resources. I had sent word for the information brokers to ask about and had Zheng Ting use 50 rank 3 spirit coins to pay for information.

It had taken a lot of time to send word back, but I was focused on cultivating and would only leave the sect once I reached the third stage, which would be just before my niece joined the sect. Returning to the sect. I cultivated on the carriage ride back, used to such things after all the traveling I had done.

My last three motes formed my core or Dantian. Sitting in my room, the motes snapped into place, and I made sure their connections to the other nearby motes were correct as they settled. I mentally focused and sensed my cultivation.

I had finally done it. Aligning all 1,788,606 motes across three paths of cultivation by the time I was 45 years old. The internal structure was a thing of beauty. At the center was the pyramidal structure of five cores. The central core being for body cultivation and designed as an icosahedron. The outer four cores were also icosahedrons, but with three layers.

The inner layer being part of the soul path, while the outer two were part of the mind path. The motes even connected to each other, forming the various support planes and beams between them. The inner part of the cores would hold drops for my soul cultivation while the outer layer between the two mind core shells would hold drops from mind cultivation.

Something like that had never been done before, full triple cultivation like this, from what I knew and what Elder Liu Chen came to talk to me. Thankfully he didn’t have any more suggestions about my cultivation, but wanted to know how I was progressing. If he had a Dao, it would be the Dao of cultivation itself.

There were 1,304 channels, of all three types, mind, body, and soul. Soul was the largest with 720 channels evenly distributed across all four cores. The connections for the channels went through the faces of the icosahedrons with nine channels per face of each icosahedron. This was a slight change from my initial design, but it was necessary to ensure that there were no issues with the mind and soul cores.

The mind channels numbered 432 channels, coming in on the vertices of the icosahedrons. Again, nine channels converging on the vertices into a much narrower channel into the mind core portion of my cultivation. The body channels went all the way through individually.

This was because my body cores required much more even pressure. Thankfully I had avoided any mistakes. That left the remaining 152 channels for the Body core. There were five channels each, converging on each face, and another four channels per vertex. That left four extra channels, which connected to the Body core, in the direction of the of the other four cores surrounding it.

There had been changes along the way, and I had gotten worried I had made a mistake. But it all came togeather over time, even with the changes I made. Without elder Liu Chen, it wouldn’t have been possible to work everything out and the tweaks that needed to be done to ensure it all went smoothly.

I had asked about the ratio of the channels to drops. Since it was 180 channels per soul core, 108 channels per mind core, and 152 channels for the body core. The optimal drops that had been suggested were 120,000 for each soul core, 20,000 for each mind core, and 50,000 for the body core.

The ratio for the core drops was 12 to 2 to 5. While the ratio of channels was approximately 4.1 to 2.5 to 3.5. It was wildly off. Elder Liu Chen had agreed with me and said it was a shame, but there was no good way to correct it while keeping the pressure on the cores balanced otherwise.

The four extra channels converging on the body core was already a slight risk, but they should hold based on the rest of my cultivation, or at least that was what he thought. As for the unbalance in channels, he complained about that greatly, but the Sect leader told me not to worry about it too much. I needed as many drops as possible.

Even if I did get somehow so far ahead, I could shut off the cultivation for a specific core type, at least that was the hope. So once my mind cores were filled, I could stop them from drawing in more energy. It was a waste, since I would only have 32,800 drops in my soul cores once the mind cores were filled up. The Sect Leader had explained that would be a good problem to have, if I got that far.

So even after everything I had done, my cultivation was imperfect in a way. But if I had taken the time to work out these details, then I would have spent another two decades trying to adjust things, or going slowly. Even then, how would I know? I only had so many motes to work with, and that was why cultivators were told to keep cultivating at the early stages before the first bottleneck.

If you stopped and took to long, you wouldn’t get anywhere. There would always be more optimal ways of doing things. But the real issue was time. Time to get enough drops to fill up one’s cultivation. While two decades might not seem like a lot, all cultivation was a race against time. Even for the Sect Leader who was nearing the end of his life.

My channels were impressive, each a similar length to within fifty percent of each other. That was a major accomplishment. The ones closer to the edge of my body, took longer routes to get there, while the ones farthest away in my hands, feet, and head took more direct routes. That was a huge accomplishment with how many channels I had.

It was immensely complex, making sure they didn’t intersect or have issues around my cores, where every possible space was used up. The channels themselves also had valves. Three six fold valves at the start and then Liu Chen’s valve design closer to the cores. It was a masterpiece of design, even if it created a massive headache in needing to create a Displacement Channel Carver.

Then there were the wave cone meridians, which used up too many motes. Far too many in my mind, but they had unprecedented energy draw. There was no innovation there. The meridian designs had been researched extensively over the millennia. All of this was supported by my internal triangular framework and external hexagonal structure tied to soul cultivation.

Liu Chen had lamented that I would be able to make a support structure consisting of all three types of cultivation. The Sect Leader looked like he wanted to strangle the elder when he suggested I should have gathered up another million more motes just for this purpose. Thankfully the Pill of Peace, the Refined Beast Essence, and the Astral Soul stabilizer all came togeather to make sure my mind, body, and soul didn’t rip themselves apart.

The sheer scale of my cultivation was both breath taking and immense. Where before, it was like a sea of stars at the end of the first stage, now it felt like I had a stellar map inside of me. Each mote was linked by beams and planes to the surrounding motes. A latticework of immense complexity. It was a masterpiece of cultivation.

With all of that came issues. I needed to kill the rank 6 beast, whose blood had been used. Water Running Over The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens. I had not forgotten their immense name and title. I needed to go out there and kill them. Even now I could feel rage threatening to burst forth from inside of me, contained by the Pill of Peace. Rage that wasn’t entirely under my control.

For the channels and meridians I now had to carve out, a Displacement Channel Carver needed to be made for my use. There was no possibility of renting one. I had inquired from the information brokers and even reached out to Elder Xu Xiaoli of the Imperial Sect. It was considered at the level of a sect treasure for a reason. Its value was immense, in speeding up progression through the third stage.

Only the most favored of individuals in the Imperial Sect who also made large contributions would be allowed on the waiting list to use one of the two they had. Even the Imperial Sect only had two of them. The null metal was the real sticking point. A focusing gem was doable, but insanely expensive.

I also needed 6 rank 6 treasures that were opposite of Aoyin’s shard before the end of the third stage, so I could attempt cultivating using polarity to draw in more energy and negate the shard’s influence. It wasn’t absolutely necessary at the moment, but this was another one of those problems that I could put off for when Aoyin came to harvest me or try and solve now.

At least this could be held off until the end of the third stage, which was preferable in case Aoyin decided to pay me a visit or could keep an eye on me. The real time limit was the Sect Leader’s age. If he perished, then I would have to find someone else skilled in astral souls to make the changes necessary. The list was incredibly small, and he had no suggestions that wouldn’t come with conditions, or a huge price tag attached.

Then there was the immense number of resources I needed to perfectly attune my channels and meridians to force. I needed around 5,216 level 4 spirit stones or 57,376 level 3 spirit stones. That was four level 4 spirit stones per channel and meridian pair. Already one cultivator had gotten some support to use the constructed chamber inside the sect and it worked.

The issue with my cultivation, was that I needed perfect attunement on top of the amount. That meant I needed level 4 spirit stones and couldn’t substitute lesser ones. That meant I needed over 5,000 sentient beasts to be killed for my cultivation to progress. What was even worse, the Sect Leader had given me the optimal exchange rate.

Realistically, I needed closer to 65,200 level 3 spirit stones and maybe even more than that as my activities put pressure on the market. My business would return about 10 level 4 spirit stones per year, and that would go up to around 30 level 4 spirit stones per year. Without any issues, which meant I could reach the fourth stage in about 174 to 200 years.

I was already 45 years old, despite how I looked. A cultivator in the third stage could live until they were 180 to 300 years old. I would be on the upper range of that or a bit beyond. It wasn’t a precise science since everyone’s cultivation and physical body were different.

Still, it was a reasonable time frame. The biggest bottleneck was getting the null metal and the focusing gem. I needed those to start cultivating. All remaining portions of my wealth would be kept in Imperial City with their Coinage Guild.

I had enough spending money after the first payment. And shipping large amounts of wealth was a huge risk. I had no doubt that word would get out and people would be tempted to rob a caravan, or even a cultivator traveling. Aoyin had learned quite a bit about me, and I didn’t want to take any more unnecessary risks.

While Imperial City was stupidly expensive for everything, even breathing, it was the best place for high level exchanges to occur. I had already passed instructions to Zheng Ting to have all future payouts be used to purchase level 4 spirit stones and save them in the Coinage Guild.

Once I had the needed materials, I would head back to Imperial City to collect the spirit stones. The biggest issue was that I couldn’t travel and cultivate any more. Well, I could, but it was risky. Once I started carving out a channel and meridian, I couldn’t stop. Once I stopped, the portions exposed to the hole I had dug through my soul would harden immensely, and it would be far more difficult to restart.

Carving out a channel and meridian, would take a month or so, only if I had a Displacement Channel Carver. Heck, I could even sell it at the end for the rank 6 materials, since any sect would be more than happy to buy such a thing, even the Imperial Sect.

Looking at the information I had received about null metal, I wanted to sigh. This was the good information as well, with how much I had paid. There was no higher level of information I could purchase, this was the end all be all of finding null metal.

The answer was luck. Null metal by its very nature hid from the energy of the heavens and the earth. While people thought they could work out a way to find it, by sensing for repulsion, it wasn’t so simple. Null metal let energy pass right through it, like it wasn’t even there.

A cultivator could look at it, but not tell it was null metal. In addition, its formation was incredibly rare. So, you needed a cultivator who could recognize it, and one lucky enough to come across some. That was a rare combination.

Finding it was the hardest part. The known locations only had a miniscule amount, which had quickly been extracted, and other locations were unknown. However, there were two clues pointing to the same location. Two people had returned from a special location. The Floating Island of Death. It was a pleasant name to be sure, but it was a massive floating island that floated around the edge of the continent.

It had the death moniker, because cultivators died in droves going to this place. Even rank 8 cultivators had died. Everyone wanted to claim the island for their sect. However, only 4 known cultivators had come back in the Third Age, the last 200,000 years.

The place had dangerous plants, mechanical traps, and high-level zombies. Some people said it was a tomb. Others claimed that a high level demonic cultivator had cursed the place. Others say it was a remnant of a past civilization from an earlier age. Finally, there was the rumor, it was the burial ground of an immortal who perished in battle and his will carried on, battling all those who challenged it.

I wasn’t sure what one was correct, but I knew it was my destination. I started the second stage of cultivation to the Astral Plane. Now I was going to start my third stage by journeying to the Floating Island of Death.

One of the reasons it was named that, was for the simple reason cultivators would ignore warnings otherwise. When people got desperate, they went into these special locations, almost all never to return. Their soul lanterns, not showing anything useful. That was one of the requirements for a place to be labeled special by cultivators. If you went in, you were taking your life into your hands. No one would be coming to avenge you.

It was my only chance to get through the third stage, or I wouldn’t have even considered it.

Chapter 41 – Helping Hand

“Senior.” I looked at Gen who had approached my table. It was the one day a year for sect to celebrate and people to come out of their holes. I would enjoy this day and make sure my niece was settled into the sect before departing to the Floating Island of Death.

“Yes?” I asked him. He gave me a deep bow.

“I apologize if anything I said before was misinterpreted,” he told me.

“It wasn’t. There is nothing more for us to speak about,” I said not wanting to get into this with him. His harsh words, that I had overheard years ago, meant nothing to me. They just showed his true character. There was no need to get pulled down to his level.

I waved my hand dismissing him. He had a grimace on his face as he left. But that was his problem, not mine. I had enough problems of my own that I couldn’t afford to take on other people’s problems. The next person to approach me was Wen Xue. “Senior,” he greeted me.

“Wen Xue, please sit, with me,” I told him and inclined my head. He smiled at my welcome. I could see the jealous stares coming in his direction. I was the disciple of the Sect Leader, the sect disciple. I stood above all others in the disciple hierarchy. Even if my time of being a disciple would soon be over once I reached the fourth stage of cultivation.

“It is good to see you,” he said. It was a weak opening to the conversation, but I didn’t mind. Wen Xue was calming to be around. We occasionally had conversations about cultivation and our respective progress. “If I may be bold and ask, have you reached the third stage?”

That was a bold question, but I didn’t mind since we had talked several times in the past about such things. “Just recently, a few days ago.”

“Then let me be one of the first to congratulate you. I know it has been a challenge to progress your cultivation. Have you started on the third stage yet?” he asked me.

“No. I plan to hold off until I acquire a necessary item for my cultivation,” I replied. Wen Xue winced at that. I could understand why he would wince. The second stage had been a nightmare and the third stage was not shaping up to be any easier.

“I must admit, I admire your courage. Cultivating the path of defiance. Your courage is something to admire. Going out and getting resources to advance your cultivation, I wish I could do something similar,” he said with a sigh.

I gave him a considering look. Wen Xue would be what I would call a nerd. He seemed mostly withdrawn into himself and liked to learn new things. Wen Xue saying what he did, was basically him begging me to take him out with me.

Having someone tag along would be quite useful. The Floating Island of Death was not a joke. There would be issues taking someone with me. The primary issue would be stealth. Hiding from the zombies on the island with two cultivators, was much harder than hiding one cultivator. Still, my cultivation was off the charts. He would be like a moon to my sun, in terms of cultivation.

In addition, there were traps and other issues. I knew Wen Xue had been studying arrays. He was no master and had knowledge of such things. Hopefully enough, to not kill himself or me. His cultivation was somewhere in the middle of the third stage. It would have been better to take someone in the fourth stage that could do techniques. Unfortunately, there was no one that I knew well enough to bring along with me.

“Thank you for the kind words. Are you trying to mind something specific for your cultivation?” I asked him.

“I am thinking of the fourth stage. Anything to enhance my number of drops. That is my biggest concern at the moment. I will get through the third stage, but it is the bottleneck that is the fourth stage, which is far more concerning,” he told me, and I nodded at this.

That made sense. That was the big headache I would have to deal with as well. But that was a problem for future me to work out. Right now, I needed to find null metal, which meant heading to the Floating Island of Death. It was important to not lose sight of the death part.

“I am planning another trip. It will be quite dangerous, but also has quite a bit of potential,” I said in a softer tone while leaning forward. I knew other people were listening in, inside the dining hall, but I would make them work for it. “Would you be interested?” I asked.

“How dangerous?” he asked me, clearly interested.

“Incredibly. But I need to acquire null metal. This place has the best chance of having some. It is a forbidden zone,” I added on. He frowned heavily at that. A forbidden zone was labeled that for a reason. Cultivators went in, and very few if any ever came out. The explanations for the deaths were also limited, even with soul lanterns.

There were already stories circulating about the sect, about my adventures and how I had come back alive. I had talked to Wen Xue about such things as well. He knew the risks were real, but the chance of getting something to allow him to break through the first bottleneck was massive. Even if he didn’t get something, if he managed to put his hands on a treasure, he could sell it.

The problem was the near statistical certainty that he would die if he left. But I was blessed by the heavens themselves. Which added a bit more weight to the survival side of the equation. Normally I wouldn’t even consider the risk, but I wanted a meat shield.

This wasn’t going to be like fighting beasts, where they would come one at a time except for a beast tide. Having someone to watch my back and double check my assumptions would be crucial for surviving. Also, it never hurt to have someone else die instead of me. Even if I wasn’t planning to get rid of him, and would try to keep Wen Xue alive, the risk of my expedition was massive.

“I would be interested,” he finally said, and I smiled at this. It would be nice to have someone else to share the headaches and dangers with. While I was used to traveling alone, that had been when I could cultivate to some extent while traveling. I wouldn’t be able to do that in the third stage.

“I will speak to the Sect Leader about getting you permission to leave the sect for a long period of time. This will easily take a couple of years,” I said. Wen Xue winced at that but nodded.

“Anything specific I should prepare, or we should speak later?” he asked.

“Let’s speak now. We can talk in your room,” I said, having finished my meal. Wen Xue nodded at that, quickly polishing off his rice. We left the dining hall and made our way back to his room.

Once his door closed, he turned to look at me. “Where would we be going?” he asked me.

“The Floating Island of Death,” I told him. He let out a long sigh.

“At least some people have survived to return. But the zombies? How will we handle them?” Wen Xue asked me. I let out a long sigh at that.

“I am still doing research. The problem is that the zombies have quite a lot of abilities of the cultivators that have died. The best option would be presence concealing rings,” I said, and Wen Xue shook his head.

“A forbidden zone won’t be overcome so easily. If it could be, everyone would do what you suggest,” he told me, and I nodded.

“Well, the rings are a start, but if you have any more ideas, then I would be happy to hear them?” I asked him.

“I have some to hide our presence. Like a portable array. I would need to do some research. I know you mentioned leaving soon, but this will take some time to look into,” he replied.

“Let’s say 10 days from now. If there is something specific, we can do that. But just for research, no,” I replied. I hesitated for a moment, before pulling out a rank 3 spirit coin. I tossed it over and Wen Xue caught it. “Consider that the initial funding. If you need more then we can talk about it,” I told him.

“Thank you, Senior Yuan Zhou,” he said with a bow.

“I will handle the rings and speaking to the Sect Leader. If you discover anything else, let me know.” Wen Xue nodded, and I opened the door to his room to leave. There were four other disciples standing around. They all quickly bowed to me. I turned to Wen Xue who appeared to be a bit embarrassed.

“Please forgive them senior. But they are just friends of mine within the sect,” he replied.

“That is fine. I have other things to take care of,” I said and quickly left before any of these other people could beg me to take them along. One other person was fine. But taking a crowd wasn’t happening. I trusted Wen Xue and knew his skills to some extent. Taking useless people with me was not going to happen.

I kept doing my own research, but the sect had very little about the forbidden zones. No one had useful information, that was why they were forbidden zones, and not looted of everything useful. If they had useful information, it wasn’t public knowledge.

It was unfortunate, but there was no other option. A good chunk of my time was spent working out how to properly detect null metal and transport it. Most of the problems went away, when the Sect Leader supplied me with a special carrying case.

I could put metal inside, and the energy of the heavens and the earth would be cut off. Checking if it was actually null metal was beyond me and would require someone in the higher stages of cultivation with an appropriate Dao to check, without contaminating the metal. Processing it was even more of a headache.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else that could be done to locate and determine if metal was null metal without ruining it. Null metal was cut off from the energy of the heavens and the earth, so breaking that barrier, would contaminate it.

My best hope was that my energy vision would show it as a void, in whatever structure the null metal was contained. That was my best hope for discovering some. Then I just needed to extract it, put it in the carrying case, and get back to Imperial City to be processed into a Displacement Channel Carver combined with a focusing gem. The focusing gem I could purchase, but it would be painfully expensive.

The biggest holdup was the null metal, which was the first thing I was going after. I was reading through various travel accounts in the elder’s library, hoping to find anything about the Floating Island of Death, when the attendant came to get me. I put the tome away carefully and left the library. It was only a couple of days until our departure, and the Sect Leader had signed off on everything.

I made my way to the elder that had summoned me. “Junior Yuan Zhou greets Elder Li Fu,” I said with a bow. He gave me a smile and a nod before gesturing at the chair across from himself.

“Sit, please,” he said, and I took a seat.

“Your niece, Yao Lan. I have concerns,” he told me. My eyes went wide at that. “Since you have given me quite a bit to look after her, then I thought it best to speak with you.”

“Thank you, Elder Li Fu. What is the problem?” I asked as he poured us both tea. I took the cup he poured from him and drank a little. It was rich, but the fact the silence was stretching on, and an elder was serving me tea was not good for my nerves.

“How complicated do you want her cultivation to be?” he asked me. I frowned slightly at that and sipped my tea.

“I was under the impression, that it would be left in your hands to guide her?” I asked and he nodded at that.

“Indeed, but she has come to me asking to follow in your steps. Something I would not recommend,” he replied. I winced at that comment. It was true, but it still wounded my pride a bit. I never expected my niece to be so headstrong.

“Ultimately it is her choice. But her path is her own. Even though I do not recommend following mine. The fourth stage will be a nightmare,” I replied.

“Indeed. I suspect your tenacity will carry you through the third stage. Even with a trip to a forbidden zone. But others are not so blessed as you. However, cultivating in a way you don’t believe in, no matter how effective, leads to issues in the later stages,” Elder Li Fu explained. I did not know that.

“Is that a thing in other sects?” I asked and he nodded.

“Indeed. That is why our sect has continued to flourish despite having a much wider scope of options available to disciples. Why I don’t tell people how to arrange their motes. The later stages of cultivation are quite personal. That is why trying to standardize things leads to disappointment. For no two people are the same,” he replied.

“It isn’t just research into how cultivation is done and finding the most efficient cultivation path?” I asked and he shook his head.

“There is that aspect as well. But we have long worked out most of the efficient cultivation methods. There is rarely anything knew. Liu Chen’s valve design for the channels, is something that is breaking new ground. Your three path cultivation of mind, body and soul, is also another example of something new. But triangular channels, wave cone meridians, and many other aspects of your cultivation have been experimented with to death.” I nodded at this since it was all true.

“You explained this to Yao Lan?” I asked him and he nodded.

“I have. Even going so far as explaining that your path is only possible with great risk and hardship to get resources. Without that, it wouldn’t even be possible. Even now you are going to place even I and the other elders would not dare go.”

“If she fails in cultivation. That is her choice. Just as I made my choice to go along my path, her choices are her own. We can only advise,” I said with a bit of a heavy heart. I liked Yao Lan but trying to convince her to have a cultivation plan more like Wen Xue, instead of myself, was not something we could do.

A cultivator was a singular existence. Elder Li Fu was only speaking to me out of a courtesy, and since I had invested so much into my niece and given to him. I couldn’t take a disciple of my own until I was in the fourth stage, which wouldn’t be any time soon.

“Wise words. I was concerned you would be overly attached to her,” Elder Li Fu said and I shook my head.

“We are all adults. No matter how I might look,” I muttered the last part a bit petulantly and Elder Li Fu chuckled at that.

“It is a mark of prowess. While it may not seem like it, there are very few cultivators who appear as children in the later stages.” The demonic cultivator Aoyin and Han Xingjuan of the Imperial Sect came to mind. The first was rank 8, while the second was around my level of cultivation. “To cross the first bottleneck as a child is most impressive. Showing mastery of your chosen cultivation method beyond all others.”

“Perhaps, or just deep pockets to get a lot of drops,” I replied.

“Hmm, perhaps. But only an immortal could afford such extravagance, which is another sign of power, having such connections,” Elder Li Fu countered. I inclined my head to show I agreed with his point and took another sip of tea.

“Thank you for taking on my niece, I know it cannot be easy,” I told him. I wanted her path to be smooth, but I could only do so much. The rest was in her hands.

“I always enjoyed teaching and running the sect. It has given me much over the centuries, it is nice to give a little bit back. There is another reason and more important reason, I wanted to speak with you,” he said and set down his teacup. I did the same. “The Sect Leader will not last another century.”

“I have seen the physical changes, I am aware,” I replied.

“Your situation isn’t precarious, and you are in no danger, but you will receive no more help in the fourth stage. There will no longer be any support from the sect either,” Elder Li Fu said very clearly.

“I expected as much. I know other people can’t be happy with the attention I have received. As long as they don’t try and sabotage or steal from me,” I said.

“There is no worry of that. Your position will be respected. But the competition for a new Sect Leader is not simple. Your master would never explain this, but there will be a lot of pressure on you. Or at least people will be watching,” Elder Li Fu explained.

“What role could I play? While I am the sect disciple, I only have so much authority?” I asked and Elder Li Fu shook his head.

“The position of Sect Leader is both an immense honor and immense responsibility. The sect is split into three factions. We don’t involve disciples in such things normally and the Sect Leader has been neutral. However, there is quite a bit of pressure on him to choose a successor. When he does, it will alter the balance of power within the sect, and build resentment,” Elder Li Fu explained. I frowned a bit as I thought through his explanation.

“There doesn’t seem like much drama within the sect,” I replied. The elder chuckled at this statement and gave me a smile, like someone would give a naïve child.

“For disciples, there is little besides yourself. But for elders it is much more complex. What long term projects to allocate resources to is a big part of this. The force chamber that has been constructed for your use in the third stage is just one such example.”

“But I brought back quite a bit to the sect. Like the blue moon orchid, and a share of my mining business,” I countered.

“Indeed, which is why no one will interfere with you once the Sect Leader passes. However there will be tremendous pressure to join one of the factions upon his passing. While you can mostly hide during the third stage, the fourth stage will present issues. Since you will require techniques and resources,” Elder Li Fu explained.

“What do you suggest elder? You would not have brought this to my attention, without a solution,” I replied.

“There is nothing specific you have to do. Just be aware that your actions and associations will be viewed as the will of the Sect Leader. You are his last big project before he passes away. Techniques will come with a price attached to them. It is better to be aware if you accept one offer, another better offer might never come,” Elder Li Fu explained.

“He has no chance of reaching immortality?” I asked.

“No. The second bottleneck is immense. A great barrier. Even with mastery of one’s Dao, it is no simple thing to ascend to immortality. Anyone who reaches the eighth stage of cultivation is invited to the high ranking sects to learn from the wisdom the immortals have written down. After such knowledge, the Sect Leader was the most disappointed I have ever seen him,” Elder Li Fu said.

The second bottleneck clearly wasn’t like the first, which involved the destruction of one’s cultivation to reach the next stage. It was a shame the Sect Leader would not make it.

“Thank you for explaining things to me,” I responded and finished off my tea.

“Hmmm, indeed. There are high hopes for you if you can make it past the fourth stage. Very high hopes. I doubt you will make it, but one never knows,” Elder Li Fu explained.

“Thank you for the tea and advice,” I said with a head bow. I was dismissed and thought about my situation. It was clearly a warning from the elder to be mindful going forward. While the Sect Leader was supporting me, he wouldn’t be around for much longer.

I needed to get the six rank 6 materials before his death. There was no other alternative from what I understood. At least the Sect Leader hadn’t mentioned any. Also bringing other people into the issue, would let others know that Aoyin was using me to advance his own cultivation to somehow reach immortality.

If his shard of cultivation, Aoyin’s fang, wasn’t countered, then I would be looking for death once I broke through the first bottleneck. He would come for me and do horrible things to me. I needed to avoid that at all cost.

That meant I needed to get materials sooner rather than later so the Sect Leader could counter what was done to me, by making it part of my cultivation. Leaving the elder’s home my niece suddenly showed up, right outside the front door. I knew it probably wasn’t coincidence.

“Ah, um, oh, junior Yao Lan greets senior Yuan Zhou,” she said with a bow after a moment of hesitation. I nodded at this. While she was a core disciple, I was above her in every possible way. While we were family, that didn’t matter. Or at least I think it didn’t to how people had to greet others inside the sect.

“Are you done for the day?” I asked her.

“I was just doing research on my cultivation plan. But I could use your advice,” she asked me.

“Very well,” I replied with a head nod. She led me back inside the elder’s home to her room. She pulled out some notes she had taken.

“I was thinking of following in your footsteps, using triangular channels. And then wave cone meridians. But those use a lot of motes. I am still collecting some, but it will take quite a bit to get the number I need.” As she continued speaking I just smiled and listened. It was nice to be on the other side of this conversation for once.

“That is why I am looking at a slightly larger core. What do you think?” she finally finished up.

“First, that is impressive, you have worked out so much so quickly. I can tell you probably asked Elder Li Fu quite a bit. I suggest you do your own research and do not copy me. Make your own decisions. You know how difficult my path is,” I explained to her, and she nodded.

“I don’t plan on cultivating all three methods, like you have. But I am interested in other aspects of my cultivation. I am thinking a more unique core structure,” she replied.

“What would it be besides something similar to a sphere?” I used an icosahedron shape, but it was spherical enough. Getting any more angular than that risked stress points of the core structure breaking too easily.

“A circular shape,” she said.

“But that will cause issues when you explode it, to create your true soul?” I asked.

“What?” she said, and I let out a sigh.

“You need to do more research. A lot more research. There is a very good reason for circular cores. I suggest you look into them. It is the best balance between all the requirements a core needs. Using other shapes or structures besides a spherical shape invites grave risks when crossing into the fifth stage,” I explained.

“I…really?” she asked me and I nodded.

“It is one of those things that isn’t explained but is often viewed as common knowledge. There are some tomes about cultivators who used a different core shape and failed. Like a cylinder. The risk of a fracture happening from the pressure is too great. An uneven core is very bad. Well, I could be wrong. I suggest you do your own research. Not just talking to others and going off what you hear,” I explained.

“Oh,” she said a bit deflated. I gave her a pat on the arm.

“Consider it a research project. It isn’t easy, but it is important. You joined the sect a couple years before your twentieth birthday. You have a lot of time to do research. Trust me, research is the exciting part of cultivation,” I told her.

“Really?” she asked, seeming even more deflated.

“Indeed. It gets more boring and time consuming the further your advance. You need to have the proper mentality to focus and improve yourself. If you can’t handle a bit of research, you will struggle aligning your motes,” I replied.

She winced at my critique but her face firmed up. “Don’t worry, I will study well and develop a good cultivation plan,” she said.

“I am glad. I will be leaving the sect for quite a while in the near future. I don’t know when I will return, but I expect you to work hard,” I told my niece and she nodded. I could understand some of her frustration and getting advice from Elder Li Fu, while combining it with her own crazy ideas.

She needed to sit down and do proper research. It was boring, time consuming, and would be frustrating, but if one couldn’t do that much then she had no hope advancing through the stages of cultivation. She was an adult now, and I couldn’t hold her hand.

My ideas, while out there, were based on countless hours of research looking at what past cultivators had written about. Even then, my headaches were massive. Donut cultivation, that was the stupidest thing possible. While the core would be stronger than a sphere, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

One needed to detonate their cultivation, pushing it out, but it also needed to come back togeather in the end and not disperse. That was one reason I needed so many drops in the fourth stage. Even 10,000 would be a joke and not do anything with how sturdy my cultivation structure was. All the channels, bracing, and outer edge created a very solid structure. If there wasn’t enough power behind my core detonations, then I would fail crossing through the bottleneck.

Chapter 42 – Getting To The Floating Island Of Death

“Grilled fish with rice, and lime water,” the server said, putting food down in front of Wen Xue and myself.

“Thank you,” I told the server and they gave a nod before leaving.

“Anything else for you and your son sir?” she asked Wen Xue.

“No,” he replied. I had to contain my chuckle at the face he was making.

“I don’t like this,” Wen Xue said, while cutting his fish up.

“Pretending to be mortals?” I asked him.

“Yes, this feels insulting,” he said, and I smiled at him.

“You read the same reports that I have. And heard the same thing from information brokers,” I added.

“That the floating island is somewhere out there, and travel is banned. But I don’t get the part about pretending to be mortals. I know you said security through obscurity, but this place is not a place I imagined myself staying in,” he said. This inn was decent, certainly upper middle class, but it wasn’t a place a cultivator would normally stay in.

“It’s about avoiding trouble. This area is a bit of a no man’s land. This city is standing but is one of the few not claimed by a sect. Look underneath the situation,” I told him and he frowned while eating some more fish.

“I still don’t get it,” he complained, and I shook my head slightly while enjoying my flavored water.

“There are rouge cultivators and demonic cultivators in this area. Not many beasts with how rocky everything is around this city. To survive it has to import quite a bit. Why are people even here?” I asked.

“Mining. No, the floating island. It is a staging point. But why wasn’t that explained?” he asked.

“The money to be made is from people going to the floating island. That’s the only reason this place exists. If we came here as cultivators, instead of traveling merchants, then we would have a much different reception,” I explained. I had arranged for us to make the last portion of our trip with a wagon with goods.

“I still don’t like it,” he replied.

“We must keep our cultivation hidden, until the right moment and then act. We also need to find a way to the floating island. We will look this evening,” I said.

“Won’t that expose us as cultivators?” he asked.

“Which is why I prepared while purchasing the wagon in the last city,” I countered. Wen Xue slowly nodded. I hadn’t explained everything to him, since he had been mostly contemplative and quiet during our trip out here. Now he needed to step up and focus.

“So, we find a way to the floating island, and then?” he asked.

“Go from there,” I said with a slight grimace. It wasn’t the best plan, and we had contingencies to handle the zombies, but there wasn’t much information about the Floating Island of Death. It floated over this part of the continent, and this was the main stopping point for anyone trying to reach it.

But reaching the floating island was another matter entirely. We finished up our meal and went to our room in the inn. I pulled out dark cloaks and face masks. I also pulled out stilts for myself. “Stilts?” Wen Xue was clearly trying not to laugh as I pulled the dark robe on over my head.

“I am child size. Anyone would spot me in a moment and realize who I am. We can hide our cultivation, but I can’t easily hide my height,” I said with a pout.

“I am not complaining, but it just seems silly,” he replied.

“Perhaps, but I want to avoid being challenged if at all possible. Mysterious people, who are unknown, are always a much bigger risk, than people you can see. Also, it makes it harder for anyone to follow us,” I replied.

“I think you are being paranoid. I won’t argue with you, but this is a bit over the top,” he countered as we both put the masks on our faces.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I want to avoid fighting other cultivators and find a way to the floating island,” I replied as I made sure everything was in place. Once I was sure everything was in place, I went over and blew out the candle that was lighting the room.

I then sat back down on my bed. “Now we wait for a bit,” I replied.

“Wait?” Wen Xue said.

“Yes. Just an hour or so. We had a late dinner, but that will give time for everything to start closing up for the night. Then we can go to the information broker in the city,” I said. Wen Xue didn’t complain thankfully, but he also didn’t offer any better ideas. He was going along with my plans for now, but the danger was immense in my mind. The risk of being attacked was quite high.

The Sect Leader had refused to send any members or elders along on this trip when I had asked. The biggest reason was one of benefits and risks. This expedition was highly risky, and he wasn’t about to order someone to tag along. The Cloudy Moon Sect was not a martial sect. If we wanted benefits and resources, we had to secure them ourselves.

The second reason was that this expedition, it didn’t matter the level of cultivation a person had. The floating island, was a forbidden zone. That meant anyone under the rank of immortal wasn’t qualified. While having a higher ranked cultivator in the city would be useful for assuring our security, that wouldn’t help with the floating island.

The last reason was one of tradition. Cultivation was mostly a solitary and self-focused endeavor. Getting someone stronger than you to get resources was looked down on. While someone getting their own resources was highly impressive. That was a big reason I had become the Sect Leader’s disciple and had such support so far.

Leaving the inn, we made our way through the dark streets. Someone screamed in the distance. There was shouting in another direction. I took the lead on my stilts while Wen Xue followed behind me. We made our way to where I knew where an information broker for the city was located. Another thing I had taken the time to find out before coming here.

I had been inquiring about the floating island during our trip here, but information was limited. I was repeatedly told, I had to wait until I reached Black Rock City to get answers. There was a tight monopoly kept on the knowledge. It wasn’t worth the insane fees to get secondhand information when we were coming here anyways.

Coming to a stop in front of an old run down weapon’s shop, I pushed open the door to enter. A large man behind the counter gave us looks. “I am here for the back room,” I said and tossed over a pouch of tael. The man easily caught it and put it under the counter.

“Through that door, second room on your right, don’t cause trouble,” he said while gesturing at another door to his side. We went over and opened it. There was a staircase to the second floor. I then went into the second room on the right.

There was a hooded woman, her face completely shadowed by dim candlelight. Some of these information brokers liked their dramatics. Like a fortune teller trying to spice things up with the ambiance. Selling and buying information wasn’t illegal, but it was made out to be something shady most of the time.

“Please, sit,” she said and gestured at the chairs across the table. Wen Xue took a seat, I merely stood behind my chair.

“My apologies, but I dislike sitting,” I replied.

“I know you are wearing stilts. The sound of wood against wood is obvious,” the information broker said, and I let out a sigh and took a seat. “What do you want to know?” she asked.

“How to get to the floating island and any information you have on it,” I said.

“A thousand tael-“ I cut her off by tossing out a rank 1 spirit coin at her. She caught it, and looked at it in surprise, before putting it away. “As I was saying. A thousand tael will get you the basic information package, but you clearly want something better.”

“The best, and most accurate answers,” I replied.

“A rank 3 spirit coin,” she said. I pulled one out and set it on the table. “Alright, well getting up there is complicated. But since you have wealth, the simplest way is to pay Old Hengar for a lift. It is his specialty. A rank 3 spirit coin or spirit stone per person. Flies you right up, and leaves you in one of the safe areas.”

“That is confirmed?” I asked.

“Yes. The man is trustworthy. But you won’t get a return journey from him. He doesn’t do rescues, and there is no way off the floating island other than jumping. A one-way trip. But it is the safest and quickest way, but not the cheapest,” she replied. I nodded at that. Safety and speed were the important factors, not the cost.

“That is fine. Information on the island?” I asked.

“Zombies, traps, ruins. You will die if you go up there. But there are always people,” she replied.

“I meant anything more specific. Like a map?” I asked.

“No map. The zombies work to repair and alter the terrain, reset the traps, put in new traps. That is why it is a forbidden zone. They aren’t the most aware, heck, even a mortal can hide from them easily enough.” I didn’t know that, which was good news. “But once they discover you. Well they will swarm until you are dead, then you turned into a zombie somehow.”

“I was told they have kept their cultivation?” I asked.

“Their body, but not their techniques. No mind you see. Whatever is controlling them, well it uses dead bodies as puppets. And no, I don’t have any idea what is doing that. No one does.”

“What do people find up there?” Wen Xue asked.

“The most valuable items are float crystals. They are scattered about in altars throughout the island. Only a rank 3 treasure, but that is the man thing people recover. Use to make some flying items,” the information broker said. “As for other treasures, well, I hear rumors about rare materials and equipment, but no one shares that information.” She shook her cloaked head before continuing.

“The death rate is far too high. I won’t tell you not to go up there or warn you away. But there is a reason it is a forbidden zone.”

“Where can we find Old Hengar?” I asked.

“He is cultivating in a backroom here. You can depart whenever you wish to,” the information broker said. We had already stocked up on supplies, so I wasn’t concerned. I turned towards Wen Xue.

“I think we are set?” I asked him.

“Um, yes.” I could hear his nervousness, now that things were becoming real, but there was no other option but to press forward.

“What about other groups and the safe landing spot?” I asked the information broker.

“Hmm, I don’t know of anyone else going up recently, but there are other methods. The most common one is from Mount Atlas. People use the hanging ropes to climb up or down. Very risky. Lots of fighting with that method. There is another cultivator in the city that gives lifts, but I don’t know their schedule.”

“As for safe spots, well the floating island has trees and shrubs around the outside, then a wall. The zombies tend not to go outside the wall unless they are chasing a person or doing a patrol.”

“What about a tunnel from underneath?” Wen Xue asked. That was a good question.

“The rock is hard to break and is drawn back to the island if broken. Once far enough away, the rock loses the properties of the floating island. If it needs more rocks, it swoops in low and the nearby terrain is pulled into the floating island. Mount Atlas used to be much taller in the past.”

“That isn’t common knowledge,” I said.

“It isn’t important. But it is interesting. Consider it part of what you paid for. Hmm, well I do have some advice,” she finally said but was then silent.

“Useful advice?” I asked.

“Possibly. It is just a rumor, but it might have some truth to it. Another rank 3 spirit coin,” she said.

“That is ridiculous,” Wen Xue expressed the outrage I was feeling.

“It isn’t. I am the best in this city, but if I just share things with anyone, well I won’t stay the best. An advantage is only an advantage if only a few people have it. And your earlier payment was the fee to learn about Old Hengar and the basic stuff,” she replied. I pulled out another rank 3 spirit coin and set it down next to the first one on the table between us.

“Clouds. The floating island goes up and down and tends to avoid the clouds. But the few successes have always occurred when it has been cloudy. The zombies don’t do well with the moisture, and the clouds conceal a person. The problem is, you can’t see that well either and inside the buildings, no clouds, more zombies,” she explained. That was useful information. I gave her a nod at that.

“What about animals? Do the zombies chase them?” I asked.

“Sometimes. It depends. They will always go after humans before animals. So, you can’t use them as decoys. Also, the floating island can go way up. If it does that, everything will freeze, and it will become hard to breathe. Doesn’t impact the zombies,” she said.

“Can they be killed?” I asked.

“No. They pull themselves back togeather for the most part. There have been efforts to kill them or toss them off, but they are pulled back onto the floating island, just like the material it is made out of. And don’t ask me how it floats or does what it does.”

So super zombies, like I had heard before. Decapitations wouldn’t work. Neither would fire. “Alright, we will be back tomorrow night to leave and ask any more questions we might have,” I told the information broker.

“That will be two more rank 3 spirit coins, one for each of you, to be taken up,” she said.

“That is fine. There are some further preparations I want to make,” I replied.

“Suit yourself. You paid the fee, not much else about the floating island.” I looked over at Wen Xue who shook his cloaked head. I considered the question I had in my head for a moment for a moment. I had an idea, and someone had to have tried this already.

“What about setting up a hanging base or campsite, off the side?” I asked.

“Good idea. Some people do that. Others sleep in the trees. The risk of a hanging camp is being cut by other people. There are people up there. Trying to get anything from the zombies. Many of them won’t hesitate to sabotage others. There are no rules. A hanging campsite is easily found.” I winced at that.

“Thank you,” that is all, I replied and stood up. Wen Xue followed me out and we returned to the inn. We got out of our cloaks and I took off the stilts.

“They didn’t work,” he said.

“They did. People were watching. Why do you think we took a loop back to the inn and doubled back?”

“I thought you got lost,” Wen Xue said with a chuckle.

“I wish. People are watching the information brokers. What do you think?” I asked.

“Risky. We didn’t plan for the other cultivators. We can hide, but they are probably hiding as well, with techniques,” he said, and I nodded at this.

“Most likely. But we have no other option. We go up there, and take things carefully. Very carefully. At least with my spatial rings, we will have food for a while. We might need more,” I said with a frown.

“You have enough food and water, for a month,” Wen Xue said and I nodded.

“I do. That is with careful rationing. Also, Digestive Cleansing Pills and refillable water bottles. But food is the main limitation. I am thinking we each get a large pack, maybe two, to take with us. We hide the packs away from our landing spot, not too far, since it will be a pain to move with them. But as backup,” I replied.

“You are thinking of staying there even longer to observe,” Wen Xue worked out and I nodded at that.

“Exactly. With packs of food brought along, we could have enough for three months each with careful rationing. Would need to buy more Digestive Cleaning Pills, but it would be worthwhile. Take our time and observe the zombie’s movements and patterns. Scout things out,” I replied.

“And getting down?” he asked.

“I have a rope. Climb down when the floating island gets near Mount Atlas.”

“The big risk are the zombies, once they spot a person, they don’t give up chasing them. But what if someone swings off the edge of the island?”

“You are thinking more rope and setting up points we can run to?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yes. We can’t run back to whatever hiding spot we are using. Better to take a chance, and hope the zombies give up the chase and don’t pursue down a rope,” he said.

“They can climb, we know that much. And the ones made from the corpses of strong cultivators have strong bodies. A rope might just be a dead end. Three ropes, spread out. Push them all off, climb down one, swing to another, and then the third. And maybe cut them off at the top?” I suggested.

“The spacing would be important. It would be a last resort. I can’t believe we are really doing this,” Wen Xue let out a nervous chuckle.

“This is what it takes,” I replied. He had mentioned that he wasn’t going to hide out waiting for the end in the fourth stage. He wanted to seize his future. That was why he was even bothering to come with me.

We chatted on the journey to Black Rock City. While he tended to be quiet, you could only travel so much with a person, before they began talking about themselves. Wen Xue was from a rich merchant family that ran its own caravan. The oldest child, and quite book smart. He had worked hard to cultivate enough motes to join a sect.

The Cloudy Moon Sect had been his first choice, due to the more relaxed atmosphere than the more martial sects. He was a researcher at heart. But one thing his research told him was that he was screwed unless he took a big risk to get past the first bottleneck in the fourth stage. Waiting around and cultivating was useful, but it wouldn’t help him long term.

That was why he had asked to join me. I had success in the past and he wanted to be part of that. Putting his life on the line to get resources. I could respect that determination. He was incredibly nervous though. The death rate for these kinds of expeditions was insanely high.

While cultivators knew that, everyone thought they would be the ones to survive. I personally hated being forced into doing this. I didn’t want life threatening adventures. I wanted to cultivate peacefully and do research. But my path of cultivation was one of my own making. I had no other option, otherwise my cultivation would be impossible.

Without null metal, there was no chance I would ever finish the third stage of Meridian Attunement before my death. It just wasn’t possible. For me, this adventure was do or die.

“I know I have said it before, thanks for bringing me. I wouldn’t have ever thought of information brokers. Even if some of your ideas seem a bit silly,” he replied while giving a look at the stilts and cloaks.

“Better to use them regardless, even when we go back. I am worried more about the other cultivators, more than the mystery island and the zombies,” I muttered.

“Really? That seems, backwards,” Wen Xue replied. I shook my head at that statement.

“Whatever is controlling the zombies and flying that island, has been doing it for millennia. It is probably some super formation, or rare artifact in the center of the island.” I had worked on AI in my past life on Earth. Looking at how they could be used for traffic light control. The zombies sounded a lot like something being controlled by a cultivation type AI.

I couldn’t say all this, without issues, and had to phrase it a different way. “It is repeating things most likely. Or has set instructions it follows. Do A, then B. If X happens, then respond with Z. If the thing controlling the floating island and the zombies was actually intelligent, it wouldn’t just keep doing the same thing over and over.”

Wen Xue put a hand under his chin and looked thoughtful at my statement. “You want to work out that pattern in depth. Over the three months. Why hasn’t anyone else done this?” he asked.

“Patience most likely. Or they have and then got away. People have come back from the floating island with some good stuff.” Null metal being some of those things that had been brought back. “Realistically, longer would be better.”

“Three months is already a long time. But I see your point. The hardest part is supplies. I am sorry, I don’t have a spatial ring of my own,” he said a bit morosely.

“Don’t worry about it. Your main job will be to work out the traps. All the good stuff will be in the buildings and we will need to disable them quickly,” I replied.

“I will do my best. But getting close and working out the arrays won’t be simple if we have to hide,” he replied.

“There is a technique, that I think will help,” I told him.

“Really?” he asked and I nodded. “You are only in the third stage. What technique could you have?”

“It is a secret, but it should help with the arrays. Regardless, we need to get settled into a safe spot where we can observe as much as possible. A tall tree. But other cultivators might be in it. This won’t be simple,” I said while trying to think of any other good hiding spots.

“As a starting point that sounds good,” Wen Xue said. After that there wasn’t much more to discuss and we fell asleep.

The following day we slept in quite late, had a good meal, and then purchased four packs worth of food and more pills. It was a bit expensive, but I wasn’t worried about the cost. And I had us use the cart we had brought with us, to put the food in. Not appearing as cultivators was important in my mind.

That night we went back to the information broker, in disguise and with packs. Thankfully no one bothered us. People in cloaks, late a night, were not people to be bothered lightly. Only a cultivator would take that risk, and Black Rock City had a rank 8 cultivator in charge as the City Lord. The biggest warlord or bandit of the area. As long as people paid their taxes, they wanted things to be calm.

Starting a fight with unknown cultivators inside the city was a huge risk. That was why being mysterious was important in my mind. Wearing our sect robes would let people know we were disciples for sure. But hiding like we were, even if it was only a one percent chance, the risk of us being dangerous cultivators was too high. Criminals wanted soft targets, and over the millennia, the stupidity had been weeded out.

Entering the weapon’s shop again, the same large man was behind the counter. “We are here for Old Hengar,” I said.

“He is expecting you. Courtyard out back, that door,” the man said pointing at another door to his other side compared to the one that led upstairs. “Just go through the backroom, straight, and into the courtyard.” I nodded at this and we went into the courtyard.

An old man was sitting on a bench stroking a long white beard, and smoking from an elaborate pipe. There was also a large sword next to him. I pulled off my hood and hopped my off stilts.

“Junior greets senior,” I said with a bow of my head. With my special sight, I could tell this man was an elder. Most likely rank 5 maybe 6. Wen Xue copied me greeting. I wasn’t about to call him Old Hengar to his face.

“Two of you and those packs to the Floating Island of Death. Three rank 3 spirit coins,” he said.

“Pardon me senior, but I thought it was one per person,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Normally, but that weight costs extra. Like another person,” he added. I pulled out three rank 3 spirit coins from a pouch. I wasn’t going to reveal my spatial items so easily. I then handed them over. He gave me an intense look. I began to get worried for a moment that he would attack and kill us, but in the end he just shook his head.

“Get younger every year. But mark my words. This trip is death. That island is death. You will die. Those zombies don’t play games. They might not have any brains, but whatever is controlling them isn’t stupid and they are fast. Once they spot you, they will swarm, no escape,” he said and then got a thoughtful look. “Well, you could always jump. But they will jump after you.”

“What? They would do that?” Wen Xue asked worriedly.

“Of course. Getting off is the real trick. The island will pull things, and people back. And since you are using my services, you aren’t strong enough to fly away on your own. That means climbing down. It will be rough. Or if you see me drop someone off, you can flag me down, and I will pick you up. Same price for transport back. I don’t pick up people getting chased, though,” he said.

“That is fine. Any other advice?” I asked.

“Not really. People hide in the trees. Some have tried digging in the ground. Hanging off the side of the island. Eventually the zombies will find you. Don’t underestimate their senses. The more powerful ones tend to stay in the middle of the island inside the buildings, but that doesn’t always happen. Occasionally a more powerful one will go on patrol to find people. Once it does, you are dead,” he replied and shook his head.

Chapter 43 – Zombies, Curses, And Traps

The wind was rushing too fast too talk as we were carried up to the Floating Island of Death. A flying sword was clearly not designed with safety or seatbelts in mind, but it was surprisingly stable. It didn’t rock or tilt in the slightest.

Old Hengar kept one hand behind him on my shoulder and another hand in front of him on Wen Xue’s shoulder. He kept a firm grip on both of us while the air rushed by. It was too noisy to easily move. We had been flying through the night and most of the morning, fairly high up as well, avoiding the clouds thankfully. It was already quite cold.

I noted that he wasn’t flying in a straight line. He was looking for the floating island doing large loop. I spotted Mount Atlas in the distance. There were a number of buildings and people on the frozen summit. No one would spot us at this distance, unless they were watching the sky carefully for a moving dot.

Even then I wasn’t too worried. Anyone past the first bottleneck in their cultivation would already be on the island. Not waiting on a mountain. The sword began to turn a bit more than before, and then I spotted where Old Hengar was headed. The floating island had come out behind some clouds.

While there had been many amazing sights and cultivation was not something that existed on Earth, there was something truly magical about a floating island that was hard to put into words. I noted the many ropes trailing off the side of the island, and the jagged rocks sticking out below. It was less an inverse pyramid, and more of an inverse mound.

The sides were thick, and the bottom wasn’t pointy. The island was higher than us, so we began to ascend. If we came from above the zombies would spot us. People had tried that in the past, but it was a death sentence. The island was moving at a decent speed through the sky and as we got closer, I estimated it to be about 25 miles, 40 kilometers, in terms of the radius. Or about 4 miles across, which would be about 6.5 kilometers.

It was massive. I hadn’t seen any of the buildings at a distance, not even the wall that was supposed to be around the buildings in the center. We were coming in too low for that. I noted small streams of water trickling off and dispersing into the air. Trees and roots lined the outer edge. They weren’t the twisted small trees one would see at the top of mountains. These were big, thick trees, one would find in an ancient forest.

Old Hengar adjusted our course slightly and we came up over edge of the floating island, where he matched its course and speed. He tossed us both off without a word and I had to make sure I didn’t trip and fall with two packs on my back. Wen Xue landed near me as well. Right after we were tossed onto the floating island, Old Hengar took off to do a loop of the floating island and then leave back to Black Rock City.

I had been scanning the island with my eyes, and the number of motes around this place was at least triple that of the Cloudy Moon Sect’s mountain peak. Since we had come up from below, I hadn’t spotted anything of note, except that the trees had energy within them. They were all spirit trees, and based on my guess around rank 3 or rank 4.

The value of the trees alone was immense. I had no idea how null metal would exist in a place like this, but I needed to find some no matter what. The first step was to find a hiding spot. I then looked at the trees again and then moved close to Wen Xue.

“Don’t damage the trees,” I whispered out as quietly as possible. He gave me a look and then nodded. The fact the trees were still around and hadn’t been ripped off and tossed to the ground below, implied they were protected in some way.

If I was a cultivator looking to make some easy money, I would have climbed up here and started cutting these spirit trees for their value. The fact that none of them were cut implied they were protected in some way.

I took point as we slowly moved away from the edge and began looking for our first base. The ground was very uneven. The trees grew up and around large rocks, and there was not much soil either. The roots were massive twisted things, making for an uneven ground. The air was still frigid, and slightly hard to breathe. Thankfully we could handle the environment as cultivators in the third stage, but it was important to note there was no environmental barrier around the floating island.

It might be slightly warmer than the mountain peaks below. Since there was no ice or snow. Making our way through the outer forest carefully, I wanted us to get near the wall and then find a hiding spot. We carefully made our way through the forest. I kept scanning the area in front of us and listening carefully.

After half an hour of quietly walking, I saw the wall through the trees in the distance. I adjusted our course to move clockwise around the island, through the outer ring of trees, looking for a spot. Then I saw a larger tree in the distance. I froze, since I also noticed that there was already someone on top of it.

I had us go around the tree, and away from whomever was hiding up there. They moved a couple of times but didn’t bother us. Starting a fight or a commotion, was a death sentence. The zombies were the real threat. That wouldn’t stop someone desperate, but no one up here was an idiot.

It took another hour of walking and we finally ran into another larger tree. It was further back from the wall, but there was no one hiding up it as far as I could tell. I pointed up and Wen Xue nodded at me. I leapt up into the air, making sure to kick off the ground as quietly as possible. I carefully took my time ascending up the tree.

I got to the height of a four story building before the branches became too small to keep going safely. I didn’t want to break them in any way. I pulled out a thin, but sturdy wood plank from my spatial ring. I then laid it across two branches, up against the tree. I carefully set my packs down on it and Wen Xue did the same.

We then both used some rope to carefully tie off the end of the blanks to the tree branches it was resting on. “See anything?” he asked me quietly once we were done. I shook my head.

“Nothing,” I replied. Our little base was on the opposite side of the tree from the wall. Zombies patrolled it regularly, so taking any kind of risk was unacceptable. We both had some water. “No arrays or formations,” I added as well.

“It is cold up here, and there is a breeze,” Wen said quietly. It was chilly, but we would survive. It would be uncomfortable, but on our trip out here from the sect we had slept at the rest spots between cities. I could tell he was bringing this up to ease his nerves and to be ready for the night.

We settled in, onto our plank. Now came the challenging part going forward. Trying to figure out where to go from here and sneaking inside the wall without dying horribly. I wanted to see a zombie first, hopefully getting a better idea of their capabilities first, and how hard they were to actually spot. The first rule we had both agreed on was to not rush.

That’s why I had insisted on the extra packs of supplies. We could last out here for quite a while. “There was someone on that large tree we passed earlier,” I said quietly as Wen Xue and I both sipped some water.

“Really? Hiding? What stage?” he asked.

“I think fourth, but it was hard to tell. They were concealed quite well,” I replied. We both had rings of concealment, that would blur and hide our cultivation to any kind of sensing techniques. They were decent items, but neither of us had a clear picture of how well they would work against the zombies.

I pulled out a Beast Hiding mixture, which was really scent concealer and sprinkled it on the plank we were sitting on. I then put it away. Another one of our many safety precautions. “You going to scout now?” Wen Xue asked me, and I nodded.

“Yes. No time like the present. Other side of the tree, I think.” It was about as thick and wide as a car. These were massive trees, and this was the second biggest we had run into. I wasn’t about to run off yet. It would be too easy to get lost and turned around.

Wen Xue made sure the packs were secure, while I got up and carefully went from branch to branch, around the tree. I slowly ascended up the tree, being careful not to break any branches. I eventually found a good branch to see at a distance. I laid down on the branch. The needles at the end of it shook lightly, but none of them fell.

I pulled out a set of binoculars. Another rank 3 treasure, but one I had picked up from the sect in order to have as many options as possible. We couldn’t get supplies now that we were here, and I wanted to use my spatial rings to their maximum.

The wall was about five stories tall and made of green and black stone in swirling patterns. That was when I saw my first patrol of zombies moving along the wall. My only advantage over other cultivators was my energy vision and I was hoping it would give me an edge.

I had talked to Wen Xue about it once we had left. That was why I was in charge of the scouting, and he was in charge of the traps. He had been annoyed that the heavens favored me but had real hope we could succeed in getting some resources and escaping.

Normally cultivators had a structure and possibly a flow of energy inside of themselves. As my cultivation had progressed, my vision had gotten better as well. I could make out tints of color inside someone’s cultivation and more details of their cultivation structure.

Higher ranked cultivators were much blurrier, and the Sect Leader was near impossible to tell anything about. But that also let me work out a person’s cultivation approximately. The harder it was to see, the more dangerous they were.

The zombies were weird, like nothing I had seen before. They had a cultivation structure, but energy was flowing out of them, instead of into them. It was different for each zombie, but they had a blurry area somewhere in their body. Foot, head, chest, and that flooded energy through their cultivation and out of their body in a weird way.

The internal cultivation structures were distorted on the zombies I spotted. The larger the blurry spot, the stronger the zombie, if I had to guess. I kept watching until it began to get dark and then carefully went back around and down the large tree.

Wen Xue didn’t ask me questions thankfully as I had some food and water. “Well, I can spot them. Can kind of make out the stronger ones, but not through thick structures like the wall,” I replied. I then explained about the blurry spot.

“A demonic cultivation method?” Wen Xue suggested, and I nodded.

“Most likely. But with how long the floating island has been around and the strength of some of those zombies, I would have to guess that whoever set all this up is long dead,” I explained. I had asked why Immortals didn’t deal with places like this, but the Sect Leader had told me they were an outlet for the more adventurous cultivators.

If an Immortal came and solved everything, then they would have to pick who got what resources and it would be a hassle. Instead, leaving places like this was convenient to get rid of ambitious cultivators not favored by the heavens.

After a short meal, I went back to watching. I could see buildings behind the wall. The buildings had thick stone walls, narrow slit windows, and were arranged in some pattern that wasn’t a grid. Supposedly the zombies changed things around occasionally, which made mapping pointless.

I kept watch every moment I wasn’t asleep. When I did sleep on the plan, Wen Xue kept watch. There was very little external noise, and I noted that the floating island didn’t run into clouds. It might move near them, but it didn’t enter them if it could help it.

The problem with proceeding further, was that I had no idea on the sensory range of the zombies. One mistake and they would swarm. After 11 days, we both heard the first noise in a while and all the zombies began moving in another direction, leaving a huge gap on the walls, swarming to another part of the island.

I quickly went around to Wen Xue who was alert. Thankfully it was the middle of the day, so there was light. “We need to move, the zombies are chasing someone,” I said, and he nodded. We both leapt down the tree and quickly made our way to the wall.

In the days of watching the wall, I had already picked out a tree near the wall and we quickly climbed up it. I looked around, and saw zombies in the distance moving off into one part of the forest. It was a good distance away and there were no nearby zombies. There were no arrays on the wall and we leapt onto it.

There were stairs and towers on the inside to climb up the other way. I scanned the interior of the city. I thought I spotted some zombies in some of the buildings, but others didn’t have any. “That building,” I pointed out and we both leapt down off the other side of the wall and rushed over.

There was no door, and the same green and black stone that made up everything else made up the buildings. “Array,” I said after we entered and I pointed at the next doorway. There was nothing in the current room. No furniture, and just a bit of dust on the floor. I could make out the glowing energy in the ground. It was faint, but I could see it.

I quickly began to describe it. We had worked out strategies for me to describe the arrays we found and for Wen Xue to disarm them. The hardest part of arrays was knowing what to do. The fact I could slightly make it out and provide information took what should have been a careful process done for days and weeks, to something that could be figured out in minutes.

Wen Xue pulled out a thin rod and pushed it into a portion of the array. It quickly unraveled, the energy composing it, disappeared into the background energy. We went into the next room, and there was a stone bookshelf, but no books.

There was also a stone table and chair, but nothing worthwhile that I could see. We quickly left and went to the next room. I scanned for returning zombies, but nothing. We checked a second room, and found an armor and weapon’s rack. Unfortunately, the equipment had rusted over time and was worthless. There was nothing even worth salvaging.

The screaming from the zombies in the distance stopped. We quickly retreated back up the wall and back to our hiding spot. It took the zombies about half an hour to return to their normal movements, but I noted that they had come back in fits and spurts. Once the alarm was over we would only have minutes to leave.

That evening, while I was eating, Wen Xue and I began brainstorming. “The arrays are simple. They are alarm arrays. Nothing complicated, just annoying to deal with. With your sight, it is easy to find the pivot point holding it all togeather.”

“But we barely checked one floor of one building and there is an entire city. Possibly something underground,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“We would need to go into the city itself and stay there. You have been watching the buildings? Do the zombies go in them?” Wen Xue asked.

“Not the one we checked, since the dust was undisturbed for a while. But the problem is getting over the wall and back. Once there is another opening, we can’t leave until a third opening in their patrols occurs.”

“Well, we did well on disabling the arrays without triggering anything. Our communication was good. It cuts out a lot of time knowing how it is laid out,” Wen Xue said and I nodded at this. That was a major reason why I brought him along.

“I think I can get us over the wall, but the risk is high. Better to wait for another incident. Then explore the city itself. Bring our packs and hide out in the buildings,” I suggested.

“One mistake and we will be dead,” Wen Xue said heavily. He was absolutely right, but we couldn’t turn back now. “So, waiting for the next incident?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yes. Could be a while-“ I was proven wrong as zombie screams went up in the distance. I carefully moved back around and up the tree to my observation spot. The zombies on the wall were moving away. Clearly, they didn’t have much intelligence since they swarmed. It was both a strength and a weakness.

It was a strength since whatever they attacked would get overwhelmed. A weakness since it left a huge gap in their defensives. I quickly returned to Wen Xue and we packed up our camp, taking only one set of packs with us. The other set we would leave here. We couldn’t be encumbered by that much. While we could carry it, we wouldn’t be able to move as quickly and silently as we needed to.

Returning back to the wall, we went up and over once more. I saw the zombies swarming another part of the city. Apparently, someone had a similar idea to us, using the first break in patrols to sneak in, but then they had been caught.

Staying in the streets, I maneuvered us deeper into the city, avoiding zombies while keeping track of the nearest building without any. They were quickly filling up. Perhaps this wasn’t a cultivation technique, but a method to build an army?

I finally found a building without zombies and we entered, while I looked for arrays. There were several as we began clearing the building. Wen Xue would disable them, we would check the room for stuff, there was nothing and then move on.

That was when we came across a room in the middle of the three story building that had an alter. That was a floating crystal and a formation around the alter. A formation was made of multiple arrays, so it getting to that floating white crystal hovering in the air above the alter, or pedestal would not be simple. I checked for approaching zombies but there were none.

I began to quietly point out the various arrays to Wen Xue. He made notes. We had a system down on how I would handle the descriptions, to waste as little time as possible and streamline the time he spent conducting an analysis.

“Not possible,” he said to me. I nodded at that and we left the room, and finding some stairs to go to the second floor. Wen Xue had the ultimate call on the traps we found. If he didn’t think he could disable them safely without sending up an alarm we would move on. The entire expedition couldn’t afford risks.

The second floor just had some stone furniture, but nothing interesting. The third floor, had a chest in one of the rooms with an array around it. A single array was much easier to deal with than a formation. Wen Xue had explained to me, that with a formation, one could set up conditions so the outer array in the formation acted as a failsafe.

It had been the standard practice for a long time. While there were methods for getting around this they weren’t simple. If the outer array was turned off, then the inner arrays in the formation could activate. It wasn’t enough to disable the array, but suborn it and block the connections.

This is where things quickly got very complicated. Array disabling wasn’t a common practice. So while there were methods, none of them were simple. Most advice involved, tossing someone or something else into the array and triggering it that way. Or using such an event to get a better idea of how it functioned. Or to carefully study it, try and reconstruct it, and then work out the best method of disablement from the reconstruction.

Neither method was acceptable. That was why we moved on. It also wasn’t a matter of cultivation either, but a matter of knowledge. While senior cultivators might have more knowledge on arrays and formations, they couldn’t brute force them without risk.

That was a big part of why this was a forbidden zone even to high rank cultivators. The traps triggering would be something a rank 8 cultivator could set off or a mortal. Thankfully Wen Xue knew what he was doing and managed to disable the array around the chest. He looked at me for confirmation while I inspected it closely.

“Nothing else that I can see, and I can see through it, barely,” I said quietly, and he nodded. I was the scout portion of our duo, which meant that I got to open the wood chest. It was the first wooden object we had spotted. Opening it up, there were stacks of gold coins inside.

Absolutely worthless. I looked at Wen Xue who shook his head and I closed the chest. Gold had no value to either of us. It wasn’t even spirit metal either from what I could tell. Just regular gold. The floating island had junk like this scattered about as well that the zombies collected and stored.

Once the building was cleared, I looked out the narrow slits in the walls carefully at the surrounding buildings. There were zombies in each of them. Some were just standing around, clumped togeather in rooms, while others were patrolling.

Making any progress would be a massive headache. We found an interior room on the third floor to settle in for the night and discuss our plans. The green portions of the stone glowed slightly in the darkness, which was unnerving and made me think of radiation. I didn’t feel sick and other people who had come and stayed on the Floating Island of Death hadn’t gotten radiation poisoning, so I wasn’t worried in that regard.

“We need a way to check the other buildings,” Wen Xue said quietly while we had some food and water. That meant using our ambush plan. “You can see their routes, right?”

“Yes. But that assumes a zombie will walk onto the array plate,” I said. We had a portable formation inscribed into a metal plate. It wasn’t cheap, but it was a means of offense. The zombies had to be taken out instantly, otherwise they would alert others.

“If the other buildings are full of zombies we have no choice,” Wen Xue said, and I nodded at this. I spent the evening looking around at the nearby buildings. There was one a bit deeper in the city with only one zombie patrolling each floor.

The following morning, after making sure the coast was clear, we made it to the building. I pulled out the metal plate into a doorway the zombie passed through while walking about. Wen Xue quickly set everything up and gave me the trigger mechanism. Two beast cores were somehow crafted to connect to each other. Pushing energy into one would cause the other one to trigger.

Waiting was torture, but there was nothing to do. Eventually the zombie paused for a moment at the metal plate, but then continued over it. I triggered the formation. The outer array silenced any noise, energy. While the interior array created a contained pulse of crushing force. The zombie was crushed into a ball of flesh and fell on the plate.

We quickly returned, and I saw the zombie flesh ball had no more energy. There were no screams either. We had managed to kill one, without being killed ourselves. I returned the array to my spatial ring, while the flesh ball stayed behind.

We then went up to the second, and third floors repeating the process with the next two zombies before we began clearing the building in earnest. Each use of the formation plate cost 4 rank 3 spirit stones. It wasn’t cheap to kill zombies like this. While I could afford to kill a fair few, I had no chance of killing all of them.

This time we found a sword in one of the rooms. It was made of rank 5 spirit metal and was fairly large. The same rank as the sword I currently owned. It would sell for a decent amount, but it wasn’t what I wanted to find.

After putting it in one of my spatial rings, we kept exploring. We rested in one of the corner rooms, that evening. It was incredibly stressful as we took turns keeping watch. The next day I looked for another building to explore that wasn’t packed full of zombies.

Eventually I found another building, but I spent the entire day checking on the patrol routes and timing. There was no need to rush. Rushing was how we would end up dead. It was much better to take our time and avoid confrontation wherever possible.

We just needed to take things slow and steady and hope we would hit the jackpot. I absolutely needed that null metal no matter what.

Chapter 44 – The Greed Of Mortal Men

“The zombies don’t have much on them. Even the armor and clothing isn’t that good,” Wen Xue muttered quietly.

We had been searching the city for two weeks now. Carefully moving between buildings. We had found several rank 3 treasures and a few rank 4 treasures. Weapons, equipment, unknown tools, all quite valuable but not what I needed. There was even a rank 5 sword that we found that was on par with the one my first master Yi Rong had given me.

“We need to go the central plaza and the palace,” I muttered quietly. We were already pushing things, with patrols of zombies moving constantly about. With my sight we had avoided any close calls, but it was risky. One mistake and we would be swarmed and killed. Most buildings were packed with zombies now. Only a few had a couple on patrol.

“I don’t think we are going to find any null metal. If you haven’t spotted anything. Maybe it falls off from the rocks underneath the city instead of being found in here?” Wen Xue said and I winced at this.

“There are reports of null metal being brought back or discovered on the Floating Island, but no details,” I replied.

“Well, if there were easy sources, they would have been picked clean over the millennia. We would need a big distraction if we want to keep going and you have even pointed out zombies on the rooftops,” Wen Xue replied. “I think we should think about retreating.”

“With what we have, that is nothing. An expedition to kill beasts would have been more profitable. We can try a decoy array,” I said and Wen Xue winced at the suggestion.

“We can, but it is a risk. We need to be far away and timers on arrays are difficult. And then it would be easily destroyed. An array won’t run away and have the zombies give chase,” he replied.

“Maybe, but we need to do something, and that palace is bound to have better stuff. You have noticed the quality and number of items has increased the deeper we have gone,” I replied.

“And the risk. Every time you sleep, my nerves are on edge,” he countered. There was a lot of pressure on both of us. But we couldn’t give up now. If we got another rank 7 treasure, then it might be possible to exchange for null metal depending on the rarity.

Giving up at the start was not good. While Wen Xue might be happy with the scraps, I wanted and needed something more. There was no turning back for me here until I got what I came for. “Can you make an array to act somewhere else?”

“Displacement, not easily. Remote activation could lead the zombies back to us as well,” he said.

“What about a three day timer? We set up this building to go crazy, and another one four days from now. Then we spend two days circling around to the other side of the center of the city.”

“That would use up all my supplies, but it can be done. Activating on a specific day is doable. But there will be a day gap,” he said.

“Can’t you have the arrays trigger one after another?” I asked and he considered that question.

“It will be tricky. But one master formation with satellite arrays would be possible. I will have to use up two of the larger plates. That would just leave us with one left.” I nodded at this.

“Good, we have a plan. Get to work. Draw up what you need to so we can move quickly in both buildings,” I said, and he nodded. The zombies didn’t seem to care if one of their companions went missing. They kept doing whatever it was that they did. Moving around, rebuilding or relocating parts of the city, standing around in groups in the various buildings.

The next five days were stressful as Wen Xue got the arrays prepared while I kept an eye on the zombies. I had some idea on their detection range, with previous arrays we had used to test things out. But I had no idea how that compared to us personally or if different zombies had different ranges.

One thing that was bothering me was the lack of decay. The zombies were rotten with pieces of flesh missing. Their clothes were in tatters. But there were no maggots, bugs, or even a smell indicating decay.

I got us close as we could to the plaza. Wen Xue was out of arrays at this point. Either to disable or distract the zombies. All he could do was disable the hostile arrays. I hadn’t seen any of the zombies setting them up, or any arrays forming in places we had already been.

A loud screech sound echoed over the city. All the zombies, but the ones standing in groups inside the buildings, instantly turned towards the noise and began making their way to the location. More arrays activated one after another was more zombies were pulled away from the center of the city.

We then quickly made our way to the biggest building, which we were calling the palace. There were no markings or decorations. Whoever made this place didn’t think too much about aesthetics. I checked and there were no zombies inside. I also checked the plaza in the center of the city. There was a fountain, which was a shock. Since it was the first major decoration that I had spotted beyond the brickwork of the zombie city.

Looking back at the five story palace, there was a formation on the front door, five overlapping arrays. I had been too far to spot it before. I quickly described it to Wen Xue while also making my notes. The loud noises continued. Once the formation was copied down, I checked out the fountain while Wen Xue quickly worked to disable the formation.

The water was clear, and I didn’t see any energy inside of it. The fountain itself was a circular design like the plaza. The fountain had four tiers, with water gushing out of the top. There were multiple arrays on the fountain itself. There was no ornamentation, and nothing to take.

“Yuan Zhou,” Wen Xue said from the palace doors. I rushed back over just as the door clicked open.

“That quickly?” I asked.

“An older common design. While complex it has already been solved and used as a teaching tool,” he replied as we pushed open the doors as another loud screech occurred off in the distance. We had to hurry.

Inside the palace, it was everything my heart could desire. There were pedestals of rare materials on them enclosed in glowing arrays. This was the only light in the entire place. It wasn’t a palace, it was a treasure vault. I noted a rank 7 gun, a green ocean lily contained in a sphere of water, a black glowing mask that was plain except for two eye holes and probably rank 8.

“With me,” I told Wen Xue and raced forward, quickly scanning for anything that could be null metal in this treasure horde. “There!” I pointed at one pedestal, and we raced over. The chunk of metal was deep black, incredibly deep black. That was the sign that this was null metal.

I quickly began to describe the two arrays that made up the formation. “The inner one is a containment, the other one is a trigger, but the array is active. I can see it myself. The inner one isn’t a problem.” We only had a few minutes left and I knew an active array was not simple.

Unlike the previous ones Wen Xue could not just disable it without the trigger kicking in. Something was supplying it with power. A master formation of some sort. Similar to what we had done to lure the zombies away.

The problem with active arrays, was that anyone could easily see them. I noticed it was much brighter than the previous arrays. “I think I can disable it for a few seconds without triggering it,” Wen Xue said.

“Do it,” I replied. He poked the array with his rod. Various of the symbols flickered and the glowing portion began to curve. A visible hole quickly formed. I could see the energy dispersing into the air where the array had been bent, like sparks coming from a loose wire.

I quickly pulled out my containment case, opening up one end. It had been given to me specifically to put in null metal and not expose it. I stuck the case through the arrays and the hole Wen Xue had made. I angled the opening of the lid, and then pulled the mechanical latch. The lid began to close and the edges caught the black null metal, pulling it inside the case. The case snapped shut and I quickly pulled it free.

It couldn’t go into my spatial ring due to the properties of null metal, but that didn’t matter. “Another?” Wen Xue asked as another screech happened in the distance. We would be cutting things close, but in my mind we couldn’t let these treasures go.

“Yes, you pick,” I told him.

“There,” he quickly pointed at a book on the pedestal next to ours. There was no title on the cover, and it seemed to be made of human flesh. That seemed like a bad choice. I would have picked the rank 7 gun, but apparently Wen Xue wanted tainted knowledge.

He quickly began working on the array. I pulled out a grabber stick from my spatial ring. Basically, a long stick with a piece of string, and grippers that would close on the far end. “Good,” Wen Xue said as another hole formed in the active array. I quickly pulled the book out and tossed it with my grabber stick into my spatial ring. I definitely wasn’t about to touch it.

“We need to go,” he said, and I nodded. We quickly left the treasure palace. Closing the door on our way out. The zombies were already flooding back into the rest of the city as we retreated far in front of them.

“Leaving?” Wen Xue asked, and I nodded. While we had another sound distraction ready to go off tomorrow, the zombies would be in a patrolling frenzy after being disturbed. No need to take any more risks. We got what we came for, plus a creepy tome.

Trying to figure out the secrets of this place, or take anything more, was asking for major trouble. There were zombies patrolling the streets up ahead. These ones weren’t pulled away apparently. I adjusted our course through the empty streets to avoid the zombies.

That was when I saw people in the far distance, coming over the wall. “This way,” I told Wen Xue and we turned to our right. They might have spotted us, but no one would risk a fight in the city unless they were crazy or suicidal.

Wen Xue and I were breathing hard as we kept retreating. I had to carry the containment case with the null metal, and it wasn’t light. While my cultivation helped, it was clearly a heavy treasure. I didn’t spot anyone pursuing us, as I quickly led us to an empty building. Wen Xue quickly broke the arrays as I called them out to him.

Entering the building, we made our way to the third floor to rest, while I kept checking around us. I didn’t see those people from earlier at all, or any zombies in our building or approaching. “We did it,” I said quietly with a smile.

“I can’t believe it. What was that place? The wealth? It was like an ancestor’s treasure abode,” he said.

“Probably stuff the zombies collect from people or around the area. I am surprised there was null metal, sitting right there. I would have thought it would have been somewhere else,” I replied. “I wasn’t expecting a treasure palace.”

“I am surprised more people haven’t broken in,” Wen Xue said.

“We only moved so quickly since I could describe the arrays and spot the zombies. Anyone else, one mistake and it would be over,” I replied with a smile. The adrenaline was finally coming down from the heist. I couldn’t wait to get away from this death trap and never come back. “Why the book?” I asked.

“Um, well, it was the closest thing,” Wen Xue said, and I chuckled at that while rolling my eyes. “It is probably super valuable.”

“A book made of flesh, probably is. I would guess rank 8 cultivator flesh,” I replied, and he looked nauseous at that statement. “I am not pulling it out until we leave and are in a safe place. That thing is probably cursed.”

“I saw the containment array. It is designed to contain energy,” Wen Xue replied. That was good since it was active, he could see it. “I am just not clear on the type. There were some drawings I am unsure about. I should write them down,” he said and pulled out his personal notebook he kept on him.

I checked around us once more. I saw three cultivators approaching our building from the outside. “Wen Xue, three cultivators have found us.” He looked up in fear. It was hard to make out their cultivation, but if I had to guess they were all rank 4 cultivators. One stage above me and they most likely had techniques.

We couldn’t win and I had no idea how they were following us. Worst of all we were tired from setting everything up and moving about the last couple of days. Now with all the running we had done, we were in no condition to fight. We also had no more killing arrays prepared. I quickly pulled out scent concealer and used it.

“Out the window,” I said quietly and Wen Xue nodded, putting away his notebook. The window was quite narrow. I went first and was grateful the container with the null metal barely fit through. Leaping down, I landed quietly on my feet. The cultivators were on the third floor when Wen Xue leapt off and we quickly ran.

This time I led us back towards the center of the zombie city, taking more risks on the patrols and we curved into the higher risk areas and then back out, finding another abandoned building to hide in. Wen Xue all but collapsed in exhaustion when we came to a stop while I kept watch.

Once he had slept for a couple hours, I woke him up to get some sleep. Thankfully no one showed up that entire time. My ability to see the zombies at a distance through the walls, was a huge advantage that let us rush around recklessly.

The cultivators who had showed up wouldn’t have such luck, even if they could trap us. The risk was too high. One mistake and they would be zombie chow. When Wen Xue woke me up, he let me know that the zombies hadn’t gone into a frenzy.

That meant there was the other group and us out here and they were clearly interested in us. The fact we avoided a confrontation meant we were cautious, afraid, or both. “We have supplies for a while, we wait here?” Wen Xue asked me and I nodded.

“At least a couple of days. Rest and recover. Then we need to figure out how to get off the floating island.” While I had prepared quite a bit, I hadn’t been able to prepare a parachute unfortunately. That would have made this incredibly simple.

“Getting down Mount Atlas will be risky, with our cultivation and that case. Even if our cultivation is hidden. Old Hengar?” Wen Xue suggested.

“No idea when he will show up again. Could be in a day. Could be months from now. We have rope. I can put the container in a pack, and put our remaining food in the spatial ring,” I said and then frowned. “Or maybe not. I am worried about that book you picked.”

“It might corrupt stuff in your ring?” he asked me. I put in some beef jerky into my spatial ring next to the book along with some hardtack.

“We will test it out. See if anything happens. But I can’t believe you picked something like that. It was made with human skin,” I muttered.

“I am sorry, but I panicked a bit,” Wen Xue defended himself.

“It is fine. It is probably worth a lot. We will need to get back to Imperial City safely to sell it,” I said.

“And not read it?” he asked. I stared at him.

“Is your mind corrupted?” I asked him.

“No. Why?”

“That book is clearly super evil. Like demonic cultivators eating babies kind of evil. I have no doubt that the moment we pull it out, think about it, or look at it, something horrible will happen. We take it to the Imperial Sect, someplace very secure and safe, and sell it,” I replied.

“And lose that knowledge? We won’t even know its worth,” he said.

“It is rank 7 or rank 8. We can trade for at least six rank 6 treasures. Maybe more,” I said. Our deal was that I got the null metal, everything else we split equally. That was due to how much I had invested in this expedition out of my pocket and my spatial rings. Stuff Wen Xue didn’t have.

“Still think we should look at it and see if we can learn anything. Maybe it says how to control the zombies,” he replied.

“Then someone else can look at the evil book instead of us. I can trade my half for a focusing crystal and a bit of craftsmanship for a Displacement Channel Carver. What about you? Anything specific in mind?” I asked him to take his mind off the book, which was clearly an evil trap.

“I was thinking a Refining Formation, rank 6. It is something that can extract any kind of energy and turn it into drops. The sect has some rank 4 Refining Formations, but they aren’t that good. Getting one from the Imperial Sect, and then using the rest for spirit stones to get drops, will let me get past the first bottleneck,” he replied.

“What is the rate of drops to spirit stone?” I asked.

“A rank 4 stone is worth about 1 drop. I can hopefully get 100 such spirit stones and then I will be set,” he replied.

“That would put you at a solid core then, right?” I asked for confirmation.

“Indeed. Very standard, but that is the minimum requirement. Hopefully I can get 150 drops before trying to pass the bottleneck. The more the better, but I don’t think I am up for any adventures after this,” he replied.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes. We came close to death so many times. I can’t wait until this is all over,” he replied. That was his choice even if I didn’t agree in the same way. With preparation, supplies, and research, a lot of problems could be overcome if it was just the environment. Against anything actually intelligent, like other cultivators, it was much more concerning.

I heard a screeching sound in the distance. “Our second distraction formation went off. Shame we can’t go and get more treasures,” he said.

“Knowing when to stop is important. We got two things, very valuable things. No need to push our luck anymore. I know there were other things in that massive treasure room that I wanted. But it is far too risky to go back. What we need to do is focus on escaping,” I replied.

“Go to the edge and wait?” Wen Xue asked.

“Yes. Once we get close to the ground, less then five stories from the end of the rope, we can jump. Maybe seven stories if we need to,” I answered.

“Well we have a lot of rope. We might just go down all the way,” Wen Xue replied.

“Hopefully. Depends on where the floating island is and if there are other people below us. We can’t risk being intercepted. The biggest challenge now is getting back to Imperial City safely,” I replied heavily. The stress was wearing on me too. Going to the Astral Plane, was nowhere as stressful as the Floating Island of Death.

There were screams in the distance, and zombies began moving towards it. Another cultivator was being swarmed. “We should move, the streets are clearing,” I said.

We quickly left the building and made our way over the wall into the massive forest. Once there we quickly raced to the edge of the floating island. Looking down over the edge, all I saw were hanging frayed ropes and clouds beneath us.

Setting up in a nearby large tree. I laid out a wood plank for us to sit and rest on. The mid-rank spatial ring I had was the real hero of this adventure. We settled in for a wait. I would check the edge every couple of hours. The island rotated around as it moved, so there was no front or back. It also went up and down to some extent as well.

The only thing we could do was wait and hope for the best. Days and then weeks went by, with the distance still too far to the ground.

The food I had put next to the book in my spatial ring had decayed. It shouldn’t have decayed in the spatial ring, but it had. That book was seriously bad news. No way was I bringing it out and moved everything I could to my low-rank spatial ring. It was tempting to try and move the book to it, but the risk was too high bringing it out without any kind of containment array. I might not be able to get it back inside one of my spatial rings.

Better to lose one ring and less valuable stuff we had found on the floating island, than lose the book. After the null metal, it was the most valuable thing in my mind. We couldn’t afford to lose either item.

Checking over the edge like I normally did, I saw the clouds had cleared and there were mountains not that far below us. They weren’t Mount Atlas, but they were tall. I quickly went back to Wen Xue. “We need to go now. With the rope, about a four story drop,” I said and he nodded at this.

We quickly raced for the edge, and I kicked the rope over the side and quickly grabbed onto it with my hands, going over the edge. I began to slide down rapidly. My cultivation protecting me from rope burns, while my descent slowed. This was something I had tested out before. Wen Xue was right behind me, but he had put on gloves. Reaching the end of the rope, about forty stories down, from the floating island, I saw a rocky plateau below. I let go of the end of the rope and fell.

I landed without much difficulty. Wen Xue was right behind me, landing as well. Looking up at the floating island, its massive bulk kept moving along without anything slowing it down. I didn’t see anyone following. “Let’s go,” I told Wen Xue who nodded at me. We quickly set off.

I had been observing the terrain for weeks now, and knew where we were. We were not headed back towards Black Rock City. We would go through the wilderness for a bit to city outside the range of the floating island. From there we would take a rapid carriage back to Imperial City. Carrying the containment case, even in my pack, was too risky to do so on an open road.

Also, I wanted to rest for a long time. My nerves were shot after our time on the island. Right before we hit the tree line, I noticed three cultivators going down the rope we had left behind. Dammit! “Into the tree line, hurry,” I told Wen Xue as I pulled out scent concealer.

We both used it and kept moving while changing directions. “What do we do?” he worriedly asked me.

“We will have to fight, if they keep chasing us.”

“I can’t fight, I don’t know how without arrays,” Wen Xue said. Basically one and a quarter versus three superior cultivators with techniques.

“You will need to carry my pack. I can’t fight encumbered,” I said while taking it off and handing it over to Wen Xue. My packs were smaller due to my stature, so it wasn’t too hard for him to carry in his arms. “There is small cliff ahead. We go up it, you keep moving forward up to the peak. Wait there. I will fight them. If I can ambush one, that should even the odds,” I said with much more confidence than I was feeling at the moment.

This was going to be a serious fight. I had them in the past. But I had always turned the situation to my advantage in some way. Me against three cultivators, wouldn’t be simple. Even if I got that down to two versus one at the start with an ambush, they would have techniques.

That was a massive advantage in any fight. I had confidence in beating cultivators at or below my stage, but I had no idea about techniques. We quickly ascended the cliff. Looking back the three cultivators were catching up.

Wen Xue rushed ahead, while I curved to the side and hid behind a rock with my sword drawn. I focused on my breathing. No matter what, I couldn’t lose here. I had survived the Floating Island of Death. I was not about to die to some cultivators out in the wilderness seeking to take the resources I had worked hard for.

I heard the three cultivators climbing up the cliff. I readied myself. They rushed past my hiding spot and I kicked off the ground as hard as I could. I stabbed the closet one, on the right of their formation in the back through the spine. Their cultivation was in the fourth stage, and my blade was of the fifth rank. Their martial robes were nothing special. I yanked my blade to the side, carving their back open as they out a scream.

The other two cultivators spun around as I raced forward without slowing down in the slightest. I couldn’t afford to give them time to regroup and outflank me while attacking me from range. “One wall!” the lead cultivator screamed in panic. I saw the energy surge into the ground and then explode upwards, forming a wall in my path.

I kicked off the ground to go up and over. “Fire lance!” A jet of white hot flame shot at me. I was forced to kick off to the side off the top of the wall, as it felted.

“One wall!” A wall quickly rose up behind me as the fire cultivator moved about to get a better angle on me while more rock walls quickly formed to cut off my escape routes. The fire lance came closer, and I had no other choice, since there was no way to dodge in time.

My hand darted out and I grabbed onto the end of the grabbing stick, pulling it, along with the evil book out of my spatial ring. The fire lance hit the book, and was completely stopped. The flames turned from white to dark blue as they exploded around the book, melting the grabbing stick, while the book itself was unharmed.

I quickly shoved the book back into my spatial ring before the gripping stick completely melted away. I then rushed forward, sword in hand. “Ring of fire!” A ring of fire went up around the cultivator and exploded outwards. He was sweating and shaking, but I wasn’t going to stop.

Swinging my sword through the flames, the etched words, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth, glowed as the fire parted around me from the force of my swing. I stabbed out even as the cultivator tried to back peddle, but it was too late. I took him right in the chest. I didn’t hesitate to yank my sword to the side, killing him as the remaining cultivator screamed in rage.

It was a woman who had been making the earth walls. She gave me a look of hatred before turning tail and fleeing. My robes were a bit singed, but I was unharmed. I had won. I was about to collect the bodies into my spatial ring and then realized that the evil book was in there. Anything they might have on them, even a spatial device wasn’t worth the risk of zombies forming.

I left them where they lay and quickly set off for the top of the mountain. Wen Xue let out a sigh of relief when he saw me, and I relaxed as well. “The enemy cultivators?” he asked.

“Killed two. The last one ran off. Probably their tracker since she was in the lead of their formation. But nothing we can do. We should get as much distance between her and us as possible,” I said, and Wen Xue nodded. Hopefully that was the only fight until we could make it back to Imperial City to exchange and sell the spoils of our adventure.

Chapter 45 – A Dark Book

“Finally, we are here,” I said with a relieved sigh. Wen Xue and I had made it to Imperial City. After formalities and fees at the outer gate. We entered the city and I then had us switch over to a carriage pulled by a cultivator. We had to circle around the outer wall to get to one of the outer towns that was our destination.

I had already talked with Wen Xue about what we were going to do once we got here. That was meeting with the elder Ping from the Cloudy Moon Sect who was overseeing my business and Zheng Ting. I had not spoken to her for a long time, but she had been managing things quite well.

The headquarters of Zhou Holding Company Limited were quite modest. There was no need for a giant symbol of financial might. Just a large building where reports were sorted, data tracked, and paperwork from shipments inspected.

Getting off the carriage which cost spirit coins, Wen Xue and I made our way into the building wearing our sect robes. There was a secretary on duty in the lobby thankfully. It didn’t take long before we entered a meeting room.

Food and drinks were served while we waited and then ten minutes later Zheng Ting showed up with elder Ping.

“Greetings elder,” I quickly stood up and bowed. Wen Xue stood up and bowed as well but let me take the lead.

“Disciple Yuan Zhou. I am surprised to see you here. And in the third stage?” the elder asked.

“Yes, elder,” I replied. He was the elder that had bet that I would only make it to the third stage against elder Yi Meifeng, I would make it no further than the fourth stage.

“Impressive. You are doing well. I got a message you wished to speak to me?” he asked.

“Indeed. I humbly request your presence when speaking with Elder Xu Xiaoli of the Imperial Sect and if possible, to arrange a meeting as soon as possible,” I said. While I could have done it all on my own, it would create difficulties since I needed my profits from the business to buy a focusing crystal and to have a Displacement Channel Carver made.

“I will send a message, as for her meeting you, that is up to her,” he replied.

“Thank you elder,” I replied. He gave me a careful look.

“So, you have succeeded then? With whatever you needed to combine with the focusing crystal?” he asked while looking over at the pack I had put on a chair next to me. I wasn’t going to let the container with the null metal out of my sight.

“Yes, elder,” I replied.

“Impressive. I will arrange for the focusing crystal to be brought as well when we visit the elder. I am guessing you want me there as an insurance,” he asked seeing right through me.

“Yes elder,” I replied. While I doubted there would be an issue, it was important not to take any chances. I was slightly concerned about Elder Ping, but that would be alleviated by a request for benefits now.

“Five percent,” he said. I winced at that amount.

“Of anything that is sold,” I replied, and he nodded with a smile on his face. Elder Ping would arrange for word to be left behind, so we couldn’t just be disappeared by the Imperial Sect. Also, his presence would ensure we wouldn’t be forced to accept a poor deal due to pressure.

Everything was about having backing and giving face. Giving him a small share of our proceeds insured he would take a vested interest in our success. If I wasn’t the Sect Leader’s disciple then I might have been charged ten or even twenty percent for such support. I already had a lot of backing, so his overall value wasn’t that much, but he was still making an effort on my behalf.

One did not become an elder, by letting other cultivators pluck wealth from their hands. I couldn’t wait until I was a high rank, and everyone had to pay me to get my backing and to just stand around. It was aggravating, but it was the cost of doing business.

“I will see to the arrangements as quickly as possible and let you and Zheng Ting catch up. Diciple Yuan Zhou,” elder Ping said to me with a slight head bow, showing great respect. He was probably jumping for joy inside he was about to get a lot of wealth and not having to do anything.

I bowed deeply along with the other two in the room as the elder left. “Yuan Zhou,” Zheng Ting said with a frail smile. Wrinkles adorned her once beautiful face. Her hair was white. I was only 47 years old, which meant she was in her mid-sixties. While she still had vibrancy around her, she had aged greatly since I had last seen her.

“Zheng Ting,” I said and made my way around the table to give her a hug, breaking all the rules of propriety. She had been my caretaker and had put up with my antics at a young age. Then she managed my business for me over the years.

“You and your friend should sit, there is much to discuss,” she replied.

“Problems?” I asked and she smiled at me.

“Nothing too serious. The Cloudy Moon Sect’s presence fixed a lot of the issues. While the backing of Elder Xu Xiaoli and the Han family has helped, the first is rarely seen, and the second is happy to collect their money for the most part,” she said. I thought of Han Xingjuan the 69th descendent of Immortal Han Jiayi. The girl was crazy.

“I see that look, you are thinking of someone troublesome? Han Xingjuan?” she asked and I nodded.

“Do not worry. She wanted financial records and to review our work. I scared her off when I had all the boxes arranged with the actual financial reports and not the summaries,” Zheng Ting said with a small chuckle.

“You remembered that. Keep accurate records and wield them against people,” I said with a smile. I had talked to her about how I wanted my business to run and why summary reports that were audited were important. Looking through the raw reports without a computer was a massive amount of time. There was no way any cultivator would be willing to do something so pointless and so tedious.

“Indeed, Young Master. The most dangerous weapon to any cultivator, paperwork. Now tell me about you and your friend,” she said.

“Zheng Ting, this is Wen Xue. A friend of mine, who has risked life and death with me to go to the floating island. Wen Xue, this is Zheng Ting, the woman who manages my business affairs,” I replied.

“A pleasure,” he said stiffly but didn’t bow his head.

“I never had the chance to pursue cultivation, but I have lived a good life, and have traveled. So, tell me about this floating island?” she asked. I slowly shook my head.

“It is one adventure we are not talking about. The information is too valuable in case someone is listening in,” I replied. The knowledge we had gained would never be shared. There was a chance to get more treasures and Wen Xue had agreed.

After chatting a bit more, we eventually retired to our room. Wen Xue was not leaving my side until we sold our goods, and I wasn’t leaving his. Another safety precaution and I also knew he didn’t want me to run off and get all the rewards either.

Three days after our arrival we entered the central portion of Imperial City to meet with Elder Xu Xiaoli. Elder Ping came along as well with a case that had the focusing crystal that had been purchased with my share of the profits from the joint venture involving refining spirit steel from mined ore across various cities.

“Greetings elder Xu Xiaoli,” I said with a bow as I entered. Other introductions were done. She had brought another two elders with her from the Imperial Sect. There was elder Gao Da and elder Fu Xiaoli, both men. The second one clearly being a relative of some kind, but I had no idea who was older or younger and neither clarified their relationship with each other.

On my side, there was Elder Ping to my right and Wen Xue to my left. I was taking the lead on these discussions, since the book was a discovery I had made.

“I have been told that you have acquired items of high value. That is why I have brought these other two to help assist with any appraisal and discussion of payment. Since involves materials and items rank 7 or higher, the Imperial Sect will be dealing with things rather than just me personally,” elder Xu Xiaoli said.

“Thank you elders for meeting here today. My companion, Wen Xue and I managed to acquire a book and some null metal from the Floating Island of Death,” I nodded to Wen Xue. I was also watching the elders and only Elder Gao Da appeared to be slightly shocked. I could only tell by how his blinking increased slightly and his facial muscles twitched the smallest amount. For someone at his rank and age to even twitch like that despite his cultivation was a clear sign of surprise.

“I look to have the null metal made into a Displacement Channel Carver with the focusing crystal Elder Ping has brought and to sell the book. I can show it, um, but it is highly dangerous I believe. Corrupting everything it touches. I would recommend a high level of containment,” I said.

“That is no problem. Set the item onto the center of the table. There is a very high ranking formation on the table and then on this room,” Elder Xu Xiaoli said to me from across the table. I could see the faint glowing lines of the symbols and channels used to make up the formation on the table, but I had ignored it.

Quickly pulling out the metal rod and the book at the end of it, I let it drop on the table as quickly as possible, not wanting to touch it for an extended period of time. There were several gasps at the book. “A Necronomicon,” Xu Xiaoli said. I could see glowing barrier form around the item.

“Indeed. It is a good thing you didn’t try to read this,” Gao Da said with a frown. “Such an item is made by sealing the soul of a cultivator into a book as a protector of sorts. Driven mad from pain and suffering, such a tome carries demonic cultivation techniques.”

“Also, you might have even been possessed,” Fu Xiaoli said.

“Indeed, that is a risk. You did well to contain it in your spatial ring. The Floating Island of Death, a wonderous place, yet also a graveyard of the greedy,” Gao Da added, but not elaborating further.

“Well, it is definitely a rank 7, possibly rank 8 treasure depending on the text,” Fu Xiaoli said while putting a hand under his chin and given the Necronomicon a considering look.

“Give us a moment to confirm the value. Here is a list of rank 7 items you can pick from. Once we know the exact worth, we will tell you how many,” she replied and pulled out a long list. Throwing out to the side, it flew around the table and landed in front of me.

Wen Xue and Elder Ping quickly leaned over to look at it. The first item that was listed was 8 rank 6 spirit stones. That would have to be one choice in order to pay Elder Ping for his presence here. A lot of the items I didn’t recognize in the slightest.

My first choice was crafting a high ranking item as long as the materials were provided, that meant the Displacement Channel Carver. It would cover the fee a high ranking elder from the Imperial Sect would have charged. It pained to spend so much, but the craftspeople of the Imperial Sect were second to none. I could have gone to the Cloudy Moon Sect, but such an item I couldn’t afford to take any chances. Also, I would have the Displacement Channel Carver after I was done using it, and could resell it.

“The Tears of the Immortals is my first choice,” Wen Xue said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Drops of pure energy. I can get 20 drops of energy, if I select that option. That will give me a huge boost for the fourth stage. I will probably select it multiple times,” he added.

“Seems like a waste,” I replied, since it was such a small amount.

“It is universally compatible, and I don’t have to spend any time taking in the drops. They can be directly added to my core. It would be a huge advantage and save me quite a bit of time,” he said. I kept looking over the list for what would be my second and possibly third choice.

I needed natural treasures for my polarity cultivation to counter Aoyin’s fang. The opposites of blood, power, and consume. There was the Seed of Sustenance, which would keep a person full for 10 years. That seemed like a good opposite for consume. That was the most obvious choice. But it was a rank 7 item, which would be a waste of a choice.

The second choice, if I even got one, was much harder. Probably a rank 7 gun. I still needed to kill the beast Water Running Over The Rocks. I could sense a connection to it but had been trying to suppress and ignore it. A rank 6 weapon was needed to kill a rank 6 beast, and a gun seemed ideal.

Even if it was insanely expensive, I preferred guns to swords. That would be my second choice. I would also have to adventure to find other rank 6 treasures soon, so it made sense to pick a weapon that would help me with such a task. A rank 7 gun would be an ultimate trump card. Even someone like Aoyin could take damage from such a weapon. Killing him was another matter, but I would no longer be completely helpless.

I wouldn’t flaunt it like my rank 5 sword I had gotten from my first master, that was for sure. But it would be an amazing trump card to hold in reserve. The Elders in front of us were done and there were glowing blue and gold chains wrapped around the book while it floated above the middle of the table.

“It has been contained and will go into the Immortal’s collection of such things. As for the value. It is worth five rank 7 treasures. It is not a true rank 8 treasure, but it is far more than a rank 7 natural treasure or spirit coin,” elder Xu Xiaoli said.

“That is a bit much to give them,” elder Gao Da said.

“It is reasonable. We can’t use the cultivation techniques or let them spread. But it could help multiple demonic cultivators. Something like this isn’t easily made, since a rank 7 cultivator was used in the process. It is the highest possible Necronomicon that could be crafted without grave risk to the crafter. Five items is very reasonable for bringing us such an item,” Fu Xiaoli said, backing up his relative.

“Is this acceptable?” Elder Xu Xiaoli asked. I looked at Elder Ping who gave a slight nod, and Wen Xue who gave a slight nod as well.

“Thank you for your generosity elders. We have made our selections. For the first and second item, the Tears of the Immortals,” I said and looked over at Wen Xue who nodded at this. “Crafting a Displacement Channel Carver, a six rank six items, and a rank 7 gun,” I said.

“That is acceptable,” Xu Xiaoli said.

“Thank you elder. In addition, we have several low ranking items we wish to trade for spirit stones that have been recovered. Nothing at the value of the book,” I added. She waved her hand at a side table, and I nodded, quickly putting them out there.

“These are nothing but scraps. Even the single floating crystal is more a novelty than anything else. Still there is interest. Ten rank 6 spirit stones for everything,” she said and I turned to her in surprise. I hadn’t expected all the trash we had found to be worth that much. “Don’t be so surprised, it has value to collectors and for research into the Floating Island of Death.”

“Some of these items are quite old and unique. While most of it really is trash, I can already spot some items of value,” Gao Da said.

“I have no objections,” Fu Xiaoli added. I checked with my companions once more and there were no objections. The Elder got two of the rank 6 spirit stones, while Wen Xue got the rest. It wasn’t precisely even, but he had no objections thankfully. I was given a second list of rank 6 items to pick from.

I quickly went through the list looking for the items I needed. It was tempting to ask the elders for help, but they would ask why and would learn about Aoyin’s Fang in my head. I couldn’t take that risk. I needed the opposites of blood, power, and consume.

It would be blind guesses on my part just based on the name. Ashes of the Forlorn Tree, Core Bone of a Rank 6 Beast, Black Poppy of Decay, Compressed Clear Jelly, Withering Weed, and a Petrified Sapling. “That’s a weird selection, you into alchemy or some other kind of crafting?” Gao Da asked while looking over my selections.

“These are items needed by my master, the Sect Leader. I don’t know their purpose,” I replied.

“It is good to be dutiful to your master and your sect,” Fu Xiaoli said. What I wasn’t saying was that I needed the items so I could be fixed. “Still, for him to know about these items is quite impressive. The Cloudy Moon Sect, are its foundations really so deep?”

“They are. I have spoken to their Sect Leader myself, a rank 8. They have been around since the dawn of the third age. An offshoot from long ago,” Xu Xiaoli said. I felt some of the tension leave me as she explained things to her possible relative.

“Then I have no objections. They are only rank 6 treasures, and nothing of note, just rare and slightly interesting,” Fu Xiaoli said.

Our deal was that the null metal wouldn’t be counted in the split, not the crafting process. Thankfully he had no issues getting eight rank 6 spirit stones. It was a massive amount of money. Elder Ping got two of the spirit stones, which was quite a bit for just sitting around.

It was painful having to give him anything, but if I had come here alone, then I might have only gotten four items instead of five, possibly only three. He more than earned his keep, even if it wasn’t readily apparent.

The one item, the gun, was delivered immediately, while it took slightly longer to bring in the remaining six rank 6 treasures I had requested. Xu Xiaoli took the container of null metal, and the focusing crystal. Before she left, I had her check my spatial ring that had been holding the book.

Thankfully there were no issues. That had been something I was concerned about, but the Necronomicon wasn’t designed to act on spatial rings, more on the human psyche and body. The fruits and other items that had been touching it, had their energy sucked out.

Ten days after our visit, I was summoned back personally and only elder Gao Da was there to see me. After speaking with each other he pulled out an item from his spatial ring. “I actually made the Displacement Channel Carver myself,” he said while holding it up in front of himself.

It was a long thing black rod. About the thickness of my finger and the length of 3 feet or about one meter. There was a wooden handle at one end. “It seems quite long,” I replied.

“Yes, which means it will last for a long time. I used all the null metal you brought to make the rod and not damage it. This length is good for about a 1,500 channels, which is on the high end. The focusing crystal is already set up even if you don’t see it.”

“Wait?” I asked. “This thing wears out?” That was aggravating and elder Gao Da chuckled at my outrage.

“Normally it wouldn’t come up, but yes. That is why null metal is so expensive. As you drill out your channel, the rod will suck up all the bits left behind, stopping them from settling. But this damages the null metal making it less effective,” Elder Gao Da explained.

“In the past people would just hold null metal, but that is horribly inefficient and a massive waste. That is why you need a focusing crystal, and for it to be crafted so it can enter your true soul while cultivating at the third stage. When you work to clear out your meridians and channels, put the end opposite the handle on the meridian in question.”

“When you dig our your meridian and channels, it will be super easy. You just need to focus and break everything apart and not worry about moving the stuff out of your channels. It will just be sucked out. You just need to make sure you carve them out properly. A great treasure for any cultivator,” he replied.

“I can touch the black part?” I asked.

“It is sealed behind a special clear material. That way anyone can see how much longer the Displacement Channel Carver has left while not letting the key portion get exposed to the air. If you activate in the air, you will burn it out. Don’t do that. It also isn’t a weapon. It is a tool for carving channels quickly and cleanly,” elder Gao Da explained. I wondered what had happened in the past to make him say all of that. Probably nothing good.

“Thank you Elder,” I said with a head bow as he handed it over.

“Not a problem. This is of the highest quality. That I can assure you. Elder Xu Xiaoli insisted. If you have any other interesting projects, you are welcome to ask for me at the Imperial Sect. I am more than happy to listen to any requests you have. Just be sure to bring the materials with you,” he said.

“Thank you once again Elder,” I replied as he left. I departed right away, ready to get back to the sect when a servant stopped me outside the meeting room.

“Master Cultivator. Cultivator Han Xingjuan of the Imperial Sect requests your immediate presence,” he said. I paused and looked at the bowing mortal man. I didn’t want anything more to do with that crazy girl, but I couldn’t risk offending her directly.

If I didn’t show up she could make trouble. “I will attend her once, I have sent word as to where I am going,” I said. The servant winced, but I didn’t care.

“Very well, please allow me to escort you,” he replied. It was a simple matter to write a quick letter and leave it in the care of one of the people at the exchange hall, where the Imperial Sect did business, and have them take it to Elder Xu Xiaoli and Elder Ping after paying a small fee of two rank 3 spirit coins.

The servant then escorted me to another meeting room. Han Xingjuan was sitting in the room, and it appeared she had entered the third stage as well. “Hmmpf, you have come back and are meeting with elders, why?” she demanded bluntly after snorting at me. She didn’t even stand up to greet me or use my name.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou, greets cultivator Han Xingjuan,” I said with the smallest of head nods. “As for my business with the elders, that is private, you will have to ask them.”

“You think you are clever. Playing games. Taking resources from the Imperial Sect. Give me your spatial ring, or else,” she declared.

“I am sorry, but I must refuse. And I am under the hospitality of the Imperial Sect,” I replied. There was silence at that statement. I had too many connections for her to risk causing trouble or trying to rob me. But I didn’t like how I was on this woman’s direct radar.

We entered into a stare off. Neither of us was willing to back down. “If there is nothing else, I have places to be,” I told Han Xingjuan. She didn’t say anything more as I left, but I could tell she wasn’t happy.

Her bratty and self-entitled nature were clear turn offs and I could tell she was going to be a problem. Regardless it wasn’t my problem. I needed to return to the sect with Wen Xue and begin cultivating and researching. Whatever I had gotten from the Imperial Sect was clearly drawing a lot of attention, which was unfortunate.

Once I had everything, I said goodbye to Zheng Ting, and left Imperial City with Wen Xue. The one thing I had made sure of before I left, was to purchase several rank 5 rounds for my gun. I only had 10 rank 5 shots with me, and 50 rank 4 shots. I also had 1 rank 6 shot that had come with the weapon. The sheer cost of such a weapon was why they weren’t more popular with cultivators.

One could swing a sword a 1,000 times and only use their own energy. But shooting a gun a 1,000 times would even make an Immortal weep at the cost. I could have gone with a lesser version that didn’t use bullets, but effects, but those types of guns weren’t as good or as effective against high ranking targets. If I needed to use it, then I needed to win. Cost wouldn’t be an issue at that point, only my survival.

I even spent a lot of time unloading and reloading the gun as quickly as possible. I had no doubt that word was spreading and I would be a tempting target on the way back to the sect from Imperial City. Even if people didn’t know about the Displacement Channel Carver and how the Imperial Sect would never allow me to be attacked in or near the city, at a distance, anything could happen.

Chapter 46 – Interception

“Wen Xue, we have people chasing us,” I said as I looked over my shoulder. Down the road. We were twenty days out of Imperial City and passed the boarder of the Imperial Sect.

“How many?” he asked.

“Five people. Four at the fourth stage, and one at the fifth,” I said with a heavy heart. It was a large force that was coming to intercept us.

“Can you win?” he asked me. That was a good question. I might be able to outrun the lower ranked cultivators, but there was no way that Wen Xue would be able to keep up with me. Also if they used techniques to catch up, then I would have a chance.

“Not easily, but we have no choice,” I replied while removing the gun from my spatial ring. It felt much better in my hand than a sword. It reminded me of one of those old-time flintlock single shot pistols that were ornately decorated.

While there were options for guns that could fire more bullets more quickly, I had picked one that would maximize the impact of the bullets used. At least I wouldn’t need to use my single rank 6 bullet. I put a rank 5 bullet in the gun. The thing was more like an elephant round.

I could see hundreds of tiny formations carved into the bullet itself. Either we would die, or they would die. I was never going to give up my hard won resources. That was a big reason I had gotten a weapon that could punch above its weight class, even if each shot was quite expensive.

Losing the Displacement Channel Carver or any of the rank 6 treasures was just not an acceptable outcome, no matter what. While my greed might be the death of me, I wasn’t going to let anyone take any of the hard-earned treasures I had suffered and invested my time to earn. If I failed here, then there would be no coming back in terms of my cultivation. I needed everything I had.

Wen Xue and I moved off the road to a small clearing a short distance away. I put my gun away and brought out my sword as we waited another minute for the cultivators to catch up with us. If for some small reason the other cultivators were just passing through, then they would keep going and we wouldn’t run into them. But if they were after us, then they would turn.

I watched as they all turned off the road towards us. It had been a slim chance. Now there was no mistake that they were trying to kill us. “Get ready,” I told Wen Xue who nodded next to me. He had traded some of his spirit stones for an actual sword and numerous consumables.

Hording wealth was no good if you were dead and a rank 5 blade would be useful even after he got past the first bottleneck. He had no experience with it, but it was better than nothing. He stayed a distance behind me. Our plan was simple. I would take out the leader, probably the elder, and then retreat towards him while reloading.

I crouched a bit as I got ready as the enemy cultivators rushed through the trees towards us. They weren’t that spread out, moving in a inverse ‘V’ formation with the strongest cultivator at the front as the point of their formation. It was a standard practice when moving to fight. The strongest cultivator would be the best one at handling attacks and blocking them.

The lesser cultivators on the flanks would be able to adjust and attack from a distance. I noted they all had a weapon in their hands. Two of the rank 4 cultivators had guns, at the outside of their formation. The rest of them including the senior cultivator had swords.

I had been practicing this move with my sword and then the gun, so I was more than ready to act at a moment’s notice. I had my sword in my left hand in a stance, raised up behind my head with my right hand extended.

All the cultivators had dark martial robes with no markings on them. A clear sign they weren’t here to talk or make friends. The leader cultivator swept forward as the remaining four spread out to either side. They wouldn’t waste bullets unless they had to. They would let the leader take point.

My right hand gripped the gun and pulled it free from my spatial ring. I pulled the trigger and the various arrays twisted into a formation inside the weapon, drawing on the energy of the rank 6 spirit stone that I had slotted into the gun.

That spirit stone determined the firing speed and the number of times I could fire. The bullet exited at near point blank range to surprised elder. I aimed for center mass, not wanting to risk missing. He tried to dodge, but it was too late.

The sheer force from firing the gun, jerked my arm back and twisted me partially around. The bullet struck the elder in the side of his gut. A huge portion of his body was blown away in a shower of blood, bone, and viscera. It really was more of a hand cannon than a gun. The elder went spinning with a scream of pain as his sword went flying from his hand. I put my sword away as I changed the plan and darted forward, past the fallen elder on the ground. Audacity would see me through this.

The remaining four cultivators, spun towards me. But the sword wielders were in the way of the gun wielders. I had practiced for hours in the last twenty days with reloading my gun as rapidly as possible. It only took a single second. I snapped the front of the barrel downwards, the spent shell ejecting with hiss from how warm it was.

I quickly placed a rank 4 bullet into the gun and snapped it close. The rank 6 spirit stone would be good for four shots, before it needed to be replaced. One of the sword wielders was rushing in towards me with a shout as I brought up the gun at them.

They immediately dodged to the side, clearing my next shot. I hesitated pulling the trigger since I was too far away to guarantee a hit on one of the gun wielders. I felt a bullet zip by head and a tree exploded in half a short distance away.

I raced at the gun user I was aiming at, since his melee support had dodged to the side. I flung my hand to the side, touching, releasing, and activating several cannisters. Smoke exploded outwards as three cannisters were freed from my spatial ring, making it hard to see for everyone that didn’t have my eyes.

“Stop!” The gun wielder cried out in panic and raised his weapon. I was already aiming at him and he had come to a stop, instead of moving. I fired again, and adjusted to the recoil better this time. The cultivator was hit in the right shoulder, and a chunk of it was exploded away. His right arm went limp, dropping his weapon.

I was already reloading as nearest sword wielder who had dodged raced at me. “Piercing Ray!” he screamed while thrusting forward with his weapon. I pulled out a metal formation plate from my spatial ring. It was only rank 3 metal, but I had purchased it for just this reason.

The attack hit the plate mid-air, sending it spinning around as I finished loading my gun with another rank 4 bullet. I fired again as the sword cultivator was almost on top of me. I saw the look of despair on his face as the bullet struck him in the groin.

My aim was terrible. I had been aiming for his chest. He screamed and collapsed to the ground from the wound as I kept moving away. The smoke cloud, I had left behind was spreading out as the two remaining cultivators raced through. They saw their companions as I finished reloading.

“Shoot him!” The woman with the sword said and pulled out a large tower shield from his spatial ring and raced forward. A bullet went zipping by me once again. I heard its impact against the ground behind me.

The woman holding the shield raced forward, using it to cover herself and get close. “Ahhh!” The gun wielder behind her screamed. I had watched Wen Xue move in to attack her. They had clearly forgotten about him or just weren’t paying attention.

Kicking off the ground I flanked around the cultivator, but they appeared to have enough and quickly retreated back into the woods. Wen Xue came rushing out of the smoke and looked around. “Anyone else?” he asked.

“No. I got three and one ran. You get the last one?” I asked him.

“From behind, yes,” he replied, and I nodded at this. I would need to remember that shield trick against guns. Cultivators could rapidly close the distance and dodge, making it hard to track them. Even with increased bullet speeds from a high rank spirit stone, it was hard to hit a cultivator at a distance when they were moving about.

I put my gun away and pulled out my sword. The sword wielder I had shot in the groin was already dead from blood loss and shock. I still stabbed him through the head. The gun wielder I had shot in the shoulder was alive and stumbling away. I stabbed in the head with my sword. The elder’s body had disappeared.

Either they had escaped, or the remaining cultivator had grabbed them in their escape. A shame, if anyone had good stuff it would be him. While a chunk of his body had been blown away and would incapacitate him for quite some time, that wouldn’t be enough to kill a rank 5 cultivator. A body injury or a loss of a body part was less impactful to cultivators past the first bottleneck.

“No spatial items,” I muttered as I picked up the spare gun from the cultivator I had killed. Wen Xue did the same for his cultivator. It didn’t take long for both of us to find the spare bullets for the gun. They were only carrying nine rank 3 bullets each. Their guns were also garbage. Even if I had been hit, with my cultivation the damage wouldn’t have been as severe.

Still, better not to get shot in the first place. The sword was only rank 3, inferior to the one I had. There was nothing else of value even after carefully searching the cultivators. We left them in the forest for the beasts to find and set off once more, victorious.

“Who do you think sent them?” Wen Xue asked me as we kept traveling along the road.

“Any number of people. But I would personally guess Han Xingjuan. The woman is completely crazy and jealous,” I replied.

“You didn’t want to question them?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“Only the elder would know, or possibly that cultivator with the shield, since they would have spatial items and seemed more competent than the rest of them. My guess, rouge cultivators hired to come after us. Or they might have paid an information broker in Imperial City,” I replied.

“They were weak?” he asked.

“And disposable. They had almost no techniques, showing they probably aren’t from a sect or left. The weapons they had were only rank 3. A shame, that the elder and their weapon escaped,” I replied with a frown. “We need to keep moving and put distance behind us. Next city we will use a carriage diversion plan, I came up with.”

“Carriage diversion? Oh, you mean where you rent multiple carriages, but hide which one we are on,” Wen Xue said. This was something we had discussed on the way to the Floating Island as one of our strategies. I was glad that he remembered and had been paying attention.

“Might take a bit longer to get back to the Cloudy Moon Sect, but the delay will be worth it. Even if our route isn’t standard, I don’t want to be chased down or hounded,” I replied, and he nodded at that.

Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any more issues by the time we arrived in the next city. I hired four carriages to go in different directions. Then another four the following day, which we took one of them that wasn’t a direct route to the Cloudy Moon Sect. I also arranged for another four the following day as well.

I had the money, and it was better to create confusion for anyone following us than get into another fight. I should have taken more precautions when leaving Imperial City, but I hadn’t spotted anyone following us then. They had been probably been waiting in the first city we passed through and waited for us to clear the domain of the Imperial Sect before acting.

It had been a smart move to ambush us. Either they were acting alone or hired by someone I couldn’t touch who had deep pockets. Even if I learned it was Han Xingjuan, it was better not to learn. She was a member of the Imperial Sect and a distant descendant of an immortal. I was also involved in business with her family.

If she had been behind things, then I couldn’t touch her. That would just generate more hostility and pointless drama. The biggest headache about the continent was also my greatest defense. The sheer distance between everything meant that as long as we kept moving at a fast speed, there was no easy way to intercept us and direct people in a coordinated effort to kill us.

Once we were free and clear, there was nothing more to worry about. Unless a much higher rank cultivator came after us. While I would have said that was unlikely before, the amount of wealth I had on me, specifically the Displacement Channel Carver was more than worthwhile to a senior cultivator. With such an item, the third stage was incredibly simple for anyone that wasn’t me.

The next five cities, we quickly departed without even spending the night, racing back towards the Cloudy Moon Sect. While I could run faster, I couldn’t run without sleeping, which was why I was hiring carriages at exorbitant prices to race forward. Wen Xue and I took turns keeping watch, intercepting any beasts that got in our path. Thankfully, most seemed content to leave our carriage alone.

It took a year of hard traveling, but we made it back to the Cloudy Moon Sect. I was now 49 years old. It had been four years since I had left the sect for the Floating Island of Death. Wen Xue and I ascended up the stairs.

“I can’t believe I am alive,” I heard him mutter.

“Doubted me?” I asked him with a smile. One doesn’t go through multiple life and death circumstances without becoming friends.

“I will admit, there were times I was worried. But we somehow managed to return alive. I will easily make it to the fifth rank with focus and hard work. Thank you,” he said to me. I waved him off.

“You helped me quite a bit. Without your skill in arrays and formations, I never would have been able to get through the Floating Island of Death,” I replied.

“I don’t plan to leave the sect again until I reach the fifth rank. One adventure was more than enough for me,” he replied.

“Really?” I asked. I would have thought he would be much more interested after our last success. The saying went that there were adventurous cultivators and old cultivators, but no adventurous old cultivators. Still, I didn’t think things were that bad. While we had some close calls and struggles, we had come out ahead.

“Yes. My cultivation is solid enough to keep advancing. With the Tears of the Immortals, I will no issue quickly advancing through the fourth stage. It will take work, but the risk is too much. Better to quit while we are ahead,” he replied. It was clear cultivators weren’t gamblers. The aesthetic monk stereotype was too strong.

“I understand. It was risky. Come, you will need to speak to the Sect Leader as well,” I told Wen Xue as we reached the top of the stairs. He followed me to the Sect Leader’s home. We were allowed through without issue eventually reaching his office.

We both bowed and took a seat in front of his desk. I narrated our adventures and had Wen Xue explain the formations he had seen. The Sect Leader listened carefully. Once we were done, explaining he was silent for a bit.

“Wen Xue, you have done well. Our sect is not a martial sect, but you have shown your bravery, determination, and willingness to put our sect in a good light,” the Sect Leader said.

“Thank you, but my accomplishments are small compared to Yuan Zhou,” he said with a bowed head.

“Yuan Zhou,” the Sect Leader looked at me and chuckled before continuing. “Is someone blessed by the heavens themselves. You grabbed onto that luck, which is a skill in itself and shows wisdom. Your sect badge.” Wen Xue quickly handed it over. The Sect Leader held it for a long moment before handing it back.

“I have awarded you 1,000 Sect Points, disciple Wen Xue. While small compared to the treasures you have found, it should give you peace of mind as you move forward in your cultivation. You are dismissed,” he said.

“Thank you Sect Leader Jiang Fengge.” Wen Xue got up and bowed before leaving. The Sect Leader turned to look at me. He face had more wrinkles and his skin was sagging.

“Yuan Zhou, my crazy disciple blessed by the heavens. You have done well. Very well,” he replied with a heavy sigh.

“Thank you master,” I replied.

“I was worried you wouldn’t return with the needed materials, but it was a good choice to sell that Necronomicon. Even if the knowledge was useful, its value is limited for you. Your cultivation is already complicated enough. Bring out the treasures you have obtained and let me take a look,” he replied. I carefully removed all six treasures in their specialized containers and set them in front of the Sect Leader on his desk.

“Ashes of the Forlorn Tree, Core Bone of a Rank 6 Beast, Black Poppy of Decay, Compressed Clear Jelly, Withering Weed, and a Petrified Sapling,” I pointed each of them out.

“An eclectic mix,” he replied and moved his hand to touch the container of each one. After a minute on each one he looked at them carefully before slowly nodding. “They should work. I need to make my final arrangements,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“Final arrangements master?” I asked.

“Yes. Such an operation will cost me my life.” I bowed my head as I understood what he was saying. He was planning to rip out a piece of cultivation to counter Aoyin. “It is the least I can do for the trouble that has befallen you. Look after the sect, once I am gone. I worry for Liu Chen,” he said.

“I will master. Thank you for everything,” I replied.

“Once you become an immortal, drink a cup of tea in my honor,” he replied and I looked at him in shock at that. It was something my first master Yi Rong had said as well. “It is a tradition for a master to tell their disciple that once they come up against the limit of their age.”

“Do you have any other advice?” I asked. He was silent again for a while, but I didn’t say anything, before he reached into his desk and pulled out a scroll case, embossed with countless symbols I had never seen before. It was an array that used a completely different base than all the arrays I had seen including the Floating Island of Death.

While I didn’t know much, I could recognize components. Like spotting certain statements in a line of code. But this was entirely different code if I was looking at it right. The Sect Leader set the scroll case in front of me.

“This my disciple, is my greatest treasure. A token of passage to the Firmament. For each person that returns, they are given three of them. I have already traded away two and this is my last,” he said.

“You want me to use it?” I asked and he nodded. He then set a journal down next to it.

“Indeed. I have written a journal on my travels. That I will pass on to you. Just as my master gave to me. And hopefully you pass on as well. The danger is beyond compare,” he replied with a heavy sigh. He seemed to be doing that quite a bit. “But there is no other way for you to cross through the fourth stage of cultivation.”

“Where should I take the pass?” I asked.

“You will travel to the peak of Mount Vortex. It is a forbidden place at the Northern part of the continent, which is lawless. Getting there is its own test. Upon the peak you will find the Wandering Immortal Gongong. He will give you passage beyond the continent and allow for your return. The price back is not cheap, but the longer you stay beyond these boarders and are not an immortal, the quicker death will come for you,” he explained.

“So, get the resources I need and then return?” I asked and the Sect Leader nodded.

“That and the fee for the passage back. All the advice and wisdom is contained in that journal. Beyond that, it is best you make your own judgements. Narrating my experiences will cloud your judgement. I would advise you not to read too deeply either as your perspective and understanding will be clouded,” he said.

“There is risk in knowing something?” I asked.

“No. But there are many risks. Assuming understanding or familiarity with anything in the Firmament is a quick way to die. To cloud your path with my own, and the luck I experienced would be foolish. It might give you perspective, but beyond that I would hesitate to say more.” He waved his hand at me. I carefully picked up both items and put them into my spatial ring.

Clearly he had been waiting for me to come back successful before giving me such treasures. If there was no danger in reading the journal, I would definitely be reading it. I stood up and bowed. “Thank you master.” I told him with sincerity, grateful for everything he had done.

“Just remember your promise to see the Cloudy Moon Sect be successful. Perhaps one day you will sit here as young disciples bother you for help in their cultivation. Go and rest. No cultivating. We will perform the procedure a month from now. I know you are eager, but doing the procedure before you start your third stage would be for the best,” he replied and then dismissed me.

Leaving his office, I made my way to my room. Looking at the picture on the wall, I would need to take a short leave to visit my family before coming back here. I would be cultivating for quite a while after the procedure. Decades upon decades.

This would be the last time I would get to see my mother most likely. I felt a heavy heart about that. Even with the Displacement Channel Carver, I had a lot more channels, that were far more complex than other cultivators. I would also need to attune my channels. That was something I needed to follow up with as well.

Wealth was flowing in, and I had quite a bit that was left over from my time in Imperial City, but I needed more. The number of spirit stones I would need would be massive. I would need 5,216 level 4 spirit stones in total, or around 57,376 rank 3 spirit stones to trade for the higher rank of spirit stones I needed.

That wasn’t just one beast tide, that was multiple beast tides worth of spirit stones. That was 4 rank 4 spirit stones per channel and meridian pair. The only thing left in the third stage was sitting around and hard work. After all my adventures, it would be nice to finally rest without worry and focus on cultivation.

The fourth stage could come later. Once I reached the fourth stage, I would be able to learn techniques as well, which I was excited about. Proper magic would be amazing to learn. My mood soured I thought of the Sect Leader who was giving his life to counter what Aoyin had done to me. I didn’t know their history, but the only thing I could do was be grateful.

Once Aoyin’s Fang was countered in my head, I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. That would make things much simpler, with only the sheer amount of drops of energy for the fourth stage being the main barrier that was remaining. The higher stages, I had some idea about, but there was no use worrying about any of that right now.

The most important thing was to rest and the quickly progress through the third stage. Despite having to go to the Floating Island of Death, this stage felt a lot easier compared to the second stage and getting all those flowers. I kind of agreed with Wen Xue. Adventuring, while highly profitable was also dangerous. There were risks in leaving the sect, Aoyin being the perfect example of such a risk. With everything secured, there was no need to leave the sect for the third stage of my cultivation.

Chapter 47 – A Moment Of Peace

I continued kneeling in front of the grave. My mother had passed away, from what was most likely a stroke. There were no autopsies done in cultivation land. But based on the description, she collapsed and began seizing. She passed shortly after that. That had happened two years ago while I had been at the Floating Island of Death.

Lighting the incense in front of the grave at the family compound, I knelt there quietly thinking about my choices in this life. I had started on the path of immortality because of fear of death. I had died once before, I didn’t want to die again. I didn’t like thinking about my death. It caused me to feel a feeling of fear.

Even my reincarnation into this life was done by an unknown force. I didn’t like the idea of higher powers. But if there was one out there I would say a prayer. “If anyone is listening. My mother, Yuan Wen was a decent mother. While she was prone to drama and overacting, she did care.” I took a deep breath before continuing.

“Making sure I succeeded while keeping me away from the politics of the family.” I wiped my cherubic face. Everyone was getting older and older while I remained. The gravestone was well made. The Yuan family would not dare to offend me over something like this. She wasn’t next to my father. That spot was reserved for the main wife.

Getting up I bowed to my mother’s grave. I then walked over to my father’s grave and bowed before it. I turned to leave the graveyard and found my Yuan Yun waiting for me. His hair had a lot of gray and he was using a cane. He had also put on a bit of weight.

“Brother,” he said with a bow.

“First brother,” I replied with a nod.

“I am glad to see you got the news,” he replied. I nodded at this as we slowly left the grave yard, walking togeather. “She was a woman with a strong personality. That is why father liked her,” my brother replied.

“Strong personality is right. How are things in the family?” I asked to be polite.

“I am retired now. My first son, Yuan Zhu now manages things. Third brother has also passed away,” he said.

“When? How?” I asked.

“Half a year ago. Drug overdose. Or his liver just gave out after all these years. You know how he liked to indulge. The theater was his playground,” my first brother said, and I nodded at this. I let out a heavy sigh. Everyone I knew was dying.

“Fourth brother?” I asked.

“Left to travel once you gave him his divorce settlement. I haven’t heard from him since. No idea where he is,” Yuan Yun said. “Your sister was asking after you.”

“That is my next stop. I…” There was a lot of hesitation to say what I was going to say, but it needed to be said. “I won’t be returning for a while most likely. Taking a break during my next stage of cultivation is not simple or easy.”

“I understand brother. Us fleeting mortals, are but dust on the ether, memories remain,” he said. It took me a moment to realize what he had just done.

“Taking an interest in the arts?” I asked.

“A hobby of mine to write haikus in my old age. I should have a few decades left, but I feel older just looking at you,” he replied.

“I feel short,” I joked, and we both chuckled at this. We continued to walk in silence. It was most likely our last meeting.

As we reached the exit to the family compound I paused. “Here. If a family member believes they can cultivate, let this help them on their path,” I pulled out a rank 3 spirit stone and tossed it over. My brother caught it with wide eyes and quickly pocketed it.

“You don’t need to do this, but thank you brother,” he said.

“Consider a repayment of debts.” I was pretty sure karma wasn’t a thing, but there was only so much I could do. I had other things to focus on. Money was easy, spending my time was much more difficult. I paused and gave my brother a hug, surprising him. I broke all the formal rules of etiquette by doing this, but after that visit to the grave I was feeling depressed as people I knew passed away while I remained.

Letting go of my brother, I turned and left decisively. There was no need to say anything more. I slowly made my way through Half Moon City to the Yao family compound. Everyone steered clear of me since I was in my martial robes with the sect symbol.

I saw rickshaws moving about, while others were walking to carry out their errands. I reached the Yao family compound and no one dared stop me as I entered. I was shown to a sitting room. It didn’t take long for my sister, Yao Chuntao to show up.

“Brother,” she said and gave me a hug. I gave her a hug back. Everything was going well with her and mother.

“You remember how she always used to gasp dramatically and wave her hands up to her head,” my sister said.

“Yes. It was very over the top,” I replied with a small smile.

“Or that one time, you told the cooks to add extra spice to our evening meal.”

“If I recall sister, that was you. Saying the food was boring,” I countered.

“But you told the cooks what to do. Everyone tried not to say anything while eating, until it became too much,” my sister chuckled.

“I think that was one of the few times we were ever yelled at,” I said.

“I know, it was hilarious. How is my daughter?” she asked, changing the subject.

“She is doing well. Elder Li Fu is looking after her and she is progressing through the second stage of cultivation. It will take time, but I doubt she is going to go on any crazy adventures like I did,” I replied.

“You must have went on another one. What happened?” I could tell my sister was excited. While she was happy being a mother and with her life, she liked to hear about the trouble I got up to. I then told her about my journey to the Floating Island of Death, the zombies, and then fighting enemy cultivators.

“Fighting, I am glad you won,” she said.

“They weren’t martial cultivators. Just rouge cultivators with weapons. Probably grew up in Imperial City and wanted to make some money on the side. There are a lot of cultivators there that aren’t tied to the Imperial Sect,” I replied.

“And you won. I can’t even imagine the danger,” she said. “At least you are safe now little brother.” I rolled my eyes at her teasing.

“I am going to be cultivating for a long time. I can’t easily stop without risk,” I said. There was a long stretch of silence. My sister reached out and I did the same. She gripped my hand, giving it a slight squeeze, even if my flesh didn’t budge in the slightest.

We sat there enjoying each other’s company for the rest of the day. That evening, I left and began making my way back to the sect. Starting and stopping the force chamber for my attunement wasn’t practical and would waste energy.

Instead, I would be put into an enclosed underground room. The spirit stones I had would be loaded up into the massive formation to generate force energy. The chamber would have a bucket, beast jerky, and reinforced barrels of water.

No lights and nothing else. It was similar to the soul reflection chamber, just built with longer term use in mind, but was still incredibly small. Since it was meant for long term use, and during the third stage of cultivation, it was more a tomb than anything else. It was deep underground with other similar chambers that the sect had for other attunement purposes, specifically earth.

This was so the chamber could be constructed in three dimensions, to capture all the energy and force back on me. That was why starting and stopping was a bad idea. I had talked with the Sect Leader and a deal was set up so that the Sect would loan me the spirit stones I needed paid out against future profits of my mining business.

It was a zero-interest loan thankfully. I had some rank 6 spirit stones in reserve. It wasn’t worth it to use them for the third stage of cultivation. That wouldn’t help my attunement of my channels. I used them as collateral against my income from my business instead.

The first step though was fixing my cultivation and countering Aoyin’s fang with polarity cultivation. I rested up for the rest of the month before the Sect Leader had made his preparations. I was called into his office first. I noted that Elder Li Fu was there as well.

“Master, Elder Li Fu,” I bowed to both of them.

“Disciple, sit,” the Sect Leader said while looking worn down even more than the last time I had seen him. “I will do the operation shortly. After that I will be forced to step down,” he said.

“I thought you would die?” I asked hesitantly.

“I will. My cultivation will be crippled. Day or weeks will be all that remains. A rank 8 cultivator rarely just falls over dead, regardless of the injury,” he replied and I nodded. “Regardless my time will be short. Elder Li Fu has won the nomination and the vote. He will be taking over as the next Sect Leader of the Cloudy Moon Sect.”

“Junior greets future Sect Leader,” I said and bowed my head towards him.

“More work, more headaches,” Elder Li Fu said with a sigh and shook his head.

“You are the only option that will ensure stability. Martial Elder Lei supports you as well for your steadiness,” the Sect Leader said.

“I am only touching on the eighth stage,” Elder Li Fu said.

“But you are there. Doubts are natural. I had them. Do the best you can do. Do better each day than the previous one. Don’t be afraid to make decisiosn,” the Sect Leader said. The future Sect Leader Li Fu nodded at this. “You are also being considered as a possible future candidate. Which is why we are discussing such things in front of you.” I blinked in surprise at that.

“Me?” I asked.

“Yes you. There are others of course. But if you make it past the first bottle neck through some miracle of fate, then you will be on the fast track. Consider my advice to Li Fu as advice for you in the future,” the Sect Leader said.

“Thank you for your words,” I replied and bowed my head.

“Going forward. Li Fu will handle anything involving you. While you won’t be his disciple, your actions have an impact on the sect. With the procedure today, the last major issue should be resolved. What we will be doing is between you and me, no one else. So, don’t worry,” the Sect Leader said. Elder Li Fu did not comment.

The Sect Leader got up and I followed him to a surgery room. Elder Li Fu followed along, and Elder Healer Meihui was there as well. “I still object,” she said as I laid down on the table and gripped the handlebars on either side.

“This procedure is necessary. Especially for my disciple,” the Sect Leader replied.

“And, it clearly involves the soul. You are reworking the astral soul stabilizer in some way. It has already integrated into his body. It can’t be removed,” Elder Healer Meihui objected.

“It is being changed, not removed,” the Sect Leader replied.

“Really?” She then looked at a small container he laid out on a table next to me.

“Yes. This goes no further than this room, but I will need your support. Elder Li Fu, you will need to monitor his head. Suppress the shard there, don’t hold back in the slightest. Once the procedure is done, you will slowly release your grip and I will follow. Elder Healer Meihui, I need you to make sure is health doesn’t collapse. With the beast essence and the Pill of Peace everything should be fine,” the Sect Leader said.

“The Astral Soul Stabilizer is taking all the excess power from his cultivation and managing it. With that, his soul will rupture. “You want me to keep it stable,” she replied.

“Yes. I spoke with my disciple, and after much consideration, these are for you.” The Sect Leader pulled out two rank 6 spirit stones. Even I could see the minute twitched in their face and their greed. He tossed the spirit stones over. I hadn’t wanted to give them up, but it was necessary, since this procedure involved risk to them. While slight, I needed good relations since I wouldn’t have the Sect Leader around anymore to hold my hand.

It was also implied that those spirit stones were for silence on exactly what happened here and to not ask questions. “Let’s get started. Elder Li Fu,” the Sect Leader said as the elder pocketed the spirit stone. It must be nice to get paid off for doing so little.

“Indeed. One moment while I locate this shard in his head.” He put both hands on my head and began to sense for Aoyin’s Fang. I felt a massive headache coming on as he narrowed down the location very quickly. “I have it. I am suppressing it. Barely,” he replied.

“Then, I will get started. Brace yourself disciple,” the Sect Leader said. I wasn’t watching, but I could feel him cut into my flesh and my soul right above my groin similar to the first operation. I could feel my entire cultivation shaking slightly, but it held. A small benefit from having such a massive cultivation plan.

I heard the container open and saw the Sect Leader pull out a syringe of glowing silver liquid. He held it up and then had a focused look on his face. He quickly turned and let out a couple of coughs and I saw his robe had blood on it.

“It is done. Let me check Li Fu,” he said and put a hand on my face. Multiple waves of pressure hit me in the head and it was difficult not black out. “It is balanced, give me a moment to make some tweaks.”

“His soul is shuddering, you need to hurry,” Elder Healer Meihui said.

“It will old with his cultivation. This is very important that I align it as closely as possible. Too far. Not that way. There. That’s as good as it will get.” The Sect Leader then turned and put the syringe into the opening he cut.

“AHHHH!” I screamed as pain coursed through me. But the elders had enough hands on me that I couldn’t move.

“Release your grip slowly. We need to go fast enough to let things settle before there is damage, but not too quick otherwise he will explode. Ease up, a bit slower. Perfect,” the Sect Leader said. There was more pain, which fluctuated. After a couple of minutes it began to die down.

“All healed,” Elder Healer Meihui said with a touch of exhaustion in her voice.

“Did it work?” the Elder Li Fu asked.

“I can’t tell. It will only be known on the fourth stage. It should work, but this is a technique that is not normally done. I need to rest now,” the Sect Leader said and quickly left the room. I slowly sat up.

“No cultivation for a month. Since I know that chamber has been set up for you. If there are any issues or spikes of pain let me know,” Elder Healer Meihui said before leaving.

“Do you need assistance?” Elder Li Fu asked me.

“I should be all right, just give me a moment to get sorted,” I said in a slightly horse voice. All that screaming was not good for my throat and my body felt incredibly sore.

“Hmmm, take your time. There is no need to use this room today,” he said and then left. I put on my martial robe and then stumbled back to my room. I then collapsed in my bed.

The next day I woke up and I felt my entire cultivation shuddering. All the triangular bracing, the outer hexes, and my channels, felt like the aligned motes were trying to twist. I went to the Sect Leader’s office, but it was cleaned out and Elder Li Fu was setting up various personal items.

“Junior greets Sect Leader Li Fu?” I said with a bit of hesitation.

“It will be announced right before the next arrival, but Sect Leader Jiang Fengge has retired and gone into seclusion,” Sect Leader Li Fu said. “Come sit. I was just about finished.”

I nodded at took a seat. It felt odd that Jiang Fengge had left without a goodbye. I guess he wasn’t a fan of them and we had already said everything to each other that needed to be said. The new Sect Leader Li Fu took a seat behind the desk.

“You will remain the Sect Disciple. Your status won’t be changing. You can keep your room and your privileges.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader,” I said with a bowed head.

“It would be a disservice and an insult to do otherwise. Your niece, will remain a Core Disciple. A Sect Disciple is not a position given lightly. Jiang Fengge only managed to do so, due to your accomplishments and his time as Sect Leader.” I nodded at this to show my understanding.

“I will also add that the Sect cannot help you in the fourth stage. The amount of resources required is astronomical. I know that preparations were already made?” Sect Leader Li Fu asked.

“Another trip to find resources, into the Firmament,” I replied. Elder Li Fu let out a sigh.

“That is what I figured. I have little experience in this matter. And will not interfere. But I will require a signed contract handing over your share of the mining business once you reach the fourth stage and depart,” he replied.

I frowned at this. Not even a day later, and my business was already being moved in on. “Why?” I asked.

“You will most likely die once you depart. Normally this wouldn’t matter, but there are two other competing interests from the Imperial Sect. If you don’t return, this could create long term issues,” he replied.

“That is a big if,” I countered. I wasn’t about to give up my company, even if the new Sect Leader was pressuring me.

“Indeed. If I had something like your business, I wouldn’t want to give it up either. But you will be compensated.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper and set it in front of me. I picked it up and unfolded it. The offer was basically a rank 8 treasure of some kind. A top tier item or spirit stone.

“If I refuse?” I asked.

“We can put a clause in of 1,000 years. If you return in that time, then the business and all money left behind will be taken by the Sect. That will be a massive amount and a long enough time frame to confirm your death.”

“What about the Soul Lantern?” I asked which should keep track of if I was dead or alive.

“Not useful. Once you attempt to break through your bottleneck, that will not trigger it. Also, there are things out there in the Firmament that could block the connection. While unlikely, the Sect is not a bank, for the amount of wealth that will accumulate once you are gone,” he replied.

“Even in Imperial City?” I asked.

“Once a concentration of wealth grows large enough, anyone would be tempted. That is why we can’t just stockpile for you for centuries on end,” Elder Li Fu explained. I frowned a bit, but it made sense. Too much wealth concentrated in one place could invite disaster.

My thoughts went to the rank 8 coffin that Aoyin had given me, that I refused to use. It would have been tempting to try and pass it off as coming from the Floating Island of Death, but Wen Xue would have brought up too many questions about its origin and I would have to share any proceeds from the sale.

A thousand years was a long time, and the amount of wealth that would accumulate would be quite a bit. I could even see an Immortal taking notice. While they might not act, it would invite questions. However there had to be other cultivators who left for a time and then came back.

“I could live up to 2,200 years or so if I make it past the first bottleneck.” I had been reading the Sect Leader’s journal about the Firmament. It was a crazy place. But I also knew that Elder Li Fu wanted the business and was willing to take advantage of me to get it.

The question was the value of the business. Back on Earth, the price of a business was based on three years’ worth of revenue and profit. But in cultivation land, there was no set standard. The issue was that cultivators lived too long. Very rarely did they want to sell something that was already making them money.

But there was an opportunity. If I did sell the business, I could invest in equipment and good for when I left. Money sitting around wouldn’t help me get past the first bottleneck. The sheer number of resources at the Core Formation stage I would need was massive.

Elder Li Fu clearly knew this as well, which was why he was pressuring me now. He smelled blood in the water and was a shark going after a tasty meal. “Zheng Ting remains employed as long as she desires and the equivalent of two rank 8 treasures. And my third stage is paid for.”

That was seriously undervaluing the long value of my mining business and my share. But it was a reasonable compromise. “One rank 8 treasure, but the rest is acceptable,” Sect Leader Li Fu countered.

“That is low, far too low,” I replied.

“It will take 200 years to earn the equivalent of a rank 8 treasure,” he countered. He let out a sigh. That was another reason for my suspicions on what was going on.

“I will sign things over once I am done with the third stage and depart,” I finally said after thinking over things. I didn’t want to rush into a decision. If I got past the first bottleneck, then I should be nearly unstoppable. Sect Leader Li Fu would have to bow his head towards me and accept unfairness thrown his way.

But right now I was too weak and had very little backing. Sect Leader Jiang Fengge had always been in my corner, advising me, and helping me along my path of cultivation. But now that he had retried, there was nothing more I could do about the situation but accept it.

I had no doubt that Sect Leader Li Fu could make my life difficult if he wanted to. Like the formation I would be using to attune my channels to force energy, was something made and developed by the sect as a long term investment.

Our meeting quickly wrapped up after that. The vultures were circling and I needed to keep progressing. While other people might have been tempted to force the issue with Sect Leader Li Fu, it just wasn’t worth the risk or the hassle. There would be no winning for me. I couldn’t depose Li Fu or go against him right now. That meant I could only endure his bullying. For that was what that entire conversation had been, not matter how polite it had been.

The month slowly passed as I reread my Master’s journal over and over about the Firmament. The outside land of the cultivation continent was much more diverse and varied. So, while this created a lot of novel options in terms of cultivation, there were a lot of risks as well.

But with risks came rewards. Selling my business made sense in this context. I would sell it, in exchange for high quality spatial rings, and stuff to bring along with me for trade. It felt like I was going backwards in business, going from a multi-national business owner to a trader. But it was all about at what level of wealth a person operated at. Trading direct goods was far more impactful than letting spirit stones pile up here where I couldn’t get to them.

The month slowly passed by and I was cleared by Elder Healer Meihui. I had gotten enough advice about the third stage, that I wasn’t worried about what I had to do. Wen Xue had provided several useful tips to manage cultivating at the third stage of Meridian Attunement.

The first thing was to not stop carving out a meridian and channel pair no matter what. I needed to mentally focus, painfully breaking apart the portions in my soul that were surrounded by interlinked aligned motes.

This was where the triangular mental model would show value. One carved out their own soul with mental will power and fortitude. I would then need to use the Displacement Channel Carver to draws out the remains of breaking my cultivation, speeding things up.

After that it was just about working as efficiently as possible. As my channels were carved I would draw in the force energy permeating the room I would be cultivating inside of. My meridians and channels would be attuned to force energy.

As I was led into the underground chamber and locked away with enough supplies for three months in the darkness. The inside of the room didn’t light up in the slightest. All the arrays were in separate layers. I could slowly feel my body getting squeezed.

Taking a deep breath, I focused my mind on the first inverse wave cone meridian I would be forming in my arm. Bit by bit, I felt the most minute pieces of my astral soul crumble away. My other hand had the Displacement Channel Carver. I could feel the bits of carved up soul getting pulled out of my body.

It wasn’t completely unpleasant, but weird. Like getting pinched where I didn’t expect to get pinched on my body. I lost track of time in the darkness, only able to tell how long I had been cultivating from the water and the food remaining. The hardest part was how slow it was. If I didn’t pull out the broken up pieces of my soul, it would take incredibly long to make any kind of progress, since the remnants settled incredibly quickly.

Chapter 48 – Cultivating The Third Stage

I sat in the force chamber. I could almost taste the energy in the air as it pressed down on me. I had just woken up after a nap, from cultivating my ninth channel and meridian pair. I had the process down for the most part.

It had been slow and frustrating the first time, but the next eight times had given me enough confidence and experience to go quickly and efficiently. The trick was to not hesitate while carving out my channels. If you went too slow then then one’s astral soul hardened too quickly.

Before I started on the next pair, I took the time to eat, drink, and relieve myself. The waste bucket was about halfway full, and it was almost time to empty it into the waste barrel, which used to be a food barrel. But the real cost to this kind of chamber was entering and exiting, allowing the energy to dissipate. That was why I had taken the absolute maximum number of resources when I entered and planned to stay in here until they were all out.

Thankfully, I could get away with eating and drinking less, and carefully paced myself. I really didn’t want to use the waste bucket, but there was no choice. I carefully removed the lid and a horrible smell assaulted me. I quickly did my business and closed it back up. I was more than happy to pay the costs of having the waste bucket and barrels sealed with arrays. Sure they cost a single rank 1 spirit stone, but it was worth it in my mind.

With how bad the smell could get, there was no way I would be able to cultivate for years on end in this tiny chamber with such a horrible smell. Speed was absolutely key in terms of completing my third stage of cultivation in any reasonable time.

I had been stuck in this horrible chamber for almost a year. For any other cultivator this speed would have been insane. Completing one or two channels per year was considered the standard. I would be completing ten per year. It was mind boggling, but the Displacement Channel Carver, had been worth it by a large margin.

It was a huge investment and worth every single bit of effort I had taken to get it. After doing my business, I quickly sealed up the bucket and took the time to stretch. Only the soft blue glow of the arrays and formations lit up the tiny chamber. It was about the size of a studio apartment in a major city, so a shoebox in my mind.

Thankfully I wasn’t claustrophobic, otherwise there was no way I would have been able to last. There was nothing to do but cultivate and rest down here. With the amount of force energy, the barrels were made out of spirit wood and metal in order to withstand the crushing force inside the chamber.

The sect and the Sect Leader had clearly gone all out in terms of quality and investing in me. I did bring back a lot of wealth and the chamber could be reused after I was done. Still, it was nice to see that all the contributions I had made to the sect giving tangible benefits back in return.

I finished my stretching and had a short meal of salted beast meat and a couple cups of water. Once I started carving out my channel, I needed to go as long as possible until the moment I couldn’t continue. Then I would pass out and wake up as quickly as possible after that. Repeating that process until the channel was carved out.

The only way I was able to keep track of the time, was how long the spirit stones lasted on the barrels in order to seal them. Otherwise I would have no idea how long things had taken. Even then it wasn’t precise, since there were gaps in spirit stone being used up and a new one being applied. Once every 100 days.

I laid out small spirit wood sticks for each spirit stone that had been consumed by the waste bucket. There were three sticks laid out, and based on how long it took to carve a channel, I had probably been in here around 320 to 340 days.

This test of being stuck in a chamber, cultivating was probably the hardest thing I had to do so far. It was mentally exhausting. I had never considered this issue before, since the previous stages had been rushed through once, I had the needed supplies and I cultivated while traveling. For the third stage, I needed to stay inside this chamber to attune my meridians to force energy. It was a massive luxury other cultivators would have killed for.

While I wasn’t one to needlessly charge out and risk my life, being stuck in a tiny chamber for almost a year was mentally taxing. Cultivation might strengthen my body and soul, but my mental state was a reflection of myself. It was something I would have to ask about once I left this chamber for the first time.

There was no more putting off carving my next channel once I finished my meal. I lay down on the angled stone table in the center of the tiny chamber. I had used my martial robes as a pillow to rest my head and the sleeves to go over my eyes to block out what little light there was from distracting me. While I could kind of look at my body, it was distracting and not very helpful.

I picked the next channel I was carving out. There was an order to these things. Rotate around the body to reduce the stress placed on one’s soul. Longer and more complex channels first, since they would impact more of the body. As one progressed through the third stage it would become slightly harder. It was a minor amount, but where every advantage was grasped, it was highly recommended to do the longer and more complex channels first.

Personally, I hadn’t noticed a huge difference in terms of difficulty between the first and the ninth channel, but I wasn’t going to reject millennia of wisdom. This time, I was doing a channel that started below my left eye. This was going to hurt.

The first step was to carve out my meridian, this was the most painful part. I pulled out a jade needle. The one I had was top quality, and they weren’t that expensive. One couldn’t get a fancier needle or a better one. It was a staple of the third stage, and while people had looked there was no better material than jade, which was quite common. Even the Imperial Sect used jade needles on the third stage.

I slowly pushed the needle into my skin. At the same time it also pushed into my soul, breaking through the outer part. I adjusted my arms to rest on my chest while doing this, being comfortable in a single position for a long period of time was important. The jade needle was in place, time for step two.

With my right hand I brought up the end of the displacement channel carver to where the needle was stuck into my face. I personally liked to think of it like treating a tooth. The jade needle was the scraper, and the Displacement Channel Carver was the suction device.

Once everything was in place, I twisted the jade needle a full rotation. Energy from the surrounding began to be pulled in one end and blasted out the other into my soul. I had control of this energy. I focused on shaping the energy into a circular drill. The debris that were very tiny bits of my soul, were quickly sucked up allowing me to quickly make progress.

A regular cultivator would have to focus on expelling these tiny soul bits. Sure, it was easy at the start, but the longer and further the channel, it became much more difficult. Like trying to drill sand, the sand would just mostly settle back down.

That was why the process took so incredibly long. But with the Displacement Channel Carver, the end would be as nearly easy as the start. I just needed to focus as I drilled down. Thankfully the walls of my meridian and channels acted as a guide.

Like having clay inside a steel barrier. I might scrape along the edges occasionally, but as long as I wasn’t digging into them that was fine. It hurt quite a lot at first, but then the pain mostly became a numb feeling.

The wave cone meridian design didn’t take long, as I quickly drilled down. One aspect of the third stage of cultivation was gaining a much more in depth feeling of one’s body. If the first stage was moving motes around and the second stage was to make the scaffolding, the third stage would fill in all the floors and completing the interior work.

Once I hit the bottom of the wave cone meridian, I spent a moment clearing and touching up a few places I had missed. This involved just blasting the minor spots with force energy the needle was pulling in.

It was important to do the minor touchups now and per each section in my channel. Once that was complete, I mentally focused on the triangular drilling method I had come up with years ago. A method to make triangular channels. Spinning a pointed oval around, and then spinning the entire pointed oval around in an almost circular pattern.

Pulling the force energy down to the tiny energy construct I had made. I began to drill out my channel. It took a moment at the start, due to me taking time to clean up and the edge hardening, but after that it went smoothly just like how I felt during the previous nine times.

The trick was slow and steady, making sure I didn’t go to fast and miss a corner I would have to clean up later, or too slow, making my progress harder. I felt a dull ache in my body as I slowly drilled through my soul. The Displacement Channel Carver really began to show its value since all the tiny ripped up pieces of my soul were quickly pulled out of channel, preventing them from settling and making the entire process far more difficult than it needed to be.

I couldn’t even imagine the sheer frustration that other cultivators had in the third stage, but I could imagine. Slowly chipping away and digging out their soul. If they had made a mistake in the second stage and put a barrier between motes that shouldn’t be there, then it would be far harder.

Eventually I made it to the first six-fold valve. This time I used the mental image of a saw to cut through the three intersecting lines, to create six partitions. It was slow and tedious to cut through the barrier that had been made in my soul. But the motes and the barriers had been very carefully laid out, so the barriers didn’t collapse once I cut through.

That would have been a disaster. A barrier that had been made of motes, breaking into near impossible to destroy chunks. That could add in a lot of extra time for a regular cultivator if they had screwed up in the second stage. Thankfully I hadn’t screwed up anything.

Once I cut far enough through, I slowly began to expand my triangular drilling pattern outwards before continuing down my channel. Once I clear the area next to the valve I checked the first section of my channel, and there were no areas that needed a touch up. I was getting better at this.

One slip of concentration, and the energy I was controlling could shift in size. That would lead to my channels being clogged. Like fat deposits in one’s blood system, it wasn’t good for you, and this wouldn’t be good for my cultivation, if I left anything behind.

I then began carefully weakening the far edges of the valve panels in a specific pattern. It was tedious drawing energy down through the cuts I had made, and then back up. But now was the best time to make sure the valve functioned properly so I had no problem drawing in energy further down my channel.

Once that was complete, I went back to drilling. The pressure of energy moved my valve slightly open, but not that much. There was a reason people didn’t use jade needles in the fourth stage, they put tremendous pressure on a person’s soul.

Some cultivators did it regardless, but it often led to that one specific channel collapsing and their core being unbalanced. Then there were cultivators who tried to draw in energy using a jade needle for every channel. It was technically possible, but it often led to long term damage and stress on one’s soul. Meridians and channels were meant to draw in energy naturally. Relying too much on jade needles in the later stage would damage the meridians.

Even if they were placed perfectly every time, there would be residual damage, as the time it took a channel to settle, would allow a person to have control of the barrier between the meridian and the outside world. If one used jade needles too much, this environment or the natural resilience of one’s soul would be compromised.

In the absolute worst case, the meridians would start leaking and a person’s cultivation would completely collapse. For the best possible cultivation in the third stage, I couldn’t remove the jade needle once inserted. I had to commit to completing the channel. Sure once or twice more wouldn’t be crippling, but it would damage me.

There was supposedly one sect, that permanently inserted tiny jade pins into each meridian and never took them out. But the problem came in trying to cross the bottleneck, their soul couldn’t reform due to the jade pins embedded into it. They had tried removing them at the last moment, but their soul wasn’t trained to resist the pressure from the core, and they began leaking.

They tried it with valves with some cultivators succeeding, but they were compromised in the later stages and struggled, due to their soul being incredibly weak. Like a boxer always wearing headgear and never taking a blow to the face until the big fight, then they struggled to keep going once they began taking punches.

If one wanted to be a cultivator, they didn’t skip out on soul day. The sect that did this apparently was trying new things, like turning off their jade needles one month a year, and various other tactics. But it was considered a sub-par cultivation method, with possibly only a minor boost past the first bottleneck, and then very sub-par results after that. That was on top of compromising all combat capability, with jade tiny pins stuck all over their body.

A needle drew in more energy, but it also made the process much quicker for me. There were minor size adjustments to jade needles, the smallest being called a pin. I went with the largest size of course.

I was completely exhausted and had reached my limit in the second section of my channel. I pulled the Displacement Channel Carver away slightly and reached up to twist the jade needle back. It stopped pulling in energy and I went to sleep.

Once I woke up, I carefully reached to the side and picked up a canteen. I unscrewed the lid and used a straw to drink some water. I then sealed it back up and set it to the side. I then started up again. The first part was like grinding through copper or iron, but not steel. It was two to three times, and not the ten times that the actual edges of my channel were like.

Well, that was ten times the first time I reached them. They would go up to twenty or thirty times more difficult to drill through once they were exposed inside my channel. Actual solid barriers to keep my energy inside of me, and not go all over my body.

The drawn in energy would settle down inside my meridian and channel. This would be my attunement. I hadn’t really felt anything, but what I had read, made it something that would just come more naturally over time. For me it would force the energy would seep into my channels and meridian permanently imprinting them. I would draw in more force energy in the fourth stage, and more easily convert other energy to force energy.

This would prevent conflicts with my cores. There had been discussion about using different attunements for my three types of cores, but there were no good options besides water and earth. I had considered them, but I felt having the same type of attunement across all channels would be for the best.

For my mind cores, I could focus on different applications of force. Also, the final amount of energy I would have to contain in the fourth stage would be more easily accomplished by having a greater understanding of force energy.

I continued to focus on my drilling. The big thing was not to stop near any of the five valves inside each channel. I had done that once and vowed to never do it again. It was a nightmare cutting through it once I had woken up after that. Once you got sucked into a slow down spiral it was a nightmare to get back out.

That was why I had mentally put my stop places in strategic positions that aligned with how long I could stay awake per each stretch of drilling. The entire process was a complete and utter nightmare. I pushed to the very edge, but if there were specific areas I didn’t dare to stop, or be screwed over with my next session.

Once I cleared the five six-fold valves I was onto Liu Chen’s valve design. Their twists and dead ends would have been completely impossible without the Displacement Channel Carver. I had to adjust how I drilled through these designs.

Sure, it had appeared simple in dimensions in his model, but in reality, it was much more complex and time consuming. Without his valve design, I could have probably reached 25 to 30 channels per year. But his valve design cut my speed by more than half and possibly up to a third. Even with the Displacement Channel Carver and the amount of energy inside the chamber, it was still a struggle to cut out the valve design properly and with speed.

The worst part was leaving anything behind to do clean up, which was a major hassle. That was what had slowed me down at the start and was hair pulling. Now I had gotten a handle on what I needed to do.

I slowly kept drilling my way through my channel and eventually made it to the end. If I wasn’t a cultivator, I would have wasted away to become skin and bones, just lying in a chamber, drilling out my soul, with little movement or food.

I crossed the final portion of my channel into the core area. After that, I then began working on a chunk of the core. I was slowly picking away at it with each channel. If I dug it all out at once, there was a risk of too much stress on my soul and it would collapse.

That was why it was recommended to carve out a bit of the core, preferably an equal portion, with each channel, to try and spread the stress of drilling into that much of a person’s soul over as long a period as possible to avoid complications. Again, it was something I wasn’t going to reinvent since I didn’t have to.

This did make it harder to carve portions out of the core later on, but it was the only option. The weird part about carving out portions of one’s soul was that if they were not dislodged, they would remain in place to the rest of the body. So, it didn’t make a huge difference to carve out around the edges of my core first.

The main thing was to try and not let any areas I dug into with a channel connect to other channels across the core until the very end. Otherwise, the small bits of my soul could settle in places I would have to dislodge and remove. It also might cause my core to start drawing in energy too soon, which would complicate things, pushing me into the fourth stage before I was ready.

I cleared out the portion of my core, that I had set aside for this channel. I would leave a super thin barrier, as I carved out the other channels, keeping things separate in my core for as long as possible. Some channels converged before reaching my cores, but they would just connect, no further portions would be connected to my core.

Once I finished my tenth channel, I first twisted the jade needle and carefully removed it. I felt pain on my face and across the entire length of the channel until it reached my core. After that I immediately went to sleep. I always pushed myself a bit more than I should at the very end.

This was my life day in and day out. I was trying to go as fast as possible, but I couldn’t afford to miss any soul bits that remained behind. I couldn’t dig any faster, since it was a limit of the amount of energy I could bring to bear inside each channel.

The energy limit was something that wasn’t easily overcome. It was another thing I had asked about, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do without risking one’s cultivation. Using a larger jade needle was about the most one could do, and I was already using the largest size.

While it was a decent amount of draw at the middle, it was painful at the start, and almost not enough at the very end. Anything larger and I would have serious problems near my meridian. Changing out jade needles wasn’t an option in my mind, since it could compromise my meridian.

There had been work with one jade needle surrounding another and pushing more down, but that was only slightly better than just switching out a jade needle. That thin barrier that formed after a soul was dug out was incredibly important on one’s meridian. Damage to that would only risk future problems.

After having discussed things over and reviewing my options, I elected to go the more traditional route than trying anything creative. With the Displacement Channel Carver, these small boosts weren’t needed, with the negatives they brought along.

Now I had just 1,294 more channels to carve out. Unless something changed in a major way, which was unlikely to happen, that meant about 130 more years of cultivation, which would put me around 180 years old when I entered the fourth stage.

There was no known way to speed this up. Even after paying the information brokers in Imperial City, the best item was the Displacement Channel Carver. Anything else was just a lesser version or had to do with the attunement one got from the energy sources they used while carving out their channels.

Experience would help a bit, but after 10 channels, I was already as efficient as I would get in digging them out. It was a daunting thing to think about how much further I had to go, and how mind numbing this all was.

When I woke up, I had thoughts about quitting or just giving up. And it wasn’t the first time either. It was something that wasn’t often discussed, but there were cultivators who just gave up. They were viewed as quitters and wastes of resources. The level of shame for a quitter was immense.

It was one thing to be stuck at the bottleneck and working to get past it, but it was another thing to completely give up. If someone gave up when starting, why even start in the first place? Why waste resources?

After five decades, I had finally stumbled on the answer on why all the cultivators were basically aesthetic monks. Even the more martial cultivators were subdued. This kind of long stretch of time where a person couldn’t do anything else would wear on one’s psyche. If I didn’t need perfect attunement for my meridians and channels, then it would have been possible to take breaks outside this chamber to cultivate, between each channel.

It was also a waste of energy and resources to do anything else, but sleep, cultivate, and attend to some bodily functions. I couldn’t bring anything else in the force chamber. The place was already quite cramped with supplies.

Once I woke up, I relieved myself, and then began to eat and drink. I looked at my remaining supplies. I had another nine years and change in this chamber. Another risk of starting and stopping, was that part of the design sealed me off from the outside world.

If the formations lost power, I would have to stop my cultivation fairly quickly, with the hope that I was at the end of a channel. I would probably reach 100 channels over the course of a decade, maybe 1 or 2 more. While addition was fine, the brutality of multiplication that was my cultivation was biting me on the rear.

Starting and stopping was just too expensive as well and would make my heart bleed if I did anything less than the maximum I could per session. I was definitely taking three to six months off once I was out of this chamber, that was for sure. Remind myself what the sun and people were like.

I chewed on my salted meat and then drank some water. It was time to start my eleventh channel and repeat the entire process all over again. This time I was going from my left hand. I lay down on my stone table after making sure everything was set up. I wouldn’t be getting up for a bit over a month.

All of this made me wonder how people came up with cultivation, but I figured over 200,000 years just for the third age, that there were bound to be developments. That was around 40 generations for rank 8 cultivators, which was about 800 years back on Earth.

It wasn’t impossibly long when people had long lifespans. But sitting in this chamber day after day, it was easy to see why cultivators believed themselves above mortals. To push themselves to such an extent, in the path of immortality and power required a very strong belief in oneself.

Lifting up the jade needle in my right hand I hesitated for around five minutes. I then let out a long sigh. There was no quitting. I had risked death to get this far. I couldn’t just give up on the incredibly boring, tedious, and mentally draining part after completing all the near impossible parts. It really would be such a waste, that even I would cough out blood.

Even with all that, it felt agonizing to slowly put the jade needle into my left hand. And it was more than just pain from the needle itself puncturing my soul. It was pushing through the mental block I was developing around cultivation. Even my long carriage ride after entering the astral plane, was more interesting than being stuck in a tiny chamber.

I felt like I was doing something, returning to the sect, even while cultivating. Even if I had something to read, I couldn’t afford the distraction. My speed was dependent on my focus. The more I was distracted the slower I would go which would lead to a self-destructive spiral.

This was why cultivators looked down on other cultivators who were pill pushers to get through the first stage. If one lacked the mental strength to spend time gathering motes they would never have time for the third stage and possibly later stages.

I twisted the needle, and quickly picked up the Displacement Channel Carver immediately after with my right hand. Some channels would be a much bigger pain than others, but I would manage. As long as I had at least one hand to work with, I would be able to manage. The tricky part was to find a position that I would move as little as possible at the start. Risking the needle moving and damaging my tiny meridian in any way was unacceptable.

If I was going to suffer, then I wasn’t going to self-sabotage myself. I started digging out my next meridian and channel pair.

Chapter 49 – A Surprise Visit

I felt the ground shake, just as I was digging up my 91st channel. I knew everything about my chamber and the environment I had been stuck in for such a long time. That was why the ground shaking was so surprising. That had never happened before and the mountain the Cloudy Moon Sect was built on was quite stable.

There was no hidden volcano or other such local formation that I needed to worry about. The only thing that could shake the ground like this was a battle between two cultivators. I kept cultivating, while hoping it was nothing serious. I needed to keep focusing on my cultivation.

The ground shook a second time. The glowing blue parts of the chamber dimmed slightly before coming back. I felt a massive wave of foreign energy pressing down from above. I was close enough to done, that I wasn’t worried and moved to the clean up phase for this last section. It would be a lot harder, but things were falling around me. There were slightly better places to stop, and I wanted to make sure I ended on one, than a troublesome stopping point.

For one moment, I was in free fall as the entire chamber shifted downwards. I kept my body absolutely stiff so no mistakes happened. I quickly stopped my cultivation and twisted the jade needle before pulling it out. The blue light flickered much more. I quickly put away the jade needle in my spatial ring and put on my sect robe. The entire chamber had shifted to a slight angle and I noted minute cracks around the doorway.

I pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t open until the chamber ran out of energy. I was trapped inside and began to panic slightly as the ground shook once more. The entire chamber lifted up slightly and it went completely dark. A sprinkle of dust fell on my head.

Pushing on the stone door, it was stuck. I pulled out my rank 5 sword and stabbed outwards through the door. It cut through the stone doorway very slowly. This would ruin the chamber, but I was afraid the entire thing would collapse I might get trapped underground.

Another massive way of energy pushed downwards. I let go of my blade and collapsed to the ground, unable to breathe or move. The pressure went away, and I slowly stood up, very carefully finding the hilt of my sword and cutting into the doorway once more.

I cut through edges, except for the base. I then slammed my body against the door and pushed it over. The staircase beyond it was much more damaged than the chamber. The ground shook again, but not as violently as before. Hesitating for a moment, I raced back into the chamber and quickly put all the supplies, including the waste bucket, into one of my spatial rings. After that I held onto the sword, as I quickly raced up the staircase.

It was quite long climb, since the chamber had been built very deep in the mountain to prevent any disturbances during extended periods of cultivation. The fact the entire ground was heaving was incredibly worrying. Another wave of pressure struck down on me and I slammed into the staircase in front of me. Thankfully I didn’t impale myself with my sword. Once the wave of pressure disappeared, I put my blade away in one of my spatial rings and continued to rush upwards. Stabbing myself would be an idiotic way to die.

Just when I was about one floor from the top, I came to a cave in. The ground kept shaking, and there were more waves of pressure, as I began to try and dig my way upwards. I only paused once to have some water and food and kept digging. I was incredibly tired, but with the formations not working, there would be no air to breathe down here. I needed to get out as quickly as possible.

It was an hour or so after the first tremor that they stopped. I had no way to tell the time. No more waves of pressure either. Five hours after that, I finally broke through to the surface. The staircase was only reinforced with a technique, not any kind of array or formation, which meant it was simply a matter of tossing debris back down the staircase behind me.

I could see light. Clearing the rubble, I quickly crawled through the hole and made my way outside. This was one of the few times I was grateful to still be the size of a small child. It let me escape cave-ins much more easily.

Letting out a relieved sigh, I looked around. It was dawn, at least it appeared so through the haze of dust. There was dust everywhere that made everything yellow and hazy. I slowly made my way out of the collapsed building and carefully looked around.

The building I had climbed out of was mostly gone. A large portion had been destroyed, similar to other nearby buildings. I slowly made my way through the rubble to the center of the sect. If anyone was still alive, they would go there.

I spotted my first corpse. They were wearing disciple robes. The back of their robe was bloody and ripped up, but it wasn’t clear what killed them. A super beast of some kind? I spotted a couple more disciples and a member, all savaged in some way and in a pool of blood. I noted the blood was still fairly fresh, which meant that they had died when all the tremors were occurring.

There was no sign or clue about who the attackers were. I then reached the center of the sect. The haze of dust was quite a bit. That was why I almost missed the large pit. Where the Sect Leader’s home once stood, there was nothing, but a pit and body parts scattered about inside. The smell of blood was heavy in the air.

I saw a left shoulder connected to a head and carefully went over. I flipped over the deceased. It was the elder Yi Meifeng. My heart shot up into my throat and I had to push back the bile. There was no sign of a sword or any other valuable. Whomever or whatever killed people, left nothing behind. I slowly made my way to the bottom of the pit. There was something down there, an array of some kind.

My heart stopped as I looked upon an incredibly macabre display. Sect Leader Li Fu’s head rested on a pillar of stone. That pillar had an array. The head was still alive. Its eyes were moving. “What happened?” I whispered out. The bloodshot eyes darted towards me. Sect Leader Li Fu was trying to say something, but nothing was coming out. I felt fear and shock. Who could have been strong enough to do this? Why would they do this?

I hesitated on what to do. On one hand, putting him out of his misery seemed like the right thing to do if this was just a message. But there was a good chance this was a trap for any survivors. Cultivators didn’t adhere to the Geneva Convention, which meant booby trapping people and corpses was a valid tactic.

“I am sorry Sect Leader,” I said very quietly and bowed my head. I noticed he had closed his eyes as well. I quickly moved out of the pit, the dust bothering my eyes quite a bit. I began to check the various buildings, but they were all destroyed, with corpses scattered about. There were no supplies or cultivation materials that I could find either. Something or someone had swept through the sect and took everything of value.

After several minutes of pointless searching, I went towards the administrative hall in the outer portion of the sect. It was destroyed as well, nothing of value left behind. Not even food. I hadn’t found any survivors either.

It was time to get out of here. I didn’t want to risk whatever had done this coming back to finish me. I made my way to the staircase that led up to the sect from the base of the mountain, but paused at the massive cliff that was now there instead. I gulped at the sight, as some of the dust had settled and I could see a massive debris field in front of the cliff. Like someone had exploded the entire mountain outwards.

Chunks of dirt and rock were still crumbling slightly down the massive cliff. I was in shock over what had occurred. One moment, there was a sect with a couple thousand cultivators, now it was a wasteland of destruction and death.

I hesitated before running off, which was my first instinct. My niece, she might still be alive. I had only looked over a small part of the sect. I looked out at the destruction and then back at the sect, hesitating to make up my mind. The unknown was the scariest thing to confront. Whatever had done all of this was out of my weight class. The stone pillar with the Sect Leader’s head, which made me sick to think about, was clearly done by something powerful and intelligent.

Anything that could rip through elder cultivators was not someone I could face. A minute went by, while I was still unable to make up my mind. That was when I spotted a figure advancing towards me out of the cloud of dust hanging around the entirety of the sect. Their cultivation looked weird. Like it had been smeared inside their body. I had never seen someone with a cultivation like this.

“Oooh, a survivor,” a younger looking man said. Based on the energy as part of his cultivation I would guess he was of the fourth rank, which meant he was really a dangerous grandpa. Not super dangerous, since he wasn’t past the first bottleneck, but ahead of me, if I observing the density of his cultivation correctly. He was wearing black and red martial robes with no symbol on them. A hundred questions raced through my head, and I didn’t know want one to ask first.

“Why?” I asked. The young man gave a shrug and flicked his hand to the side, a sword quickly fell into his palm. I did the same thing, drawing my blade from my spatial ring.

“A sword user? How delightful,” the young man replied with a grin. My mind was racing as he kept advancing giving an occasional casual wave of his sword. It was clear he thought me beneath him. That was his mistake. Time to get one last bit of information before I killed him.

“I am Yuan Zhou, sect disciple of the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I replied.

“The genius. I will only take your limbs and leave the rest for my senior. Someone has been quite naughty,” the young man kept advancing.

“Aoyin?” I asked and his grin widened, which was all the confirmation I needed. He leapt forward, looking to cleave me in two with his blade. I grabbed my gun out of my spatial ring as he moved right in front of me. A rank 4 bullet blew a hole in the center of his chest at almost point blank range. He stumbled back a couple steps.

“Death is only-“ I raced forward and swiped out in a one handed sword swing. His head easily separated from his body. The body collapsed into red liquid, equipment and all, leaving nothing behind. I blinked in confusion as there was a slow clap that came from the dust cloud. I quickly put away my sword, and reloaded my gun with another rank 4 bullet, before bringing my sword back out once more.

“Illusion blood clones are quite useful. I suppose you have earned my name before your death. I am Chimei. Sect disciple of the Demonic Blood Sect,” he replied while stepping out from behind some rubble.

“Why?” I asked once more. He just smiled and shook his head.

“That is like asking why the sun rises, the winds blow, or the oceans have waves. There is no answer that matters. The strong take, and the weak perish,” he replied as a second and then a third copy of himself stepped out of the surrounding dust cloud.

“Orbital mechanics, temperature differential, and tides,” I replied, and Chimei blinked a couple of times in surprise. “I answered three of your questions, perhaps you can answer one of mine, where is your master?”

“How interesting. No wonder there is such an interest in you, a genius. As for your question I don’t know. I am not his master, watching his every move. But you. You think escaping is so easy? That you can just take things and go on your merry way without consequences?” Chimei asked.

“No,” I replied while I kept scanning my surroundings and the locations where the blood clones had come from. “It was Aoyin who forced himself upon me.”

“So? A genius with a unique cultivation running around, you are just asking to be captured. Well, bad news for you, and good news for me, you are no more use,” Chimei countered verbally as all three blood clones advanced on me. I could tell they were all the same as the previous one, unless he was able to disguise his actual cultivation, which was unlikely.

My eyes were darting around. The three blood clones closed in on me, and I noticed a blur moving around to the side to get behind me out of the corner of my eye. The three blood clones pulled out swords, but now that I was looking for it, I noticed all three swords had the same type of energy as the blood clones holding them. It was a very good illusion or trick. My energy seeing eye saw through the deception.

“Ahhh!” We all paused and turned towards the screaming. It was disciple Wu Changying. I had only seen her occasionally over the years and almost didn’t remember her. Another woman was chasing her.

I leapt for the blur, my gun pointed at it. It tried to fake me out as the clones rushed in but my gun tracked the blur easily and I fired. Trying to feint and dodge, wasn’t possible since I could see it. Chimei, came into view, with a large hole in his side, but he wasn’t dead. The blood clones collapsed into pools of red liquid. Chimei didn’t hesitate and rushed for the edge of the cliff and jumped off, leaving a blood trail behind from his wound.

Wu Changying raced towards me and came to a halt behind me as I turned with my sword in hand. “Ice grip!” the female demonic cultivator cried out and gestured. Icy hands quickly formed around me and grabbed onto me, limiting my movement. Thankfully they grabbed my torso and not my arms. I flicked my wrist, throwing my sword towards the enemy cultivator, buying me a precious second as I reloaded my gun. I was glad for the countless times I had practiced reloading to do it flawlessly and quickly.

The gun really was the best weapon. I fired it a third time. The demonic cultivator’s head partially disappeared, and she collapsed to the ground right in front of me dead. The icy hands disappeared, but there was a bit of frost burn through my sect robes from where they had grabbed me.

I quickly reloaded my gun once more and retrieved my sword. “What happened?” I turned to Wu Changying, who was dirty with fear etched deep onto her face.

“The alarm sounded, but we only had seconds,” she replied nervously. “I was tending one of the spirit gardens at the very far edge of the sect. I…I hid under a bunch of dirt. Several demonic cultivators swept up the mountain while the elders were fighting. I didn’t see much after that because of the dust. There was a battle. Afterwards, I saw they…they captured many of the disciples. I was trying to sneak away, but one of them located me,” she replied.

Dammit! Why couldn’t you say they were all dead. I put away my sword as I checked the corpse of the female demonic cultivator. There was a single spatial ring. I checked inside of it, but there were just some basic supplies and spirit stones. Also, some tools, but nothing more valuable than the ring itself. This would make my third.

Wu Changying looked at me with a thousand-mile stare as I went over to the edge of the cliff. There was a bit of a blood trail that led away. Chimei hadn’t hesitated in his escape. I could pursue him or to try and save my niece, or even just leave, but I didn’t have much hope of fighting higher ranked cultivators.

The gun equalized things against slightly higher ranked cultivators, but that only went so far. At a certain point their techniques and speed would leave me helpless. Also, Chimei would be ready for round two once he recovered as well. If he could recover. A wound like that, where he lost the side of his gut would damage his cultivation.

Why attack now? I let out a heavy sigh as I looked at the ruined Cloudy Moon Sect. This was a massive disaster, for all my plans. The force chamber had been destroyed. Well, I could probably go to Imperial City and have something similar remade. Our split business was also in jeopardy. Cultivators of the Cloudy Moon Sect were running things. Zheng Ting had retired, so they were the ones in charge. Once it became known the sect was destroyed the Han family would move in and take everything.

I felt slightly ashamed since I had put all thoughts of my niece to the side for the moment. That was another option, I could go after her or try and find her body in the ruined sect. My heart clenched at the disaster that had happened and the choice in front of me.

Any attempt at a rescue or taking on an entire sect just wasn’t possible. While I knew that, my heart was heavy with this realization. If the elders of the Cloudy Moon Sect were defeated, I would have no chance to go after whatever lair the demonic cultivators had retreated to. It was also surprising that most of them had left so quickly.

There was still a lot of dust in the air. I glanced at Wu Changying, who had collapsed to her knees and was sobbing. She was no longer the icy woman I remembered, but a broken woman. I wanted to do the same, but crying wouldn’t help anyone right now. I shook my head and began to walk through the ruined sect looking for any treasures that might have been missed.

The demonic disciples had been quite through in clearing out everything of value. Aoyin might have gotten beasts and other cultivators to participate as well. But it was surprising that they had all left so quickly. It was a shame there was no one to question, but capturing a cultivator was way too risky. That was why I had aimed to kill when fighting.

It was close to evening, and I had just about completed a loop through the sect when five members and Elder Zedong showed up in front of me. Another person in the sect I had not regularly seen. I had explained what I knew and had found so far. I showed them the corpse of the woman I had killed. He also dispatched a member to begin collecting the bodies to be burnt.

Elder Zedong quietly looked down at the corpse in front of him, the members behind him shifting nervously. “The sect has fallen,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“What exactly does that mean elder?” I asked.

“It means the sect has dropped from a mid-rank sect to a low ranked sect at best. Even that is in question with the damage we have taken. The damage won’t be easily fixed either, but we can recover, in time. A third of the elders tend to be outside the sect at any given time, in case something like this happens. So about ten to fifteen elders. I will take up the title of temporary Sect Leader until more elders return,” he said slowly.

“Will there be a response from the Imperial Sect?” I asked.

“Maybe, but probably not. Unless you think otherwise disciple?” he asked me. I explained our business dealings in Imperial City with the mining operation that had been set up.

“Even that isn’t enough. Sects come and go. The Imperial Sect will not act. The Cloudy Moon Sect has had setbacks in the past. If Jiang Fengge had been alive, then it might have been different with his connections. But with his passing, we lost quite a bit of prestige and connections that could be leveraged. He would be the only one who would have a chance of appealing to one of the Immortals to intervene on our behalf,” Elder Zedong answered.

“Even after all of this?” one of the members almost shouted and waved his hand.

“Even after all of this. The attack was targeted and limited. If the demonic sect had tried to occupy this place, then the Imperial Sect would have followed up, or if our entire sect was destroyed to the last cultivator. But do you think that demonic sects don’t have the tacit approval of the Imperial or Blazing Sun Sects then you are foolish,” he replied with sadness.

“Why?” one of the members asked with despair in their voice.

“To make sure cultivators aren’t useless. The business deal that our sect disciple set up was bringing in quite a bit of wealth. The Imperial Sect would never be so heavy handed as to go after us, but the demonic sects exist for a reason. You will have to sell your ownership and we will probably have to do the same,” Elder Zedong replied while everyone looked at me.

“Don’t blame him,” Elder Zedong said, and the five members looked back at him. “It is something that has been known to us elders. We aren’t a martial sect and have been encroaching into various cultivation services offered by the Imperial Sect. We apparently overstepped enough for this to be the response. They let loose demonic cultivators upon us.”

“But we can’t do anything,” one of the members said with a heavy frown.

“Such is the way of cultivation. If one is not strong enough, then they cannot complain when someone stronger comes along. The sect will be pulling back and rebuilding from our reserve stockpiles. Since the alarm was raised, before the attack then the emergency measures would have activated. There is a reason the Cloudy Moon Sect has persisted for this long over the millennia,” Elder Zedong said.

“What do you mean?” one of the members thankfully asked and the elder was more than willing to explain.

“There are emergency tokens the elders carry if the Sect Leader dies unexpectedly. The surviving elders will have been alerted and know what this means. They will return in time. The libraries will have also been saved. We shall deal with this.” Elder Zedong paused. “This is all a secret of the sect and never to be spoken about even to other members,” he said. We all nodded and then followed him.

He sent one of the four remaining members to help clean up the bodies, while the rest of us moved down one side of the mountain, down a dirt path. Eventually we came to a large boulder and the Elder placed spirit stones in three specific spots. The boulder sank into the ground, and we entered a dimly lit tunnel.

Elder Zedong had two members guard the entrance while I followed him inside along with the last sect member that had been accompanying him. He stopped occasionally to put another spirit stone in one of the many alcoves along the wall while mumbling.

“That should do it, hopefully. Stay close behind me,” he said as we reached a large chamber and doorway at the end of the tunnel. The door slowly swung open. Some dust fell down. Incredibly deep underneath the sect were two buildings. Both libraries, the main one, and the elder’s library had all their shelves transported down here.

“How?” I whispered.

“Teleportation array. Not good for living things and the cost is horrendous. But it is our trump card. Knowledge is something that is not easily recovered if lost. I was worried that the arrays hadn’t activated, but it is the first thing we are supposed to do in the event of a large scale attack,” he explained.

“Now it is time for you to pay the price for this knowledge.” I got worried for a moment. “Rebuilding. Let us leave here for now. We will rebuild, and then move everything back to the top of the mountain peak. But first…” he trailed off and moved to one side of the very large underground chamber. I hesitantly followed him along with the sect member.

“Building supplies,” I said quietly as he reached one side of the chamber. There were a large amount of spirit wood planks, nails, and other construction tools. The elder began putting a large amount into his spatial ring before we left. He sealed up the chamber behind us and we made our way back to the top of the plateau in silence.

The bodies and body parts had been collected and a large pyre was built. I noted the head of Sect Leader Li Fu had been collected as well. Apparently, it wasn’t a trap, just a macabre message. I checked the bodies for my niece and other people I was familiar with.

Wen Xue was among the deceased and all his belongings were missing. Gen, a one-time friend was also among the dead. Only parts of elders Liu Chen and Healer Meihui were found. Only burnt pieces of Martial Elder Lei’s battle gauntlet were found, indicating that all of them had perished in the battle.

The pyre was lit without fanfare at the edge of the plateau, near the cliff where the stairs used to be. I had spoken to the members a bit and learned that Half Moon City was fine, which was where they had come from. The words of Elder Zedong echoing in my head. If the sect had been wiped out then the Imperial Sect would have to actually respond or look weak.

But with this just being considered an attack, not a destruction of the entire sect, no matter how many had died, it could be brushed off as a minor fight. And even if we wanted to protest, there was no higher authority we could protest to. It was the Cloudy Moon Sect’s fault for being so weak and unable to defend itself. Even if a rank 8 demonic cultivator had attacked, the Cloudy Moon Sect was a mid-rank sect and expected to be able to handle threats up to that level of cultivation. Even if Aoyin was pushing that boundary, we were expected to still be able to handle him.

It was a huge shock, first the sect’s destruction, and secondly, my role in its destruction. My successes had propelled the Cloudy Moon Sect into people’s attention and had drawn enemies. Even if I wasn’t to blame, I felt some responsibility. I watched the fires burn the pyre down in silence as I thought on how many people had just lost their lives because of what I had set in motion.

If a man is rich and is robbed, it isn’t his fault that he is robbed, but the fault of the robber. But that was the logical answer, not the answer in my heart. I didn’t like fighting or violence. I might be good at it with a gun, but that was the power of the weapon in my hand, not any joy I felt from killing.

Other more martial sects and cultivators might derive joy from violence, but I enjoyed studying and improving myself one day at a time. Now everything was in jeopardy. Both my funds for cultivation and the chamber I needed. While I could retreat to the Imperial Sect, it would be a disaster once I got there. The elders weren’t idiots.

Such an attack had been expected. They had been hoping to endure it and have more people survive. But they hadn’t. They weren’t strong enough. Management was going to be turned over to the Han family, and my fifty percent would be in jeopardy.

I could sell the rest of my business, shares and everything, to pay for the rest of my third stage of cultivation, but that would be it. There would be nothing after that. I would go back to being poor with no source of income. That was the power of cultivators to take and destroy what they wished of those weaker than them. Only with backing could one hope to make their way in this world.

While I had only done small bits of work, I liked my mining business. It made me feel important and accomplished in a way that other things didn’t. Who didn’t want to be rich and successful? Now I was losing everything because I was too weak.

I could protest and might be able to appeal to Elder Xu Xiaoli of the Imperial Sect, but she would not move lightly. At best, I could give her a bit more ownership to ensure that whatever transaction I did went through without any shenanigans. That would be it.

The problem of this culture was that once your backers turned on you, there was very little recourse. There was no court or justice system. The only way to hold someone accountable was power. And everyone was powerless before the immortals in control of the high ranking sects. Once these people turned a blind eye or tacitly approved of what happened, there was nothing that could be done unless one was willing to fight and put their life on the line.

It was a bitter pill to swallow. While I had thought I had gotten used to everything in this place, the lack of any kind of accountability was shocking. An entire sect attacked, thousands killed, but no one could do anything. It galled me to have to bow my head to the Han family.

When I went back to Imperial City, I would have to consider other options besides capitulating immediately. It all led back to the Imperial Sect. They would get their due one way or the other. The real question was how culpable the Han family was. But first, my niece, could see be rescued?

Chapter 50 – Hostages

“No,” Elder Zedong said and shook his head.

“There is no way?” I asked and he let out a sigh and gave me a tired look.

“We were defeated once. If you want people to help you, hire a sect, but even then, they would refuse. No one, not even the first child of an Immortal would be worth the price or the risk,” he explained. I bowed my head at that. “I understand she is family, but the risk is too high. For now, we are safe, since we won’t be attacked again by the demonic sect. That would be the same as claiming territory. Our neighbors will send people to check on us, and will find us strong enough, without resources to risk an attack for little benefit.”

“You know where they went?” I asked, while thinking reckless thoughts. I wanted revenge and to strike back.

“I won’t tell you. There has been a lot of effort invested into you. I won’t send you to your death. As for your niece, she is already dead most likely and turned into a cultivation resource. The fate of all cultivators captured by a demonic sect,” he replied. I clenched my fists in anger. How could we have been so weak? I knew the Cloudy Moon Sect wasn’t the strongest, but it also wasn’t the weakest in my mind.

More had rested on my master, the previous Sect Leader, than I had realized. With his death, it left the Cloudy Moon Sect vulnerable. “Thank you, Elder Zedong,” I replied with despair.

“I understand where you are coming from, I wish I had strength myself. Strength to chase down the attackers, save our sect members, and kill them. But it just isn’t possible, Disciple Zhou. The harsh reality is that we are not capable of fighting back, we can only endure.” I bowed to the Elder as he waved me away.

It was incredibly disappointing that there would be no rescue mission for the captured sect disciples, which included my niece. I let out a sigh, I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t want to do it. Doing the right thing was never easy.

I left the sect and made my way to Cloudy Moon City. I would be headed to Imperial City afterwards to sort out the mess that was my mining business. That was going to be much harder and even more complicated. While I would like to hope that I could outrun the news of the attack on the sect, it was doubtful that would be the case.

Just one high level cultivator flying about, would find out the information and it was the kind of news they would pick up and bring back to Imperial City. Regardless, I needed to finish my cultivation in the third stage. I had only completed a very small portion of it, and I had a lot of channels left. There were 1,304 channels in total, and I had only completed 91 of them, a drop in the bucket that was my cultivation.

At the end of the day, that needed to be my priority right now. I was only 58 years old, while I would easily live to be around 300 years old, each second was precious. It was all too easy to say, I will cultivate later, or I have time. That was one message that was always conveyed, a lack of time. Since I had cleared the obstacles for the third stage of my cultivation, but the fourth stage and the bottleneck, would be the hardest part. That was what I needed time for.

That was why my focus needed to be on my cultivation. It would also increase my strength at the same time. While I had won the fights I had been involved in, that was relying on equipment that had a much greater level than my cultivation. While tools and equipment were valid, my base abilities still lagged behind elder cultivators and not being able to use techniques.

Chimei’s clone ability had been incredibly powerful. Against anyone else who wasn’t able to see the energy of a person and in the air, it would have been a much harder fight. I just needed more experience in seeing techniques being used and fighting at that level.

Regardless of these thoughts and plans, there was something I needed to do, but absolutely did not want to do. I arrived at Cloudy Moon City and made my way to my sister’s home early in the morning. I was let in and was led to a sitting room while the servants let her know that I had arrived.

“Brother,” she greeted me as she entered, and I got up to hug her. “There are rumors the sect was attacked?”

We sat down. “All you servants leave,” I commanded. They quickly left without any objection, and I let out a sigh. “The sect was attacked, by demonic cultivators. Many were killed and several cultivators captured to be used as resources by the demonic cultivators,” I began to explain.

“No. No. Yuan Zhou, it cannot be true,” my sister said.

“Yao Lan was either captured or her body destroyed, and no trace found. I do not know which. In either case she is dead,” I morosely explained.

“Nooooo!” my sister let out a scream and then broke into tears. “How could you let this happen?” I knew it wasn’t really a question, but one born of despair. Her daughter was either dead or suffering a fate worth than death. She got up and I did as well. She came over and began hitting my chest, which did nothing to me as she wailed and screamed.

This went on for a couple of minutes before she finally collapsed, exhausted, gasping for air. I slowly and carefully lifted my sister up and put her back in her chair. I then took my seat again as we were both silent.

“Who did this?” my sister asked.

“A cultivator beyond me, one step away from being an Immortal,” I replied. My sister sagged into her chair.

“Why?” she asked. The true answer was the balance of power between sects, and Aoyin sending a message, while hoping to capture me. If one was more focused on conspiracy theories, then one would even say an Immortal from the Imperial Sect ordered such a thing, to cut my path short. Regardless, none of that was stuff to be shared. My sister was a mortal, not a cultivator, so was her daughter.

For the most part, mortals were off limits. The cities and mortals formed the economic base for the entire region controlled by the sects. Even the high-level sects were impacted by the number of cities under their control. While each one only sent back a small portion of income, they added up and created the foundation of wealth for the high level sects to draw from.

What my sister was really asking, is to give some kind of explanation on why this happened that she could make sense of.

“The Demonic Cultivators made a move on the Cloudy Moon Sect. I only survived since I was deep underground in a cultivation chamber and was almost crushed during the attack. That is the risk of being a cultivator, that someone immensely stronger, just crushes you without regard or warning,” I replied and there was a long stretch of silence as we both thought over the entire situation.

“I am sorry for hitting you,” my sister said.

“It is fine. While I might not have deserved it, you were upset,” I added. Also, she didn’t do anything to me.

“Are we in danger?” she asked quietly.

“No. The demonic sect won’t return, otherwise there would be an intervention.” The timeframe was seen as around 100 years. Cultivators thought in different time frames than mortals. While the high-ranking sects might allow demonic sects to roam around as a threat and reminder, they couldn’t allow them to take known territory.

It would be a slap in the face. That entire power balance would change if Aoyin or another demonic cultivator reached the rank of Immortal. I suspected even if that happened, the high-ranking sects would not allow the status quo to be threatened. It was clear they had worked very hard over the millennia to create a stable society, that still allowed cultivators to rise up.

How else could a society have lasted for 200,000 years without active intervention? There were reasons and forces at work, that I didn’t understand and wasn’t qualified to understand. It was incredibly frustrating, but the only solution was to get stronger.

“You are leaving?” my sister asked.

“Yes, for a long time. I won’t be able to visit again. This would be goodbye,” I explained. The distance to Imperial City was too much, unlike the sect. Once I began cultivating in earnest, there would be very few chances for breaks. Even then, returning all the way out here to Half Moon City, just wasn’t feasible. I would lose too much time in progressing my cultivation.

I always knew this day would come. When I had to say goodbye. I just hadn’t realized it would be so soon. My heart felt heavy. My sister had been one of the only family members I viewed as family since being born into this world. It hadn’t started off this way, but she had grown on me over the years.

“I knew this day would come, where I could no longer look upon you as you moved further and further away little brother,” my sister said. She had no more tears to give, or I am sure she would be crying right now.

“I did ask you know,” I said, and she stared directly at me. “If older people could be brought into the path of cultivation in order to live longer. It is forbidden. One of the many rules that the high ranking sects enforce.”

“I appreciate it. I just…I just…my hopes and dreams rested with Yan, my little flower. Now she is gone,” my sister said slowly and with hesitation. The silence stretched out once more as we just sat in each other’s company. “I should arrange a funeral. How long will you be staying?”

“Not long at all. I plan to leave right after this,” I replied.

“No one else?” she asked.

“I have said everything I needed to say long ago when I went into seclusion. I wouldn’t have come here, except for Yao Lan and what happened to her,” I explained. Having long heart wrenching goodbyes wasn’t something that I wanted. While originally, I had been okay with possibly visiting over the decades, this would no longer be an option. Better I just move on without fuss.

There was the slim chance that Aoyin would make a move to use my family against me. While very unlikely, it was still possible. Better not to give me any more targets than I needed to. Even if Aoyin wouldn’t act, I could Chimei trying to take revenge on me for wounding him in anyway possible. He didn’t seem the type to let an injury and defeat go.

That was why it was best in my mind to leave right away without a fuss. “You care more for cultivating than your family?” my sister asked. It was a rude question, but she clearly wasn’t at her best at the moment, so I forgave her.

“People move on. That is the nature of the world,” I countered.

“Except cultivators,” she replied.

“Except immortals. That is the dream of all cultivators, to reach such a height. I have put in so much work and effort, to stop now, would be to spit on the help so many people have given me,” I replied. Also, I refused to stop. I had died once and somehow came back. It was not one of the things I liked thinking about.

I wanted to keep going no matter what. To have power to decide my fate, no matter what was out there. Stronger cultivators, ancients, or other terrifying powers I had no clue about. I also enjoyed the self-progression. It was like a thesis, with the thesis topic, being my cultivation. The validity of a chosen path was shown by how far you were able to go. To be the best.

Back on Earth, this was a struggle with so many competing factors. But in cultivation land, it was simpler and more complex at the same time. Simpler due to the fact, everything was based on how dedicated an individual was to cultivating. It was complex since it all came down to risk and how much risk a person was able to stomach.

“A genius of hard work,” my sister muttered.

“Indeed. While I leveraged my genius nature in the past, hard work is what separates people who go far and those who don’t. It would be easy to give up on cultivating. Live a peaceful life. Have kids one day, and then die,” I said.

“What? I don’t believe that,” my sister countered and I shook my head.

“It is something I have thought about. It is easy to stop. Easy to make excuses. It is hard to keep going forward, year after year, hoping that I will succeed,” I replied. The long cultivation session, was something I could endure, but there were mental stresses from having to cultivate so much. “We all struggle in some way. I might be the cool older brother, but I struggle quite a bit as well.”

“I never thought you didn’t struggle, but giving up? Really?”

“I considered it a few times. But in the end, I will keep going. To be a cultivator is to endure, and only I will remain,” I said softly. I didn’t cry, but my heart beat heavily in my chest.

“Thank you for letting me know what happened to my daughter Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” my sister said and stood up. I got up as well. She hesitated for a long moment before approaching me and giving me a hug. She leaned her head down next to mine.

“No matter what happens, I love you brother. Be safe. Take care. Don’t let your heart become a rock. And once you are an Immortal, remember your foolish sister who had foolish thoughts.” I had no idea what thoughts she was talking about as she gave me a kiss on my head before leaving.

I stayed in the room for a minute, looking at the door she left through. This would be the last time I saw my sister Yao Chuntao. “Take care sister. Sorry I failed to protect your daughter.” The words sounded out in the empty room, and I shook my head. There was no need to say anything more. It would just create more heartbreak between us.

No one stopped me as I left her home. I didn’t look back. Unless I got past the first bottleneck, there was nothing I could do for the Cloudy Moon Sect and nothing they could do for me. Rebuilding would take a tremendous amount of effort and time. Finding people willing to be cultivators and setting them on their path was not simple.

At least a lot of members had survived, since many of them were outside the sect when it was destroyed. Unlike my first Master Yi Rong, who was sent to live outside the sect in retirement, these people would be allowed and encouraged to stay inside the sect to provide guidance. The foundation of knowledge was still there as well.

The Sect wasn’t destroyed, but it had suffered a serious setback. With how much I had to focus on my cultivation I wouldn’t be able to do anything to help them and they didn’t have any spare bandwidth to help me in the slightest. I was on my own going forward now.

I paused to look at the Zhou family compound, where I had grown up. My nephew from my half brother was now the patriarch of the Zhou family. I continued onwards. There was nothing for me to say or any reason for me to visit. It was better that I just leave without making a fuss.

Leaving the city and then the outer wall, I quickly began to travel along the road by myself. While unlikely, if I wanted to have any hope of getting to Imperial City in time to deal with the destruction of the Cloudy Moon Sect, then I needed to hurry. The delay to speak to my sister about her daughter’s death was the only delay I had been willing to make.

This would also be the best time to intercept me. If there was an ambush, it would most likely occur after leaving Half Moon City. That was why, I went off road into the surrounding forest. It was a bit of a risk with the beasts, but I was confident in my own strength and ability to keep moving to the next city before needing to rest.

The roads formed a very shallow pyramid, with one city at each point. I was taking a straight line, cutting out a city in my trip, but going offroad to avoid anyone from tracking me or intercepting me. I would change out of my sect robes and wear martial robes that were non-descript. It would be a headache with my stature, but I could easily get a place to rest discretely and then continue on my trip.

I had traveled enough in the past I was confident about avoiding detection if I needed to. Traveling through the forest would slow me down slightly, but I didn’t want to get ambushed or intercepted. I made my way through the forest, only having to kill a couple of beasts. There spirit stones would be used as basic spending money.

Technically killing beasts this near to cities and roads was illegal, but I wasn’t concerned. I wasn’t constantly killing beasts in this area, just traveling. Even the neighboring sects wouldn’t care, since they wouldn’t find me with how big the wilderness was.

It took a five days of travel, before I was about to reach the outer wall of the city I was aiming for. I paused as I felt a stillness in the air. I had my sword in hand already, in case a beast showed up, but there were no beasts around.

That was when a blood clone of Chimei showed up in my vision and was approaching slowly. I looked around, and there were no other threats that I could see. “Still alive,” I pointed out to the clone. Normally I wouldn’t talk, but he wasn’t actually here. Either he was delaying me, or he wanted to speak.

Since he had found me, I was content to speak for a bit hoping to get more information about what he was planning and Aoyin. “You are a dead man walking,” Chimei’s clone said. I smiled ruefully at being called a man with my small stature.

I looked around for other threats but didn’t see any. But that didn’t mean much. I had not studied techniques in depth, to understand their limits and constraints. I had been too focused on my cultivation plan and businesses. Not techniques I wouldn’t be able to use until the fourth stage of cultivation.

“How so? I don’t see you around, you gave up your element of surprise. Unless you are calling on Aoyin?” I asked. That was my biggest concern and I paid close attention to how this clone responded. The slightest twitch or glance might give something away. Instead, it took a different track.

“I have your niece. A pretty little thing. Hand yourself over to me and I will let her go,” he said, and I rolled my eyes at that. That seemed like a pointless threat. Why even make such a threat? I considered his words in my head, but no matter how I thought about them, it was just a pointless claim. Unless he was hoping to enrage me to make a mistake? That was not going to happen.

“After you suck her cultivation dry and leave her a dead husk. I have already accepted in my heart that she is dead,” I replied. The blood clone frowned at that. “What? Were you thinking I would just roll over and die for someone else?” I asked while staring at the clone. I was really starting to dislike this technique. The combat techniques I had seen so far weren’t that useful, but this method of using clones to distract and communicate was surprisingly effective.

There would be no way to have a conversation otherwise. Since I wouldn’t hesitate to attack to get an advantage. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any kind of connection I could trace, and I had no idea about the range limitations. Chimei probably hadn’t recovered quickly, so I was leaning more towards delay and less ambush for what he was currently trying to do.

“No. But it was worth a shot. So, sending clones everywhere?” I asked while looking around. I was more worried about how he had found me so easily. To find someone in the wilderness wasn’t a simple task. I had no idea if I could get away even if I killed this clone.

“Something like that,” the clone said while I advanced. He clearly wasn’t sharing and appeared intent on delaying me instead. That meant it was time to leave. I was going to kill the clone and then head in a random direction, hoping to lose anything or anyone that might be after me. “Don’t be in a hurry, I am here to deliver more than a threat.”

“And that is?” I asked as I got closer and closer. The clone suddenly collapsed as three people appeared in my sight at a slight distance. That was annoying. A wide net had been spread. Chimei or Aoyin clearly had a lot of knowledge about me. Knowing I was headed for Imperial City, there would only be so many wilderness routes I could take. The fact that this team took time to get here, meant they were stretched out over distance and there were probably more cultivators closing in at the moment.

All of them rank 4 cultivators. He had been delaying. They knew about my gun as well and would most likely make preparations, which was why I needed to get past them and not retreat. Breaking past them would hopefully let me escape any kind of encirclement.

The demonic cultivators were quickly closing in on me through the trees with weapons out. One had a spear, and two more had swords in hand. I put my sword away and got out my gun. I would need to be ready to reload quickly. At least they were rank 4 cultivators, so while they had techniques, I wouldn’t have to use my more expensive ammunition to wound or kill them.

I rushed forward. I saw one of them stop and slam their hand onto the ground and release a surge of energy. It flowed through the ground and into the nearby plants. It was a bit of a long distance shot, but the cultivator was clearly engaged in some kind of technique and not moving. That was their mistake. I fired, and hit them in the chest, blowing a hole through their body and painting the tree and dirt behind them red with their blood.

The energy stopped floating just as vines had begun to burst out of the ground. They quickly began to wither as the last two cultivators kept closing in on me. I quickly reloaded while retreating. Staying in one spot like that one cultivator who had tried to trap me, would be a major tactical mistake.

Quickly dodging through the trees, the remaining two cultivators through fire balls at me, singing my clothes slightly, but not hitting directly. I managed to go to the side of them and loop around, heading in the direction they had come from.

That was the one direction I was confident didn’t have more enemies, since they had come from that direction. Any other way I went could have more enemies. While I kept glancing over my shoulder, and waving my gun at the two pursuing cultivators, they kept moving and I couldn’t get a good shot.

I was tired from traveling so much and needed to figure out a solution and quick. When I made a feint back to the two cultivators, they kept their distance and attacked from range, forcing me to keep moving. It was clear they weren’t going to try and engage me, just wear me down. I had about the same speed as them, so I couldn’t separate or close the distance to escape or wound them.

There wasn’t much of note in the nearby geography, which meant, I would have to take more drastic actions. Very drastic actions. Thankfully we were far from any city at the moment, which would hopefully be enough. But I saw no other way to survive.

I altered my direction to a nearby beast and got out my sword. I killed it. After that I repeated the process, while doing a large loop, catching the beasts that came back to feast on their fallen brethren. The two cultivators kept up pursuit, but they seemed content to hang back and not try and ambush me while I was killing the beasts.

More beasts were pulled in by the recent kills, and now the two pursuing cultivators had to act as well, to keep from being attacked. No rank 4 beast yet, but it was only a matter of time. In a quarter of a day, the number of beasts in the area was rapidly increasing as I killed more and more, quickly creating a beast tide.

That was my crazy plan. To create a disaster to force all pursuing cultivators off my trail and hopefully ruin any kind of tracking and pursuit. But it would be a big risk as I couldn’t escape just yet. More beasts kept pouring into the area, and it was a test of resolve and strength, to see who would break and flee first, the enemy cultivators or myself. Or if we would all die, once there were too many beasts or high rankings ones showed up.

Chapter 51 – Beast Tide

I was killing a beast every half minute or so, and that time was decreasing as more beasts rushed into the area. I had lost track of the pursuing cultivators, but I wasn’t about to just leave the area. I had no doubt that my pursuers were attempting to surround me and would attack the moment I attempted to leave the area.

That was why I needed to circle around more to lose any type of pursuit. A large amount of clouds had swept in across the sky as well, blocking any attempts I had at navigating without the sun. I swung out with my blade once more, killing another beast.

It pained me to leave behind all the spirit stones, but there was no time to even think about gathering them up. I was also getting tired. While my blade was a high rank, and my cultivation gave me a tremendous amount of strength and endurance, I had been cutting down beasts constantly, while having to keep moving.

I had been circling around the beast tide in a counter clockwise fashion, so I had been constantly turning to my left. It was time to take a big chance. I could tell where the center of the beast tide was, due to the growing number of beasts in that area. It was constantly moving and adjusting. A beast tide wasn’t a tea party where the participants all gathered in one place.

In preparation for killing beasts and gathering spirit stones while I had been in the second stage, I had read quite a bit about the beasts and beast tides were a part of that knowledge. They were described as living things unto themselves. There was also a lot of chaos involved in how they acted while not under the command of a higher ranked beast. Even then, it was more about pointing the beast tide in a direction, than giving specific commands.

I was about to be overwhelmed as the number of beasts rushing to the area kept increasing. I made a sharp right turn to begin putting distance between myself and the beast tide. I cut down another beast in my path, while looking around.

Without my experience killing beasts in the wilderness before, there would be no way I could have handled them so efficiently. The real challenge was to face them one at a time. I had been managing so far, but there were five beasts behind me and another three rushing towards me in the direction I was heading.

While they were staggered, I could easily think through how the fights would play out. I would kill four, but then be pincered by the fifth and sixth at the same time. Unlike cultivators, their mindlessness made this fight one I would prefer, which was why I had started a beast tide.

I heard a loud explosion in the distance and felt a blast of hot air. Some other cultivator had used a technique most likely. While the beasts turned their heads slightly, that didn’t stop or divert the nearby ones from rushing at me.

One after another, I cut the beasts down, while trying to escape. When I killed the fourth beast that was part of this wave, I pulled out my gun and shot the fifth one, put my gun away, and cut down the sixth beast. I winced at the expense of a rank 4 bullet, but there was no other option. It wasn’t wasted, but it was one less bullet I would have on me going forward.

I spun in the air and cut horizontally, cutting the head open of a beast chasing me. I spun back around as I touched the ground and kicked off again. I was putting distance between the core of the beast tide and myself, but the deaths would drag the beast tide after me.

That was the biggest reason why cultivators did not start up beast tides. They would get dragged down, and escape was difficult. While I could have tried to dodge, the beasts would have quickly turned around and chased me. The dead bodies of their fellow beasts would slow many of them down to gorge themselves on their fallen comrades.

Even with my level of cultivation, I was about the speed of a rank 3 beast, and they had far more stamina than I did. I was also exhausted from staying up for so long. I had escaped the immediate wave, but more beasts were headed in my direction.

I pulled out scent concealer, repulsion, and bait. I used the concealer on myself, tossed the vials of beast bait to the sides after opening them. I did the same with the repulsion, but in front of me. The beasts rushing for me began to divert. In the next minute, I used up my entire stock of alchemic beast products in order to divert the beasts to my flanks, so I didn’t have to kill any more as I escaped.

Getting away from all the beasts was the immediate priority. I had cut it very close to my limit of how many beasts I could handle. Any longer, and I could have been easily overwhelmed. One serious hit and I would get swarmed as I slowed down. I had to keep moving, and timing my engagements, so I didn’t get piled on by the beasts.

I raced away from the growing beast tide, adjusting my course to try and avoid running into any more beasts. I had to kill a few while rushing by them, but I had escaped the vortex. Looking up at the sky through the trees, it was still all a gray mess and a light drizzle had started as well.

Shaking my head, I kept moving in as straight a line as possible. It didn’t matter too much which direction I was headed, just that I needed to put as much space between me and the enemy cultivators as possible. The beast tide would move in a direction, but there was a very small chance it would head the way I had gone.

I took the chance to reload my gun as I kept retreating. Hopefully the beast tide didn’t head in the direction of a city. That would be a complete mess if it did occur. The outer wall would hopefully divert the beasts to either side, while the inner wall would be for protection as people fled inside the city. That was if there were no cultivators to handle the defenses and stomp the beast tide out, which wasn’t easy. The more beasts that were killed the more that would be drawn to an area.

If a city was lost, that would actually generate a lot more drama and attention than the Cloudy Moon Sect being destroyed. The high sects wanted the mortal and cultivator aspects of civilization to be separate, and not overlap. Also, it was a pain rebuilding an entire city.

There were stories in the past and it did happen. The high-ranking sect would assign a mid-ranking sect in the nearby area to take over the city’s management and defense. The sect that lost a city, would get a lot of negative attention.

The Cloudy Moon Sect had been attacked, and there was no way all these demonic cultivators could escape attention. While my sect might get looked at, the negative attention would fall on the demonic sect much more. It wasn’t like they could go and complain about me setting off the beast tide.

Still, it wasn’t something I would want known. As the sky grew dark, my eyelids began to sag and my body felt even more tired, but I kept running through the forest, and over a couple large hills. No one intercepted me throughout the night. The drizzle turned into rain, making everything more miserable.

It was hard to tell when dawn arrived, as the sky had become much more overcast. I eventually found and collapsed in a small crevice in an oversized rock. I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Water was pouring down in front of me, and everything was damp. I didn’t dare light a fire, and this was the best I had found in the last hour or so, since I had started looking.

I pulled out some food from my spatial ring. I ate and drank before falling asleep as the storm got worse, there was lightning in the distance.

When I woke up, it was still raining heavily, cold, and my neck was stiff. I hadn’t been ambushed in the night and at least some of my exhaustion was gone. The biggest issue now was, that I had no idea where I was.

It would add time onto the time needed to get to Imperial City, but at least I had escaped the enemy cultivators and the beast tide. I stretched a bit while looking out of the crevice. It was miserable to travel in the rain, but I had done it many times in the past.

I set out from my crevice, trying to pick the direction I had been traveling the night before. If I kept heading in a straight line, eventually I would run into road, which would lead to a city. I thought about the general layout of the nearby cities and frowned as I traveled up a small mountain.

It was possible I had missed a road last night. I had just kept traveling and was too tired to look for anything other than beasts and enemy cultivators. It would just take a split moment of distraction and I would have missed a road.

While the roads, cities, and major landmarks were labeled, there was no topographic map of the wilderness. I had to mentally work out the layout between cities based on the listed travel times between cities.

If I hadn’t crossed a road, then I was fine. I was in a fairly small loop. If by some chance I had crossed a road, then I could be in a much larger loop. If that had happened, then there was a chance, I could be heading towards a landmark, the Blood Forest.

While it was incredibly unlikely, there was a chance that I could be going in that direction. It was a forbidden zone, like the Flying Island of Death. But with less treasures, and more death. There was a tree that had somehow been altered to draw out blood.

Some speculated that it had been created as a cultivation resource in a past age. Regardless, that tree had little trees which created a forest, the Blood Forest. The trees themselves were useless, since they would combust if damaged enough. Also, they couldn’t move and got weaker the further the generation they were from the main tree in the center.

The reason it hadn’t been wiped out, was that it was the risk and the fact there was no profit. If the forest had been spreading out more, then there would have been a response to wipe the place out. For the most part it was a curiosity of the cultivation world with no value.

There was nothing indicating such a place either. No landmarks or any thing distinctive. Perhaps an expert in trees, or someone who had seen the blood trees could pick them out from the forest. But I had very little chance.

I reached the top of the mountain and looked up. I hadn’t heard any lightning for a while. I leapt up in the air and looked around. It was raining too much to make anything out. I did spot some beasts in the distance and a glow of energy in the direction I was heading. I leapt up again and looked in the distance.

My sight had saved me once more. If I had kept going in the same direction, then I would have run into the Blood Forest. The tree’s energy couldn’t hide from my sight. I considered where I was based on that evidence. I adjusted my course to aim for the edge of the Blood Forest. I would circle around the edge.

With my sight I could risk going closer than other cultivators would dare to. I paused and realized I was being an idiot. The forest could easily be the hide out of demonic cultivators. It would be a perfect place too. Since there was nothing of value to be taken, but both beasts and people avoided it. One just needed to figure out how not to have the blood sucked out of them by the trees and it would be a perfect location.

There was also the fact that Aoyin was the Sect Leader of the Demonic Blood Sect, this place was called the Blood Forest. While both things having the word blood in them might be a coincidence, I had a bad sense about the situation. Gut intuition was something that was tied to a cultivator the more powerful they became. It was similar to danger sense, but less immediate.

The subtle warnings were much harder to pick up on. Cultivators struggled to hone that aspect of themselves, with varying degrees of success. It was also hard to say if my intuition was just my thought process or something to do with the subtle tides of energy. Differentiating the two was incredibly hard.

I spent a minute in the rain, mentally thinking over what I should do. I rubbed my stiff neck and considered turning back. While tempting, the risk of running into a demonic cultivator was too high. I wanted to keep running away, getting as much distance as possible. I had broken out of one encirclement I didn’t want to run into another.

The second option was to head and circle around the Blood Forest like I had initially thought. That wasn’t good either, in case the place was a hideout of some kind. It felt very likely. I would take a third path. I turned about 45 degrees to my right from the Blood Forest and then set off again.

I would mostly keep heading in the same direction, just take a sideways jaunt to avoid the Blood Forest by a fairly wide margin. I still felt a sense of unease, but this entire situation was completely messed up. I still had no idea how these demonic cultivators had stumbled over me.

It wasn’t like they would be sharing techniques, and I didn’t have a real counter until I could use techniques of my own. Even then techniques were quite rare. Getting good enough in a technique to use it combat took time. Time that could be spent cultivating instead. That was why most cultivators only learned up to three techniques.

The rain wasn’t stopping as I glanced up at the sky. I rubbed my neck, it still felt stiff from having slept in a crevice. While I had gotten some sleep, I still felt tired. I needed a proper rest sometime soon. I heard the distant sound of thunder.

I paused when I saw a group of three people moving slightly parallel to me but angled towards me. I quickly came to a stop while checking all around me. I could just spot those people’s energy and there were no beasts around either. The group kept going, either ignoring me, or trying to trick me into a false sense of security.

While tempting to follow them, it might trigger something in their senses. But I didn’t want to turn more to the Blood Forest, but I also didn’t want to turn more away either. I kept moving to keep the group in my sight while considering my options.

This game of cat and mouse was much easier if I had complete information. The problem I was facing was that I was lacking a tremendous amount of information. One mistake would see me dead. The most important thing was to avoid detection of any kind. That was the first priority. By keeping the group at the edge of my sight, it let me know if they made a sudden change in direction or tried to ambush me.

I could counter ambush, retreat, or do something else, but at least I would have that information. Also, I was loathe to change the direction I was traveling. While very unlikely, the beast tide could catch up with me. There was also the very rare chance that super high rank cultivators would deal with the entire situation and I might get caught up in such an event.

There was also the fact that I needed to get to Imperial City as quickly as possible. That meant going around the Blood Forest. Making a hard turn would delay me by quite a bit. Also, the Blood Forest was the best landmark in this weather, by the vague cloud of energy hanging around it. If moved directly away from the cursed forest, I would be delaying my trip as well.

That was why I kept my distance and kept following the other cultivators. While I couldn’t prove they were part of the group that had ambushed me, it was incredibly likely in my mind that they were. To be coming from the same general direction that I had was the biggest indicator they had been part of the plan to entrap me.

After an hour of traveling, they disappeared one after another. I quickly came to a stop behind a tree and checked around me. No beasts, or other cultivators. I had no idea where they had gone. Now I could avoid the spot where they had disappeared or investigate.

It was probably smarter to retreat but being aggressive had benefits as well. I got out my gun and checked my ammo. I still had quite a bit, including the single rank 6 bullet and just over 40 rank 4 bullets. I also had a decent amount of rank 3 spirit stones to fire them all. My sword was in good condition as well.

I advanced slowly and carefully towards the spot where the cultivators had disappeared, while constantly checking my surroundings and the ground. I had gotten quite good at spotting arrays and formations after the Floating Island of Death. I kept my sword outside of my spatial ring instead of my gun. If I needed to ambush or was ambushed, a melee weapon was preferable.

Reaching the section of the forest where they had disappeared, I found a stone building, shaped like the entrance to a bunker. Unless someone ran directly into it, there would be no way to find this in the middle of the forest. Whatever arrays or formations were used, there was something concealing things behind the metal door and stone walls.

A hidden base. I carefully approached, checking every step, as well as below and above me. The way the door was facing was towards the Blood Forest. A hidden entrance, one of many most likely. With how big the wilderness was, unless there was energy involved, it would be impossible to spot anything at a distance.

I carefully checked the door, and after a couple of minutes of not spotting anything, I decided to try and open it. It opened easily. It wasn’t locked and there was no trap. The safety was in obscurity with the actual traps and locks being closer to the main base, which was hidden under the Blood Forest. It was a clever way to avoid detection.

The stone the entrance and the walls of the tunnel were made of, blocked my sight. A passive kind of defense, which was most likely incredibly expensive. But for someone of Aoyin’s rank it wouldn’t be impossible. I also had no idea how big the Demonic Blood Sect actually was, but you didn’t last for millennia as a demonic sect by being weak and not having members.

That was enough information for now. I could visit this place again once I got stronger. I had enough answers. The group that I had followed, were returning to their base, they weren’t pursuing me or leading me into a trap for this encounter.

I began to close the door, when I noticed four more figures rapidly approaching from a distance. I would have to retreat towards the Blood Forest, but I saw two people, approaching from opposite directions. Why?! I left the door ajar and quickly raced down the stone steps and into the tunnel scanning ahead of me. There were glowing lights created by formations lining the tunnel.

I must have triggered something. Perhaps a purely mechanical trap. That would make sense. I could have easily missed a trigger or procedure of some kind. The group of four was probably returning from trying to entrap me and the beast tide. The other two individuals were probably monitoring the area. A demonic sect would have less chores and more people keeping an eye out on the surroundings, ready to send up an alarm if attacked.

There might not have even been anything mechanical, but a prearranged signal to give, so they didn’t come investigate. After the initial stairs, the tunnel was sloped downwards. There were no turnoffs and continued for a long time. In fact, I could see the group of three in the far distance, if barely.

That meant the people coming in behind me would spot me. The tunnel only had the occasional indentation for a light source, nothing else. There was just enough light I could barely see. So even if the group behind me entered the tunnel, they wouldn’t be able to easily make out who I was at a distance. I wished I had some kind of bomb or trap.

I could turn around. In a narrow tunnel, my gun would reign supreme. I didn’t want to go into a base controlled by a demonic sect. I should have never investigated. I let my curiosity get the best of me. The most important thing now was to avoid detection, escape, and not die.

With how the stone making the tunnel blocked off my energy sight, it was hard to tell when I arrived under the Blood Forest. The group of three in front of me went through a door that was covered in arrays and formations. A glance over my shoulder, showed the group of four was behind me in the incredibly long tunnel.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, I was confronted with a trap door. Thankfully I had been watching the group ahead of me carefully, and they hadn’t been careful. I could also spot the scuff marks. I pulled out three rank 1 spirit stones and quickly put them in the appropriate slots. Certain formations activated and the door swung open.

The spirit stones were consumed, and I quickly entered before the door could close while looking around. I was on an upper level of a five level cylindrical cavern. The middle of the cavern was open, with a walkway around each level. I noted other doors like the one I had come through at other locations around the cavern. There were also other doors built into each level. I also noted that there were roots at the top of the cavern. One was pointing downwards and dripping red fluid.

Probably the main tree of the Blood Forest. Looking around, there weren’t many people either. I quickly turned to the side and began walking around the top walkway towards one of the other doorways. I should be able to open them from the inside without much of an issue. These kinds of doors and locks were quite strong in one direction, but easily opened from the other direction.

At least there was no one on my path or anyone staring in my direction. It made sense that a Demonic Sect wasn’t big about greeting people or friendships. If I hadn’t entered between two groups, I most likely would have been caught as well by the watchers outside. I didn’t know if I was lucky or unlucky, entering this place without being caught. Now I needed to get out right away before I was found out.

I circled the top walkway to reach one of the paths to leave. But just as I was about to reach it. I had put my sword away to not draw attention. There was a loud gong that resounded throughout the base before a voice followed after it.

“We will be performing another large scale tracking technique. All cultivators gather on the main floor to witness and support,” the voice called out. A dark robed cultivator came of the room I was just going by and looked over at me.

“New member or from another branch?” he asked me.

“Another branch, you?” I asked.

“Assigned here. Let’s get going, the Master doesn’t like people keeping him waiting,” the demonic cultivator said.

“Of course,” I replied without hesitation and mentally winced.

“You can change your robes later. Everything is a mess, since we raided that sect. And we don’t have a spare in your size. Were you part of the battle?”

“Only near the end,” I replied since I couldn’t know if there was a passive truth telling technique. “What about you?” I asked, so I didn’t have to keep answering questions as we made our way to a staircase.

“No unfortunately. I was left on guard duty. Now there is another operation going on. There hasn’t been this much activity in decades,” the man said.

“I heard it was some cultivator we are after?” I asked.

“Maybe. One thing you learn here, is that most people don’t share important information easily,” he replied.

“I get it,” I replied as we walked down the stairs as other cultivators all moved to the bottom floor and to the central pool of thick red liquid that looked like blood, had a lot of energy stored in it, but was some unholy concoction made from the sap from the trees above.

“Well we will stay in the back, and watch,” the man said. I nodded at this. I counted at least 40 cultivators, with 5 of them being rank 5 or rank 6. The big shots gathered near the pool while the rest of us hung back. I can’t believe no one recognized me. But I spotted other cultivators in dirty robes, who looked worn down.

Everyone quickly became silent once we had all assembled. I could only wonder what craziness would happen now.

Chapter 52 – Demonic Blood Sect Outpost

Whatever technique was being used to track me, clearly wasn’t working. The senior cultivators did their technique, but nothing happened. They repeated it again, but nothing happened a second time. No one whispered or commented.

I was in the back of the group and had to look between others. While I was quite small there were other smallish cultivators in the group. That was the thing about demonic cultivation, you could advance quickly in the lower stages by killing people and using them as resources.

Everyone using hooded dark robes didn’t help either in terms of identifying people. The arrays and formations protecting the entry ways, gave the demonic cultivators a sense of over confidence.

The senior cultivators who tried to use the technique a second time got togeather in a group and began discussing quietly. All the lower ranked cultivators watching didn’t talk, but there was a sense of unease in the air.

Infiltrating a sect wasn’t as hard as one would think. I had often thought about how one would infiltrate the Cloudy Moon Sect when I had been sweeping the stairs. If someone had the right robe they could just walk in. The main thing was the sect token that was used for points.

For a Demonic Sect, having a badge on their person would be incredibly stupid. There would be ways to trace it back to the formations and arrays it was tied to, revealing the sect. The same issue applied to more detailed attire and knowing other cultivators.

Even the best non-demonic sects did not place a huge value on getting to know others and friendship. The yearly get togeather the Cloudy Moon Sect had was the most sects would do. In reality, someone could put on the Cloudy Moon Sect robe and walk about the sect without being discovered.

A Demonic Sect wasn’t any better. This wasn’t the military or even a very secure facility with constant ID checks. In regular sects people would be incentivized to work by giving them assignments and sect points. In a demonic sect, these people weren’t rule followers. They obeyed the mentality of the strongest person who made the rules.

So, while top level people could mobilize the lower ranks, they had to provide benefits, and even that would only work for so long. No one wanted guard duty. Everyone wanted to get stronger. And even if there was a guard, then they could shake down other cultivators of the same rank, leading to infighting.

All of this went through my head, but I still couldn’t believe how much I was getting away with right now just standing around.

“The target has used a counter technique or piece of equipment. We will try again in a day. For now, everyone rest and recover,” one of the leaders said. “Rewards will be distributed as planned once the assignment is complete.” Everyone began to disperse.

“A shame, at least the rewards promised are quite good,” the demonic cultivator who I had been talking with before spoke up. I had no idea what kind of rewards would be offered so I didn’t comment on that. Instead I focused on the issue I was much more concerned about.

“I wonder what technique or piece of equipment they are using,” I said, hoping to get information.

“It has to be something powerful. But only an elder cultivator has a chance to counter the blood pool,” he replied. “Which room are you assigned to?”

“One of the one’s up there,” I gestured up towards the door I had been heading towards.

“If you don’t want to share that is fine. But us blood cultivators need to stick togeather you know.” That line was a trap and clearly I couldn’t avoid creating tension. Regular cultivators weren’t this friendly, and for a demonic cultivator to be this friendly was the biggest red flag out there.

“I prefer not to,” I said while my heart began to beat quickly as the tension increased. After a long moment the demonic cultivator I had been talking with shook his head and walked away. Someone might have been trying to make a friend or get some benefits for showing me around. I turned away as well and went to a nearby wall next to the staircase and leaned against it, looking back at the blood pool.

There were still small groups of cultivators hanging around. Most had left to go to their individual rooms including the elders. I took a minute to think about this entire group. I noted that no cultivator went near the blood pool. Also its elevation had dropped slightly. It was probably being used as some kind of external energy source or technique focus. Like a sword technique, requiring a sword. A scrying technique would require a pool or something similar that could show images.

I considered how I had gotten to this point. I had a lot of luck and could leave. But they planned to use the pool once more on another day. This place was obviously protected. Normally a searching technique would require a link to the individual in question, but Aoyin had me in his grasp. Whatever was being used would be held by a senior cultivator involved in the technique.

When they had attempted it, I hadn’t been able to see what they had used to create a connection to me. But that didn’t matter. Destroying this base would be the best option, but I didn’t have any explosives. Even if I had any, setting anything up to activate after a period of time would set off the cultivators’ danger sense and reveal me.

As weird as it was, the best option was to rest by leaning against the wall in the shadows and waiting until they tried to find me again. There was no rush to leave and I had no idea about the procedures of this place. While I could have talked to the demonic cultivator a bit more, I was content with the conversation ending.

There was no way I could sabotage anything in this place and get away with anything. It was tempting to think I could get lucky twice, or I should make a run for it right now, but both options were likely to fail. While the blood pool and the roots dangling from high up looked unprotected, there was a reason it was the center of this facility and the doors all opened facing the blood pool.

I had no doubt the blood pool was useful for demonic cultivators, cultivation. They would know that too. While I couldn’t spot any array or formation around the pool itself, it would be watched regardless. It was protected by the sheer number of cultivators hanging around in this place.

Even if things were quiet, I had no doubt there would always be two or more cultivators watching each other to make a move on the blood pool. As I waited against the wall, this appeared to be correct as I counted four other people standing around as well as we all glanced at each other.

Being a demonic cultivator did not create an atmosphere of trust. If a person thought they could steal resources and get away with them, they would do so. That was the problem with an evil organization, everyone was looking out for themselves. Tempering that greed while still motivating people was the real challenge.

Another guess I had, which seemed quite reasonable, was that there was a lot of strength gathered in this location. Most demonic cultivators would be out getting resources or doing missions to trade in for resources. It was clear that Aoyin really wanted me and was investing a considerable number of resources to ensure my capture.

Just waiting around was incredibly hard. One of the hardest things I had ever done. Doing absolutely nothing but waiting and watching. I thought back on the steps that led me here and didn’t find anything unusual. No one would run through the Blood Forest, so turning to the correct side was a fifty percent chance. But not really since there appeared to be multiple entrances and exits.

Running into multiple groups that were returning for further instructions also wasn’t surprising or out of the ordinary. Which allowed me to enter between two groups. Why would they only search for me after I got here? I considered that question carefully.

There was some kind of limitation to the technique they used to scry for me or multiple limitations. Resources was one limitation. But the second limitation was probably number of elder cultivators, or waiting until there was a critical mass of people reporting a failure in tracking me down.

Waiting was the correct option, if they failed again tomorrow, then there was a good chance the pursuit would be called off and I could escape. That was also why I hadn’t tried to leave. It was clear the demonic cultivators were gathering strength. If I left now, it would raise a lot of suspicions and possibly alert them to my presence.

I had gotten lucky once, by getting into this base, I needed not to waste this chance. Occasionally someone would walk through the main floor, but for the most part it was quiet. The other people standing around, we all occasionally glanced at each other, but no one moved towards the blood pool.

Most of the people were larger than me, but not everyone had a large stature. That was probably why I wasn’t being bothered either. Being so short was a threat to everyone else, indicating I was either really good at cultivation, and that there was a high chance I had some kind of senior cultivator supporting me.

The dark robes with hoods helped hide my identity and everyone else’s. These people lived in the shadows. Their identity, or lack of one, was one of the strongest assets everyone here had. Also no one would trust food, or supplies traded between each other either. The biggest threat was after the next scrying ritual if people were broken up into groups to search. My hope was that I would not be found, so everyone would be dismissed.

Another bad outcome from waiting around would be that a much more senior cultivator would show up and begin to check everyone’s identity. That would be an absolute nightmare. The worst possible outcome would be for Aoyin himself to show up, but if he wasn’t here already or hunting me down, it was clear he was delegating.

My personal guess was that he was dealing with the fallout of attacking the Cloudy Moon Sect. I had no idea if this meant fighting or talking with the Immortals of the Imperial Sect. Regardless of either outcome he wouldn’t be around.

It was honestly surprising how much effort was being put into locating me when the attack on the sect failed. But sticking around for too long wouldn’t have been a good idea. While the distances were vast, I had no doubt the Immortals had ways to monitor things in the area they controlled.

Also, someone like Aoyin was not someone to just sit around and wait. He would be proactive in any number of plots. He didn’t seem like the type of individual to prize patience and steady growth. His nature as a demonic cultivator meant he would be desperate to cross the last bottleneck to reach immortality. Just betting on me seemed like a poor idea. This meant he probably had a couple of plans ongoing.

The lack of powerful subordinates, or high-ranking elders, was another issue that plagued demonic cultivators I could imagine. Less resources and if the resource were valuable enough, Aoyin would just take it for himself. Regular cultivators prescribed to the mindset of finder keepers. While there were fights, most just gave up if there was a clear difference in power.

Demonic cultivators would scrape and fight for every advantage and not let anything go. I could easily see Aoyin offering a reward for me, that was less valuable than myself, but still valuable to the elders. These elders in turn offered rewards to their subordinates.

There had been five elders and there were five levels. One level per elder in this area, which is why that demonic cultivator knew I wasn’t where I gestured. He thought I was from a different faction. There were no markings or signs to give any hints, but I felt I was on the right track.

The fact there were only four other cultivators watching the blood pool was concerning. If there were five groups here, then there should be a fifth person watching the pool. Or that group figured the rest of the groups were watching, so they didn’t bother.

The real trick was that I didn’t want to assume things I didn’t have facts for and come to the wrong conclusion. But the fact I was left alone was a huge boon. It was a shame I couldn’t get all the information about the demonic sect, but information was power. Basic knowledge questions, could lead to me being found out. I could live without knowing everything about this place.

There was no way to tell time underground and leaning against the wall wasn’t comfortable. Still, I wasn’t in the rain, and this underground base was reasonably warm. The ambiance was mostly dark. Why not have more lighting so there were less shadows? Possibly a technique, save spirit stones, or they just wanted the creepy aesthetic.

At a certain point, it was less about function and how the people in charge wanted things to appear. If I ran a demonic sect, I would have made it bright and cheery. Offset the gloom and death in peoples’ hearts. But I suppose having a depressive and dark atmosphere was one way to make the place seem intense. Make it dark so people think darker thoughts.

Nothing happened until everyone was called to gather once again. I stood at the back and the technique failed once again. There was a heated conversation between the elders but was too quiet for me to hear. I knew it was heated since there were a couple of gestures between the group and one of them pulled out a sword before putting it away.

“The target is out of our range. This gathering is dismissed. There will be no rewards due to failure,” one of the elders said. There were shouts at that from some of the nearby cultivators.

“Silence! Failure is not rewarded. If you want rewards, go out there and find the target. Improve your cultivation. You are not dogs begging for scraps,” the elder who had been speaking sneered at the lesser cultivators.

“Then why should we gather again?” someone shouted out from above. I looked up, but no one was there. A technique of some kind most likely to move one’s voice.

“Who said that!” the elder shouted, but no one stepped forward. “You gather, because we say you will gather. No disperse, or else.”

“Liars! Kill the elders! Seize the Blood Pool!” I was very glad I was at the back as the demonic cultivators rushed forward. I leapt back as a cultivator next to me was swallowed by the shadows, leaving only their robe and a spatial ring behind on the floor.

I landed near the stairs and quickly retreated up them. As I reached the second floor, over a fifth of the lesser cultivators had already been killed along with one of the elders. This is why you pay your troops if you promise payment. That was the other thing about demonic cultivators, they all thought themselves invincible, with a very poor ability to analyze threat levels.

This fight was the perfect example. The demonic cultivators were fighting each other as much as the elders. I suppose the people running away would get less resources, but they were willing to enter a brawl with techniques being thrown about. I could see plants burst out of corpses, corpses rising up a zombies, and blood weapons being thrown about and exploding in several different colors of flames. I continued up to the third floor.

It was tempting to think I could win by sticking around and dealing with the survivors, but it didn’t escape my notice there were several groups hanging around the outside of the main floor, taking advantage of people leaping into the center. The elders were just going around killing wantonly, clearly targeting the subordinates of the other elders to gain an advantage.

By the time I reached the fourth floor, around a third of the cultivators were dead along with two of the elders. The idiots had died off, but now blows and techniques were being traded between cultivators. I noted a couple of other people had fled, which was good for me.

I saw one of the demonic cultivators reach one of the exits and tried to open the door. An array activated and their was a pulse of energy. I had seen a lot, including death and violence, but what came next made me feel ill. The cultivator was turned inside out. Organs, meat, and bones fell to the ground in a humanoid shape as the ill-fated cultivator let out a tortured scream.

Looking at the other exits across the chamber, I noted another cultivator run into a similar fate. The fight on the ground floor had slowed down, but still hadn’t stopped. There were three elders left. While tempting to think I had a chance, I didn’t have a chance if I tried to ambush them.

I might get one with my gun, but then I would be targeted by the rest as a major threat. I could handle a technique thrown at me, but multiple techniques would be impossible. The entire fight on the ground floor was just one group ambushing another group, that was ambushing a person, who had tried to ambush an elder. Just constant ambush attacks, and then retreats if they weren’t ambushed in turn.

The only people really holding their own were the elders. And I didn’t want to tangle with them. If I killed one, I had no doubt the remaining two would kill me right away. I went to the exit door I had planned to go through before.

I could see the formation was active. I began to look it over, but I was not an expert. While I had some knowledge I had picked up on the Floating Island of Death, it was like saying I had familiarity with some letters. There were parts of the formation I had no clue on and how they interacted with each other. I kept near the exit door, but outside of the danger area while keeping an eye down below.

Over half the cultivators had been killed and things had mostly stopped. There was a long moment of silence. “Well, that solved the issues of rewards quite nicely. Claim the corpses as you see fit. Kill all the cowards who ran away to the upper levels or to their rooms. I will open the doors,” one of the elders said.

Why?! I didn’t know this was some kind of sect event. Of course, a demonic sect would have a murder party. The weak would be culled, while the strong got stronger. More cultivators would be recruited in time. It felt like a waste of resources, but that didn’t seem to matter to the elders running this place.

The active formation around the exit door deactivated. I double checked it and then opened it up. Hunting people down was probably another test. I quickly entered the long exit corridor, rushing up the sloped hallway.

I had to get out of this place as quickly as possible. It made me wonder about the back ground of all these demonic cultivators, but I could easily imagine criminals being recruited in various cities. And unlike regular sects that might pull from three to five cities, they could pull from hundreds of cities. They would get the crazy mortals, who didn’t have the mental strength to cultivate normally.

Not for the first or last time, I was clad I had joined the Cloudy Moon Sect and didn’t have to go through this headache of constantly fighting. I didn’t like to fight or kill people. I preferred to use my wits and business acumen. Unfortunately, cultivation land, was incredibly bloody. Far bloodier than I had initially imagined. No wonder my first master had warned me ahead of time.

About halfway through the exit tunnel, I glanced behind me. There was no one following me. I thought about that, then realized, that the sect members probably had some way they were able to be traced and they were busy cleaning up the sect. A demonic sect wasn’t a military organization. So, the orders to kill the cowards and hunt people down, were followed, but no one wanted to chase someone who had run out of the door at the first opportunity.

They would want to collect the corpses and items that had dropped in the conflict. The elders might have created some order, but they were exhausted as well having to fight. They wouldn’t want to run off, but seize benefits for themselves, or at least make sure the other elders didn’t get ahead of them in some way. There was no trust.

If the demonic sect was even slightly more organized, then I would have had no chance to infiltrate or escape. It was honestly quite hilarious, but this wasn’t a military base, where everyone was checked for ID regardless of rank, and with set procedures. It was a demonic sect, which meant cultivators nominally working togeather in hopes of getting benefits from those stronger than them in exchange for completing tasks.

The elders couldn’t reward people for failing, but the lesser cultivators hadn’t seen it that way. They had seen it as a betrayal of the promises made to them. There might have been mind altering techniques in play or the elders might have started the fight themselves, since they didn’t want to give up anything either. If their fellows died, that was less competition, and resources from their corpse, along with their corpse.

As I got closer to the exit, I checked behind me again, still no pursuit. I didn’t plan to stop running for a while to get away from this place, but I felt the greatest danger had passed. All the surviving demonic cultivators were exhausted and wouldn’t be chasing me. Instead, they would try to process all the benefits they had gotten.

I was happy to leave without a fight. While it would have been nice to get more spatial rings and other valuable items, the risk wasn’t worth it. I let out a small sigh as I neared the end of the tunnel under the Blood Forest.

It had been an interesting experience, but one I didn’t plan on repeating, anytime soon. There was just too much risk. I had to keep telling myself that over and over, since it felt like I was giving up a big opportunity. Just whipping out my gun and killing enemy cultivators.

That kind of mindset was the kind of mindset that made serial killers think they were invincible before dying. That their luck would keep going and going and they wouldn’t be harmed no matter what odds they went up against. If I had a higher stage of cultivation and be able to ignore or dodge techniques used like the elders had to a certain extent, then it would have been possible to stick around. But if I was that strong, then there would have been no value to sticking around, since it would just draw the attention of a higher ranked cultivation for items with little value.

The ten times factorization of wealth per stage of cultivation didn’t just cripple business in cultivation land, but it crippled looting and combat as well. It was frustrating, but also understandable. The low leveled demonic cultivators had trash on them. And unlike demonic cultivators I didn’t plan to cook people in pots or process them in a coffin.

That just left me with me doing things my way. It hadn’t been going so well, but I would be making it to the fourth stage of cultivation at the very least. After that things would get complicated and I would have to travel. When I sold my business, I needed to make sure I got more than the resources for the third stage of my cultivation, but also enough resources to have a fund to start me off with.

It just ate at me that all this had happened. Stupid Demonic Blood Sect attacking and chasing after me. I reached the exit to the base and checked the formation linked into the door. There would be an alert of some kind, but I wasn’t worried about that. Even if people chased after me, I had a head start and could defeat a couple low level cultivators.

Opening the door, I left the base back into the forest. I sensed the Blood Forest off in the distance. I had maneuvered under the entire thing entirely. It didn’t really save time since I was down there for a day, but getting to rest a bit was nice.

I saw someone approaching, their cultivation put them in the sixth stage. I hadn’t seen them since the walls of the tunnel had blocked my sight. It wasn’t human but a beast based on how their energy looked. I quickly got out my gun and loaded one of my remaining nine rank 5 bullets. I had a rank 6, but only a single one. I quickly moved off at an angle away from the entrance, since the beast was clearly headed in this direction.

The beast reached the entrance and then followed me. I frowned at this development. I wasn’t going to get out of this without a fight. They weren’t that quick to pursue me, which was also concerning, but I had no complaints, since I wanted an open place to fight. I came to a grassy swamp. I would have preferred a mountain top, but this would do. Unlike a wet swamp, most of the terrain was soggy grass with only the occasional deeper area filled with water.

I chose my spot to make a stand as a large rock in the swamp, which gave me a commanding view around me. There was no one else that I could spot either beast or human, except the one beast pursuing me.

My gun was put away, so I wouldn’t be immediately recognized either. I was ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice. I only hoped I could talk my way out of whatever this confrontation was.

Chapter 53 – Water Running Over The Rocks

The beast had a beast’s head and a man’s body. They were covered in fur as well. “What can I do for you senior?” I asked out loud with a small bow as the beast landed on log. Its claws dug into the rotting wood as it looked at me. I felt something stir within me.

The beast gave me a feral grin. “I wasn’t sure, but the call of my blood never lies. To use me for cultivation, disgusting.”

“Water Running Over The Rocks,” I said its name out loud as I recalled the beast I had wounded in the past and used its blood to make Refined Beast Essance.

“Yuan Zhou. We parted last time after you did me a grave injury. Bow your head and your death will be quick and painless,” it said.

“Even if Aoyin wants me captured alive?” I asked out loud, hoping to make the beast hesitate in the battle to come. If it was forced to pull its punches, then I would have an advantage. The fact that its face twisted into a sneer showed that my words struck true.

“Perhaps, but what is life without some excitement. I am the child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens. If I catch you first, he will not be able to say anything,” Water Running Over The Rocks said. That was probably the beast immortal, or a rank 8 beast. Either way my opponent wouldn’t hesitate once we started fighting. I wondered why he wasn’t attacking yet.

He was weary of a trap. I had managed to escape him once before. I could tell he wasn’t going to let that happen again. Leaving a minor wound was nothing compared to using its blood for my cultivation. That kind of insult was immense. There was no greater insult that I could think of in cultivator circles. It was the equivalent of saying that a sentient’s only use was to provide or be resources.

I also needed to kill him as well. It was one of my last remaining tasks I needed to complete before attempting to cross over the first bottleneck. I had no idea how I would hunt him down in the future. Last time I didn’t have my gun and our cultivation was much further apart. I was an annoyance, but not someone to hunt down. Water Running Over the Rocks had most likely felt his blood be used to create Refined Beast Essance, which would have hindered his growth and weakened him. I could only imagine the rage that he experienced once he realized what I had done.

This also meant that I wouldn’t be able to escape. It could sense me, much better than I could sense it. Being in tune with his blood meant it had a much easier time sensing our connection than I did. This meant I had to fight no matter what. And he was clearly enraged enough not to want to escape either or drag things out in a battle of attrition.

The other consideration I had, was that we were still near the Blood Forest and the demonic cultivators. While Water Running Over The Rocks didn’t want share me, there was still a huge risk of our fight being sensed and people heading out to check on what was happening.

With one fluid motion, I pulled out my gun from my spatial ring. The beast moved to the side to strafe my position. The rotted log he had been standing on exploded into splinters from kicking off it, and the ground was torn up as he circled me. I could barely keep up with him, as I kept turning and aiming the gun.

I pulled out another rank 5 bullet and the needed spirit stones ahead of time to fire a second time. I made sure to conceal my movements to the side of my body. I kept turning to face sideways and aim with my right hand and made sure to keep my left behind and to my side.

I also pulled out a flash bang as well. No matter how much I hoped, hitting with my second shot would be incredibly hard. Especially a fatal hit. I pulled the pin of the flash bang and let it fall down the rock behind me.

Leading the target, I fired the gun. Water Running Over The Rocks Immediately came to a halt and rushed towards me the bullet missed him and exploded in the grassy swamp in the distance. I was already reloading as the beast closed the distance between us. I brought up my gun. The flashbang went off. Water Running Over The Rocks quickly turned to the side to dodge my expected shot. Its senses had been on a hair trigger to avoid any bullets.

I fired my gun for real this time. The beast managed to raise its left arm up to try and block. The bullet hit its elbow and blew its arm apart. I was already leaping backwards as I reloaded a third time with another rank 5 bullet.

My ears hurt as a roar was unleashed. Water Running Over The Rocks lived up to its name as it leapt over the rock I had been on in pursuit of me. Its arm had come back, but the beast looked starved. Shapeshifting was a powerful way to absorb and counter damage. This was why higher ranked beasts were a nightmare to fight. They were incredibly difficult to put down.

I retreated across the swamp as the beast pursued me. I kicked off a denser clump of grass and reversed directions. I fired a third time. The beast dodged. I hit the beast in the side of his chest, blowing away a large portion of flesh.

It didn’t stop heading for me. I swapped my gun for my sword, as we raced by each other. I noticed the wound I had given the beast was already healing. I turned my blade to use the flat side to block and used my left hand to brace against the back.

The blow from its claws was a feint. It opened its mouth and a barbed tongue shot out, piercing me in my left arm. I swung my sword up to cut the tongue, but it had already retracted. We both landed on the ground in opposite directions, taking a moment to recover. While Water Running Over The Rocks was a much higher rank than me, it had taken much more damage.

Guns weren’t common weapons, especially one this powerful. Best investment I had ever made. My left arm was going numb, and the wound was leaking a purple substance that was frothing outside of my body. Poison, of course it had to be poison.

I put away my sword and reloaded my gun for the fourth time in this fight. It had been a mistake not to use the rank 6 bullet in my second shot. I suspected the only reason I was standing right now was due to my insane cultivation. I could feel my cultivation shaking, but it was too dense to make quick progress. I could sort it out later, the first thing I needed to do was win this fight.

I rushed forward again. Water Running Over The Rocks hesitated for a moment, before rushing forward as well. If I had been the beast, I would have retreated to recover. But it probably saw how I hadn’t gone down from its attack. It was wary of my traps, which gave me an edge. It also might be much more wounded than I thought and was afraid I would survive and get away somehow.

That was the nice and frustrating thing about an enemy who hated me. They weren’t willing to retreat so I could finish them off, but they weren’t willing to retreat which made them much more dangerous in their desperation. I had no idea how much the Refined Beast Essance had impacted Water Running Over The Rocks, but it was probably much more than I had assumed since it was willing to fight to the death.

We quickly closed the distance, and I held off on firing. The beast’s nerve broke first as it dodged at the last moment. I fired a fourth time, hitting it in the hip. “Ahhh!” it let out a scream as it fell into the soggy grass. Its right leg barely staying attached. My left arm had a hard time moving, and reloading with one arm would take way too long. But getting close was a bad idea as well. In close combat, I was greatly outclassed.

I stayed at a distance and began reloading my gun with one arm. It took ten seconds, an eternity in cultivator combat. This time I put in the rank 6 bullet. I was going to end this. Water Flowing Over The Rocks had healed enough to stand back up just as I finished reloading. I rushed forward and fired for a fifth time. The gun kicked back in my hand massively.

This time I got it in the chest. Half the beast just disintegrated, with legs, arms, and its head all flying in different directions. I put away my gun and pulled out my sword. Its head was still alive and trying to shift into a rock to hide. I stabbed it five times, making sure I could spot no more energy.

I reached down and pulled out the rank 6 spirit stone from its head. At least I got something in return besides a wound. I put my sword and the spirit stone away, checking over the area. I didn’t feel anything in my blood. In fact, I felt calmer, and something seemed to unclench inside of my body. I took a deep breath and let it out. I had won. No one else was around, and I should get going.

As I traveled, I inspected my arm. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible either. Physically my entire arm and part of my shoulder had gone numb. The wound was leaking purple pus. In terms of my cultivation, it was holding togeather, but the area I had been hit felt much shakier. The connections between the motes weren’t as strong as they could be. The fact there were so many connections and the number of motes was so high in my body was the only reason they hadn’t shifted.

Like trying to compress water, it wasn’t easy to compress when there was no air to squeeze out. The same was true for my cultivation. It was so dense, that what would have shredded any other stage three cultivator was just a serious wound for me. Thankfully the surface damage where I had been pierced hadn’t wrecked my cultivation either.

I would need healing and soon. Waiting until I got to Imperial City would take far too long. I had no idea if my body would process this poison over time and recover, or if it would leave a lasting injury. The real problem was where to go?

Going to another sect was a huge risk. But they were the only ones who would be capable of healing me. I had no doubt word had spread about the Cloudy Moon Sect’s destruction. Before I could have leveraged the fact that I was the disciple of the Sect Leader to get some face from other sects and conduct business deals, like for the diving suit. Now my connections weren’t nearly worth as much. My master was dead, and my sect had taken a heavy beating.

While it would probably hold onto its status as a mid-ranking sect, it would not be easy and take millennia to fully recover. The time frame needed was astronomical, but that was how long it took to get high ranking cultivators. While the death of lower ranked cultivators didn’t mean much, the death of the elders of the sect was a huge blow, since that was the primary source of prestige and power a sect had.

As I traveled through the forest, the sun was out at least, and it wasn’t raining. I poked my body, the numbness had stopped spreading as well as the effects on my cultivation. But it wasn’t decreasing either. The wound was only oozing now, and not frothing.

I felt tired, mentally, emotionally, and physically. This ongoing fighting and escape were wearing me down. I winced from a sudden spike of pain from my left arm and stumbled on the ground.

“Dammit,” I muttered out loud in frustration, but didn’t slow down. I tried to think if there were any sects on my path that I could stop at and request aid, but none of them were strong allies of the Cloudy Moon Sect. Which brought me back to the issue of leverage and connections. The risk of just being killed, or not treated properly and robbed, was very high.

Regular poison, my body would have easily resisted. The problem was that this poison was infecting my cultivation as well. I poked the wound with my right hand, purple puss mixed with blood oozed out. The pain was getting worse as well. I tried to think of anything I could do.

That was the problem with cultivation medicine, it was its own branch separate from regular medicine. It would take a while to get to a city, but my best bet was to travel by express carriage and not keep running. While running was faster, I needed to rest, and try to let my body naturally recover. I poked the wound again, it wasn’t coagulating.

I could feel my bones bend as my left arm flopped uselessly about. The venom was turning my insides into mush or trying to at least. My cultivation was becoming more bendy as well, which was really bad. There was some give and take with the connections between motes, but the risk of my cultivation shifting would create a disaster. Even a small shift would be a nightmare to correct.

The pain was getting worse but was still bearable. Beasts and demonic cultivators working togeather. Of course, they were. Demonic cultivators prayed primarily on other cultivators, so there wasn’t a huge need to hunt beasts like regular cultivators might. I had no doubt this was something the higher ranked cultivators already knew.

After a day and a half worth of traveling I finally took a long nap in between some rocks. It was hard to get any rest with the pulsating pain coming from my left arm. I didn’t have any sleep aids either. I just had to tough it out, close my eyes and get what sleep I could.

When I woke up, the pain was a lot worse, my arm had puffed off, and felt like a water balloon. The wound was leaking a trickle of fluids. I kept it exposed to let things drain. It was tempting to try and deflate my arm, but the risk of doing permanent damage was very high. As for my cultivation it was stretched to the limit and gave me a pain deep in my soul.

I reached a road, and hesitated. I needed to get a proper rest, and I couldn’t focus on traveling myself. If the demonic cultivators caught up with me, they caught up with me. I couldn’t handle any more wilderness travel. I kept stumbling, and the risk of me tripping and injuring myself more with my condition was not trivial. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open and resist the pain coming from my left arm and shoulder.

Traveling along the road, I had to take two naps, before I reached the city. I snuck in over the walls instead of going through the gate. I checked and there were no formations or arrays active. If I was found by the sect in control of the city, I would be in much greater trouble than if I declared myself, but I couldn’t risk the demonic cultivators.

I didn’t stick around, and immediately purchased an express carriage and two decoys. I also arranged for another two decoys the following day. I had experience in this from my first journey out of the sect. The Astral Plane had apparently been easy mode. It was easy to get my way by throwing rank 1 spirit stones at people and telling them to shut up and hurry up.

Once I was in a carriage, I let out a sigh of relief. While it was uncomfortable and bumpy, at least I could lay down and really focus on my injury. I had gotten a lot of cloth as well from the city. I carefully cleaned the wound with water. My entire left arm and shoulder were in terrible condition.

I really wanted to deflate my arm, but I resisted the urge. Ten days after I had been wounded, my arm had deflated slightly, and my cultivation had stabilized. Instead of purple puss leaking out of the wound, it was regular puss and blood. I burned the rags during the occasional stop while traveling and slept most of the time in the carriage.

No mortal medicine would knock me out, so all I could was endure. I made sure to eat and drink quite a bit, but the problem wasn’t physical, so much as spiritual. I could sense a very faint taint in my arm and shoulder where the poison had lingered. My only hope was to pay for a consultation from the Imperial Sect and hope they could fix me. I knew it wouldn’t be cheap, but I had absolutely no good idea on how to handle such a wound myself.

I thought back to Healer Meihui. She would have known what to do right away. This was why cultivators didn’t fight each other. The risk was too damn high. The gun had been a great equalizer, allowing me to fight three stages above my own, but it wasn’t enough. It allowed me to win, but I did not escape unharmed.

The cost to fix such an injury would be immense, combined with my cultivation would create even more of a headache. I didn’t know my body had that much fluid it could leak, but with the strength of my cultivation, I was still alive.

Thankfully there were no more demonic cultivators coming after me during my trip to Imperial City. Hiding out in their base had stalled the search long enough to buy me time to escape. I had been worried they might try again, but the infighting had saved me. Another reason why demonic cultivators rarely gathered in large numbers. It wasn’t just the outside risk, but the inside risk as people demanded benefits and were willing to fight for them.

While a carriage was a half to a third of the speed of a low ranked elder, it was more than enough once I had enough of a head start, combined with the decoy carriages I hired. At the second city, I had left one carriage I entered outside of the city and snuck back in to take another carriage I had arranged. Little things like this to throw off any pursuit were key.

Rank 1 spirit stones were that valuable to me, so I was more than happy to spend them in order to not fight. That was one big lesson I had learned over all the events I had just gone through. Fighting was a nightmare, and I wasn’t cut out for it.

I had no illusions about my actual skill or combat ability and the gun was the great equalizer. If it wasn’t burning massive amounts of money with each shot, then it would actually be quite useful. There was no spray and pray strategy.

That was why I never seriously considered combat and killing other cultivators as a serious economic factor in my cultivation. Sure, hunting low ranked beasts had been possible, but I considered that aggressive farming more than anything else. Hunting people wasn’t even a last resort. Sapient beings were too much trouble to deal with.

A month into my trip, the pain I was feeling every moment of every second of the day was immense. I was actually sweating while in the carriage. For me to sweat as a cultivator in the third stage was a sign that something was wrong. My arm and shoulder were Jello. I had taken to carefully wrapping both of them up to help provide some stability from any shaking in the carriage. Each bump was like a thousand glass shards being shoved into my body. The wound had scabbed over, but still leaked with fluids and blood occasionally.

The good news was that my hand hadn’t been impacted as much as the rest of my arm. I couldn’t use it at all, but I was hoping the damage would be less. I hadn’t been idle in my carriage ride either. I had tried to expel the poison from my body through meditation. That only strained my cultivation. If I was in the fourth stage, then I would have had a much easier time expelling the poison. But I was still stuck in the third stage.

My only hope was to get Elder Xu Xiaoli’s support in resolving this. I had no doubt she would be interested in looking at my cultivation with everything that had been done. I also needed to speak with her about the shares of my business in order to get a good deal to finish off the third stage of cultivation. I had no doubt she would scam me for quite a bit, but I was incredibly desperate. That desperation only grew with each day that I suffered in pain.

Three months into my trip, I had lost any hope that I would be able to handle this injury myself or that it would somehow go away. I carefully checked once every day, as I rewrapped the bandages around my arm and shoulder if the injury was increasing or decreasing. While it had gotten a bit better at the start, my recovery seemed to have plateaued currently from around the one month mark.

The fear of being crippled and losing my ability to cultivate was very real. Whatever treasure I would need to heal myself would be incredibly expensive. At this point I was willing to pay anything to make the pain stop. While I knew that just folding like a wet blanket was a terrible starting point in any negotiation, I was at the point where I wanted to rip my arm off to stop the pain.

Each heartbeat was a pulse of agony. Despite all the water I was drinking, my urine burned on the way out and came out in a dark red color. My eyeballs felt like they wanted to explode out of my skull. The lack of sleep and the constant shaking of the carriages compounded these issues. My teeth felt like they were trying to twist their way out of my mouth. I had no idea why my teeth hurt, but they did.

At the nine-month mark, I was ready to die. I had reached a tranquil Zen type mental state after suffering for so long, and then the pain got worse, and it was broken.

That was when I saw a beast approaching the carriage. “Halt,” I cried out in a broken raspy voice. The carriage came to a stop. I pulled myself up and staggered out. The rank 1 beast rushed out from the very tall grass that surrounded the road. I got my sword out and cut it down. I felt weak and tired, but I had to keep going. Just swinging the sword made me feel like my body was going to explode into a thousand pieces and never recover.

I put my sword away and thrust my hand into the beast’s skull, ripping the spirit stone free. I put it away in my spatial ring and then had the driver poor water over my good hand to clean it off. I then got back in the carriage. We set off again.

This was a fate worth than death. Every second was agony. Even the simplest of things, was incredibly exhausting now. I felt like I was regressing. Even though my cultivation and body remained stable, the pain just kept getting worse. I was too strong to die, but too weak to heal.

If I didn’t have a strong chance of resolving this at Imperial City, I would have probably just given up at this point. I was strong, and liked to think I had mental strength. But I was being ground down, like a rock beneath the tides and wind. I could resist pain. I could ensure the boredom of cultivation.

But I couldn’t resist constant pain with a lack of sleep. Each day was another crack in my sanity. I felt it wearing away. I could only focus on my breathing so much, when each breath hurt just one iota more than the last.

We finally made it to Imperial City after a year of high-speed carriage traveling. I had paid for maximum speed and no breaks. If there was a break, I wouldn’t have been able to last. After entering the outer portion of the city, I paid for a rickshaw to the analysis building that I had first met Elder Xu Xiaoli in.

Finally, I felt a sense of relief. After so much suffering and exhaustion, I was hopeful that a solution to my problem could be found. After reaching the building, I was escorted to a waiting room for the Elder to be available.

She showed up after half a day. I didn’t mind. I was looking for her help. I stood up when she entered and bowed deeply. “Elder Xu Xiaoli, this cultivator asks for your guidance on how to resolve a wound,” I said as politely as I could. I had to keep reminding myself to not overly beg or make any demands. She was not an elder off my sect. She supported me on a whim and some benefits, nothing more. Here I was asking for her help, I could not afford to offend her.

“Hmm, your arm, how interesting. A poison I am guessing. Remove the bandages.” I removed the bandages and there was no waste basket so I put them in my spatial ring. I then realized, I shouldn’t risk leaving them out and it would have been an insult to leave them behind to be cleaned up. I mentally patted myself on the back for avoiding such a simple mistake. The elder came over and put a single finger on my arm near the wound.

I could feel her checking my cultivation and my injury. “How interesting. The Liquifying Poison is fatal to all those below the fifth stage of cultivation.” She removed her finger and then looked over me once more. “How long?” she asked.

“About a year, elder. I got the wound just after leaving the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I replied. She nodded at that.

“Normally the cure is to use your understanding of the Dao and your mastery of energy to expel a poison from your physical and spiritual body. But someone of your rank, should have died. Your cultivation has become even more complex since I saw you last. Creating a suction vortex. Three paths of cultivation.” She shook her head and was silent as she looked over me. I tried to keep the pleading expression off my face, but I knew I was failing.

“Well there are three options, well four, but each of them have drawbacks.” She was silent again and it took all my willpower not to say anything inappropriate. After a small stretch of silence I could tell she was waiting for me to speak.

“Please Elder, what options are available. I would be honored by your guidance,” I replied and pulled out the rank 6 spirit stone. Just getting a consultation at this level required payment. She plucked the spirit stone from my hand and nodded.

It was frustrating to be put in this kind of position, but anything less would have been an insult to someone of her position. She had no obligation to help me. The fact she had four different options to resolve my condition spoke to her experience and knowledge. I had been hoping she would have just explained my options, then charged me for implementing one of them, but she clearly wanted to squeeze me every step of the way.

These elders truly were shameless, but you didn’t reach a high level of cultivation by giving handouts and being nice. You did it, by maximizing every opportunity you got in order to advance your interests. I couldn’t even blame her, since I had suspected something like this would happen.

Chapter 54 – Cost Of Treatment

“Let me explain what exactly is happening. Also, you may sit, before you fall over,” Xu Xiaoli said while I quickly took a seat. She sat as well and gave me a small smile, which reminded me more of a shark than of a kind grandma.

“The Liquifying Poison is attempting to degrade both your cultivation and body. To turn it into a state of being with water. It is a spiritual poison, but it also has strong physical components that work in synergy. Your physical constitution is on par with a body cultivator, which is why your arm has held togeather for so long.” I nodded at this paying close attention to everything she said.

“The same with the spiritual aspect of the poison. Your soul constitution is strong enough to resist. And your mind is strong enough to resist the pain. Without any one of this things, you would have died a horrible and messy death.” Solutions, give me solutions! I didn’t say that and tried to keep my face under control. Since I had paid a huge fee and had spent so much time traveling, it would be rude and stupid to rush her. Still, it was aggravating. I just wanted the pain to end.

“Your cultivation is so dense, it has held togeather as well. I can’t say if you are incredibly lucky, or it is fate for someone of your cultivation to receive such an injury. Regardless, the physical poison is gone, expelled from the wound on your arm. Your physical body is slowly self-healing.” That was good.

“The spiritual side of the poison remains. It is not decreasing, but slowly spreading through your body. That is due to the suction vortex. Your body naturally holds in energy. Without that, I could easily fix the issue in seconds, forcing the poison from your body. Now, such a procedure would shred your cultivation.” That was bad.

“Has the pain been getting worse?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation and Xu Xiaoli nodded at this.

“The spiritual side of the poison is spreading throughout your body. It is a slow process, but it is occurring. Your cultivation is soft and malleable. There were attempts in the past to use such a poison to make the third stage of cultivation easier. Unfortunately, no one could withstand such a thing. Carving out channels requires rigidity. With the poison, it would be like trying to purge goo instead of sand. All the delicate structures you are building would not be possible, even if digging the channels is far easier.” That was very bad.

“In addition, your channels and meridians would be tainted by a different attunement while you are carving them out. Still, you can do nothing, and you would recover in about a century, give or take a decade.” That was never going to happen. “It would be quite interesting to see the impact such an event has. But the time frame is a bit long.”

“Elder Xu Xiaoli, what are my other options?” I asked politely.

“The first option, which is not really an option, would be for an Immortal to purge the poison from your body safely. Even with your unique cultivation, it would not be worth their time or effort. Nor do you have the resources to even entertain such a notion,” she said.

“That leaves to proactive solutions. The first would be to force you to draw the poison into the rest of your body. Spreading it out and reducing the time it would linger. This would not be simple, but it is doable. As for the recovery time, it would be around a decade instead of a century.” That was much better. “The pain would be immense. Your body is handling the poison at a subconscious level as quickly as you can process the pain. Speeding this up would likely break your mind.” That was much worse.

“Still this option is the cheapest and I could perform the procedure right now without any additional cost on your part.” That was good.

“The final option would be to counter the poison with a medicine of some kind. But that would take research and materials, neither of which would be cheap.” That sounded expensive.

“Elder Xu Xiaoli, is there a general antidote?” I asked.

“There are some, but they would not work in this case. They are for lesser poisons and for lesser cultivators. The cost would be at least ten rank 6 spirit stones. But I wouldn’t be sure unless I contacted a friend specialized in healing and poisons.” That was way too expensive for me.

None of the options were good. The first option of doing nothing, was not happening. With much I was in pain, there was no way I would last another century. My mind was at its limit in terms of endurance. The second option to get an Immortal’s help was a throwaway option, just to pad the number of options she was presenting.

The third option while sounding the best, and cheapest, was a nightmare. More pain for ten years. That just wasn’t possible. The fourth option was too expensive. “Is there anyway to mitigate the pain from the third option or sleep through it?” I asked with as much hope as I could muster.

“If it was a physical issue that would have been possible. But your astral soul itself has been poisoned. Anything that would put you into stasis would also lock your soul. As for sleeping, that would…well it should be possible to physically sleep.” I perked up at that, since she seemed to change her mind mid-sentence.

“The issue with physically sleeping is that a strong medication, which would be poison for anyone else would need to be used. There could be complications and interactions that are unknown, which would create more trouble. Such a medication would have to be routinely administered over the entire decade.”

“What about something to cut off my sense of pain? Since it feels mostly physical?” I asked.

“Possible but it would be limited. It is a spiritual pain. Your other arm hurts right?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, and she nodded.

“Along with the rest of your body. The poison has spread. The greatest concentration is still in your left arm, but it is spreading out. The pain you are feeling is beyond the physical. Your spirit itself is trying to hold itself togeather. My advice is to wait the century,” she said.

I was 59 years old right now. At my current pace of carving out channels and meridians I had planned to be completed with the third stage of cultivation around 200 years of age. If I lost a century, I would be 300 years old, which was the upper limit of lifespan for someone in Meridian Attunement.

With my cultivation I could make it that long, but it would be pushing the limits of my lifespan. There would be no wiggle room for the rest of this stage. While I would get another 600 to 1,200 years for the fourth stage, I needed as much time as possible to overcome the first bottleneck.

“There is no option for paying an Immortal?” I asked and Elder Xu Xiaoli shook her head.

“If you had past your first bottleneck, then you would show you had potential to go the distance. They might accept a future favor or assign you a task. With your cultivation, crossing the first bottleneck and reaching the fifth stage is impossible.” She held up her hand to stop me from saying anything.

“I have no doubt you will struggle and there might be a chance of you succeeding. But the possibility is too remote to gamble on. While it would be only take a day to fix you, an Immortal’s time is more valuable than your life.” I wanted to protest and say they were immortal, it was right there in the name, so they had time to spare. However, that would be way too flippant and rude. I had already pushed enough by asking.

“There is also another topic of concern I wish to bring up, which will influence my decision in regards to my treatment. The Cloudy Moon Sect was attacked by the Demonic Blood Sect. While it has not been destroyed, they can no longer support my cultivation. I wish to sell my business, and was hoping you could mediate for me Elder Xu Xiaoli,” I said.

She owned twenty-five percent. The Han family owned fifteen percent. The Cloudy Moon Sect owned ten percent, while I owned the rest. The value of my refining business was immense, but I had no doubt the vultures were already circling.

“A shame such a thing happened.” There was no sympathy in her voice. The cultivator world was dog eat dog, and there was no sympathy for people who died or failed. “And what precisely are you looking for?”

“Funding my cultivation through the rest of the third stage and a large payment.” I then went onto explain the force chamber I would need and the spirit stones that would need to be invested for my cultivation. It was a lot, but my share of the business was quite valuable.

On Earth most businesses only looked ahead by three to five years. In cultivation land, they looked ahead much further in terms of assessing value, since everything was so stagnant. Getting new opportunities was hard, and there was a lot of static wealth that was horded away. For once the static nature of the economy was playing to my benefit.

“Your cultivation through the third stage and no further, ten rank 6 spirit stones, and a treatment plan worth twenty rank 6 spirit stones,” Elder Xu Xiaoli finally said. While it seemed like I was making out like a bandit, I was on the losing side long term. But I needed the short-term money to pay for my treatment and my cultivation. It pained me to sell my portion of a functional business, but there were no other options.

I had no doubt Elder Xu Xiaoli would be gobbling up my entire share herself. That was the nature of this world and how the Imperial Sect had structured both society and the economy to benefit their interests long term. Like a casino, they were content to let people gamble and try new things, but in the end the house would always win. And if the house didn’t win, they would break some knees.

It was incredibly frustrating to be put in such a position, but that was the difference in power. I was actually very lucky that Elder Xu Xiaoli did not squeeze me for more. The Imperial Sect had rules, but I had no doubt she could have put forward a much more scam deal if she wanted to. Who would I even complain to?

So, the deal was both incredibly generous and a complete rip-off at the same time. I had been doing valuations while traveling to Imperial City, and one needed to look at a millennium of operation, not just one year. With that kind of timeframe, I was getting scammed heavily. But I wouldn’t make it another millennium, let alone another year with my injury.

I chose the safe way for the medication to be developed while a long term force chamber was prepared. I would only be allowed to exit once every decade once I entered. Elder Xu Xiaoli had suggested 20 years per session, but I had to put my foot down, just in terms of supplies and my mental health. She had thankfully to a decade. By the time was injury was treated, the force chamber would be ready for my long-term use. It would be located within this building, guaranteeing my safety and that I would not be interrupted as well.

While Aoyin might be brazen enough to attack the Cloudy Moon Sect, attacking the Imperial Sect would be laughable. Even a covert mission was foolish. That would draw the attention of the Immortals in charge of this place. That was one thing everyone agreed on, they were too strong to risk messing with in any way.

I was shown to Elder Healer Song immediately after concluding the necessary transactions with Xu Xiaoli. One thing about the Imperial Sect was that they were quick and efficient once you were paid up.

The older lady poked my arm and as well as the scabbed over wound. “What a mess,” she muttered, and I didn’t respond. “Little Xiaoli was right to send you to me. Anyone else would struggle treating this.” She then rolled up her sleeve, had me lay down, and placed a bucket under my arm.

“The first step is to fix the physical damage. That is the most important thing.” I was glad she was willing to explain things as she checked me over and treated me. “There is excess fluid buildup as your body partially dissolved.” She began poking my arm harder and I had to contain a wince.

“Liquifying Poison from a rank 6 beast. You are lucky,” she said.

“Thank you, Elder Healer Song,” I replied.

“You are paying, this is just tedious and your wealth. I am slowly saturating your arm with my energy. Once it is enough, I will begin my compressing your arm, and forcing the excess fluid out. Don’t worry your cultivation is fine. If you have a question, ask,” she said. That was much nicer than most other cultivators I had met. I guess her bedside manner was quite good, or I was overpaying her.

“Will there be long term damage?” I asked.

“Physically, no. Your arm and shoulder will recover in full after a century. You plan on cultivating during this time?” I winced as a pulse of pain went through my arm.

“Yes, Elder Healer,” I replied.

“Then there should be no worries physically. Your body will recover due to your cultivation. The bigger challenge and issue is the spiritual side of the poison. I plan to build a flesh pustule, draw the poison inside of it, then cut off the entire thing both spiritually and physically.” That sounded unpleasant, but I trusted her to do her job.

“Will there be long term damage?” I asked.

“That is hard to say. With your suction vortex and all the other aspects of your cultivation, it is impossible to predict. What I can do is lessen the spiritual poison by drawing most of it out. Little Xu Xiaoli’s idea of treating it with medicine is foolish in your case. But it is the preferred way. Letting a poison linger is an affront to me as a healer.” Specialist knowledge was clearly better than general knowledge. This was why coming to the Imperial Sect instead of somewhere else was worth it, even if the treatment was more expensive, I knew I was getting the best.

It was the difference between having a cutting-edge laparoscopic procedure to perform surgery instead of cutting the patient open. Or having tailored made cancer treating drugs, instead of a general regimen. This was the forefront of cultivation medicine.

“If we used alchemy to make a pill, figuring out the effects and ingredients for your specific case would take way too long. It isn’t worth the headache or complications. While the poison will take a couple of years to fully go away, the pain will be much less,” she explained.

“No long-term damage to my cultivation?” I asked.

“That is much more complicated than one would think. A standard cultivator at your stage of cultivation would be dead. So, making a base level comparison is impossible.” Another wave of pain went through my arm as she kept tapping all over it.

“The real risk is that your soul will remain soft for a while. Looking at your finished channels, I would recommend not cultivating for another year once I am done treating you, to allow your soul to firm up a bit. The risk otherwise is too high,” she explained.

“I could make a mistake?” I asked.

“Yes and no. The walls between your motes around the wound are incredibly fragile. If before they were like stone walls, now they are paper. After a year they should harden up into wood.”

“What about channels in other parts of my body?” I asked.

“Those could be done, but very slowly and carefully. Take your time. I know cultivators like to push forward, but you must be extra careful in the next year throughout your entire body. Then extra careful only in your left arm for the next decade. But the longer you wait before you start up again, the better off you will be,” Elder Healer Song explained.

“Any other long-term effects?” I asked.

“An increased affinity for water and poison. If you were attuning your channels to either of those then you could gain a benefit,” she explained.

“Could I still do so?” I asked more out of curiosity than anything. She turned her head to look at me.

“FOOLISHNESS!” She then flicked my forehead, and I felt my head slam back into the cushion on the table I lay upon. “Your cultivation, to put it as kindly as I can, is an utter mess. Three types of cultivation. An energy vortex. Five cores. You want to add more.”

“You only said it is foolish, not impossible,” I replied.

“It is both. Just surviving should be considered a miracle worthy of an Immortal. To keep your cultivation and mind intact is beyond any kind of expectation. To seek to profit off this, foolishness.” She went back to poking my arm. So much for asking questions and a good bedside manner.

“Will I be able to resist this poison better in the future Elder Healer?” I asked.

“Actually, the opposite. You will be weaker to this type of poison. While that weakness will go away over time, it will never completely go away. It will become marginal at best.” She tapped again and another wave of pain went through my arm.

“Is it working?” I asked.

“Slowly. I need to make sure your physical arm comes back togeather properly. Any faster and there are risks of mistakes. This will take three days or so,” she replied. My eyes went wide at that. “After that you will rest, to let your body recover a bit. Then I will create and draw the poison to a flesh pustule.”

“What exactly is that?” I hesitantly asked.

“You know what pimples are?”

“Yes, Elder Healer,” I replied.

“Think of it like that. I will create a flesh sac over your wound, fill it up with your blood, and then draw the poison into the sac. Once I fill it up as much as possible, I cut it off. That will only take a day. While complicated, the procedure is actually easier than physically fixing your arm, even if the base skill requirement is much higher.”

She kept poking my arm as I thought about everything that was being told to me. It was nice to know what was actually being done to my body. “Could a person cultivate with poison?” I asked.

“You can cultivate with almost anything. Poison is a sword without a hilt. It is possible, but you damage yourself. How would you even get more poison type energy? More poison? Perhaps a body focused cultivator could last, but it would be a struggle. The amount of poison you got would work well for someone with a standard cultivation. With your cultivation, you need enough poison to fill an ocean or kill an Immortal.”

“You couldn’t dilute the poison?” I asked. Since she was willing to answer questions, I was more than happy to ask questions to expand my understanding.

“You can. But the problem is that you are cultivating the concept imbued into the energy to attune your channels and meridians. If you are diluting the poison, that defeats the purpose. You are cultivating force, it is like having a weaker level of force energy applied so you can handle it more easily,” she explained.

“Couldn’t you have a constitution or train up to resist high level poisons?” I asked.

“If it was just poison then yes. But this Liquifying Poison, is both a poison and a liquid. Poisons are composites of other substances. That is why attunement rarely goes with such esoteric concepts. Sticking with the classical elements, allows for a more focused approach. Your choice of force is actually quite good in this regard,” she explained. At least I wasn’t a complete idiot.

“But the cost is quite high compared to other options. While you might have the wealth to afford it, most cultivators cannot. And getting resources isn’t simple.” She kept tapping my arm as the occasional wave of pain went through it as we talked about cultivation.

“Also, techniques?” I asked.

“That as well. Certain things have a much greater legacy than others,” she explained.

“Is there anything I could take with me in case I get poisoned again or injured?” I asked.

“Not really no. Or at least anything affordable. You would need something to match your cultivation level and a general application will always pale compared to a focused application. Even if I had been right next to you when you got injured, the only thing that would really change is the extent of the physical effect. The spiritual effect happened instantly, or close enough that nothing could be done.”

“So don’t get injured,” I replied.

“Exactly. But as you increase your cultivation you become harder to injure. But that also means you are harder to heal. I could treat cultivators missing a limb up to the fourth stage for the most part, but after that it is impossible. A lot of healing techniques don’t work past a certain point.”

“You can tell me that?” I asked in surprise.

“It isn’t a secret. It is not bragging to say that I am the top three of all healers on the continent, not counting the Immortals. But they can just brute force their way to success. Actual healing is incredibly complicated. That is why smart cultivators don’t get injured,” she said.

“Ah, well, there was no way I could run from a rank 6 beast. Winning was hard enough,” I replied.

“I am not saying don’t fight, but just realize, that any future injuries will be incredibly difficult to heal. This is why cultivators who fight are in the minority.”

“What about demonic cultivators?” I asked. Elder Healer Song paused for a moment before continuing.

“They take the cultivation of others to boost their own. Normally the cultivation is condensed down to pills or potions, but there are grafting techniques. It is also how beasts try to sneak into cities, by wearing a cultivator’s body as a flesh suit. Once you go down that path there is no going back,” she said.

“Really, even at the fourth stage to get drops?” I asked.

“There are exceptions, but the risk is incredibly high. Look at your cultivation. I know you aren’t a demonic cultivator, since there is no way to find another person’s cultivation like yours. While people are tempted to pursue that path, you will never cross over the second bottle neck to immortality.”

“What? Really?” I asked in surprise.

“Hmm, it isn’t well known, but it is a fact. Demonic cultivators’ own cultivation is too disjointed. Even if it was flawlessly done with the minimum of mistakes, the problems come from the slight differences. Cultivation is a journey of a million paths, which lead to the same destination. Soul, body, and mind cultivators all end up in the same place while aiming for immortality. The first bottleneck is the peak difference of one’s path proving its viability. The second bottleneck is everything coming back togeather in the end.”

“With Daos right?” I asked.

“You really like asking all the questions.”

“My apologies Elder Healer Song,” I quickly said.

“It is no problem. I enjoy teaching. And this technique is simple, just time consuming to do right in order to fix your arm,” she replied. “None of these things are really secrets. I won’t teach you a technique, but basic knowledge has no real value.” I would strongly disagree with that, but I wasn’t about to complain.

“As for Daos. They are paths one follows. To understand a concept in such depth they become one with that concept. Once a person understands enough, they will break through to Immortality. If you ever make it to the eighth stage of cultivation, Conceptual Formation, then you will have a very strong chance overcoming the second bottleneck.”

“That is good to know,” I replied.

“But leading up to that will be a nightmare. The concepts you pick will have a huge impact on your development. Force, blood, power, and consume seem to be the strongest concepts after the poison.”

“You can sense that?” I asked in surprise.

“The suction vortex drawing in energy and your attunement are painfully clear to someone of my caliber. Don’t even begin to ask me how you will manage three different types of cultivation, once you get past the first bottleneck.”

“Any advice?” I asked.

“With soul cultivation, one would need to stabilize their cultivation and then construct pillars to the astral plane. For body cultivation you draw in energy, to turn one’s body into a single pillar or a conduit to draw in energy to strengthen ones self. And for mind cultivation, you would harmonize to make oneself as an astral core, or a nexus to draw in energy.”

“Did no one go over this with you?” she asked.

“Everyone was focused on me reaching the fourth stage and possibly beyond that,” I explained.

“Idiots. All of them idiots, and you can quote me on that. Yes, triple cultivation is perceived as the pinnacle, the most powerful, but it is completely unwieldly. Instead of one path, you will have to pursue multiple at the same time, on top of all your cores.”

“Wouldn’t they help each other?” I asked.

“At the very last step. When you attune with the universe itself. If you make it that far, there would be no second bottleneck. But in exchange, you will experience a nightmare of cultivation in the fifth stage onwards,” Elder Healer Song explained.

“There is nothing I can do?” I asked.

“Your path is already set. If you somehow get the drops needed for the fourth stage, which is impossible, then there is a chance. But you need the maximum number of drops possible. Let me guess, half a million?”

“610,000,” I replied. She let out a scoff.

“Impossible. Even an Immortal would spit out blood at such a number. But if you somehow make it, then you will need to focus on several things. I will prepare a book for you,” she said.

“Really?! Thank you, Elder Healer Song,” I replied, with heaviness in my heart lifting up.

“Consider it as compensation, for seeing something so incredibly stupid as your cultivation. I know that is why all us old people are content to let you try with this craziness. I haven’t felt my Dao of Healing improve in ages until now. It is only a miniscule fraction, but it is still improvement. If you somehow survive, I have no doubt you will get injured and require my services.”

Less altruism, and more marketing for the future. Happy and alive patients were return customers. Even kindness came with strings attached in cultivation world. Instead of troubling me, this reassured me that Healer Song was still a scheming ancient cultivator at heart. Like a non-profit that had a lot of revenue, by selling their image and services. Far more than other businesses. I could see a niche like that working in healing.

“Nothing more I can do to prepare?” I asked.

“You have already done too much in my opinion. Any more complexity to your cultivation and you will come to a complete stop. Honestly the energy vortex is a bit much, but it will help you in the fourth stage once you finish your channels and cores. Even then, the amount of drops you need is insanity,” she explained.

“Any idea what will actually happen once I break through the bottleneck?” I ask.

“No. Since no one has ever succeeded in what you are trying to accomplish with triple cultivation and multiple cores. It has been speculated on as a thought exercise, but to actually reach such heights, you would become the fattest of pigs.” I winced at that description.

“I can only imagine the resources that have gone into you already. And my soul chills at the very thought of how many more you will need to consume. Even our Imperial Sect would shudder at such a cost, and an Immortal would weep at the expense.”

“I know, my Master told me as much,” I said.

“Well, the fact he let you do this shows a questionable mindset. But it is your life. The heavens know, I warn cultivators, point out issues, but they are content to do stupid things. With how your cores are interlinked, you might create a fourth form of cultivation,” she said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Hmm, it is a possibility. But how that would even work, I have no idea. You are more likely to be completely ripped apart once you detonate your cores. Even with the density of your cultivation, pulling it all back togeather and expanding your astral soul will be difficult. I will say that you will need to step into the fifth stage with all three types of cultivation at the same time. Don’t try to do mind cultivation first or last. It must be part of the process,” she explained.

“A specific reason or your intuition?” I asked.

“Both. The reason being, that attempts to stagger duel type cultivation have all failed. While it is harder, doing them at the same time is key. You aren’t just your mind, or your body, or your soul. You are all three. It is important to remember that.”

“Thank you, Elder Healer Song,” I said.

“Like I said, I am more than happy to teach. If you survive, there is a chance of repeat business. I doubt it, but one can hope.” I sat there in silence for a bit as she poked my arm over and over again, thinking of everything I had learned.

At least my injury would be healed. That was my biggest concern and highest priority at the moment. Getting a specialist had been the right choice. While the occasional wave of pain went through my arm, the overall pain felt more manageable. Once I reached the fourth stage of cultivation, I would be quite poor.

I also realized I wouldn’t be seeing my sister or family again. I could not take the time off to travel. Even exiting the chamber every decade would have a time span measured in days, not months or years. I couldn’t afford to leave and then the deal being changed in some way. While the Imperial Sect wouldn’t cheat me, they would take advantage if they could. I had no doubt if I left Imperial City, they would claim that they thought I had finished my cultivation.

At least that was the impression Elder Xu Xiaoli gave me. Elder Healer Song was a breath of fresh air in comparison. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with the Han family. That old granny Han Xingjuan, who looked like a young girl was a nightmare.

Once I was healed up, I would rest and recover. One thing that did not escape my notice was that no one asked me questions about the Cloudy Moon Sect. It was clear they didn’t care or already knew everything that had happened. Most likely both. This confirmed in my mind that the Imperial Sect ran more like a corporation, or conglomerate, than a government.

I had known this to be the case, but it still frustrated me immensely. This world was without laws. There were informal laws, but at the end of the day, only power mattered. Sure, cultivators would pretend to be civil and follow rules, but when there were serious benefits on the line, the gloves would come off. One did not pursue cultivation without leaving a lot of bodies behind.

Chapter 55 – Relaxing In Imperial City

I sat on a terrace in the apartment Elder Xu Xiaoli had let me barrow while she made arrangements for my force chamber. At least she was nice enough to give me a temporary place to stay as a guest of the Imperial Sect while I recovered from my treatment.

My arm had deflated, but my body was still incredibly sore, but far better than it had been before. The skin was a little bit loose where the wound had been but not flappy. My body felt soft, especially my arm. It was like a limp noodle. But that was far better than leaky sausage.

I carefully sipped my tea that I had prepared myself. Normally I wouldn’t have done something like that, but there was nothing much to do at the moment. Elder Xu Xiaoli had taken care of all my financial issues in one move. That was the power an elder of the Imperial Sect. Once they made a decision, there was little anyone could do to resist.

It didn’t even matter that I had promised to give the remainder of my business over to the sect once I hit the fourth stage and left. I had owned my shares, and the Cloudy Moon Sect was weak. There was no objection they could hope to put up. If they were smart, they would manage to hold onto their share by providing protection for the caravans and operational management.

It wouldn’t be easy. When Elder Xu Xiaoli had arranged for me to stay in this apartment, she explained the Han family was making moves to try and pressure the Cloudy Moon Sect. That was their problem, and I hadn’t asked the elder for help. I could tell she wanted me to ask so she could squeeze me out of the promised rewards, but I wasn’t an idiot to try and renegotiate when I was in a position of weakness.

The sect should be called the Shark Sect and the city, Shark Tank, with how ruthless everyone was. But that was way of cultivation, trampling over others. I let out a soft sigh and sipped more of my tea. At least having a place to rest and recover was considered part of the healing bill. I could have afforded a place, but I also suspected they didn’t want to risk my life by having me stay somewhere else for a short period of time.

While it was unlikely Aoyin would make a move, it was still possible. If I died before the Imperial Sect completed their end, they would look bad. I had no idea why they were so set on keeping up appearances, but it was probably something one of their Immortals insisted on. While I was jaded to their true nature, it came down to management.

I had a lot of time to think about why they didn’t just crush me in secret and take everything. People would know, and it would leak out. There were clear lines on what was allowed and what wasn’t. If Elder Xu Xiaoli broke the rules they had, then others would do the same, and the lower ranked sects would rebel, creating chaos.

The Imperial Sect wanted chaos, but manageable chaos. That was why the Cloudy Moon Sect would recover in time. The demonic sects were just the hidden arms of the high-ranking sects to keep their own hands clean and people in line. I had realized this before, but I didn’t realize how much of a grip the Immortals had over everything.

They just needed to lay out the law for the top-level cultivators, and it would trickle down. Sure, an individual or two might go off the rails, but that would be corrected. It wasn’t just the economy and technology that was held in an iron grip, but the culture and mindset as well.

I still hadn’t worked out the reason behind all of this. I suspected there was a larger reason, involving the Firmament, and the forces outside the continent, but that was just the most likely explanation I had come up with. I had wanted to pay an information broker a rank 6 spirit stone for information on the Firmament. But it was a restricted topic.

Looking at Jiang Fengge’s journal, hadn’t been very enlightening. He had spent most of his time in a city working for one of the gangs that controlled an area. He managed to do well enough to help him advance and then leave. Most of his book had been about the fights, and his thoughts on them. There was no name listed for the city, no clear explanations on why the fights were happening.

The information brokers I had gone to warned me away. The Firmament was a restricted topic, which meant they were not allowed to inquire at all about it. The requirement to even pay for the information was being a cultivator past the first bottleneck. Anyone below that stage of cultivation was refused without exception.

While it was tempting to try to look for a black market information broker, the risk of the Imperial Sect getting upset, and kicking me out for breaking the law was too much for me to take that kind of risk. Once I hit the fourth stage, I would be in a huge amount of danger. That was the minimum I had picked up on. The fact information was restricted to stronger cultivators was a sign, that whatever the Firmament was, was not to be taken lightly.

I sipped my tea. I had no idea what blend it was. But it was warm, and I had a great view of a modern city without the pollution. Now that was a question, were spirit stones ecologically friendly since they came from beasts? It was a renewable resource, even if the source was sapient creatures. Definitely green but filled with suffering and death.

The really scary thing was, that with the cheap cost of labor and building materials, it was hard to say how long ago this city was built. Even now I could see mortals sweeping the street below me. That was what felt off about this place compared to an Earth city. The cars and pollution were one thing, but there was a lack of people moving about. Sure, there were cultivators and mortals moving about on their business and transporting supplies. But it just didn’t feel the same despite the modern aesthetic.

This made me think about how I was brought here to cultivation land. There clearly were other people before me based on the games and how this place was designed. While there was a chance of convergent design schema, I had a hard time buying that. There were just too many similarities to Earth that were present. The similar games I had found in a store when I was young was the biggest confirmation in my mind and everything after that was further reinforcement.

I poured myself some more tea and enjoyed the breeze. I would be stuck in a small room for a long time after this. A very long time. I wanted to enjoy my freedom while I could. There was nothing more I could do except cultivate. All my other options had been closed off one by one. Now only cultivation and then traveling to the Firmament remained.

Mount Vortex and the Wandering Immortal Gongong had also been on the forbidden list. At least I had managed to get directions to where the mountain was located. At the very tip of the continent. A huge area of wilderness and then the mountain. I was told the height was so immense, I would not miss it. I had seen some crazy terrain on the continent, but I was quite curious about how tall a mountain could be.

I had also taken the time to restock on ammo for my gun. After spending 7 rank 6 spirit stone, I purchased 5 rank 6 bullets and another 5 rank 5 bullets. That would leave me with 13 rank 6 spirit stones. Enough for charging the gun and making further purchases. Everything else was my savings and startup capital.

Before I left, I would have to purchase a lot of supplies and possibly another spatial ring. Also, a high-quality traveling robe that offered protection would be nice. While my sect martial robe and cloak weren’t poor quality, they weren’t amazing either. But looking too good and well off might attract the wrong attention. Better to have it, then run out of clothes in the wilderness.

As for my weapons, I was happy with my sword and gun. There was no need to upgrade them further. The one question that remained, was after reaching the fourth rank, should I return to the sect first and learn techniques? It was a tough question I had been going back and forth on. The Sect was more to the South and made a sort of triangle with Imperial City and Mount Vortex.

That would be a lot of travel time, but techniques were useful. But I had no doubt the moment I left the demonic cultivators would get word. I should make it look like I am headed back to the sect and tell people that, while in reality, turn North after leaving Imperial City.

I sipped my tea and smiled. It was much easier to think through things while in a relaxed state. I had been rushing from one disaster to another for so long, I hadn’t had time to destress. The long carriage ride to Imperial City did not count. That was an exercise in mental fortitude to resist all the pain. I shuddered slightly as my arm twinged a bit. There were aches across my body, but thankfully it wasn’t serious anymore.

Elder Healer Song did incredibly good work. I had to give the ancient woman a lot of credit and she had been incredibly friendly. Probably the friendliest cultivator I had ever met so far. If that was her sales tactic it wasn’t a bad one. Her treatment was insanely expensive, I had no doubt, but she was willing to help me beyond that.

There was a light chime at the door. I set my tea cup down and went to the front door and opened it up. “Package for Yuan Zhou,” the mortal said.

“Yes, that is me,” I replied. I smiled as I took the package.

“Have a nice day.”

“You as well,” I replied as the delivery person left and I closed the door. No signature required, but I wasn’t about to start speculating on their delivery service. It was a wooden box with a small note on the top.

Hope this helps you on your journey.

After that there was the symbol of the Imperial Sect. I carefully undid the metal clasp and opened up the wood box. Inside the box were three books. Each one of them was about the higher levels of cultivation on a different path. I went back to the table on the terrace and set the wood box with the books next to my tea set.

I carefully pulled out the first book, Soul Cultivation, Fifth Through Eighth Stage. I honestly couldn’t believe that Elder Healer Song would have given me such information. I flipped open the book and began skimming through it.

The book was only forty pages long and it was a summary. The usefulness wasn’t that great, but it was helpful in understanding the higher stages of cultivation. The other two books were the same for Body and Mind cultivation.

After reading them, I could see why she didn’t think I would be able to go forward. If I made it to the eighth stage, the final step into immortality would be incredibly easy. But the hardest part was that I had no idea what my cultivation would look like once I tried to get past the first bottleneck. That was the real issue.

Even if I got the optimal number of drops. There was still an incredible amount of risk and unknowns crossing into the fifth stage. I would be in the Nascent Stage. Normally it would be called Nascent Soul, Mind, or Body, but I was walking all three. Now I understood why no one wanted to talk with me about the later stages in the past.

None of them had any idea. It was a complete unknown. Each Nascent Path was different. But from the broad strokes of reading the stage was about stabilizing one’s cultivation after breaking through the first bottleneck. After that was about attuning to energy in different ways, and then merging with the concept or the Dao at the very end.

They all had the same start and end point. There might even be some hidden meaning to that. But from what I could tell, the various paths would compliment each other at the end. Soul to create pillars to link with the Astral Plane. Body to strengthen one’s physicality from the immense burden placed upon it. And Mind to harmonize with the concepts.

Each path had shortcomings in the other two areas it didn’t cover which made it difficult to reach immortality. My guess was that special items were needed or that a specific concept was chosen to make up for the weaknesses in what path was chosen.

That was why picking three paths at the same time was considered so powerful, if one could make it to the end. I was front loading all the difficulty. That had been told to me, and that was the hope, but it was good to finally understand why a triple path cultivation was considered amazing and incredibly overpowered.

This didn’t mean the later stages would be easier, but the real hurdle was the first bottleneck. In addition to the immense energy requirements, there were issues with how my cultivation would be shaped afterwards, and the various paths would interact with each other. My cultivation was so immense, even the people who had tried different paths togeather weren’t a good benchmark.

So many items and resources had been put into me, and my cultivation was so immense, that there was no guide anymore. “Oh, how clever,” I muttered out loud. Elder Healer Song was indeed as devious as one would imagine. She had no doubt in her mind, that no one would be able to help me or give advice and was setting herself up to be the go-to person I would reach out to.

It wasn’t a bad choice, but it just showed how far thinking she was. The cost of these general guides was nothing compared to what I would have to pay out if I had to go to her for advice. She could afford to give a thousand books like these away and it would just be a fraction of a fraction of the cost I would have to pay for help. Even if a hundred bets failed, she just had to catch one fish on her hook and she would be immensely rewarded.

I smiled at her strategy. I had worked it out before, but the more I thought about it, the more impressive it was. The fact that everyone else was so cutthroat while she appeared nice and kind, should have been a major warning to her true nature. I could go in circles all day, but at the end of the day, she would still be my first choice for help. Just because she was thinking to squeeze me dry, didn’t mean her solutions weren’t helpful.

Just the repair work on my arm, cost 10 rank 6 spirit stones. That is the kind of cost that would financially pressure a mid-ranking sect. Even elder cultivators would have to pause at that kind of expense and take note.

In addition all of this was putting the cart before the horse, or the future problems, when I had to figure out how to get 610,000 drops in the fourth stage. Increasing my breakthrough chances after that was something I would have to look into.

I put away the books and the tea, and then headed out. I made my way to one of the information brokers.

“Ah, how can I help you today, Yuan Zhou,” the broker said with a smile as I entered his office. He had a grin, since he knew I was loaded. While I might have thought this information brokers were scammers, they had very unionized existence in Imperial City, despite not being part of the Imperial Sect. The prices were standardized as well as restricted information. While I could search for one outside of that, it was highly illegal and risky. I had already decided not to go down that route.

“I am looking for information on things to increase or help during the first breakthrough that aren’t increased drops in one’s core,” I said. The information broker leaned back and stroked his beard.

“That isn’t a normal question. People are asking how to get more drops and that is the regular way to increase one’s chances. This would require some research. Are you looking for a basic investigation or an exhaustive investigation? The first is a rank 3 spirit stone, the other one a rank 4 spirit stone.”

“The exhaustive one,” I replied and pulled out the spirit stone and set it on the table. He picked it up and put it away. “Alright, I will put togeather something for you, will take three days. Is there anything else?”

“No,” I replied and got up and left. I had no idea how they got their information, but my guess was they acted as a middleman to members of the Imperial Sect. They would pay a rank 3 spirit stone for research from a couple of people. Get five or so reports, put it all togeather, and keep the other half of the payment.

While I would have liked being able to put up requests myself, I had no doubt it required a license or a fee of some kind which would make the entire process a massive headache. I had no doubt that was the reason why information brokers existed. And they could just copy the report I got and reuse it in the future. Even if it was old, cultivation land didn’t change that much.

After three days, I returned to the information broker, and he had three sheets for me. He handed them over. “There are only three things listed,” I said.

“There isn’t much. The vast majority of first bottleneck resources are about increasing the number of drops one has. Very rarely do people worry about anything else in regards to their cultivation. Also, such treasures don’t grow on trees. Well, the Nascent Berry grows on a bush, but you get my meaning.”

“I also don’t see prices listed,” I replied.

“These items, they aren’t public items. I did some digging, but they are considered rank 8 treasures,” the information broker said.

“Wait, why? That seems excessive,” I replied.

“You are looking to break through from the fourth to the fifth rank. Making such a difficult process easier, requires resources that would be useful on the path to immortality. That is why they aren’t sold publicly. If you want I can inquire, but just the inquiries won’t be cheap.” That was because old people with vast resources stockpiled up would have to asked if they had one of these items. Just asking required a payment.

I couldn’t wait until I was powerful, then everyone had to pay me for my help or just to talk to me. It was honestly aggravating sometimes, how expensive everything was and the hoops I had to go through to just get some basic questions asked. But I could also see how it would stop riff raff from bother senior cultivators.

“No. That is fine. Nascent Berry is extinct or in a private garden.” I muttered the last bit. I wasn’t about to visit a beast garden again. Once was enough. A second time was just asking for trouble.

“Again, this isn’t something people normally ask for. The other two items are a Stabilizer Ring and Powdered Fairy Dust,” the broker said, and I flipped to those two pages looking them over. The Stabilizer Ring wasn’t what I was looking for. That was for people who had too powerful a core, but not enough motes to stabilize the rest of their body. It wouldn’t be useful.

The Powered Fairy Dust was interesting. “Fairies, a type of beast?” I asked.

“Actually no. Just an incredibly rare creature that has a different path of cultivation. The last sighting of them was during the second age over 200,000 years ago. But it were a well-known resource. It is highly possible some elder cultivator has some of it tucked away somewhere.”

“All useless,” I said, and the information broker shrugged.

“I can say it was an exhaustive search of publicly available information. That doesn’t mean you can request something specifically from an alchemist, but the price won’t be cheap. It will be on the level of the other items or even more expensive,” he explained and I nodded at this while still frowning. I had been hoping for a list, not three useless items.

The Nascent Berry sounded like the best option, or the only option really. “Nascent Berries aren’t grown?”

“It is rank 8 plant. The time and care for it to come to maturity is immense. The best option would be searching the wilderness or something, but as for growing them, the cost is too prohibitive.” That was true, just frustrating. Why couldn’t it be a rank 5 plant or something cheap. A lot of the stuff I wanted was way over my level of cultivation. It made me feel like there was a massive price discrepancy somewhere.

I should be using rank 4 and 5 treasures, not rank 8. But it was the rarity and the use that contributed, not just what stage it was useful at, but that did play a factor. If it was rank 8, it was implied that people could make it that far using such an item, or it would help them reach there. That was why items were priced the way they were. While I knew this, it was still frustrating to be met by extreme costs in every direction.

“Thank you,” I said and got up.

“Not a problem, come back any time.” I wasn’t planning to anytime soon since I didn’t have any more questions that needed to be answered. I then paused and considered something I hadn’t asked. “Something else?” the information broker asked me.

“Yes, do you trade information, if I have information about a demonic sect and one of their bases. Actual information, not speculation.” There was a long pause as the broker considered my question. One of the things I had learned about these people were that they were incredibly meticulous. Each word said was measured with care.

“That would be worthwhile information. I will need some details to assess the information,” he said. I sat back down.

“I know the location of a base of demonic cultivators, from the Demonic Blood Sect. A large base with three entrances, and general formations that guard it and send up an alert when entered. I can give you the location, the probable locations of one entrance, confirming the other two on a map. The place has several elders guarding it, but has a large treasure the demonic cultivators are using to cultivate,” I said.

“You haven’t told the Imperial Sect?” the broker asked.

“They know I encountered a demonic sect, but they weren’t interested in the information,” I replied. The Imperial Sect’s ambivalence was my gain.

“And they can’t just move the base?” the broker asked.

“There is a large cultivation treasure inside the base, which cannot be moved. It is heavily guarded, several cultivators above the fifth rank, but no one in the eighth rank when I was there,” I said. The broker leaned back and folded their hands in front of them. I could tell they were thinking about the value of the information and who they could sell it to.

“Very well, I can offer you a rank 6 spirit stone for the information,” he said. He would have to resell the information and it would take time. In addition, whomever purchased it would have to launch an attack. It wasn’t something that provided an immediate benefit.

“Twenty rank 5 spirit stones,” I countered. That was worth about one and two thirds of a rank 6 spirit stone. It was a decent price increase, but not overly large.

“I can accept that.” He then pulled out several sheets of paper. “I am guessing you don’t have any of this written down?”

“No,” I replied and quickly began writing down everything I could about the base I had snuck into. I even took the time to write down my speculations on the material that made up the base, the roots, the blood pool, the size of the base, the locations of the entrances, and the formations that made up the protections on the base. Making it clear that ambushing someone as they went in was the safest option so the active defenses weren’t turned on, but how there didn’t appear to be anyone permanently on guard duty.

I considered this revenge for the chase I had been put through. I still had to avenge the Cloudy Moon Sect, but this was just one bit of revenge I could leverage. An attack by proxy. While the high ranking sects might use the demonic sects as a deniable attack dogs, the same worked in reverse. There would be no one to bail them out if they were attacked.

This information would no doubt trickle back to the sects near the Blood Forest and they would launch a punitive expedition. The high ranking sect paid out quite a bit for demonic cultivators. A shame, I hadn’t been able to pack up all the corpses myself, but it wasn’t worth the headache for me. For other sects though, it would be easily worth a large investment to show the flag.

By using an information broker in Imperial City, there was no way for the demonic sects would be able to take revenge. The information broker laid out the spirits stones. Before I pocketed them I had one final thing to say.

“I want the information sold, not buried, or sold back to the Demonic Sect under the Blood Forest. I will be publicly releasing this information in a decade,” I said.

“A decade is fine. And it will be passed up the chain. Most likely it will be sold to the sects around the Blood Forest, but I will make a note that the information is only slightly contained. I won’t mention names as per usual, but there will be no expectation that the information will retain its value long term. Nothing less than a decade though.”

“I understand. I don’t want to put you into a spot, but I am quite unhappy with this demonic sect. They deserve to be humbled a bit for their audacity,” I replied while scooping up the spirit stones.

“A pleasure doing business. Come back any time,” the information broker said. I gave them a nod and left. I never got their name, but that was how things worked. While they knew who I was, they wouldn’t spread that information around. If they did, whomever was paying had very deep pockets. And I wouldn’t mind whoever was trying to give me trouble paying a large fee.

Other people would have gone off the rails, thinking about revenge, or launching their own attack. That was idiotic. Revenge, while completely valid, was not something to be rushed into. Not with the amount of strength I was up against. Better to just reveal my enemy’s secrets and let them spread out. If I had given the information away, then the value and authenticity would be questioned.

By selling it, the information broker and his organization would have to resell it to make a profit. I could trust on human greed to see my revenge fulfilled far more easily than if I had run to the nearby sects and told them about the exact same information for free. Even with revenge, working smarter not harder was key.

Once a system was large enough, no matter how chaotic, if it involved people it would eventually be mostly predictable. It was nice to be able to leverage my abilities to strike back against my enemies in a way that wasn’t shooting a gun or violence. Let other people fight. I wanted to trade and make obscene amounts of profit to fuel my journey to immortality.

The vast majority of cultivators had it correct. Fighting was a losing proposition long term. Better to let other people fight on my behalf as proxies against the demonic sect. If I came back with enough wealth, I could hire people to get revenge.

In fact, before I left for the Firmament, I had an amazing idea that would enrage the demonic cultivators, and especially Aoyin. While it was a long shot, never underestimate what someone with experience in the social media age can come up with to troll another person who they disliked. It wasn’t like he could want to kill me more. And chasing me down? That was a laugh the world was a big place.

Once I was done with the third stage of cultivation, everyone from my family would be dead. They would be no more. And that was one thing cultivators did not do, at least high level ones, was wreck mortal cities. Well Aoyin could hire proxies to get revenge, but there was no need to let him know it was me. It would be a long time until I was done cultivating. Memories might not fade completely, but I might not be his first guess.

I would almost feel bad for what I was going to do, but that would indicate that demonic cultivators had anything redeemable about themselves. I didn’t use people as ingredients. Aoyin had a mountain of corpses propping up his cultivation. The demonic cultivators had started this war, and I was going to take the conflict between us in another direction, rather than open fighting.

While I wouldn’t just roll over and die, I was committed to the path of capitalism and not banditry. It was honestly crazy into my sensibilities all the fighting I had been doing. I knew the cultivation world had violence but destroying the sect and chasing after me had put violence into a very clear focus. I had gotten lucky to survive and didn’t want to keep pushing my luck.

Even with the wound I had taken, I had still come out ahead and my cultivation path for the foreseeable future had been cleared. Once I had enough power, I could come back and thank the people who had invested in my future, specifically the Cloudy Moon Sect. My family, I had settled debts there. I had paid out quite a bit on their behalf. I was only in debt to the sect in my mind.

Even with the shares of my business, they had suffered an attack most likely due to me. But it would take a long time. No wonder why it wasn’t wroth having debts to one’s mortal family. While I knew cultivation would take a long time, it was finally settling in how long it would really take.

Chapter 56 – Cultivating To The Fourth Stage

I sat in the chamber cultivating. Slowly digging out my channels. When I had first restarted decades ago, it had been really difficult at first, but then quite easy. My soul was a bit softer than it was before. The venom had done work.

Day after day, year after year, decade after decade, I slowly carved out my channels, gates, and meridians, one by one. The Displacement Channel Carver, quickly helping me progress through the process.

The chamber itself was very similar to the one back in the Cloudy Moon Sect, but in a building instead of underground. Also built with metal instead of stone. But the small size, the metal table to lay on, and the darkness were all familiar to me.

I had a lot of time to think while I was cultivating. While the process wasn’t mindless, there were certain parts that required less focus than others. After repeating them several times, I could afford to let my mind wander slightly as I thought about other things.

Like how long cultivation took. While I was gaining life, it was incredibly slow. After the first decade, I felt mentally drained, but forced myself to keep going. There was no shortcut to this part of the process. Well there was a shortcut, the Displacement Channel Carver, but there was no way to get a greater shortcut in the third stage of cultivation.

It didn’t feel like a shortcut with how many channels I had to carve out. While I had headaches about my cultivation, it never felt as tedious as it did right now. At least with the second stage I could be out and about doing other things. But I needed the force energy rich environment in order to attune my channels and meridians.

I could feel the energy seeping in as my cultivation progressed, becoming more attuned with the concept of Force. While I knew it from a technical standpoint, and could feel force on me, I was becoming much more sensitive to this type of energy.

It was a slow process, as I became more in tune of with the energy. Even my sight began to improve. I could see incredibly thin lines of energy drifting through the air, like spider webbing. I could still see the motes of Qi, and feel the energy of the world, but I began to see it.

As my cultivation progressed, I could see the lines of energy in the chamber. Think structured lines flowing all over the place. These lines would be drawn into my channels, and I could feel the energy sinking into my channels. It was a slow process, but there wasn’t anything else to do, but think and feel the energy around me while cultivating.

Over time, I could work out that most of the energy was Force energy. During the few moments I left the chamber, I saw other lines of energy floating about. There were different colors and feelings to them. These wisps of energy were what decided my level of attunement. Regular cultivators would only struggle to pull in a few wisps of their desired type of energy and there might be other types as well.

The thick concentration of energy inundating me, was what allowed me to have perfect attunement and keep up my rapid base. I could see strands breaking apart and others floating out of the chamber. Even with all the knowledge and ability the Imperial Sect had, there was a limit to their capability. My eyes that could see energy still reigned supreme.

Looking at the energy floating around was a magical experience. But like any experience, it quickly began to wear thin, and lost its appeal after a decade. This was why cultivators struggled. While cultivators were expected to endure long periods of cultivation, it was mind numbing. There was nothing I could do to speed things up. I also couldn’t afford to risk my cultivation.

At least with the fourth stage, it would be far easier to use items to get drops to fuel my cultivation. I would need a lot of resources, but at least I wouldn’t be stuck in a chamber decade after decade. The previous sessions of cultivation felt like nothing compared to what I had to endure. If one didn’t have the mentality of an aesthetic monk, there was no chance of progressing.

I could also see why people would become demonic cultivators. Just kill to become stronger. No sitting around for decades at a time. The tedium wore down on me.

Another thing I experienced was the ever increasing awareness of every portion of my body as my cultivation cut through my soul. My cultivation was so thick and dense, my entire body was subjected to my cultivation efforts, as the channels snaked through my body.

It wasn’t pain that I could feel, just a greater awareness of everything my soul connected to. I could feel my heartbeat. My blood flow. The twitch of my muscles. All of it came into my awareness. The long time my cultivation took at least gave me the time to adapt to my body and being able to feel everything inside of it.

If it had happened all at once, it would have been incredibly scary, and disturbing. I also began to feel the differences between my channels aligned to body, mind, or soul. Each of them gave off a different feeling. The channels aligned with my body, gave off a feeling of strength and durability. They felt more solid than my other channels.

The channels aligned with my mind, had a wispier feel. I felt I could sense the energy around them better. As for the channels aligned with my soul, they felt somewhere in between the other two. It was a hard feeling to put into words, but just something I slowly picked up on over the decades.

There was no sudden flash of insight, no knowledge out of nowhere. Instead, the feelings came from laying down on a metal table year after year, slowly carving out my channels and feeling everything about myself come into clearer focus.

I had thought writing a thesis was hard work. I had thought getting all the materials for my cultivation was hard work. But all of it paled in comparison to having to cultivate decade after decade. I often wished I could create some kind of energy-based intelligence to cultivate on my behalf.

Just strap on a patch, connected to some kind of central intelligence and power source, and have ones cultivation done for you. Heck, if I had a second Displacement Channel Carver, I could have carved two channels at once, to go twice as fast. It would have put an immense strain on my body, and the chances of a mistake would increase exponentially, but cultivation was incredibly tedious.

After the first three decades, I wished to go out and start firing my gun at demonic cultivators. By the sixth decade, I was leaning into the idea that I was in a state of death. Cultivation land was just me coming to accept that and this was dying.

One thing I did decide on, that I had to, to keep myself sane, was that I would never go into a long period of isolation like this ever again, unless there was no other choice. It had been a mistake to work harder and not smarter. To not look for any kind of automation or studying arrays and formations more in depth to create some kind of Artificial Intelligence.

That was my strength from Earth, which was what my thesis had been about. Leveraging a large source of knowledge to handle an incredibly tedious task or using an AI to manage traffic lights. I just needed an AI to manage my cultivation. There was nothing like that in Imperial City, or it was kept secret by the Imperial Sect. Instead, if the knowledge to create something like this was anywhere, it would be out in the Firmament.

After reading the books by Elder Song, it had become clear how long and tedious the higher stages of cultivation were. No wonder why there was a very self-sufficient mindset required of cultivators and handouts or shortcuts were looked down on in the first stage of cultivation. If one got tired of collecting motes, they would have given up instantly at the later stages.

Also, after six decades of cultivation, every mortal I had known was dead. There was no way they would live beyond 120 years. I had doubted my seniors about letting go in the past, but I had an unconventional first and second stage of cultivation. Going out and traveling, had never really prepared me for the endless grind that was required of me to progress to the next stage.

Even the time I spent cultivating the third stage in the sect, hadn’t been mentally exhausting. At least there, when I left, I would have been able to check up on things. I only spent a day to switch out supplies when I left the chamber here in the Imperial Sect, not wanting to risk them saying I was finished. While I could have tried to take a longer break, if I didn’t keep going I wouldn’t have the mental energy to restart.

The halfway point was seven decades of straight cultivation. It almost felt like a bad joke. I had spent a total of 80 years now cultivating the third stage. That was as much time as my first and second life. It was an insane amount of time. Once I finished the third stage, a fourth stage cultivator would live between 900 and 1,500 years.

I had no idea how long I would live with my unique cultivation. It could be longer or shorter. There was no clear information beyond the general guidelines for how long people lived. While there were attempts to quantify things, there had been no definitive proof, in any manner, since there were too many variations of cultivation and people.

When I finally left the chamber and was done with the third stage, I would be 200 years old. That would give me 700 to 1,300 years of life. That was enough for ten lifetimes. I just had to endure the incredible boredom of cultivation and just cultivation decade after decade.

By my tenth decade of cultivation, one century, I was thinking demonic cultivation might even be a good idea. This was worse than anything else. I had to resist the urge to self-sabotage. Like jumping from one channel to another before completing the one I was working on. I suspected a lot of other cultivators just half-assed things to hurry things up more quickly.

No wonder why the first bottleneck failure rate was so high. This wasn’t a sprint, and calling this a marathon was a joke. It was a test of sheer mental endurance. To keep my focus day after day, to carve out all of my 1,304 channels. I had given up counting the finished ones long ago and didn’t care to count. The only thing I could force myself to focus on in regard to my cultivation was carving out the next channel, then next one, and then the one after that.

How the first cultivator had ever figured any of this out was a complete mystery. I could see one genius figuring out the next stage every so often, but even then, this was a soul crushing nightmare. This was the kind of mental torment you give your worst enemies to make them hate life itself. There was no exaggeration in this comparison, with how I had to endure.

By the final decade, I couldn’t wait for all this to be over. It was a struggle to keep my steady pace. I wanted to go faster, but I was already going as fast as I could without taking obscene and pointless risks.

It was a shock when I finished a channel and mentally scanned my body for the next one. Where was the next one? I carefully began to check and each meridian and channel structure was carved out. I counted them all up. 1,304 was the final count. I was finished. I closed my eyes tightly as tears leaked out of them.

I didn’t know if they were tears of joy, sadness, or just an intense feeling coming to the surface. I was done. I was finally done. I took a long break, much longer than normal to stretch, eat, and use the waste bucket. I was shaking with glee as I walked around the table in the middle of the chamber. I could barely contain myself.

It had taken forever, and my brain wasn’t mush and there were no mistakes. I had done it. I had done it! I kept repeating that to myself over and over again in sheer joy. I probably just lazed about for a week inside the chamber in relief. Could have been less or more time, but I didn’t care. I was done with the channel carving. I couldn’t leave yet, there was one last step, but the worst of it was over. I also needed to calm down for the next part.

The last step was to clear out my cores and do cleanup around them. But with all the channels connecting into them, there wasn’t that much work. The edges were mostly defined. I just had to break them apart. The outer mind cores were much more tedious, and I had to make sure the channels going through it into the main core weren’t damaged.

After the four body and mind cores were cleared, I began to clear out the central body core. It wasn’t that difficult, and it was new. That was the exciting thing. It wasn’t clearing out another channel. Once the body core was cleared out, I mentally looked over my body, checking everything for a final time.

The Displacement Channel Carver was mostly used up as well. But it had served its purpose. I didn’t check just once, but ten times, over and over. Making sure every channel was correct. There was nothing lingering behind. Once I stepped into the fourth stage, I wouldn’t be able to make any more changes.

After all the work I had put into my cultivation, I wanted to be absolutely sure that everything was correct. There were a few minor touchups that I did, but nothing serious needed to be corrected. I was officially done with the third stage of my cultivation. I packed up my supplies from inside the chamber and activated an array singling I was done.

The energy in the chamber quickly decreased. I took the time to put on a martial robe and make sure it was on my body properly along with the rest of my clothing. After a couple of minutes I was dressed and the door opened. I stepped out of the chamber with a grin.

A mortal attendant was waiting for me. “Your session ended early, do you require assistance?”

“How early?” I asked.

“You had around half a year left,” they said.

“No assistance is required. My use for the chamber is over. I need to speak to Elder Healer Song before I leave so she can check me over,” I said.

“I will arrange for a message to be sent to her. We have a recovery room with food and drinks, if you would like to wait there?” the attendant asked me.

“Yes, please,” I replied. He led me there and I took a seat. In a couple of minutes incredibly delicious food that had energy was brought out. When the Imperial Sect fulfilled an agreement, they didn’t do half measures like skimping on the after care and celebrating my success. While good food might not seem like much, it was a balm on my soul after suffering for decades in the dark.

A couple of hours later, Elder Healer Song finally showed up. I quickly stood up and bowed to her. “So, you are finally done. Congratulations,” she said.

“Thank you, Elder Healer, I know you wanted to check up on me when I was done with the third stage,” I said, and she nodded. She came over and put a hand on my head and another on my gut. I felt her energy sweep through me and offered no resistance. After a full minute she finally let go.

“Impressive and insane. It took me that long to make sense of it all. That channel structure is a nightmare. But the triangular shape is sturdy, and it is well built. I don’t think there has been a more complex cultivation at the fourth stage, ever,” she said.

“So, no problems?” I asked.

“Not that I could tell. But I want to be here when you try to draw in energy for the fourth stage. You were right not to attempt it yet. Take a deep breath, open your meridians, and draw energy into you,” she said. I nodded and focused.

My breathing steadied and I felt trickles of energy enter me and trickle down into my channels. There would need to be more pressure to get past the gates. After ten minutes or so I finally stopped. Elder Healer Song put her hands on me once more and then she frowned.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“No. Your energy draw is impressive. Very impressive. The Suction Vortex is struggling though. If you hadn’t gotten it, you wouldn’t have been able to draw in anything,” she said.

“Wait? Really?”

“Hmmm, yes. Looking you over and what you could do in that short time, you would be considered a genius of genius without all the unique modifications to your cultivation. I would put your draw rate at 1 drop per year and up to 2 drops in a more energy rich environment,” she explained. If I lived another 1,000 years, that would be only 2,000 more drops at best. I needed 610,000 drops for my cultivation.

“No imbalances or other problems?” I asked.

“Nothing that I can see. The real risk is when you go past the solid stage and attempt to ignite your core by having over 10,000 drops in a single core. That will be a point of grave risk. Another thing is the imbalance of channels to the number of drops you need.”

Soul: 120,000/180 (4x) = 666.6
Body: 50,000/152 = 328.9
Mind: 20,000/108 (4x)= 185.2

I knew exactly what she was talking about. My soul cores required 120,000 drops each, but had 180 channels each. The largest ratio compared to my other two paths of cultivation.

“It is bad?” I asked.

“It is unknown. Once your cores fill up, it presents a major issue in terms of drawing in more energy for the other cores, without causing issues on your full ones. Don’t go beyond your plan for drops. What you are aiming for is the absolute limit, based on my research,” she said.

“Thank you for looking into this matter for me,” I replied.

“It is novel, which makes it interesting and worth some effort on my part. Your ratio for soul, body, and mind is 3.6, 1.7, to 1. It would have been better if it was a full one-to-one ratio across everything. But it won’t be instantly fatal. But you can’t go over the number of drops, that have been calculated. Whomever worked out that math from your sect is quite impressive,” she said.

“It was Elder Liu Chen,” I replied.

“I knew of him. A rare genius in terms of cultivation. Is design for your channels is both inspired and completely impractical. As for other medical advice, is to use techniques sparingly if at all possible. You will draw on your cores’ energy, which will slow down your cultivation. Each technique should be considered incredibly precious,” she said, and I nodded at this, since I already knew this information.

“Let me think on what else to warn you of. You already got my explanations on the later stages, but the biggest risk, will be the first bottleneck and the fifth stage in my opinion, if you can make it that far. While theoretically, what you have planned will work, I suggest you look for a treasure of some kind to increase your chances of success. I would suggest an Infinite Pill,” she said.

“What is that Elder Healer?” I asked.

“It stretches out a single moment into a day. Consuming it right before you attempt your breakthrough will give you more time. That will be what is working against you. You will have to do multiple tasks once you attempt to breakthrough to the fifth stage. Normal cultivators struggle with just one path of cultivation, you will be struggling with three.”

“That is why the Infinite Pill is a must if you hope to succeed. As for other treasures, I wouldn’t worry about them. With the number of drops that are needed for your breakthrough, if you get that many you will reach the fifth stage.”

“No issues?” I asked.

“There could be, but the headache will come in the Nascent stage afterwards. That will be incredibly tricky with three paths of cultivation. There is no guidance or advice I can give you there. You will be on your own,” she explained. “And unlike the earlier stages, your initial starting point is completely uncharted. The destination is known, but the path there, will be brand new. If I may ask, how do you plan to complete your fourth stage?”

“I plan to travel and look for opportunities,” I replied honestly while not giving away that I was headed for the Firmament.

“Ah, you are going to the Firmament, beyond the continent. Normally people do this in the later stages, but I suppose you have no choice.” She then went silent.

“Do you have any advice Elder Healer Song?” I asked hopefully.

“You have grown up in the mortal culture, and the cultivator culture. If you think of the peasant hovel you came from and Imperial City, the gap between Imperial City and the Forever City is just as wide. You will be less than a bug like senior cultivators who go to look for their fortune. Even with your unique cultivation, I would put your strength between the fourth and fifth stage of a regular cultivator.”

I gulped at that. I knew things were intense, but there was that much of a gap? It was even worse, since Imperial Sect members clearly had an air of being better than everyone else. “The Forever City? What is that like?” I asked.

“Despair. You will be lucky to find a job if anything. Most likely you will be kidnapped and used for research purposes. The first thing you must do is secure a backer of some kind. If you do not, then it will be open season on you. In addition, you must not give up anything you aren’t willing to give up. There will be no higher power you can appeal to or look to for assistance.” She gave me a smile as I frowned slightly.

“There is no Imperial Sect in the Forever City. There are endless competing factions of all sorts. The fact you still need to eat, and drink will be a major hinderance. So, stock up on supplies, since it will be hard to find anything once you leave. I mean really stock up. As for everything else, that is up to you,” she said.

“Thank you Elder Healer Song for your advice, but what about leaving the city?” I asked.

“Not city, Forever City. It is one of the few things that unites the residents. The Imperial Sect are humble beggars to such powers. Do not insult the Forever City, since you will die without knowing why. Offense is easily given and not corrected. As for outside and the wider Firmament, that is death. Until you are an Immortal you are not qualified to even think of such a thing,” she said.

“What?! How can there be such a gap in power?” I asked.

“That is the nature of things. We are put a small island of peace in the wider Firmament. Such locations are rare and heavily guarded. The beasts are but a pale imitation of much greater dangers that lay beyond, too myriad and varied to count,” she explained.

“Yes, Elder Healer Song. Thank you again for your advice,” I replied.

“It is nothing. I hope you survive, for I have no doubt if you do, you will come back to me. I prefer payment to be in unique healing knowledge, but rare treasures are acceptable as well,” she said with a kind smile, hiding the shark beneath it.

“Of course, Elder Healer Song. If I need healing, my first thought would be you for all the help I have received.”

“If you do make it to the fifth stage, come back and I will give you a free check up and advice. It is unlikely, but to get this far and have the fortitude to see your cultivation through, well perhaps you are blessed by the heavens. A room will be provided for ten more days while you get on your feet, after that you are expected to depart,” she said and then left.

The attendant came back into the room and showed me to my temporary room. I collapsed on the comfortable bed reveling in the feeling of having made it this far. It was a major accomplishment that I was proud of. Sure, there were more challenges, but it was good to have challenges that stimulated me, rather than cultivating mindlessly.

Still the threat of traveling to the Firmament and this Forever City was worrying. Jiang Fengge’s had hints at a more urban area with his fights, but I had just thought it was a regular city. Imperial City was like a modern-day city. Would this be some kind of Dyson Sphere type city, surrounding a star of some kind?

If a city had a name like Forever City, it clearly was massive. The smallest was a planet sized city, while the largest was a Dyson Sphere. Such a city really would feel endless and forever. It would take a mortal’s lifetime to travel around the entire thing.

But this continent was part of the Firmament? That was another piece of information I didn’t understand. While Elder Healer Song was helpful and informative, pressing her too much didn’t seem like a good idea when she had already gone out of her way so much on my behalf.

Perhaps I should have offered to pay her for more questions, but then she might charge me in the future. Regardless, I would figure it out as things happened. I would also be following her advice and buying more spatial items to stock up on as many supplies as possible.

I would also need trade goods as well. Get a backer and then work out the value of things. Those would be my first two priorities in this Forever City.

As I got my supplies there was one last thing I needed to do before I left. I hadn’t forgotten about my revenge after all these years. I paid one rank 5 spirit stone to three different information brokers, to arrange to hire mortals in cities to sing a song of my devising. Each broker getting a different version of the song I had written up. I had decades to make it as humiliating as possible, while having a catchy rhythm.

It involved the demon Aoyin, donkeys, and questionable parentage. I wanted the song and tale of Aoyin having questionable relationships spread everywhere in the most humiliating manner possible. While the brokers were hesitant to take up my request, they all agreed in the end, since the pay was so good. I also had them monitor the others, to make sure they completed their task to spread the song and would be checking in on things. There was a promise to pay a rank 6 spirit stone if the song and story spread enough.

That was the issue with Aoyin, his reputation and I was going to savage it. Sure he was a demonic cultivator, but no one would dare insult him. There were clues in the song that it was me. Like the line, Aoyin’s Fang chipped and burned, his greed immense and spurned. The moon man was stronger than belief, and he had escaped Aoyin’s wrath like a leaf.

I also told the information brokers they could place all the blame on me if people made inquiries, but the songs needed to spread. I had no doubt once he heard them he would be steaming. But by then I would have escaped to the Firmament, and this Forever City.

Chasing after me would hopefully be difficult. At least that was the plan. It would be better to leave him alone, but I was pissed off with him. And this was the only way I could strike back at him. It was petty and probably a waste, but it was the only thing I could do at the moment to state my need for revenge.

Chapter 57 – Climb Of Mount Vortex

I stopped at the last city I could get to in the North. It had taken a year of traveling to get this far. The first part of the trip was done with carriages to conceal my movement from city to city. But after a month of that I then traveled on my own to go much faster.

During my travels, I could feel energy being pulled into me slightly. The real trick was to maneuver into the strands of energy that floated about. That was why I had left in a carriage to focus on cultivating while I tried to draw in energy.

The hard part was, not all energy was drawn in equally. The lines of energy I could see indicated a slightly higher concentration. There were far less lines that motes of Qi floating about. In addition, it had to be the right energy as well.

While I was able to spot force energy and move into it, the energy would be quickly pulled into my channels and the thread would disappear. I had followed a thread of force energy once, but it either went up into the sky or down into the ground. Drawing in the energy, just unraveled the thread and I was constantly drawing in energy, so I couldn’t get too close without disrupting it or stopping my cultivation.

One full year had allowed me to fill up all my channels right up to my cores. I had taken the initial year in the fourth stage to carefully work on controlling which of my meridians and channels took in energy. By controlling the gates inside of my channels, I was able to shut some of them down. It had taken quite a bit of thinking to come up with a pattern to balance out the draw of energy across the channels and my cores.

While it had been a good learning experience, it also meant that my progress was slower. I could go faster and have an unbalanced number of drops entering my cores or balanced and slower. In the end, I had enough control over my channels to choose to go with the faster and unbalanced method, but I hadn’t decided to commit to that cultivation path yet.

It didn’t matter which option I picked. My cultivation would still be incredibly slow. Also, I was very aware of the concerns Elder Healer Song had discussed with me. If my soul cores increased too fast, compared to the outer shell mind cores, then it could create a situation, where I struggled to pull in more drops for my mind cores, or any number of issues might arise.

If I could go back, I would have created a balanced number of channels, but that wasn’t possible. I had to make do with what I had and attempt to cultivate as well as I could in the fourth stage without creating an imbalance. Since I needed the maximum number of drops, 610,000 to have the greatest chance of reaching the fifth stage, while also any imbalance could impact me long term.

I don’t think Elder Healer Song realized I would gain control over my individual channels, but I had. A side benefit of my intense cultivation. Regardless, she had explained enough to me that I could work out some of the risks myself. The pressure on my cultivation from my soul cores would be immense once they were filled up. If there wasn’t adequate counter pressure from the surrounding mind cores, there could be instability or other issues.

That was why I had been getting a handle on the fourth stage of my cultivation for the last year. I wanted to ensure that I had proper control and took things slowly as I understood every bit about this stage of cultivation. Also, it wasn’t like trying to rush would allow me to complete things that much faster at the moment.

The number of drops I needed was so immense. I could only hope that my trip beyond the cultivation continent would be enough for me to progress my cultivation. I had stocked up heavily on supplies and purchased three more spatial rings and stuffed them full of food and water. I would be able to last centuries with how much I had on me.

While that did bite into my rank 6 spirit stones quite a bit, I was going to take Elder Song’s advice seriously. I also purchased two sets of heavy-duty martial robes for defense and protection. Also, high end water gathering equipment, fire starting, and full head face helmet to protect my breathing and hearing if necessary. I also purchased a large amount of flash bang grenades. After all those purchases, I was only left with 5 rank 6 spirit stones.

I had no idea what kind of environment I would be stuck in, but I wanted to be sure I had the equipment to handle whatever I ran into. Wealth was no good if I was somehow killed. I was investing into my future for this expedition. It put my spendings reserves low, but I had no idea what kind of currency was used in the Firmament or this Forever City. I had to assume there would be no chance to resupply.

My past adventures gave me a good idea what I needed to ensure I could survive. I disliked how much it felt like I was gearing up for a fight, but if there was a fight, I didn’t want to be caught unprepared. The greatest sin for cultivators was weakness. Any kind of weakness.

Traveling through the northern forests, it wasn’t winter thankfully, but it was cold. At night a layer of frost would cover the landscape. There were still beasts, but they were less common. The deciduous trees with leaves had turned into pine trees.

After a month of traveling, I finally saw Mount Vortex in the distance. It took me a moment to realize it was a mountain and not just a mountain range. If I looked far to either side, I could see the slope downwards, giving me an idea of its height.

If the slopes remained consistent, then it had to be at least 50 kilometers, or 31 miles tall. I double and triple checked my math and estimates and that wasn’t wrong. It was massive. And that was counting the height from its base, not sea level.

I looked up at the thick clouds covering the mountain and swirling around it. I figured out how the mountain got its name, Mount Vortex. As I traveled towards it, the mountain began to block off the entire horizon in front of me. I could see very little plant life except for moss and lichen at the higher elevations. It was a barren landscape as far as I could tell.

Once I reached the base, I considered putting on my mask, but decided to try and make the climb without support. Before I started, I made sure to rest up quite a bit. I had no doubt that the climb would be incredibly hard one way or the other, and that there would be drama at the top. This kind of place just screamed out trouble.

I began the ascent after resting for two days. The climb wasn’t difficult until I reached the clouds. Once there it was dark, wet, and became hard to breathe. Before I could cover a large distance in a single leap. Now, each step upwards felt like the staircase at the Cloudy Moon Sect when I had first been tested if I could join.

There were no stairs here though. Just large wet boulders. The energy in the air was getting slightly thicker as well, as I began to draw in energy. There was something pressing down on me as I climbed, I could feel it due to my relationship with force energy.

I kept up my steady pace, one foot after the other, as I continued to climb. For the first time in a very long time, my legs began to physically ache. It wasn’t that I was losing my cultivation, but there was such pressure pushing down on me, that without my cultivation I would have been crushed into paste. I was forced to actually use my muscles and draw on my physical strength. Step after step, I continued my ascent.

While other people might have found it tedious, I felt it freeing. I had been trapped in a dark chamber for so long, I enjoyed feeling the pain in my legs, the pounding of my heart, and the increasing difficultly I had breathing.

When I broke through the clouds, I was slammed with even more wind, and it was incredibly dark. Looking up, there was another thick layer of clouds above me. Looking away from Mount Vortex I could see a large ocean of clouds laid out and swirling about the mountain. The next cloud layer up wasn’t as widespread, but it was much darker. I heard the distant rumble of thunder occasionally over the wind.

The wind was so strong, that I felt like I was going to be swept away. I tried to take a deep breath, but the air was too thin, I struggled to even breathe. There wasn’t even moss or lichen, just a barren landscape of rocks and boulders leading upwards. Again, I was tempted to put on my mask, but decided to keep enduring.

I continued my climb and was grateful for my expensive martial robes. Lesser clothes would have been shredded by the constant winds. The rocks making up this mountain were incredibly sturdy, since they weren’t that weather worn. I could feel the energy within them.

This would be a great place to cultivate, but I suspected there was a reason people didn’t cultivate here. There was supposedly the Wandering Immortal Gongong at the top. To cultivate here, would be like using his front yard as a bathroom. Incredibly rude and disrespectful. It wasn’t even a stretch to say that he was responsible for the environment of the mountain itself.

That was another reason I was hesitant to use a mask to make things easier. That might be looked down upon, or he might consider me stupid. I wasn’t sure of which one, but using a mask to breathe might offend him. Better to risk my breathing than offending an immortal.

Several times on my ascent, I had to reach down to steady myself with my hands as the winds picked up in intensity. I felt like I might get blown away any moment. Thankfully the winds came in from the side swirling around Mount Vortex, and I was angled directly upwards. If the winds had come from the mountain itself, I would have been blown off for sure.

The sounds of thunder grew closer, and I saw lightning flash in the clouds above me. I pulled out a metal pole I had in my spatial storage and put on a set of gloves. The metal pole was above my head. I had no idea how useful such a thing would be, but I didn’t want to get hit with lightning. At the second layer of clouds, I was finally forced to pull out my mask to breathe.

If the Immortal was offended, there was nothing I could do about it. I continued my climb upwards. The rain drops in the dark clouds slammed into my like tiny rocks. I could barely see in front of me, from the swirl of water. It was like a sideways stream in some respects. I jumped slightly as a bolt of lightning struck my metal poll, sparing me from being hit.

The poll warmed up under my glove and began to let out a hiss as the water evaporated when it was struck. I continued my ascent as lightning occasionally struck me with blind brilliance and a massive crack of thunder. The energy was increasing in the air, but unfortunately there wasn’t more force energy. While I wouldn’t stop to just cultivate, I wouldn’t stop drawing in energy as I made my climb.

While I had a pocket watch to keep track of the time, I didn’t pull it out. I would reach the top when I reached the top. I just needed to keep climbing. Trying to figure out how much was left would only stress me out.

I finally cleared the cloud cover and was hit with blinding light. Thankfully my mask prevented me from the worst of it, since the lenses had a tint to them. Looking about, I saw an angry dark swirl of clouds behind me. Above, Mount Vortex continued upwards, but there were no more cloud layers. I put away my metal poll, the tip had melted slightly from the lightning strikes, but at least I was spared.

I removed my mask, and I could barely breathe, but was able to. I put the mask away for now, and kept my eyes focused on the ground as I continued climbing. My entire body ached as I continued my climb upwards. Step after step, I kept climbing.

Once the ascent stopped, I shielded my eyes as I looked around. The scene was disconcerting. There was a plateau at the top and a modern building off to one side. Everything else was solid stone, with only slight roughing to provide grip.

The building itself was made of glass and steel like those of Imperial City. I made my way towards the building. The windows were reflective, so I couldn’t see inside. The sun remained directly overhead, which was weird, but I didn’t complain as I made my way across the flat plateau towards the building that was offset to my right.

Reaching the building, I had to walk around before I found a door. There was a sign out front as well. All Cultivators May Enter. Well, that was an invitation if I ever saw one. I opened the door and entered the building. I was greeted by what could only be called a modern lobby. I noted two senior cultivators sitting off to one side meditating. They didn’t open their eyes when I entered.

In front of me a woman, who could only be called the pinnacle of beauty was standing behind a large desk. There was something otherworldly about her perfect appearance. Something that made me think beauty at a deep level. I slowly advanced to the desk and the woman gave me a soft smile. I felt my heart stir at that glance.

At least it was easy to breathe in the building and the pressure had disappeared. At least I didn’t feel like I was being squeezed to death and about to be blown away.

“Welcome cultivator to Mount Vortex departure point. Have you been here before or would you like an explanation?” she kindly asked.

“Thank you for your warm welcome senior. I am Yuan Zhou, and an explanation would be appreciated,” I said with a bow.

“Very well, Cultivator Yuan Zhou. This is the Mount Vortex departure point. Here you may wait and cultivate inside the lobby if you have a ticket. Tickets are available for purchase, for one rank 8 spirit stone, or 10 rank 7 spirit stones. Current wait time until the next departure is estimated at four and a half years. Feel free to ask questions cultivator,” she said.

“I have a scroll, would this be considered a ticket?” I asked and pulled it out. She carefully took it from my hands and looked it over.

“A two-way ticket, for departure and return. It is quite valuable. Only you will be allowed to return once you use the departure portion. This entitles you to wait here until the next departure,” she said. She then handed it back to me. “Please keep that on yourself until it is time for departure.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about the Firmament or the Forever City?” I asked.

“Knowledge is valuable, but the basic introduction and further explanations on your arrival point will be discussed by the Wandering Immortal Gongong once he arrives,” the woman said.

“Is there a bathroom, or a place I can get cleaned up?” I asked.

“There is a bathroom, through the doorway over there. Do not make a mess, or you will be punished,” the woman said. I hadn’t been able to make out her level of cultivation.

“Anything else I should know or rules?” I asked.

“Please do not disturb the other cultivators waiting for departure. Do not cause a mess or a damage to the building. Do not attempt to enter restricted areas of the building. Do not attempt to use any kind of technique while above the cloud cover of Mount Vortex, this includes outside,” she said.

“I can cultivate outside?” I asked.

“Yes, since you have a ticket. There is a roof area to cultivate on. You can take the stair way through that door,” the woman pointed out.

“Any other areas I am allowed to visit?” I asked.

“Through that door, is a relaxation room, if you do not wish to cultivate in the lobby or the roof. That is the place to speak to other cultivators if you wish. There are bedrooms you may claim if you wish to sleep. They are not comfortable, just slabs of metal, but you are welcome to rest in one.”

“Anyone here besides those two?” I asked.

“No. The last departure was five and a half years ago, approximately. Most cultivators who wish to depart, show up one year prior.” I nodded at this.

“What happens if a situation comes up where someone breaks the rules?” I asked.

“You are allowed to defend yourself, but I am watching everything. The Wandering Immortal Gongong has entrusted me to manage this departure point. Anyone attempting to cause trouble will have their ticket revoked and be instantly killed by myself,” the beautiful woman said. Alright, she clearly wasn’t messing about.

“Thank you senior, for answering my questions and allowing me to stay here,” I replied with a bow.

“I am happy to answer any questions you might have cultivator. If there is anything else you wish to discuss, please don’t hesitate to ask,” she said.

“Do you have a title I should refer to you as?” I asked.

“Calling me senior is adequate. My title is Vortex Guardian, but it is no matter.” I nodded at this and gave another bow before heading off to explore. The off limits areas clearly had signs marking them. The entire first floor was the lobby, relaxation room, bathroom, and the bedrooms.

The relaxation room had a couple of chairs and tables. The windows looked out onto the plateau. There was nothing else in here. No plants, no decorations. Everything was solid colors, with a preference towards dark blue or gray if a color was picked. There were eight doors to small bedrooms, which were just closets and a metal bench in darkness.

If a person was in a bedroom there was a small sign that could be flipped on the door to indicate they were in use. There were no sheets or pillows in the bedrooms. I guess there was no cleaning service all the way to the top of Mount Vortex.

The bathroom was quite nice and built for one person at a time. There was a shower, toilet, and sink. I took a shower and tried myself off with my own towel. After making sure everything was perfectly clean, I left the bathroom and made my way up the stairs towards the roof.

There were six above ground floors in this place. Floors two through six were marked as off limits. I wasn’t about to risk pissing off that woman who called herself the Vortex Guardian. Such a title and no name implied that she might be a golem or construct of some kind. I couldn’t see a high-level cultivator just standing around for millennia on end as a greeter. There was just too much pride and ego.

She clearly was helpful about the rules of this place but wasn’t going out of her way to do anything else. I made it to the roof, and it was hard to breathe once again. The sun continued to remain directly overhead as my clothing dried off. I pulled out my pocket watch and kept track of the time.

Even after a full day, the sun didn’t move. I made my way back inside to the front desk. “Excuse me, Senior Vortex Guardian,” I said with a bow.

“How can I help you cultivator?”

“Does the sun ever set here?” I asked.

“It does not. If you wish to rest, I suggest one of the bedrooms. They are quite dark,” she said. None of this made any sense.

“Is there a reason why the sun is constantly overhead senior?” I asked.

“That will be explained once the departure arrives as part of the basic information provided. For now, I suggest you rest and cultivate until that time,” she said.

“Thank you senior Vorext Guardian,” I said with a bow. She was clearly helpful, but just in the immediate sense. She would not be providing any information on anything other than just waiting around. I also wasn’t going to push my luck and try to ask questions to get around whatever rules she was operating under.

I now had four and a half years of waiting ahead of me. Dammit! Why couldn’t there have been a published departure schedule. And the timeframe of a decade was immense. Well, there was nothing I could do, except wait.

The other two cultivators in the lobby didn’t seem that inclined to conversation. I went to the relaxation room, since that was the only room, cultivators were allowed to talk to each other in and began cultivating there. If someone came in to talk, at least that would help pass the time.

With no other way to tell the time, I got out my pocket watch to keep track of the hours and days. This place had a very unchanging feel, since the sun remained directly overhead. After four and a half months of waiting, a cultivator entered the relaxation room. They were covered head to toe in thick dark robes so I couldn’t make out anything about them.

“Welcome,” I said and opened my eyes. They paused to look at me.

“Hello,” the voice was gravelly.

“If you want to chat to pass the time, I don’t mind, but if you are just looking around, feel free to. Not that much to see,” I replied.

“I will,” the voice replied. I shrugged slightly and closed my eyes again to focus on drawing in energy. A short time later the dark robed figure came back into the relaxation room and took a seat at the table I was at.

“I am Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I introduced myself.

“I am Bolin of the Eternal Darkness Sect,” he said. The voice was quite deep. While it sounded like a demonic sect name, it wasn’t. I had heard of that sect before. They were based in a canyon and underground. They also practiced cultivating darkness. It wasn’t a common cultivation path. No wonder why Bolin were covered in lots of dark robes, including their face.

“Well welcome senior, to being bored while we wait for another four years and change,” I said. He let out a scoff.

“Thank you. I am surprised someone at your cultivation level has come here. I was told only cultivators above the fifth stage were encouraged to make this trip,” he said.

“I need a lot of resources for my fourth stage. Hence the trip into the Firmament. Were you told anything?” I asked.

“Our sect maintains a presence beyond these borders inside the Forever City. It can’t even be called an outpost. I was selected to be the next traveling elder, a great honor,” Bolin explained.

“My master did not give me much information, just the fights he had been in. I have picked up things occasionally, like the Forever City. Hopefully there are opportunities there,” I said hoping to draw out more information.

“There are many, but the risks are immense. It is a taboo to discuss such things here,” he said.

“I never knew that,” I replied.

“It is a taboo, hence even the fact it is such is not spoken about. It is impressive you made the climb up the mountain, it could not have been easy,” he said.

“I was prepared enough, and my cultivation is quite sturdy for my stage. This constant light can’t be easy for you,” I said.

“It is of no concern. I was warned beforehand. The path of darkness is not as limiting as one would think. Far easier than a path of light,” he said.

“Well, the bedrooms are quite dark, if uncomfortable. So, any advice for a junior?” I asked, hoping Bolin would tell me something about the Firmament.

“Your strength means nothing. Also don’t get lost. The Forever City is not just a name, but an accurate description. It operates by different spatial laws than here. It isn’t truly infinite, but the edges are much more chaotic and frayed. The center, is the most controlled, but has different dangers,” he said.

“I was told I would need a backer,” I added.

“It is good to have one. All cultivators fall under the backing of the White Lotus, our parent organization. With your cultivation surviving let alone thriving will be difficult. There is a good chance they will reject you out of hand,” Bolin said.

“For being weak?” I asked.

“Indeed. Weakness is a sin, that is not tolerated within the Forever City. Still, they will not target you out of respect for Immortal Gongong, but that just means you will probably have to find your own path.”

“What resources are in demand, in the Forever City and what are sold?” I asked.

“Everything and everything. It is a nexus point within the Firmament. I see your confusion, that just means it is a gathering point for different factions that exist. It is one of the larger known nexus points and quite a popular one. Everything is in demand, from a person’s waste to the very air. Many are willing to kill without hesitation,” he explained.

“Are there any rules or laws?” I asked.

“Different areas have different rules. But there are some universal ones. The first is to not damage the city itself too much. That will bring attention from the more powerful factions that control sections of the Forever City. It is unlikely at your strength you can do anything, but it is the one rule all the main factions have, near the center. The edges are far more chaotic.” I nodded at this.

“The second universal rule, is to follow the rules of the controlling faction of whatever area you are in. Factions make it a strict point to follow the rules they impose strictly, in order to penalize and catch members of other factions. Also why backing is important. It gives a level of protection,” Bolin explained.

“I will make sure to pay attention,” I replied.

“Many say that, but the rules themselves are kept secret and are a thing of value. There are many layers to various faction rules, and getting that information is not cheap,” he explained.

“Why?” I asked.

“To entrap idiots. Navigating the Forever City is incredibly risky. Certain factions require a specific greeting to their members while you are in their area, or they can detain you and request compensation. You will be informed of the outer rules of the White Lotus and some inner rules, but unless you are brought under their protection, you will not be informed of other faction rules. That way they can eventually bankrupt you,” Bolin explained.

“Thank you senior, you are being quite helpful,” I said.

“It will all be explained once more. I am just warning you out of karma. For even the lowest of bugs, can move just enough to impact the future.”

“I didn’t think karma was real,” I said.

“It is a subject of great debate. I find that being polite and helpful is important to managing ones interactions. This is even more true in the Forever City where each action has great weight. That is why my sect has had some success over the millennia in sending people out as traveling elders. A steady temperament is key,” he explained.

“I will have to endeavor to emulate you senior. No matter the risks, I must travel in order to get more resources for my cultivation,” I said.

“It must be unique or complex if you are taking such a perilous journey,” Bolin said.

“It is both. But I have hope. I just need to find an opportunity to progress,” I said.

“That will be quite hard. Countless beings pour into the Forever City, and most perish without a thought. You will need a backer to help you navigate.”

“Any suggestions?” I asked.

“No. Just even asking is incredibly difficult. And I have no experience in such things. My path within the Forever City is already set. There will be no changing my service to the White Lotus like my fellow elders before me,” he said.

“I wish you luck, but you seem to not need it senior Bolin,” I said.

“Thank you for your kind words. But one can never have too much good luck. Now that would be interesting to cultivate,” he said.

“How would you even find the energy of luck? It might be out there, but it small quantities,” I replied.

“True. Darkness is not much easier. What do you cultivate?”

“Force,” I said.

“A decent choice, but not a common one. Elemental choices are far more popular. I know many of my sect members choose earth instead of darkness.”

“Water and earth for my sect,” I replied.

“Well, it has been a pleasure talking with you, but I plan to claim a bedroom and cultivate until our departure,” Bolin said.

“You arrived quite early, any reason?” I asked.

“The departure time frame can vary up to a year. Better to be here and waiting, than waiting somewhere else,” he said, and I nodded at that. Bolin got up and I let out a heavy sigh once he was in a bedroom.

That had been a lot of information, and I was slowly putting things togeather about the situation I would find myself in. It would not be easy, that was for sure. It felt like I was starting all over again. I would have to assess the situation and keep my wits about me once I arrived.

I got up and decided to walk about the plateau. I had been sitting around for far too long. I confirmed with the Vortex Guardian there wouldn’t be an issue, and she said there wasn’t. But if I left the plateau, then I would no longer be under her protection. That was fine with me.

It was hard to breathe, but it felt good to move about. I would occasionally adjust my course to run into more force energy. That was when I felt the first drop enter all my cores.

I felt the pulse of energy inside of me. It was ethereal, but I would feel it floating about in each of my cores. My management of my channels had been spot on in terms of balancing the energy draw between them. There wasn’t anything else to do out here, except wait and cultivate. The conversation with Bolin had been a nice break. Hopefully other people would show up and I could chat with them.

Chapter 58 – The Wandering Immortal

After the initial meeting with Bolin, it was a very long wait. I often went on walks outside around the plateau to pass the time. I didn’t want to sit in an enclosed space after my time cultivating to the fourth stage. I kept drawing in small bits of force energy, as I walked about but it was slow.

I was managing to get around 9 drops per year, one per core. Which was an insane amount. There were several factors helping me. The first was my perfect attunement of my meridians and channels. The energy just flowed right on in without issue.

The second factor was the sheer number of channels and meridians I had. I was pulling in energy from all over, combined with the suction vortex, the energy draw was quite high. The suction vortex had seeped or spread out into my astral soul, and was pulling on the energy.

While there were two key nodes, in my head, and in my groin, I could feel an increased pull from all around me. It was slight, but it helped the energy move into my cores much more efficiently than if it hadn’t been present. It had taken a while for me to sense exactly what that aspect of my cultivation was doing.

Finally, there was my sight. I could easily see greater concentrations of force energy and take them inside my cultivation. It helped there was a lot of energy on the top of Mount Vortex. The constant sun overhead was disturbing, but I had learned to deal with it. Trying to think about the physics of cultivation land gave me a headache. Better to just wait for the explanation.

Four years after my arrival, I felt a wave of pressure sweep over me as I was doing my regular circuit around the plateau. “Oh, cultivating while walking?” An older man with a long white beard appeared instantly in front of me. There was no disturbance of the air or any warning sign. Their cultivation was immense, so immense, it was almost blinding. It didn’t help they were wearing completely white robes.

I quickly bowed incredibly deep. “Yes immortal. After being in a small room to get through the third stage, I prefer to be out and about. Also, it helps keep my body in decent shape,” I replied.

“Force cultivation. Not something normally seen, but you sure are an over achiever. Three paths of cultivation, nine unique core structures. And you are in the fourth stage. Well, you can raise your head, you have a ticket, right?” Immortal Gongong asked me, for who else could this be?

“Yes, and a return ticket, given to me by my master Jiang Fengge, Immortal,” I said politely.

“Well, your passage is allowed, but someone at the fourth stage, you won’t even be taken in as a servant for the White Lotus. I would advise you not to go, but you clearly have no other option. How many drops are you looking for, 300,000?”

“610,000 Immortal,” I replied.

“Hah! Oh my. Now that is something I have not seen. When you break through, that will be dangerous. Not just for you, but everything around you. You will need to prepare for that, otherwise you are going to draw the wrong kind of attention. Hmmm, what to do with you.” I didn’t say anything since I wasn’t asked a question. While I felt I could be a bit free with elder cultivators, this man was beyond me, and I had no idea by how much they were beyond me.

“I could do you a favor. I have a friend in the Forever City. They would look after you, and give you work. You will probably die with how weak you are, but at least you would have some backing,” he said.

“Thank you Immortal, I would owe you for any assistance,” I quickly said and bowed again.

“You are interesting, and I would hate to see you have no chance. However, you would owe me a favor. That is just for the introduction.” By favor, he meant anything. If he told me to jump, I would have to jump, and then ask how high I was while in the air and keep jumping. It was no exaggeration to say that he would have me under his thumb.

But I was also in no position to refuse such an offer either. I needed every bit of help that I could muster up. The fact he was willing to go out of his way in the first place was a huge boon. I had no doubt that there were far more complicated reasons beyond having a soft spot for me. As long as it didn’t involve using me as an ingredient of some kind then I was fine.

“Thank you Immortal,” I said.

“Hmm, well come on, time to get this show on the road. Don’t mention my offer to the others, otherwise that will create problems,” he said. Or he had a technique to appear before everyone and offer them a deal and it was all a scam. Unfortunately I didn’t have the power to object.

“Yes Immortal,” I replied. We made our way to the glass and steel building. That was when I realized he had disappeared without any sign. I entered the building and the Vortex Guardian told me to go to the second floor. I went up there and other cultivators were already gathering. I counted only 8 people, not counting myself. I was the last one to arrive and took my seat at one of the tables. The place was like a classroom with twenty tables facing one direction.

I noticed most cultivators sat near the front, and I did the same. The Immortal suddenly appeared in front of us all. “I am the Wandering Immortal Gongong.”

“Greetings Wandering Immortal Gongong,” we all said, while standing up and bowing.

“You can sit and don’t have to bow. Immortal is fine to address me. We have a lot to cover and only so much time. We are going to do a quick history lesson. Then move onto the dos and don’ts. Finally, expectations. If you have a serious question, you may raise a hand and I will point on you to ask your question. Try to keep them limited, since we will be leaving shortly,” he replied. No one raised their hand.

“The Firmament and the Forever City. Some of you might know some of this, but I am covering it regardless, I do this each and every time. The Firmament refers to the vast space of endless existence that exists above primordial chaos. The barrier between chaos and mater.” I listened closely to every single word he was saying.

“The Firmament is truly infinite. At the very top you have the super-organizations. These super-organizations and powers are beyond even me. The one you need to know is the Heavenly Alliance which controls the Forever City. One of the factions that makes up this Heavenly Alliance, is the White Lotus, a lower to middle faction within the Forever City.” How high up did the power scale go?

“Just like this continent, the Forever City exists in a small bubble of existence, floating above the chaos below. The true Firmament is outside these bubbles. What is out there is a constant struggle between the super-factions. To gain materials, resources, and more power.” Were all these descriptions metaphors, or was reality really like a bubble?

“The Forever City while controlled by the Heavenly Alliance, is an unbound bubble of existence. That means, other factions have presences within, and will attempt anything they can to gain an advantage. No matter what happens, you must never betray the Heavenly Alliance. While some of you might consider maneuvers with other factions within the Heavenly Alliance, the other super-organizations will crush us. There is no room for negotiation, mercy, or anything else. This is not like demonic cultivators either or beasts.” I could sense the tension increase.

“Their power structures are different than ours and co-existence is not possible for super-organizations. That doesn’t mean there aren’t traders or low level people from this organizations that are present within the Forever City, but they are not allies, or even friends of convenience.” Got it, don’t associate with other super-organizations.

“For the most part you are all too weak to care about such things, but it is a firm rule. Once you reach my level, then you can consider other options. For all of you, there will be the White Lotus, and you will be hired as support personnel. If you prove yourself, you might get promoted to foot soldier or some other position.” Foot soldier was a promotion? That was some nonsense right there.

“A lot of fights are done through proxies. You succeed, you get rewarded. You fail, you are dead.” No wonder why my master had written about all his fights in his journal. “That is the history, yes,” Immortal Gongong pointed a cultivator who raised their hand.

“Immortal, what is the Forever City and where did it come from?” they asked.

“Asking such a question is pointless. The Firmament exists forever. You have the Material above it, and Chaos below it. That is how it has always been. The Forever City is a bounded bubble of reality, that is designed as a city. Perhaps the Heavenly Alliance created it in the past, perhaps they won it from another super-organization. What you have to understand is that even if you are from a high-ranking sect, or in the Conceptual Formation stage, it doesn’t matter. Consider yourself a mortal at best, and a poor homeless mortal at worst,” Immortal Gongong explained. No one else raised their hand.

“Now we get into the dos and don’ts. For your time in the Forever City, treat this like your lifeline since it is. First rule, everyone in the White Lotus Faction outranks you. Don’t start a fight expecting others to help. Finally, make sure you know your way back to where you are staying.” I made sure to commit all three rules to memory.

“The first rule is so you don’t offend anyone. It won’t end well for you. The White Lotus, would sooner side with a member clearly in the wrong, than any of you, even if you have proof that you were right in your actions. There is a clear chain of command, so default to that if there are contradicting orders. The White Lotus will explain more about what you will do, their faction rules, and other important information when you arrive,” Immortal Gongong said. That wasn’t going to be me.

“The second rule is so you don’t cause trouble. The White Lotus will throw you away if it is to their benefit. While the rewards they offer are quite plentiful, if you bite off more than you can chew, you won’t get help from anyone. So be careful,” that made sense. The White Lotus just wanted bodies apparently.

“Finally, the Forever City is incredibly confusing. Maps go out of date, as the constructors constantly move about fixing and altering the connections between towers, and sometimes the towers themselves. Know your tower and your level. That is how people navigate. Also watch your level. The safe areas are around level 10,000. Going too far from that up or down, will create challenges. Once you arrive, you will be issued a level tracker, and a tower compass,” he said. I took a deep breath and raised my hand. Immortal Gongong pointed at me.

“Immortal, what currency is used and how are transactions handled?” I asked.

“The currency is credits. But most people deal in fractional currency. I would put the value of one credit with one rank 6 spirit stone. Credits are the closest thing to a universal currency within the Forever City and the Firmament. They are issued by the Heavenly Alliance and can be used to purchase goods and services,” I nodded at this, it was good to know.

“It is also a closed system. Once you arrive, you will be issued a credit card. All transactions are handled through it, and if you lose it, it will be expensive to replace. Don’t lose it. While only you can use the credit card issued to you, if something takes your hand as well…they might try a workaround.” I gulped at that.

“Consider it as proof of your ID and the way to handle transactions. If you engage in more clandestine deals, those are often done through barter. There is no physical version of a credit or blank credit card, so don’t get scammed by such things,” I nodded at this. More good information to know.

“Finally, we will talk about expectations. To purchase a trip back here if you didn’t already make the purchase costs 50 credits. You can also purchase a round-trip ticket for 80 credits, since I know many of your sects expect such a thing before you return.” I wasn’t sure if I would purchase something like that, but I did owe the Cloudy Moon Sect.

“As for other expectations, don’t cause excessive damage. That will bring the attention of the constructors and the administrators in the Forever City. While they are golems, they are quite good at their job and adaptable. You already ran into something similar with the Vortex Guardians stationed here,” that was nice confirmation to have.

“As for cultivating, there is no ambient energy. But there are resources for sale, a lot of cultivation resources. One thing the White Lotus and other factions of the Heavenly Alliance are good at is taking energy and packaging it for use. That also means a lot of techniques will be weaker or won’t work.” That didn’t hurt me thankfully. “Yes, you have a question.” The Immortal pointed at another cultivator who raised their hand.

“Immortal, are there are resources for all stages?” they asked.

“Yes, but the price quickly goes up. In fact many cultivators stay in the Forever City in an attempt to break through to Immortal. If you do, then the White Lotus will offer you membership, since you will meet the bare qualifications. The climb to the very top is never ending. Yes, you,” he pointed at another cultivator.

“Immortal, what is after the eighth stage?”

“More cultivation. But I wouldn’t worry about it. It isn’t easy crossing the second bottleneck. Even if you have the credits, it is expensive to purchase something that is useful. I am talking about 1,000 credits. While that might seem like a small number, getting a single credit is not easy. There is work, but if you are injured you will need healing, you will need to pay for weapons, and that is just for a single item to help you slightly. A Celestial Dao Fragment costs 10,000 credits, while it is only considered a supreme rank 8 treasure here. Just like on the continent, the more valuable the material, the higher the price,” he explained and then pointed at another person.

“Immortal, how can anyone sell such treasures?” they asked.

“They are much more common out there in the Firmament. People go out, find such things, and bring them back. You,” he pointed at me.

“Immortal, how does the Firmament relate to the Astral Plane?” I asked.

“Oh, now that is an interesting question. The Astral Plane, exists on a different axis in relation to the Firmament, Chaos, and Matter. That is how we are going to travel actually. Distances are altered, but navigating such a place is a massive headache. Also, it will ensure the position of your astral souls are secure while you are in the Forever City,” he explained.

“Hmm, a good metaphor, would be that if Chaos is the drain in the bathtub, Matter is the faucet, then the Firmament would be the bubbles while the Astral Plane is the water. Regardless, none of you are qualified for the Astral Plane or the wider Firmament. Yes, you,” Immortal Gongong pointed at the next person who raised their hand.

“Immortal, can we go our own way in the Forever City and not ally with the White Lotus?” they asked.

“Yes, you can. But the deal with the White Lotus is already arranged. You won’t get a better deal elsewhere. If you try, then the White Lotus can refuse you. One key thing in the Forever City, is that you need a faction backing you. It offers a nominal form of protection from just being killed and used for materials. But it is your choice, I just arrange for you all to get there and not be idiots. Yes you,” he called on Bolin who raised his hand.

“Immortal, you mentioned people becoming immortals in the Forever City. There are only six known Immortals on the continent. How many have succeeded in the Forever City?” Oh, now that was a good question.

“I would put that number around a couple hundred since the start of the third age. Most run out of time or die. They decide to stay to keep progressing on their path to power. The continent can be thought of as a retirement destination and a source for fresh blood like yourselves. But it isn’t hopeless. I would say about once every millenia, a person makes it past Conceptual Formation stage.” That sounded like a really low number. But at least there was a system of currency.

I needed a way to generate credits. Then I needed to make enough to pay for general expenses and my cultivation over a period of time. At least it wasn’t complete chaos and fighting. I just needed to find a way to make credits.

One thing I needed to make sure of, was that my mind was open to what was going on and not make assumptions. It was easy to here the words for credit card, and think of an Earth type like credit card with a magnetic strip and computer systems. It might work like that, but there could be things going on behind the scenes.

It didn’t escape my notice that it was the Heavenly Alliance that was issuing these cards and used a credit. They clearly had a command economy of some kind. What was stopping them from issuing new credits if there was no inherent value, like fiat currency. Spirit stones could be used for cultivation, and spirit stones were just a confirmed way of dealing with spirit stones in a classier manner.

But credits appeared to be a true fiat currency of some kind. On Earth fiat currencies got their value from taxes. While many people might say it was their perceived worth, it ultimately came down to them being used for and paying taxes.

I raised my hand again and was called on. “Immortal, are there taxes or fees when using these credit cards?” I asked.

“A fraction of a fraction is taken as payment for use. Most fractions are broken up into a base ten counting system, with the fee normally being one thousandth per transaction, while most goods cost around a hundredth. The common term for a thousandth is a bit. Most people will talk about ten bits, or a hundred bits instead of fractions, but they are all based on the fraction of a credit, which is the common transactional amount and term,” he explained. That meant a thousand bits made a credit. At least that was easy to remember.

“Credits can be broken down to any fraction. But most people don’t go beyond a bit, or a thousandth, since that is the transfer fee when you use a credit card, each and every time,” he explained. So that was the tax. Since the city was probably massive, then it would make sense to have a tax that just taxed transactions, rather than trying to collect for other variables.

If anyone wanted into the system, they needed a credit card since there was no physical currency. The Heavenly Alliance, would draw in anyone wanting to trade. While the fraction was small, it was the charge for each and every transaction. That meant large volume transactions would be hit with a greater tax.

“Also, a lot of other services require a fee. Traveling anywhere is often expensive unless you go by foot, which is dangerous and there are tolls by factions that control certain areas in the Forever City. While there are main routes that are kept safe, they have tolls attached to them by the enforcers. That reminds me. The enforcers. Golems that are used similar to the constructors and administrators. They can’t be scammed or tricked. Smarter people than all of you have tried. So don’t, you won’t stand a chance. You won’t see them often except at key nodes and closer to the center, but don’t underestimate them. They can hide their abilities and power,” Immortal Gongong explained.

“Immortal, how big is the Forever City and how is it laid out?”

“Bigger than the continent. At least ten times as big in terms of area, but what really will get you is the volume and the levels. Each tower extends about hundred thousand levels, in the positive and negative direction. Level 0 is considered the prime real estate and where the majority of connecting bridges are located.” I was listening to everything, since it was rare to get nice clean-cut explanations like this.

“At the outer edges things start breaking apart and there is much more violence. You will be entering around level 10,000 in the fifth ring. There are eight rings, and then the outer city beyond that. The closer you are to the center the more valuable the real estate and the higher the movement fees.” That seemed like we were pretty far out and there had be a lot of factions.

“That reminds me. The environment. The air is heavily toxic. Food and water are considered valuable. I hope you all have stocked up or your cultivation can withstand such things. If you have supplies, don’t be quick to sell either, since that is the kind of stuff that might keep you alive. Certain towers have habitable environments, like the one controlled by the White Lotus, but unless you have business there, then you won’t be able to live there,” he explained and then turned to look out the window. “Have time for a couple more questions.”

“Immortal, why is the sun always shining here?”

“That question is quite complicated, but suffice to say, Mount Vortex extends out of the main bubble around the continent, and is surrounded by another bubble. It makes our departure easier and prevents issues coming to the continent. Hmmm, that reminds me of threats beyond the norm.” Please no fighting.

“Do not underestimate the power of technology or other paths of power that exist. While we cultivators of the Heavenly Alliance are a large portion of the Forever City, there are others who look to other paths and equipment for power. Be incredibly weary of mental effects or using any kind of resource that is not sold by a faction representative. A lot of non-sanctioned sales are scams or traps of some kind. If you are scammed or compromised, that is on you, and there will be no help.” That was in line in regards to everything else he had explained.

“Let’s see, what other advice can I give? Oh, keep a light source on you. While there is glow stone built into the towers, it only does so much. If you are sent elsewhere, where there is less upkeep, it can get quite dark. There is no natural light. Also the temperature can vary quite rapidly. Most factions try to keep their towers moderated, but the weather patterns inside the Forever City are as myriad as they are complex. I covered knowing where you are in relation to where you live. Transportation and traveling.” I listened closely as helpful information was freely shared.

“You might be tempted to try and leap from a tower, traveling through the outer environment, outside the towers and tunnels. My advice is don’t. There are things out there, creatures, and monsters. Some of them are sentient. While it might be cheap, it will be dangerous. The inner rings and lower numbered levels have more enforcers clearing out such things, but that increases the expense of living and moving there,” he explained.

“Immortal, any good way to earn credits?” a person asked.

“Stay alive. If you are dead, you won’t be able to earn anything. Also, the sheer scale of the Forever City is…words can’t do it justice. Every day, beings arrive. From cultivators like yourself, to abominations. The Forever City is a major nexus point for all super-organizations, and one of the few known ones that engages in any kind of trade.”

“A person can live their entire life on a couple of floors in a single tower and know nothing else. Corpses are used as fuel for others. The Forever City is a place of opportunity, but it is also one of the largest graveyards within the Firmament. If you can survive, then you will eventually make credits. The challenge for all of you is surviving and then making those credits before you die of old age,” he explained.

“The White Lotus will help you in that regard, providing backing, jobs, information, and their rules you will need to follow. They actually subsidize these trips, otherwise they would be much more expensive to pay for a ticket out there. Not for the return trip, which is all on you.” I was glad I had a return ticket then if I ever needed it. Perhaps I could sell it, but that wasn’t possible. It was linked to my departure ticket as a package.

“Even then it isn’t cheap to make the trip. Other cultivators would kill for this chance and some of you probably have already. But just getting here with the resources to purchase a ticket, is the bare minimum qualification to travel to the Forever City and not instantly die.”

There was silence after that. The Immortal turned to look out the window again at the plateau. “Alright, the departure will be soon. Stupid bastards are a bit early, but that is the Astral Plane for you. Even time can twist slightly there. Come on, everyone, let’s go outside. Lecture time is over.” We made our way outside, following behind the Immortal like a trail of ducklings.

“Immortal, how did you show up first?” a cultivator asked.

“There are tricks I have to getting here first, ahead of the transportation that you don’t need to worry about. I handle the preparation before you all leave and will meet you when you arrive.” That meant he was either a golem of some kind that was possessed or a projection. “The main thing is that the transportation will be picking up other people and it will take a while to reach the Forever City. It is quite far away.”

So, it was like a cruise ship, possibly making several stops as it went around, picking people up. The space in way above and in front of us began to twist, and a kaleidoscope of colors was seen. It was the Astral Plane. A large cylinder made its way through and came to rest on the plateau. The opening remained in the sky.

The cylinder was gray and appeared to be a metal of some kind, but there were no windows or indentations I could make out. At the bottom a doorway moved out and then rose up to float in the air. “Everyone in,” Immortal Gongong said. I followed the other people inside and the door closed behind us. The Immortal was not following us. The room was shiny metal, with no ornamentation.

There was another beautiful woman that looked just like the Vortex Guardian. “Welcome to the Heavenly Alliance transportation. Each of you has purchased a basic ticket which entitles you to a single seat. Do not disturb the other passengers. No amenities are provided. No questions will be answered. Any such disturbances will result in your body being used as payment for such insolence.” I was glad we were able to ask questions beforehand. Everyone was silent.

“Follow me,” the golem lady said as we went through a doorway and up a flight of stairs. There were several other cultivators just sitting in large comfortable-looking chairs, facing the center of the room. “You may pick any seat you wish. Refrain from conversation while transportation is in progress. Once we arrive, I will return and escort you off.”

“In the event of an emergency, remain in your chairs. The Heavenly Alliance takes no responsibility in regard to your personal integrity or the integrity of your possessions. Any attempt to leave your chair before you arrive will be treated as a sabotage attempt. Thank you for picking the Heavenly Alliance for your transportation needs, please be seated immediately,” she said.

I quickly picked my seat along with everyone else. There was no ETA given for our arrival to the Forever City. Thankfully I had picked up equipment to manage waste and didn’t need to eat or drink that much. I also noted there was no energy inside the cylinder.

I picked a seat near the center of all the rings of chairs, facing the doorway and sat down. The chair was well cushioned and quite large. A bulked up professional athlete would easily be able to fit. There were cushions and nobs to adjust the chair thankfully, so I wasn’t sitting with my feet sticking out over the edge of the chair.

After that it was deathly silent, with only the sound of very quiet breathing. No one dared to say anything or do anything. I guess the Heavenly Alliance cylinder transportation had zero tolerance for unruly passengers or Karen type personalities. When you have a monopoly you get to set the rules.

I was excited though. Even after all the warnings and danger, I was going out into the wider world. I was going to be able to progress. The sheer scale of everything was hard to imagine. The Forever City being the size of ten continents and over 200,000 stories tall. The cultivation continent was the size of Earth. I could only imagine the size of the Forever City. Trying to do any kind of math hurt my head. It was just too freaking huge.

It was beyond a city-wide planet or an ecumenopolis. It was far larger than that and it was made up of towers and tunnels. Or bridges, since there was an atmosphere. Bridges would be more correct in a technical sense, but perhaps there was a good reason to call them tunnels.

Time passed, and I kept my pocket watch out. There was just dim floor lighting in this room, as the quiet seemed to settle down on everyone. A couple more times, more cultivators were shown into the room and given the same instructions that I was, by the lady golem. The seats were slowly filling up.

How many cultivation continents were out there? No wonder why such a massive city existed, if it was the central point of so many people traveling. Immortality was just the first step in a place like that. But that was too far away. I needed to get past the first bottle neck first, then the second, before I could worry that far into the future.

It also made sense why people didn’t try to explain things. Even Immortal Gongong’s explanation, struggled to explain the sheer scope of everything that I was getting into by traveling. The continent was just a small remote island in the vastness of the Firmament. It did make me wonder what other super-organizations were out there? If the Heavenly Alliance was cultivation based, was there a technological based super-organization? Was Earth somewhere out there?

What questions I did have, had exploded now that I had a basis of understanding. Still, I probably wasn’t going to get nice easy explanations like Immortal Gongong had done for quite some time.

Chapter 59 – Beyond The Continent, A Scam

As time passed in the dimly lit chamber, the other cultivators were growing slightly more restless. There were more twitches, more glances about, as the chamber filled up. I kept checking my pocket watch to help keep track of the time and it was a long trip. Calling it long was a bit of an understatement.

The trip took a year before something happened. A year of utter silence, it was maddening. I rationed my supplies very carefully and I noticed the few other people eating or drinking did the same. No one made a fuss either, so I couldn’t see what would happen to them. That would have been some nice entertainment.

The constant waiting was grinding down on me. There was no energy to cultivate either. Nothing to pass the time, but to sit and wait. Even cultivators who had a tremendous amount of patience, this was torture, since even cultivating wasn’t possible.

After a year, I felt the entire cylinder shake slightly. I perked up at that and looked around as well as many other people. One thing that never happened was any kind of vibration or shaking. Still, no one got up even as the shaking got worse. That was when the woman golem appeared once more and walked to the center of the chamber before speaking.

“Apologies for the slight turbulence. The cylinder transport is under attack. It is being dealt with and there is no need for concern or for any of you to act. As always, the Heavenly Alliance prides itself on a safe travel experience. No questions will be answered,” she calmly said.

One person didn’t get the message. An older man with white hair and a beard sitting across the chamber from me. “What is attacking us?” he asked. The woman golem turned towards him and there was utter silence as the cylinder continued to shake. I was waiting with everyone else in anticipation for what was about to happen. The trip had been incredibly boring, and this would be quite amusing to see such a senior cultivator do something so stupid.

That is one thing all cultivators enjoyed, seeing other cultivators screw up in some way that didn’t impact them. It made us all feel smarter and superior to the idiot who was going to suffer consequences.

A glowing blue shell suddenly appeared around the cultivator’s chair with him inside of it. The shell was see-through and we could all see the man’s fear. People in the chairs nearby twisted to watch. The trapped cultivator hit the shell and even used some kind of fire technique, but there were just small ripples on the surface. The sound was cut off. In-between one moment and the next he exploded.

There was no sound, no warning. The cultivator had been at least stage 6, and he just died, instantly, for asking a question. The glowing blue shell contracted, removing all blood, clothing, and other objects. There was now an empty chair. The tension in the room skyrocketed as there was another violent vibration.

“As previously mentioned, there will be no questions. Let me reassure you there is no danger. Your safety is our priority.” This time the entire chamber violently tilted in one direction. Everyone scrambled to stay in their seats including me. The female golem remained standing.

“One moment,” she said as the chamber righted itself once more. I hated not knowing what was going on. I hated not being in control of my life. But that was the sin of weakness I was burdened with. The chamber tilted once more in another direction.

“Please remain seated. The cylinder transport is operational,” she said, and the dim lights flickered. There was a lot more shifting at that. What could we do? A cultivator was already killed for disobeying instructions. I hated this more than anything else, the loss of any agency in an emergency. Couldn’t there at least be a proper explanation.

The vibrations continued but there was no more tilting. “We crossed paths with one of the many dangers of the Firmament. Safety protocols require an information blackout to prevent any risk of contamination. The Heavenly Alliance takes safety as a priority, and it appears the worst of the danger has passed. Is any passenger experiencing distress, including physical injury, astral fraying, or thinking about the number 1.618? Please speak up and make yourself known. Compensation will be offered as well as better accommodations.”

There was utter silence at that question. What even was that question? What even was that number? The entire question felt like a trap. Every instinct I had told me to just stay silent and not say a thing. No one was injured. While the tilting and vibrations were scary, they weren’t damaging.

No, the entire question revolved around checking if people were thinking about that number? My mind raced quickly, and I still didn’t get it. I just didn’t have enough information. “I am thinking of that number,” a cultivator raised their hand. The female golem nodded.

“Anyone else?” she asked. Two more cultivators chimed in, but that was it. Idiots, complete and utter idiots. She escorted all three out of the room and there was a deathly silence after that. I had no doubt none of us would see those three ever again. I also planned to never mention the number 1.618. Whatever that was, was very bad news.

The trip continued in silence for another month without incident. There were no more passengers. The cylinder transport shook once and the female golem made another appearance. “We have arrived. Please collect all belongings, and follow me,” she said. I got up right away and followed her, not daring to wait. I wasn’t the first though. I could tell the others wanted off this death trap as well.

We made our way into a large chamber that was well lit. It appeared to be quite modern, and there were several doorways on our side of the chamber where cultivators were coming out of and stopping in front of similar looking female golems. Some kind of mass-produced model. In front of us, there were lines. Soon everyone had exited the cylinder ship. I noticed the three people taken away weren’t present.

“Welcome to the Heavenly Alliance Arrival Terminal for the Forever City. Each line represents the faction you attend to associate with. Please wait in the line and you will be processed in order.” I noticed some lines were packed with people while others were empty.

“If you do not plan to associate with a faction, there is a general line at the far end of the Arrival Terminal in that direction,” the female golem pointed. “Thank you for using the Heavenly Alliance for your transportation needs.” The female golem walked back onto the cylinder ship and the door closed. Everyone began looking around including myself.

Most people that had been picked up made their way to the White Lotus line. I went past that towards the line for general arrivals. The entire place gave me the feeling of an airport, but it was a lot quieter and much more tense. No one talked or caused any issues. The tension after the trip was quite immense.

Making my way to the general line, it was empty. I followed it to the end. I could only hope the Immortal Gongong wasn’t going to steer me wrong. Checking behind me, no one else was following me. Cultivators in the nearby lines gave me a surprised look. I made sure I was in the right line, and it was the one at the far end of the Arrival Terminal. I had counted at least 1,000 other factions. The place was incredibly large.

There was a door in front of me. The other doors occasionally opened, and cultivators entered from their line. My door wasn’t opening. I looked around again, but there was no posted information, no signs. I just had to wait. I kept an eye on the other lines and arrivals. There were cultivators constantly arriving and the doors took about an hour between each time they opened.

After waiting for four hours, my door opened. I quickly walked forward. There was a bored looking young man sitting at the table in front of me. He was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. “This is for general arrivals. Are you sure you aren’t part of a sponsored faction?” the young man asked me.

“I was told by Immortal Gongong that the White Lotus would not accept me,” I said. The young man, I couldn’t work out his cultivation and I knew appearances were deceiving. He opened one eye to look at me.

“A baby. They sent a baby,” he said and let out a long sigh. “Well, your guide was right. They won’t accept a baby like you. Not my problem. Time to get your sorted out, sit, this will take a while.” I quickly sat.

“Thank you senior,” I replied and took a seat across from him.

“It is my job to handle low level arrivals not in a faction. As per the guidelines of the Heavenly Alliance, I will now provide you with basic general equipment. Do not lose this equipment. Do not expect it to be replaced. Do not expect it to be upgraded. Be aware that accepting this equipment constitutes agreeing to the base rules of the Heavenly Alliance,” he explained. He then pushed a small pamphlet towards me across the table.

“Take a look,” I opened up the pamphlet and began reading through it. After a couple of minutes, I was finished.

“Do you plan to accept the offered equipment?” the young man asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Very well, I will now quiz you on the contents you have just read. Can you trade with other super-organizations.”

“Material goods, knowledge, but not access of any kind,” I replied, and the young man nodded.

“Good. That is the main point you need to remember. Your first piece of equipment, a credit card,” he said and put it on the table. It was a dark red and gold color. “Place a drop of blood on the card to tie it to you. You do not have to do that, but people will know, and it will be a target of theft.” I pulled out a pin and pricked my finger to put a drop of blood on the credit card.

“Your transactions are tracked.” I noted he didn’t say this until now. “But unless you commit some sort of infraction, they are not actively monitored. You can check your balance by holding it and transfer funds by touching another card. You have a maximum transaction limit of 10,000 credits. No questions,” I closed my mouth quickly.

The young man then put a pair of ear buds on the table. At least that was what they looked like. “These are translators. While most beings in the Heavenly Alliance speak common, there are many dialects. They also work for some beings in other super factions and are quite common. Just pick them up and put them in your ears,” I did as he said. The young man’s voice changed. There was no longer an accent that I could pick up.

“It makes voices sound the same, and you lose inflection, but you can clearly understand the person you are focused on, or the loudest voice. It is a lesser model that only translates one voice at a time,” he explained, and I nodded at that.

He then placed a monocle on the table. “That is a translator. If you need to read anything, you can use that. One eye only, and a lesser model, so don’t expect it to handle everything you might see.” I carefully picked up the monocle and put it in my left eye. I attached the chain hanging off the end to my robe.

“Next you have your locational compass. It lists the floor, and the ring. As you can see, we are on floor 10,212 and located in ring orbit 5.2. This locational compass will not work past floor 50,000 plus and minus, or orbit 8. Again, it is a lesser model. If you want an upgraded version, you will have to figure that out yourself,” the young man explained. It was a bulky watch. I strapped it onto my left wrist.

“Finally, there is a map pad,” the young man said. “It tracks which faction controls which tower section, and updates based on official claims. It is not always up to date. You can manually update it,” he said and handed me what could only be called an iPad. “The mapping function is the only thing on the pad. If you decide to walk, it will give you general directions. Major locations like this Terminal are listed, but you can add locations yourself,” the young man explained.

“And that is it. There is a waiting room, you may sit in, just beyond if you are waiting for someone to pick you up, you can go now,” he said. I stood up and bowed.

“Thank you senior,” I replied.

“My job. Move,” he said. I quickly moved into the next room and almost stumbled. There was a skeleton in one of the chairs in the corner, with cloth hanging off their bones. Someone had died in this room, what the hell. That was insane.

I looked around and there was no one else. I turned back around, but the door behind me had already shut. There was a door at the far end of the room. I closed my right eye and read the sign over it. Exit: One Way. There were metal chairs, concrete-looking floors, and walls, with only the basic recessed lighting. At least the place was well lit. And the skeleton sitting on a chair in the corner.

I took a seat, and a voice suddenly spoke up from nowhere. “So, what are you doing here?” I turned to look at the skeleton.

“Greetings, I have just arrived and am looking to improve my cultivation. Are you the skeleton?” I asked.

“The bound spirit,” the voice said. It was quite flat, the translators working. “Lucky, I managed to get here to rest and hide out. Not many safe places.”

“You mean this waiting room?” I asked.

“Yes. Not often I get a visitor who risks going further without an affiliation. Let me guess, someone promised to meet you here?” the skeleton asked me.

“An immortal,” I replied. The skeleton began to laugh, somehow. Its bones weren’t moving.

“Oh, you foolish child. You were tricked,” the skeleton said.

“What do you mean?” I asked slowly.

“Your immortal, well they get compensated based on the quality of candidates they send to their faction. Trash like yourself, well that is better disposed of. If you had gotten in the line for the faction sponsoring your trip they would have to take you,” the skeleton said.

“You mean Immortal Gongong lied to me?” I asked with fear in my voice.

“Give this cultivator a prize! He doesn’t expect you to return. And he also doesn’t want to be penalized for sending trash through. And he also has to honor the tickets. Let me guess, someone gave you a ticket?”

“Yes, they did,” I replied with my worry increasing.

“Thought so. But regardless, you still would have been allowed to purchase one. That way he gets his fee, and you get dumped here. Too late to go back,” the skeleton said.

“But I have a return ticket,” I added.

“And you have to go around to get to the Departure Terminal. You exit that door, the scavengers will rip you apart. And you can’t go back. You are trapped,” the skeleton said with too much glee. I went over to the door and hesitated before opening.

“You can open it and take a look. You will see a short hallway and another door. The moment you let go, that door will slam shut. One way out,” the skeleton said. I pushed open the door and the skeleton was right. I let the door close, and it slammed shut with a bang the moment I wasn’t holding it open.

“Is there another way out of here?” I asked.

“Physically no. But now we get into the fun part of negotiations.”

“You want something,” I said.

“Exactly. I will help you out, and you will help me out. I need to reconstitute my body. And you have a great body,” the skeleton said.

“Then I won’t have a body,” I replied.

“Indeed. But the only other option is to wait or die out those doors. You don’t have to believe me, but that is how things are,” it said.

“I think I will wait,” I replied.

“Suit yourself. It will be a long wait. But I don’t mind,” it said.

“Other cultivators haven’t taken you up on your offer,” I said.

“How many you think are as stupid as you?” I was silent at that question. “Also, they tend to be stronger, their astral soul fully formed. No way to hitch a ride.”

“They can’t carry you out?” I asked.

“Pfft, kid, you think I will let myself be carried out without reassurances. As if.”

“I am Yuan Zhou senior. May I have your title or name?” I asked.

“I go by Bones. Just Bones, no title. Not imaginative I know but got to keep my actual name hidden. Managed to book a trip here, before my body rotted away from poison. Now my spirit lingers to my bones. Stupid, incredibly stupid, but that is the Firmament for you. Always finding a new way to screw you over,” Bones said.

I walked over and sat across from the skeleton. “Make a better deal. I am not giving up my agency,” I replied to the skeleton.

“Then you can wait and die for all I care. I have forever. They don’t call this the Forever City just because it is large. However long it takes, better to wait and maximize my chances of leaving, than leaving and getting screwed over,” Bones said.

I carefully considered his offer. “What exactly do you want?” I would listen, but I wouldn’t agree.

“Like I said your body. Your astral soul, will be pushed to one side and I will take over as the primary being in the driver’s seat. Then we leave, I easily crush any resistance outside of this room, and then I look at putting some flesh on these bones.”

“You don’t want my body forever?” I asked.

“That trash? Pffft. Kid, no offense, but your cultivation is complete garbage. But I am not going to trust anyone else getting me out of here safely.”

“And how will you get past whatever scavengers are waiting outside?” I asked.

“I have my tricks. Mainly masking how strong you appear to be. Right now, you look like a fresh piece of meat laying on the ground, ripe for eating.” I was silent as I considered the offer. The fact there was no Immortal Gongong, made me feel I got scammed more and more.

Bones was content to wait. “And if you keep my body long term?”

“The fact you call immortals, immortals, and were scammed shows how little you actually know. Anything I say you can’t verify. It comes down to trust. Do you trust me to do right by you, or for you to not trust me and walk out that door. Or you can wait and slowly starve to death, since I doubt you have unlimited food,” Bones explained. I got up and walked away from the skeleton. It was content to let me brood.

I had no idea which choice would be best. But each time I paced across the room, my concern grew. I just didn’t have information, which made it impossible to make a good decision. If I left, then I would be on my own against dangers outside of this room. I felt with my sword and my gun, I would have a chance against scavengers.

Or I could trust this Bones and possibly have my soul wiped out. I had no idea what the possessed skeleton was capable of. I hated not knowing. Each choice felt bad. One thing that was becoming apparent, was that I had been scammed. I had been too trusting of Immortal Gongong. He had appeared helpful and knowledgeable, but he wasn’t showing up. He didn’t even leave with everyone else. He wasn’t using some kind of remote technique. He just screwed me over.

“What about waiting until someone else comes through?” I asked.

“Have fun doing that. It will be a long time. Anyone strong enough arrives through a different entrance. Anyone weak, still stronger than you, but weak will arrive at this terminal. They will go to a faction. I don’t want to wait even longer, but that is my only option. So, I wait.”

“And trying to go back when the door opens?” I asked.

“You will be killed instantly. While this is considered a back end posting by the Heavenly Alliance, that person you talked to, well guess what. They were a direct member of the Heavenly Alliance, not a lesser faction. You blink wrong in their direction they will kill you without hesitation,” Bones explained.

“And they didn’t kill me right away because?” I asked.

“Rules. They are strict on the rules, and you might have some kind of connection, or be a hidden powerhouse. Sometimes powerful cultivators try such things to gain leverage over the Heavenly Alliance. Like a free auditing system. That is why they stick to the set procedures they have done since they opened this place however long ago,” Bones explained.

“How long will it take to get your body back?” I asked.

“No idea. There isn’t exactly a clock in this place, and I nap when there is no one around. Kid, the real risk is for me. If I leave while possessing you, and you die, then I am completely screwed. My bones will be used as fuel for something.”

I kept hesitating and looked at the door I had come in from and the door to leave this waiting room. Each second was another nail in my soul. Time stretched on. I set my deadline as a month. I could wait that long. I paced around the room while checking my pocket watch.

It was painful to wait, incredibly painful. Bones didn’t say anything, content to let me pace. The door to this room didn’t open once. Immortal Gongong didn’t show up either. Bones was happy to be quiet. After two weeks, I finally gave in.

“Alright, how will this work,” I said finally, resigned to being screwed over.

“Come over and pick up my skull and look into my eye sockets, my soul will overlay yours.” I hesitated for a moment and went over.

“And if I tried to destroy your skeleton?” I asked.

“Good luck. You don’t have the power or ability. If you can kill me, then you are welcome to try.”

“Really, you won’t get offended?” I asked.

“Nope,” it said. I pulled out my sword and swung it at the skull. My sword bounced off. “Told you. The fact I improved my bones to last no matter what, is the only reason I am still around,” Bones said as I put my sword away. I took a deep breath and picked up the skull. I then looked into the empty eye sockets, before feeling a massive pressure on my head.

“Connection established. And now let me manage my soul to overlay yours,” I felt the voice in my head and couldn’t move anymore. “Soul moving, and now….what the hell. What is your cultivation!?”

I couldn’t say anything, as I felt a massive pain in my head and in my groin. I collapsed to the floor still holding the skull. “Okay, let’s just back out. What?! NO!” I heard enraged shouting in my head. After a couple of minutes, it finally stopped. I still couldn’t move.

“Well kid, we both screwed up. Your cultivation is a…disaster. And I rushed too much. I won’t fight,” Bones said and I could move again.

“What was that?” I asked.

“You have a suction vortex as part of your cultivation. Why do you have something like that? And three paths of cultivation? Who the heck does soul cultivation? Body cultivation is the best followed by mind?”

“Um, it is quite common-“

“For whatever backwater trash dump you came from. And a suction vortex, all those cores, the density. Well congratulations, you managed to both trap me and stop me from assuming control. Your soul is too securely anchored for me to suppress,” Bones said.

“So, you aren’t possessing me?”

“I am. We are a team now kid. I will help you survive. You help me get my body back. Win, win.”

“Only now I am in charge?” I asked.

“Because you have a stupid amount of cultivation that is nonsensical. Even for whatever trash heap you come from, this…no wonder why your immortal scammed you. Most won’t, since there is always a chance you will return for revenge, but this. Heck, I would scam you if I was in their shoes.”

“So, you are an immortal?” asked.

“Kid, I am beyond that. If you are a 1 and your immortal is a 2, then I am 3. At least I was when I had my physical body. Now collect my bones and robes in one of your spatial rings.” I did what Bones said with a sense of relief. My insane cultivation had saved me once again.

“And a suction vortex, I can’t even leave. This is so stupid and makes things a 100 times harder for me to get my body back,” Bones complained.

“Aren’t you beyond a physical body?” I asked.

“Yes, but it is an anchor for my astral soul. Trust me, you don’t want to be just a soul floating around. Way too vulnerable and it makes it a nightmare for interacting with anything. Sure, I could survive, but this was the best place to wait to try and find someone to get my body back. Now, I am in an even worse spot. And don’t feel relieved,” Bones said.

“Why?” I asked with a bit of hesitation.

“Because I am blocking your cultivation at the moment, and I can’t leave. If you want to get rid of me, then I need my body. And getting my body back without me managing things is going to be very, very difficult. I won’t just walk around with just trash,” Bones explained.

“You really weren’t lying then? About anything?” I asked with some surprise.

“The truth cuts much more deeply. You were scammed, and I would have let you go once I got my body. Really, yours is utter trash, trust me. Now I am stuck to it. Your soul is pulling me in, but I am too strong to be ripped apart, and too weak to escape.”

“And what about my cultivation and my goals?” I asked.

“You are getting ahead of yourself. The first thing is to leave this place. You will need to trust me. Once I get a body, then I will help you out. And betraying me, well you won’t know who or what to betray me to. And you can’t cultivate until you get rid of me. I might believe in karma, but I won’t let myself be scammed,” Bones said.

“Karma is real?” I asked.

“Everything is real. The real question is, does it matter? That is what you need to ask. Right now, it doesn’t matter. Getting out of here and setting up a way to get credits is our first task,” Bones said.

“And that will be done, how?” I asked.

“Again, I have been here for quite a while. I need to assess the situation out there first. And while I am just a soul, I still have abilities I can use. Good news, is that anyone scanning you, will see me and back off. At least you look incredibly dangerous with how child like you look,” Bones said. With Bones’ bones put away along with his robe, I made my way to the exit door. I pushed it open and entered into the short hallway. I then secured my mask on my face and put my hood up and pushed the second door open.

A wave of yellow air hit me. In the distance I could see large columns. The ceiling above me was incredibly high up. There were groups exiting from other doors to my left and moving to large vehicles. The door closed behind me and I checked either side.

There were two piles of dirty rags that stirred slightly and then went still. “Scavengers. We are in the landing zone of the terminal. Walk forward and don’t cross any painted white lines,” Bones said and I began to walk.

“Which way?” I muttered quietly.

“Keep looking around. We can’t rest here. Those rats will be on us if we do. We need transportation or to walk out of here, but it looks like this is a closed section. That means a portion of a tower, which isn’t linked to other portions of a tower. Used to be a market here, but it must have been removed. This is going to make it harder. Ah, far end, that is the area for private transportation,” Bones said as I began to cut across the open area. The yellow clouds of air drifted through. I could feel my skin itch slightly.

“How are we going to pay?” I muttered as I passed by the occasional group. It appeared half the tower was for the landing pad. The other part was the arrival terminal, lines, and rooms. It was about a mile of walking to cross almost the entire width of the tower. Looking past the outer edge support pillars, there was just swirling yellow gas.

“Pull out your credit card.” I did and I felt a stab of pain move through my arm and out my hand. The number of credits I had went up to 37.

“You can make credits?” I asked quietly in surprise.

“No. But I do have an account tied to my soul for emergencies. It was supposed to be more, but I guess the upkeep fees have drained it. It really has been a long time,” the last part I could barely pick up in my mind. “Still, it will be more than enough as starting capital, so we don’t have to try and sell your trash. If prices haven’t changed that much, and they really don’t, then I need about half a million credits to make a body I can stand.”

“Well, I need 610,000. So we are in the same boat,” I replied.

“For your cultivation. That is fine. Teamwork. Now, the real question, is where do we go in the Forever City?”

“Friends, faction, super organization?” I asked.

“My friends are dead. Factions are just an excuse to rob people with fees and taxes. And the Heavenly Alliance doesn’t care. Any small group would have moved by now. The few contacts that are powerful enough and still around, wouldn’t hesitate to scam me. First rule of the Forever City, everyone is always scamming everyone out of everything they have, including their life and soul,” Bones said.

“Including you?” I muttered.

“You aren’t trying to hold me hostage for a future reward. Karma is a thing. Urg, how can you be so ignorant and still alive. Listen, the ties and links that bind a person, can impact one’s path to greater power. Karma is a hard path in terms of actions, but easy in terms of advancement. I am not limited to specific types of resources. That immortal you scammed you, well he is cutting off his future,” Bones explained.

“Then why scam me?” I asked.

“Immediate benefits. Or he doesn’t think it will play a role. Or just doesn’t know. Or has other plans. And a low impact on karma, since he probably gave you information for free. You are so weak, that you have to depend on me. And while you might not fully trust me, I won’t screw you over. I might not help you that much once I have my body, but screwing you over after you helped me will hit me much more than anything else.”

“How is karma even measured? It doesn’t make sense?” I asked.

“Thank our super faction for that. It is part of how they stop all us cultivators from murdering one another. Cultivators not adhering to the path of karma at the upper levels, well things get a lot harder for them. Since the karma path is free information, but everything else is kept under lock and key.”

“So, they know people won’t betray them, clever,” I muttered.

“Just don’t count on it, for the truly powerful or the truly desperate. That is why low-level cultivators are used for a lot of things. You aren’t tied to the path of karma, while us upper-level cultivators are. That is why there are countless proxy battles and trash farms like you came from to produce soldiers for the never-ending fight for resources and power within the Forever City,” Bones explained. With that one piece of information, a lot of things suddenly made sense.

“What about the other super organizations?” I asked.

“You get strong enough, you fight them. There is no choice. The faction battles are just to find the best of the best and toss away the trash. At the height of my power, you could consider me an individual that could speak to the representatives of a super faction. Now, I am in the trash tier of power with you, back at the very bottom,” Bones complained.

Chapter 60 – The Forever City

“For reference this landing area for vehicles is about five levels high, while the entire terminal is ten levels high. The levels above us are reserved for those of elite status.”

“How are the cylinder ships getting inside the tower?” I asked and I could hear Bones mentally sigh at me as we continued to walk across the landing area.

“The Astral Plane and dedicated portals. The defenses on the other side are nothing to scoff at. Especially since your soul is anchored there until you leave, move it, or get stronger. That is the greatest leverage the Heavenly Alliance has,” Bones explained. I then talked about what happened on the cylinder transport.

“And then the female golem removed everyone who thought of 1.618,” I said.

“Listen. Don’t think about it. Unspoken rule that will help you live, if someone tells you don’t think of something, don’t think about it. And I know you are going to ask why. There are things out there, that are mental hazards. Whatever attacked your transport was probably broadcasting a thought that presented itself as that number. You should be safe, but I have seen people say that, right before their heads burst open and we all had to flee in panic.”

“Oh,” was my not so eloquent response.

“Oh, now we are almost to the transports. Listen to me exactly. There will be a lot of bluffing, and spur of the moment decision making. Whatever I tell you to say, say it with confidence, unless I say otherwise. Most of these idiots we will have to deal with will be of poor strength compared to me. And while I can throw off observations, and can do things in an emergency, it is better to avoid that. Understood?”

“Yes,” I replied quietly.

“Good. Confidence. Head to the vehicle transport two to the left in front of you, with the hexagram symbol on it.” I altered my course. I was being watched by several transport drivers. I began repeating directly what Bones said.

“The nearest Free Market, and I mean free,” I said confidently. The old man gave me a look.

“That will be 2,000 bits, can you-“

“I have the credits, but your price is outrageous. Only 700 bits, or I will flog your soul and toss you into the burning winds,” I said.

“Flog my soul and you will have the Hexagramic Cultists sucking your blood out in revenge. 900 bits.”

“900 bits and silence, I am on the lower platform to avoid trouble,” I said and the old man grinned.

“900 bits and silence, one way trip to the nearest free market. That is going to be in the sixth ring,” the man said.

“I don’t care if it is in the eighth ring or beyond. As long as its free and quick. I don’t have my entire lifetime to wait,” I replied.

“Hop on in,” the man said and the metal door of what looked like a diseased cross between a hover car and a shuttle opened up. The old man got in first and took a seat in the front. There were no windows, but there were screens set up. I sat in the back.

“Put on the safety straps like I tell you to. Upper left, with the central buckle, bring that onto your chest. Then lower left, upper right, lower right.”

“All set back there?” the old man asked.

“Waiting on you, hurry up,” I replied. A moment later I was slammed back into my seat. I felt like my organs were going to explode out of my body.

“Going full throttle, not a problem for someone like you, right?” the old man asked.

“You can go faster,” I managed to say without too much difficulty.

“If you say so.” The acceleration increased.

“We should be fine. But keep your eyes open, so I can watch the screens. If he veers to somewhere else, I need to know. The Hexagram Cultists are scum suckers, but they have standards. The words I had you say and the way I had you buckle in, will indicate that we at least know the outer greetings. It was a lucky thing they had a vehicle transport there. Picking an unknown faction would have been far more perilous,” Bones explained.

“As for why they are there. Rich people who don’t want to pay for nicer transportation. The elite workers at the tower, like the man you spoke to. It is a shit job. Out of the 900 bits we are paying, our driver is only going to get 9 of those bits. The rest will be required for upkeep of this piece of trash and to the Hexagramic Cultists.” I couldn’t respond, since I was being crushed into my chair.

“Once we get to the Free Market, I can get some information, we can get a short term room, and then plan from there to get a lot of credits as quickly as possible. Oh, he is trying to divert slightly. Say the following.”

“Alter our course any more and you are dead,” I said out loud, struggling for air.

“You can’t even breathe. Nice trick, but you don’t even have a backer. Just a freebie,” the old man replied. There was a single moment where I felt death itself hovering in the transport and then the old man began to scream. I could see his right side from my seat, and half of his face was growing pustules.

“AHHHH! Stop! I am sorry! STOP!”

“I have stopped. Fix the course, consider the remainder a reminder.” I forced out.

“Sorry, sorry, fixing,” he replied and hit several buttons on his console. The pustules were leaking yellow fluid.

“Annoying, but predictable. As for what that was. I merely sent a fraction of a fraction of the poison that destroyed my physical body over to him, to teach him a lesson. Minute particle control, quite useful. And yes, I could have done that to you. And no, I am not mind reading you, your questions are already that predictable.” I mentally pouted and focused on sucking in air through my mask. The old driver let out an occasional groan.

After an hour, we finally came to a stop. The diver nervously pulled out a credit card. I pulled out mine and Bones told me what to do. Half the old man’s face was ruined and we got off the vehicle transport after paying without a word.

Looking about I saw lots of columns supporting the ceiling above on the outer edge, and then a bazar of some kind. In the center of the platform there was a building connecting the floor and ceiling. Checking my location bracelet, it read floor 22,829 and ring 6.3.

“First thing, we need to purchase better gear, so you don’t look like you are fresh meat. Walk forward and look around. I will tell you where to stop. Most tower floors aren’t open. But Free Markets and other major locations have drop off points. More often than not, there are airlocks into the tower. You go outside the tower’s protection, with your strength, your skin will melt. That itch you feel, is nothing compared to the horror of the various toxic energies that linger throughout the Forever City,” Bones explained as I walked forward.

“Trash. Slightly better trash. Trash. Trash. Everything you see are bits of trash pick up from fights, that these scavengers are trying to sell.”

“They just sit around all the time,” I whispered quietly.

“Yes. They don’t want to give up their spot. Each of them probably has 50 to 100 people supplying them with trash. Minor little wars and conflicts of the bottom feeders as the factions fight each other to gain more power and standing. For them earning a spot here is a move up in their world.”

“But forever?” I asked quietly.

“They are all immortals.” My brain skipped at that. “Immortality is easy enough with some basic equipment. Probably failed clone soldiers, most of them. Used as low level proxy battle fodder for the factions. But they won’t risk causing trouble here. The only rule of free markets is not killing customers. All trash.”

“Immortality is that easy?”

“The trash way yes. Cultivation is much harder. They just have regulating implants. Very little upkeep. Most of the service people and population in the outer rings is like this. While cheap, they can only be servants. Low combat potential. Still more than what you have though.”

“Then why bring in people from the continents?”

“You mean the trash heaps. Variety. You focus on only a small number of combat methods, you will find yourself in trouble eventually. Like soul cultivation, that is your primary, is weak. You draw power internally, mind draws power externally, and body empowers yourself. That is why body cultivation is the best. You won’t run out of juice for techniques. And just more trash, but slightly better. Make a right and let’s do a loop.”

I made a turn and kept walking, looking at the metal booths and tables set up with stuff strewn all over them. I saw guns, broken blades, an eyeball in a jar, a doll, a weird shaped skull, pieces of robe, and countless other things. Some stalls had themes to what they were selling while others just had everything possible on them. There were other people walking about looking over the things for sale. I briefly glanced over as one cloaked figure bought an entire table.

“Keep moving and don’t look. They found a treasure so they bought everything on the table to hide their true purchase. Another unspoken rule of the free market. If your entire table is bought out, you don’t haggle. Ah, that table just ahead to your right.”

I went over to that table and came to a stop. The people in the Free Market really liked their hooded robes. “I want to inspect some of your items.”

“Go ahead,” the seller said with a scratchy voice. Bones had me pick up several items.

“Hmm, a decent helmet. No visible markings. Nothing lingering either. We can replace that stupid monocle and those earbuds. At least your robe and mask are halfway decent. Put it down, we definitely want that. A bit big, but we can manage with the straps. Now that pad. Check the back. Fairly new but I don’t know the faction. We want the data crystal.” I looked over the rest of the items. The shop keeper was happy to let us browse.

“The helmet and the pad. How much?” I asked.

“Separately, 5 and 2 credits. Togeather, call it 6 credits,” the stand owner said.

“Call it 4.5 and you have a deal,” I countered.

“4.85,” the seller countered back.

“Deal,” I said and paid with the credit card. After the transaction it was down to 31.248 credits. It took me a moment to remember the transaction tax of 0.001 per transaction. I put the helmet on, keeping the monocle and earbuds as backup. Bones then had me pull out the data crystal in front of the stand. It was a way to show we knew what we were doing. After that we set the broken pad on the table and put in the data crystal into the pad I already had. The stall owner had no issues taking the broken pad. Bones let me know it was only worth a few bits now, and not worth the hassle of trying to sell it.

Once that was done, he had me walk about so he could look over the various stalls while we discussed our next move. “I have been thinking about what you can actually do and it isn’t looking good.”

“I was thinking setting up some kind of business, or trading.”

“With what and with who? You are too weak to trade with the factions. You are at best Free Market level, and you can see how slow business is.”

“I can’t use these immortality implants?”

“And ruin your cultivation. They are designed like that, so the people with them don’t get ideas and remain servants. The table three ahead to your right, yes, that’s the one.”

“That,” I said and pointed at the item Bones had indicated.

“20 credits,” the cloaked seller replied.

“It is damaged. 5 credits,” I countered, following Bones instructions.

“12 credits.”

“Deal,” I replied and was soon down to 19.247 credits. I then realized the transaction fee happened on both ends. The Heavenly Alliance was taxing 0.002 per transaction, not 0.001 per transaction. I picked up the chain necklace with a rod at the end.

“Fixing that up will be a pain, but I saw a small kit, we can do it with.”

“Can’t we fix things to make credits?” I asked.

“We were lucky finding this. But I suppose it works well with my plan of being a scavenger and collecting trash to sell,” Bones said.

“Isn’t that risky?” I asked.

“With that necklace, not so much. It is an observe absorber. You can’t use any observe type techniques or equipment with it on, but I can work out a being’s strength just by looking. For someone in our position, it is quite valuable.”

“So, running around, collecting trash, fixing what we can, and selling it?” I asked.

“Yes. And this Free Market is well positioned. Most of them exist near high conflict areas. So they tend to shift once the distance gets too great. From what I could tell, this Free Market is doing decently well and looks fairly new. So probably at the start of its life cycle,” Bones explained.

“What about trading or bringing supplies to areas?” I asked.

“Labor and storage are cheap. Everyone has a spatial item. They might not look like it-“

“No, I saw them. But with the Forever City being so big, can’t we get a vehicle transport on our own?”

“Don’t cut me off ever again.” There was a harshness from Bones. I had forgotten that he had his pride. I wasn’t sure he was a man, but he felt like one. It was hard to say, and he clearly didn’t want to talk about his past. “As for a transport vehicle. An unaffiliated one would be taken near instantly. And most factions have their own vehicles. They lease them out if they don’t have a use, but keep their backing. Everything in the Forever City requires a faction, accept scavenging.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“You would have to ask the Heavenly Alliance, but my guess is hope and karmic ties. The servants or slaves or whatever you want to call them are all trying to save up enough to get their implants removed and cultivate directly to immortality. But the cost of such a thing, you are looking at a million credits.”

“Couldn’t we rob people then?”

“And get found out. Your card has a limit of 10,000 is my guess. There is a reason for that. Getting your credit card upgraded is incredibly expensive. So, while it costs a million, in reality you need more like double that, and it is constantly being spent on upgrades. Also, people have factions. Theft will get their attention, since factions claim a large portion of the credits when a person dies,” Bones explained.

“Then wouldn’t factions send people to their death?” I asked.

“Yes. All those people you passed in the Arrival Terminal will be dead fairly soon. And those that don’t die, will die eventually. The rare few will make it and leave. Some factions have a bad reputation and have trouble getting new idiots. But in reality, their use as fodder for fighting is far more important than whatever garbage number of credits they have. Unless you have 100,000 the factions won’t even care.”

“And getting that is near impossible,” I realized.

“Exactly. The only gap in the market for us is scavenging. And event that…I don’t like it either. I am not a trash monkey, that’s a derogatory term for the scavengers. Less than human.”

“There are non-humans?” I asked.

“You are such a sweet innocent child. The other super-organizations are not humans. And even a couple factions are not humans. Most cultivators are though, and there are humans outside the Heavenly Alliance. But one thing you can be sure about, is that the Heavenly Alliance is human centric, and discriminates heavily.”

“There were beasts on my continent,” I said and explained what they were like.

“They are the plants that are farmed. I have no doubt that the White Lotus gets tribute from your continent with the cylinder transports. Your Imperial Sect, well that is nothing but a front organization to process resources. There is also an information embargo, right?”

“Um yes. Because no one likes to know they are being farmed for resources,” I muttered.

“Exactly right. Trash heaps have tried to rebel in the past, but that is as useful as a fart into the toxic air of the Forever City. The White Lotus would just send one of their junior members and slap everyone and everything down. You mentioned ages, well my guess is that your first age was when the entire place was set up. Your second age, the beasts rebelled from being farmed. The third age is when most of the beasts’ leaders were wiped out. That beast immortal probably surrendered and sells out his fellow vegetables to be harvested.”

“You can guess that, from what little I have said?” I asked surprised.

“Kid, I have seen the same thing a hundred times over. The small details might vary, but it is all the same thing in the end.”

“And the people?” I asked.

“The people are the counterbalance to the beasts. A simple ecosystem with two parts. Harvesting the trash level crystals and producing useful cannon fodder and trash tier energy resources. Another thing I have learned is that people are lazy. They like others to do the work and set it up that way. The immortals running your little trash heap, well they are just sitting back and enjoying how everything works out.”

“They are rarely seen. Only Immortal Gongong showed up right before departure. But why two factions of humans?” I asked.

“Another thing the people in charge like is competition. That way they don’t have to watch things constantly. If one immortal screws up, the other one will be there to self-correct.” I then mentioned the demonic cultivators.

“Good news kid. If that Aoyin becomes an immortal, he will be impressed into fighting for the White Lotus. And if he somehow survives that, then he will be forced to fight the enemies of the Heavenly Alliance. And then he will eventually die no matter what.”

“You sound like the Heavenly Alliance will never win?” I asked Bones.

“Kid, they have been fighting eons before my existence, and will be fighting eons after we are consumed by Chaos. The Firmament exists infinitely. And while your tiny brain has a hard time understanding that, it is truly infinite. Not pretend infinite like this Forever City. It is said if you go far enough in the Firmament, you will find everything and anything and it will all repeat.”

“Even the Forever City?” I asked.

“Even the Forever City. It is a fairly unique nexus, since there is high level trade here, but it is just a finite thing.”

“And the power scaling?” I asked.

“Pointless and that information is incredibly valuable. Let me guess, there is a lot of information sharing where you come from?” Bones asked and I gave an affirmative. “Information has a lot of value here, especially, how to get more powerful. Since it can expose weaknesses. While I will owe you a debt, I doubt you want pointless information and something more practical once I get my body back.”

“That would be preferred,” I said.

“That is also the downside of the path of karma. Everything has a weight to it, including our conversation. Balancing that to even is a massive pain. Also, why credits are so useful. You can just pay off karmic debts,” Bones explained.

“So, you explaining all this stuff is reducing your debt?” I asked.

“Something like that. It is complicated in how things are weighted which, unless you have an understanding of karmic links, then it will go over your head. We have other more important things to worry about. You can take comfort in the fact that if I wanted to screw you, then I would share a lot more information,” Bones said. We then arrived at a booth with a repair box. It cost 15 credits, after Bones haggled the seller down from 18. I put it in my spatial ring, and we made our way to the center of the Free Market.

“All towers have elevators and stairs in the center. The elevators cost credits or personal power. We only have about 4 credits left, so not that, and your personal power is nothing. So that means the stairs. They are a great place for an ambush. Hmm, get out your sword and your gun. You won’t use them, but it will keep anyone thinking about things away. Also, we only have to go down a floor.”

We made our way to the staircase. The soft glow of recessed lighting was present. The stairs were a bit larger than I was used to, but there was no trouble. Bones had me steer clear of several areas, he said had a bad feeling to them. I was constantly trying to see what he was saying with my eyes but couldn’t. We exited through the overly large doors to Floor 22,828.

There were a lot of hallways and there were signs. I followed the ones indicating a rest area. We left the main hallway, which was incredibly wide, and entered through a doorway. The air didn’t itch in this area and there was a bi-pedal red lizard sitting behind a counter.

“Room, price?” I asked. That was how Bones told me to speak, so I said the exact words he wanted me to.

“10 bits, per cycle,” the red lizard hissed out.

“Five cycles,” I replied and pulled out my credit card. The lizard pulled out one with a clawed hand. I paid 51 bits.

“Room 8 is free,” it hissed out and I went through a doorway behind it and then into what could only be described as a tomb. There was window, bed, or anything else. There was just a vent in the corner of the room and the rest was a dimly lit gray box. There was a lock on the door, which I flipped.

“You can take off your mask here, and pull stuff out of your spatial storage,” Bones said. I pulled off my mask. The air had a slight tang to it, but it wasn’t toxic. I got out a folding chair and table. That brought back memories.

“First we repair the observe absorber. Then we reorganize the stuff you have. Thankfully you have a lot of spatial rings. Get the repair box and the cylinder and put them on the table,” Bones said. I did that and then began to listen to his instructions.

“The damage is from overload. Probably a powerful being doing a sweep. Most observe techniques work by bouncing energy off another creature, and seeing how much is deflected. The more energy deflects off, the weaker the opposing creature and the more information you get as feedback. That cylinder absorbs energy pings.” So, something like magical radar or sonar, which made sense.

“Unhook the neck chain. You can bend the links with your strength. The metal is trash. Now place the cylinder upright into the repair box. Turn it ninety degrees clockwise. Good. It is properly aligned. You can see that little mark on the bottom. Most commonly produced goods have that alignment mark. That needs to line up with the alignment mark in a repair box,” Bones said.

“I am surprised that the factions have repair boxes for their goods,” I said.

“They don’t. And the higher end stuff is hard to repair. But the low-end stuff, well the market forces and other factions sell repair boxes. Most repair boxes require a repair crystal for the goods you need to repair, but this model, I can operate it manually with my spirit,” Bones said.

“I take it that most other beings can’t?” I asked.

“No. I need you to remain still and place your hands on the control pad. Normally you would just tap out your commands into the small screen, but I should be able to interact directly with the device. Push your hands closer togeather, good. Alright, now remain still, and don’t move or blink. This is going to take a lot of concentration.” I kept my eyes open as the box began to vibrate slightly. My hands felt a slight tingle.

I could see pulses of energy inside the box. The pulses picked up speed and then began intersecting where the cylinder was located in the center of the box. After half a minute, the pulses of energy and vibration stopped.

“Done,” Bones said and sounded a bit tired.

“Problem?” I asked.

“Just required me to focus. Thankfully this thing is as simple as it gets. Take it out and attach the chain again and put it on.” While it was tempting to not listen to Bones, he clearly knew what he was doing. Also, I had no doubt he would be able to really hurt me or incapacitate me if I didn’t listen. Right now, I was trying to absorb all the information he was sharing.

“Will I be able to interface like that with a repair box?” I asked.

“No. Since I had to understand what was wrong and what was the optimal state of the absorb observe cylinder. Then I had to know how to correct that. That knowledge comes from experience and the control comes from my power. You might be able to use manual control, but the precision and technical understanding is beyond you. And no, I won’t be teaching that. It isn’t a valuable use of our time.”

“Alright. So go exploring and scavenging after I rearrange my goods?” I asked.

“Unfortunately no. You are so weak, you don’t have proper protection for your body or soul. The atmosphere is wearing down on you. While not immediately fatal with your meager ability to resist, it will create health complications sooner rather than later.”

“So, a suit?” I asked.

“It would negate the purpose of the repair we just did and most of the credits we just spent. You can learn the most basic of basic techniques. I have been spending this time coming up with something so incredibly simple yet practical. First the supply reorganization, so I can know what we are working with, and then the barrier technique.”

Chapter 61 – Supplies And Technique

“A lot of food and water good. We can leave those four spatial rings alone. They are packed up well. Also eat and drink what you need now. Once we leave this room, well, you don’t want to take in the toxic air.”

“Why is the air toxic? It would seem like a negative?” I asked.

“For who? You? You are too weak. Anyone else won’t need to breathe or can filter it slightly. There are cheaper filter masks available, but yours will work long term. So, need to replace it.”

“But why have a toxic atmosphere? Can’t someone in charge fix it?” I asked.

“It is a left over result of the ongoing battles between super-organizations. Either as an attack or a defensive measure. Regardless, it is above even my paygrade. We need to put all your rest and long term supplies into one spatial ring. The other can be for your weapons. While the last needs to be emptied.” I got to work moving everything. Bones’ bones were moved into my long term storage ring.

“The sword you have is trash, but it can injure other trash at least. We need to find something better for melee weapons. Your gun is better used as a threat, than fired.” What Bones wasn’t saying was that most of the bullets were trash.

I finished sorting out my supplies the way he wanted so I had a single empty spatial ring. “You need the empty ring for what we find. Preferably we would have more, but you will run down your food and water. Now for the technique I came up with.” I listened closely to the next part. I would prefer my skin not to melt off.

“Force is a good concept, quite versatile. The concept is to create a layer around your body, pushing away the toxins in the air.”

“If it drops, will there be issues?”

“Depends on your exposure. It is hard to measure, but I wouldn’t worry too much, since you don’t appear to have any issues from short term exposure. Long term exposure, not good as I talked to you about. Also the effects compound and your body won’t process these toxins.”

“Wait, so they remain?” I asked with some worry and surprise.

“Yes. They will remain and build up. It is bound energy, which means it isn’t going to change unless something much more powerful makes it change. Which is never going to happen. This place has always had toxic yellow clouds as far as I can remember and has been talked about. Getting them out of your body is possible, but that costs credits. Credits we need to save up.”

“Got it. So, try and keep the technique up at all times,” I replied.

“Exactly. Now, you can feel force, right?”

“Yes, I have a sense of force. It is like I can sense force energy. But I didn’t sense any on the vehicles,” I replied while thinking it over.

“Waste energy, which you probably saw in your trash dump is the byproduct of sub-par energy usage. If anything is leaking energy, you can tell it is damaged. Only the physical remains in the Forever City. Anything else is pulled into the towers to keep them running. We can talk about the technical aspects of the city later. Now we need to get the technique working. The hardest part is going to be not losing energy,” Bones explained.

“I am guessing I need to push out energy from my channels, and keep it in a layer around me?” I asked.

“Good guess. That is the basis of the technique, but keeping that energy as a layer around you and just pushing away the toxins will be difficult. You will need to divert a portion of your attention to constantly maintain the technique.” After that Bones began walking me step my step on how to release a tiny bit of energy from my channels while still maintaining control.

The key trick was visualization. “Most techniques are just about visualization and power. That is why most cultivators stick to flashy elemental techniques or weapon based techniques.”

“But isn’t there something more? Like hand signs, or words?” I asked.

“Those are mnemonic devices to help a person focus and visualize properly. It helps, but for Force Skin Barrier, it needs to be a long term and passive technique. You need to be able to maintain it constantly.”

“I keep losing hold of my energy,” I muttered as I focused on doing the technique again.

“You are getting better. But I can’t help you with this. We start mixing like that, well it won’t be good for either of us. I will replace you, and get stuck with your body,” Bones said. I paused my attempts at that.

“You can replace me? At a whim?” I asked with quite a bit of concern.

“Which would be cutting off my future in every way possible for slightly more agency. Trust me, I dislike this situation, but our respective power differences are so much, I could have taken your body even if you objected when you showed up. Now focus on the technique, visualization,” Bones said.

I kept repeating the technique, over and over again. I could feel the energy inside my channels dropping and then drawing on my core. This would set my cultivation behind. But better my cultivation was delayed than my skin melting off.

The energy easily flowed through the edges of my channels, not just the main portion. This was another benefit of perfect attunement. My complex meridian structure, allowed me to feel the energy to an incredibly fine degree, combined with their number, I quickly began to get my energy under control around my body and create a thin layer of protection.

“It seems to be working,” I finally said out loud. I had been testing Bones, but it appeared he couldn’t read my mind, or was playing that ability close to his chest. I could only hope he couldn’t. I had no other choice but to go along with him and trust him.

“Good. You managed to stabilize the technique. Very little energy loss. Now you just need to work on making it more efficient and keeping it up all the time. Now we have to make a couple of decisions,” Bones said.

“What kind of decisions?” I asked.

“Where we are going to go. We have three choices that I can think of after thinking about what to do and assessing the current situation. The first option is to try and find the one being I know that owes me a favor. It would be a long shot and require looking. They might be dead or have moved with how much time has passed.”

“With how big the Forever City is, that isn’t possible I am guessing. There is no directory?” I asked.

“There are communicators if you are rich and powerful enough. My friend isn’t and we certainly aren’t. Communications within the Firmament are risky. The longer the range, the riskier they are. Too easy to intercept and trace,” Bones said.

“Wouldn’t people communicate in code then?” I asked.

“There are ways like that, but even then, it is risky. Regardless, we would have to physically look ourselves, which would take a couple decades. Any option, we are looking at decades maybe centuries of investment in terms of time.” I had explained my understanding of time. He had responded that my year was considered a cycle. I had thought it meant a day before Bones had explained some thing to me.

Rooms were cheap in the Forever City. There was a lot of space in the middle rings. Since people didn’t eat or sleep, there was little need to rest. People constantly worked or managed whatever their job was. Just taking any kind of credit from a person was seen as a key aspect of survival. That lizard being was designed to wait long periods of time, just managing this place.

They had agency and could make decisions. They weren’t golems, which were much more dangerous, but limited in terms of what they could deal with. Living beings with implanted modifications, were much freer in a sense, but also designed to fill up the Forever City with people who would maintain a tower and not do anything else. It almost reminded me of non-player characters in video games.

That was where huge swaths of conflict came into play. As various factions used their resources to vie for control of the towers and whatever meagre income, they would draw in. Vast portions of each tower were devoted to producing resources and the communities that cared for them.

The far between factions meant that production was streamlined in various ways. Plants grown in the dim light of the interior of the towers to produce raw materials in carefully made hydroponic bays. These plants, which were renewable resources, fed the vast industries in other levels, for weapons, clothing, equipment, and other resources.

Even a bit of optimization was squeezed out. These free markets were used to process waste goods and handle aberrations wanting to get stronger, since there was no trash. Also, if a conflict area shifted closer, the free markets in the area would see a resurgence. That was why no one was giving up their spots even if it was fairly quiet at the moment. It was just a matter of time, until things cycled around again, and business picked up.

There were biological modifications to help pass the time for these beings. They would speed up their perception of time, reach the point of a cycle a second for the more advanced models. Most used what income they earned to buy better resting modifications, rather than try and get save up. Since the beings standing around were not the ones willing to go out and fight.

If the lizard left, then another one would be dispatched to replace it. It wasn’t slavery, but it was the next best thing. Bones explained that using actual beings, meant that they were cheap, but they had free will. Enslaving all of them led to less optimal outcomes of rebellions. Hence, the beings working, could quit any time, but few would do that.

It was cheaper to just produce beings from vats, imprint their brain and energy with enough knowledge, put in modifications, and then assign them jobs than it was making golems. These created beings would cost about 100 credits with only 10 credits being spent on non-recoverable costs.

I was still having a hard time understanding how big the Forever City was. The arrival terminal I showed up in was just one of hundreds scattered about. There were more continents that were used as resource generators than one could imagine. The concept of infinite was immense. What was more impressive was that the Heavenly Alliance had set things up to run on their own. This place was the apex, or end result of cultivation culture. While I was in what would be considered the outer slums, it was still considered better than the continents. And all this was just one infinitesimal piece of the Firmament.

The sheer scale in front of me was something I could not comprehend. Even Bones had told me not to over think it too much. It had driven people mad in the past.

“The second option is that we attempt to repair stuff for more credits. This is useful but the buy and resale prices aren’t that far apart. Enough people have the skills to repair trash. Which brings me to the third option, we scavenge and repair the stuff we find ourselves.”

“You already suggested this. But it is dangerous,” I said.

“Factions have their own scavengers. Moving behind their battle lines. They are incredibly territorial as you can imagine. Leaving only the worst of the trash behind, which is scooped up by desperate people. We won’t earn enough being in the second group, we need to be in the first group. This means we need to move to a conflict area, and move in on items from the outside,” Bones explained.

“You said the atmosphere outside the towers is death. The towers have a field around even the open parts which stabilizes their environment. Outside of that, there are a lot of unknowns. Including monsters,” I replied.

“Yes. I don’t like it either, but out of our three options, it has the best chance for success in the next 1,000 cycles. The credits I need, the credits you need, are immense.”

“Alright, so how does it even work then? Will this technique protect me from the outside environment?” I asked. Bones was silent at that question for a couple of seconds, which was a bad sign.

“Yes, if the weather isn’t too bad, and you aren’t shredded by something living in the toxic clouds. But that is why you need to learn the next technique. Wall walking. Just use the layer of force on your body and counteract gravity,” Bones explained.

“Just counteract gravity,” I replied.

“Or create your own. The towers create their own gravitational field. Same with the environment. Once you step beyond the edge of them, then it will get much more intense and dangerous.” I then began working on my second technique.

Day after day I practiced to get it right. It wasn’t enough to just walk on the wall. I had to be able to leap from the wall to the ceiling to the floor, while keeping the force on my body controlled perfectly, with as little energy loss as possible.

I was running low on energy partway into my training and Bones had me go to the lizard being at the front counter. There I paid 2 credits for two energy potions. These rest areas were often used for recovery, so they had items for sale on site.

“We can’t rob them?” I asked out of curiosity after getting two potions.

“Each tower that is under long term control is often assigned to an immortal to manage. A theft of any kind or an attack would see you found out very quickly. For now, I need to show you the proper way to use one of these potions,” Bones said.

“I don’t swallow it?” I asked.

“If you were stronger, then yes. But with how weak you are, you would just explode. Your soul can’t handle that kind of pressure. The annoying part is that they lose their maximum effectiveness very quickly once opened. Pull out the metal tank you have with water. We will dump the potion into the water and then seal it back up. That should keep some of the properties and dilute it enough.” I followed the instructions Bones had given me. That was my water supply, so it was worrying that I was putting something into it.

After sealing the tank back up. I used the attached spigot to fill up a canteen and took a sip. “Ahhh!” I felt my motes trembling and my entire cultivation come under a lot of stress. There was energy leaking from my physical body into my astral soul which held my cultivation.

“Your soul is being pushed on. But nice thing about these low-level trash tier potions, is that they are mostly universal. Each one is about a single drop. You can feel your channels and core filling back up slightly. Keep drinking,” Bones told me.

I finished off the canteen, and felt sore, but full of energy. “That was horrible,” I muttered.

“While they might be trash tier, they aren’t designed for someone as weak as you. If your cultivation wasn’t so absurd we wouldn’t have had a chance, or had to dilute it more, but thankfully it is dense enough and your body strong enough to take in the energy.”

After that I went back to practicing. Bones insisted that I had to be flawless with the technique. Once we went outside the tower, there would be no second chances or time to improve. That was why I had to practice and sip energy infused water. The effects of the water diminished over time, but in the small gray room, which was a box, I constantly moved as Bones gave new scenarios.

“Flip across the room. Half turn to your right, leap to the ceiling. Sword slash downwards. Flip downwards. Dodge left, turn around, slash.” He said he had better senses than me. I wasn’t sure with my eyes, but being able to work togeather was important, and combat was not my specialty. While I wasn’t sure if it was Bones’ specialty, he had far more experience than me.

I also went along with this training, since it took my mind off of the constant feelings of depression. The sheer scope of the society I was dealing with was so immense that it was weighing me down. I had a second life, but it felt like I tossed it all away to pursue power and immortality. It was hard to put into words. I regretted turning away from my second family, but I didn’t regret overcoming challenges.

Bones wasn’t helpful in his advice. He would just tell me that everything I had done in the past was preparation for the present. Now more than ever, it felt that I had fallen for the sunk cost fallacy. I had put in so much effort, I felt like I had to keep going. I had a return ticket. I could leave the Forever City and return home at any time and live out my next 1,000 years.

That was ten lifetimes. An immense amount of time. I could easily live a comfortable life. The option to give up was there. The more I understood the enormity and the scale of the society I was in, the crushing it felt. Imperial City had been a shock, but the Forever City and the truth that the continent was nothing more than a farm, was soul crushing.

As much as I wanted to quit, I couldn’t. I had promised my past masters to raise a cup of tea in their honor once I made it. People had placed their expectations on me, and that duty to see my path through was the primary driving force to continue in the face of impossible hardship.

The worst part of the Forever City wasn’t the toxic atmosphere, the toxic culture, or the massive power scaling. It was the command economy. Back on the cultivation continent, I could go out and kill beasts to raise some money. Here there was no option like that. Instead I had to scavenge under the noses of factions fighting against each other.

When I wasn’t bouncing around the room, I would pull open my pad to pull up information about the surrounding factions and territories. While the information was kind of out of date, Bones assured me that the boarders shifted slowly. Even if there was a surprise maneuver, the factions were quick to react. Also, quick gains were much more volatile than slow and steady.

After a couple months of practicing, I felt incredibly in tune with being able to control the force energy surrounding my body seamlessly while forcing away the toxins in the air and not wasting too much energy from lack of control.

“Looking at the pad, there are two options. The first is closer, but there are only two lesser factions contesting several towers in the seventh ring. It is a larger than normal battle front, and my guess is other factions are using them as proxies to secure the area. The second option is a long trip across the Forever City, but there are seven factions contesting a cluster of towers on a major causeway in the sixth ring. Whomever controls that cluster will get quite a boost in income from beings transversing that area.”

“We don’t have the credits to go far. And it sounds like the factions for the second option are more powerful,” I said.

“That was my thought. But with seven factions, it is a lot more chaotic, not as clear battle lines. It would give us a much greater chance of scavenging. Since factions would be unlikely to risk pursuing us. But in a one-on-one conflict, the scavengers behind their respective factions would be more likely to act, and less space for us to maneuver.”

“You don’t have a preference?” I asked.

“These two are my preferred options. But there is the risk of higher order factors being in play if I make a decision. Better to occlude any chance of tracing me by you deciding,” Bones said, and that comment opened up a lot of questions. I had asked about the higher levels, and he told me that it wasn’t a concern with how weak I was until I made it past the eighth stage. One of the benefits of being weak was that my actions blended into the background noise. Knowing of threats could draw unwanted attention. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the knowledge or experience to push back on these claims, so I was forced to accept them.

“When you say something is far, I am guessing really far. Better to go with the closer conflict,” I said.

“Alright. Let’s leave this rest area. I have already worked out the optimal route, with breaks. And I also memorized all the side areas and routes in case we need to detour.”

“That is useful,” I said as I left my room and I paused at the front of the rest area. I wanted to confirm what Bones was telling me.

“Excuse me,” I asked the lizard person at the front of the rest area.

“Yesss?” they hissed out.

“Do you like working here?”

“Of course. Do you need anything? I need to be ready for the next customer?”

“Nope, just wanted to see if you enjoyed just standing around.”

“Good job. Food and safety. If there is nothing else, please let me get back to work,” the being said. I left the rest area and made it to the staircase before pausing.

“You see. No one will be going in or out for a while, but they will just stand there forever. Or at least until this tower comes into conflict, then they will be reassigned.”

“I…I can’t believe they just like standing around.”

“Some don’t. And go and do other things. Factions are good at using their resources. And if a couple of really troublesome creations are killed, well their materials will be repurposed.” I shook my head at that.

“What about the constructors and other things maintaining the Forever City?”

“They move through the various areas, but the towers are incredibly hard to damage for anyone not an immortal. Even then the damage tends to be minimal. If we do run into one, don’t say or do anything to it and it will ignore you. The maintainers of the Forever City are incredibly dangerous, but they don’t act unless provoked. We don’t have to worry about them.”

“What about luring a monster into one to escape it?” I asked.

“Don’t. The golems are incredibly advanced. They will know what you did, and you will be killed. The first step is to climb up the interior staircase. We need to get to level 50,000.”

“Isn’t the conflict closer to level 0?” I asked.

“Yes, but the lower levels will be much more heavily watched. While gravity isn’t necessarily one direction outside, it tends to go down more than average due to the towers,” Bones explained as I climbed up the overly large stairs. I had my sword out. I had thought the stairs of the Cloudy Moon Sect were bad, this was far worse. “Stay to your left. Hidden threat to the right,” Bones said. I looked in that direction and made the faint outline of something standing on one side of the staircase. I brought my sword up to point at the camouflaged thing and it didn’t react as I passed it.

“Why not kill things like that?” I asked.

“We could, but you never know how strong they are. I can spot them, but you are wearing an observation blocker, so are they. If you can spot a lurker they will leave you alone, since they figure you are probably stronger. If you miss them, they will ambush you.”

“They just stand there?” I asked.

“Many are content to wait until something moves nearby. Just like the other people doing tasks. A fair few just want to either get lucky or wait until their tower is attacked and then move. The lives of such beings are pitiful. But there is nothing they can do.”

“They can’t band togeather?” I asked.

“Bands are cleared out regularly, as a threat to the tower. Bulk goods are moved up and down stairs and the lurkers shift or know the lesser used portions of the tower. Just countless beings doing the same things over and over, with the ones that mentally break becoming lurkers.”

“Why not use golems, wouldn’t they pay for themselves over time?” I asked.

“Upkeep and initial cost. The only thing worse than the air is the goop that is used as the occasional food source. The water and food you have would be considered luxuries for the majority of beings.”

“And they grow it on various floors,” I said after reaching the next floor and looking at the double doors leading off the staircase landing.

“Yes. Again, being weak is a benefit. Unless you go into a restricted area, no one will care. We have already been scanned twice while climbing up the staircase. If you were stronger, then we would have to deal with the faction if they dispatched anyone to intercept us.”

“From the top of society to the bottom,” I muttered.

“That is just how it is, and how it always will be in the Forever City.”

“Won’t it be destroyed one day?” I asked.

“Perhaps. But that would take a super-organization. The conflicts beyond the rings are not something you can handle. The eighth ring is basically lawless. There you would have gangs of lurkers, and very little infrastructure that isn’t heavily fortified.”

“Why the staircase? There is an elevator?” I asked.

“Common design. And the elevator costs credits to call a platform or a lot of personal power to risk moving in the central shaft. The platforms would turn you to paste without time to dodge them. It would also draw attention we don’t want. A group coming down, stand to the side and lower your sword,” Bones quickly said. I quickly moved to the side and lowered my sword.

Eight humans in gray clothes and masks, came down the stairs, each carrying a large pallet over their heads. Their eyes briefly flickered over to me, but they didn’t stop moving. “A transport team. If we could ambush one, it would be worth a lot, the impossible part is getting away,” Bones said in my mind regretfully. They people soon passed, and we continued upwards.

“They weren’t wearing cloaks like the others,” I pointed out.

“That is a cultural thing in the Forever City. Wearing a cloak with an observation blocking device indicates you are someone of note. Not having either means you are a worker of a faction and are protected. Anyone who doesn’t cover their face or body, you should consider too dangerous to fight. Even if they are weak, the people who are in charge would be very upset if they were injured,” Bones explained.

“And they are content to do that forever? Just carrying supplies back and forth?” I asked.

“Yes. They are created that way. Most tasks they do are repetitive, so they just zone out as their body goes through the motions. The implants help in that regard. To mindlessly keep existing, eating goop, and doing what they are ordered.”

“And if I talked to them?”

“I would recommend you don’t. It will be like that lizard being talked to at the rest area, but riskier, since any delay in their duties will draw attention. At least if the faction running this tower knows what they are doing.”

“Since any delay indicates the possibility of a theft,” I replied.

“Or tampering. Sabotage is quite common. We couldn’t do anything in the rest area, so it isn’t watched, unless the being running it is injured or dies.”

“Then why leave the staircase open?” I asked.

“Some factions don’t. Those are the closed towers. But with the free market, this tower is considered open. If they close the staircase, then traders won’t be able to pass through. If they make travel too restrictive, then the free market will dry up,” Bones explained. This Forever City was giving me a headache as I continued to climb.

“I don’t see anyone passing through,” I replied.

“They often move in groups for safety. While they might not trust each other, groups of scavengers will stick togeather against outside threats. I don’t know too much about the sub-culture.”

“You went out into the Firmament. But what did you do before?” I asked.

“I used to be a scion. Or a descendant of an immortal in one of the factions. Immortality came quickly and I had tutors. After that I was a commander in ongoing conflicts. Once I got strong enough, I began venturing out into the Firmament.”

“Your own faction betrayed you?” I asked.

“Yes. My parents were killed in a conflict. And I was betrayed. So, I can’t go back, and almost all the contacts I had were lost. Now I am stuck as a pile of bones.”

“So, revenge if you get your body back?” I asked.

“There was no love lost between my parents and me. They didn’t like my escapades into the wider Firmament and preferred my siblings. But revenge on the one who poisoned me, absolutely. I am strong enough to get offers or easily make my own way. But first I have to fix the lack of a body.”

“Which costs half a million credits,” I said.

“And the fact you need more, should let you know how insane your cultivation is. Only the richest of scions with the most loving and powerful of parents would dare have your three path cultivation. Regardless, we will figure it out,” Bones gave me encouragement as I kept climbing. I was really beginning to dislike stairs. But running up the outside of the tower I was in was a large risk. Better to be a bit slower and safer.

Chapter 62 – Spiders, Spiders Everywhere

I checked my locator on my wrist, floor 50,128. The display flickered slightly. I was pushing the range, but Bones assured me it could handle quite a bit but might lose a bit of accuracy before it completely failed. Even with my cultivation, my legs still felt a bit tired. I had to go above floor 50,000 in order to find a place to leave the interior of the tower through a public floor. This public floor was a loading and unloading dock.

Staying within the drawn white lines, I made my way towards the public transports. “No matter what happens, don’t panic. You can’t fall to death.” Well, you technically could, but it was a lot more difficult than it sounded. But I appreciated the words of encouragement regardless.

I made my way between two vehicles, getting looks and then reached the edge of the tower. I felt a blast of absolute freezing air and then an immense amount of pressure. Gravity twisted and began doing a weird corkscrew thing. I took a deep breath to orient myself and make sure my body force barrier was still in place. I stepped over the edge, as the entire world reoriented.

Now down for me was the tower’s side. I began walking. My short stature helping me out here and helping me feel less queasy. I could barely make out other towers through the swirling yellow clouds. What really got me was how quiet everything was. I felt my force barrier wobbling. I had to focus to maintain it.

Air was trying to leave from around my body. Then a yellow cloud swooped in and the pressure massively reversed. Note to self, the clear areas were vacuum, which made no sense. Pressure couldn’t vary that wildly that closely. Well, that was normal weather, all of this was clearly not normal.

“Adjust course a quarter turn to the left,” Bones said, and I instinctively corrected my direction. That training was quite useful. The outside of the tower was just gray stone. No decorations, no windows, nothing. Bones had told me that the inner rings and the core of the Forever City was much better and impressive, but out here in the slums, there were no changes made, since no one was out there to look.

“I see a bridge,” I said, and I did. In my view, the tower was now the ground, while the bridge was a tiny pillar reaching up to the sky where there was another tower.

“Cross it, we are going to be following this route for a while,” Bones said. I wanted to chat more, but it was too dangerous, and I had too many things to pay attention to. Now that I had to keep up two techniques, it was important that I keep my focus. Also, the risk of an attack was much higher out here than on the staircase.

A sudden blast of wind hit me as the toxic clouds were blasted away from the space between buildings. “A vehicle. That is why we don’t leap across or try to fly.” Bones had warned me about them. They just plowed their way forward at immense speeds. I had kind of realized they were fast after taking one from the fifth to the sixth ring, but fast was an understatement. They were pushing speeds that would make a plane feel like a sloth. They also had shields to plow through everything in their path.

I reached the tunnel, or bridge. It was a physical connection between towers. I stepped onto it, and forced my mind to reorient that this was my new down. I had stepped on the side, so the towers were still sideways, horizontal pillars. The training helped me resist the nausea and headache from the directional change.

The first part was the most exciting. After that, there was nothing much of note. Just gray towers, the occasional connection, and swirling toxic clouds that cut off my vision. Even the spatial, pressure, and temperature changes became fairly boring after a while. There were no plants or moss, or anything out here.

Bones had explained that what did survive was quickly purged by the constructor golems. They did not allow anything to grow on the outside of the towers. The distance between the towers wasn’t that large either. Only about 100 meters or so, while the towers themselves varied slightly, but were around a couple miles on one side.

“These towers aren’t in a grid pattern,” I said after crossing my sixth bridge to a tower that was slightly askew.

“Right half turn. The towers form, they aren’t built,” Bones said and I tried to process that answer. “Since it is bothering you, the towers are part of the make up of this nexus. They naturally form in this space. Higher Firmament science is complex and a lot of it is classified. But this is not a fully material space, it is a space within the Firmament, which means it has a conceptual base, and don’t ask me to explain that. I am just telling you what I read once long ago.”

“Ah, thanks,” I replied. Bones didn’t say anything more as I continued. It was a similar answer when I asked what was at the bottom of the towers. That was apparently material thinking, not Firmament thinking. There was no bottom or top. I only thought there was a bottom because of gravity, but even that was some kind of deception.

That had led to questions on physics and Bones said that science was an elite subject only done by the smartest of the smart. Even his esteemed self, did not qualify. He was familiar with natural science, like pressure, temperature, and so on. Even physics, like forces and gravity. But anything involving particle science was not taught. There was no periodic table of the elements.

He said that while something like that might exist, it would touch on secrets of beings much more powerful. If someone did work things out, then they would be recruited for research or silenced. That was why Bones explained he focused on more practical directions, like crushing people with his body cultivation.

I had noticed that when the topic came up, he liked to brag about his body cultivation. While it was only a hunch, I sensed there was jealousy on his part about my cultivation. My base was much better than his, at least I thought so. The topic was always turned to credits when I asked more about cultivation.

It hadn’t escaped me that was one of the topics he wasn’t talking about. With how helpful Bones was, I had to make inferences based on everything. My guess was that if karma was actually a thing, then he might be under some kind of limitation in regards to talking about cultivation. Or I could just be imagining the entire thing.

“Threat, half left,” Bones said, and I pulled out my sword at the word ‘threat’. It wasn’t worth the hassle keeping it out all the time. I looked into the swirling yellow clouds in that direction along the tower. “Back slowly.” I couldn’t make out anything. It was frustrating how useless my eyes were in the Forever City.

Based on my understanding, almost everyone had observation absorbers and a strong handle on their energy. The ones who didn’t were supremely confident in their ability and backing. Even the monsters had evolved, so only the most cunning survived in the environment of the Forever City.

I saw a cloud of yellow moving across the tower. “Leap into the air now!” That was meant to be a last resort, but I listened, I leapt into the air spinning away from the tower as the cloud rose up to try and grab me. Thankfully I escaped in time as I spun in the air, as more turbulent spatial forces hit me. A cloud of gas hit me as well, so I couldn’t even tell which way the towers were oriented.

The first thing I did was stabilize myself. That had been part of the training. Mid-air stabilization, in the event I lost contact with the surface of a tower. “Shield!” I pushed more energy into the force barrier around my body. A thick yellow cloud hit me. No, not a cloud, a swarm of tiny spiders. Incredibly tiny spiders, each the size of a mote of dust, that was yellow. My energy began to be devoured.

I pushed in more energy into my barrier, pushing the tiny spiders away. I then quickly put the barrier back up, another part of my training, and went flying in the other direction. The spatial turbulence was stronger than I could use force energy. I couldn’t fly long, without burning through energy. But this was an emergency.

Wall walking, at least on the towers, used up a lot less energy compared to flying, since there was some kind of connection to the tower. They were energy reactive, which made them easier to repair and maintain. Also, they absorbed the energy around them to power their existence.

Regardless, all this meant that I was burning quickly through my reserves, as I moved away from the cloud of spiders as quickly as possible. The gravitational pull shifted and I was plummeting away from them for a couple of seconds, before my course was adjusted and I went flying towards the side of the tower. I landed and immediately began running away as the cloud of tiny spiders chased after me. “Stright, there is an opening in the tower 87 floors down. Once you get there, don’t enter, but go over the gap. The monster shouldn’t pursue,” Bones told me. I didn’t respond as I was focused on keeping up my wall walking and force barrier.

A quick glance over my shoulder showed the spiders were still after me, and only gaining ground slowly. I put my sword away. I wouldn’t be cutting them. I saw the gap ahead of me. Thankfully there was no cloud of toxic smog. I leapt over the gap and saw the open floor with several vehicles. The tiny yellow spiders stopped pursuing me after I crossed the gap. “Keep going. Quarter turn to the left, and eventually we will circle the tower and come to a crossing,” Bones explained.

“What was that?” I asked.

“A hive type infestation of micro energy spiders. If they get out of control, or break into a tower, they are quickly purged by the constructors or the faction controlling the tower. There are regular sweeps, but a few always survive and persist.” I was almost killed by the rats of the Forever City. I was weaker than the lowest tier monster that infested this place.

“That infestation was fairly large. Since they propelled themselves into the air after you. Good job avoiding them and not letting them burrow inside of you. That could have been bad,” Bones said.

Now I was really curious? “What would have happened?” I asked hesitantly.

“They would consume your astral soul and physical body, quickly reproducing while they did so. You would have had about thirty agonizing seconds before you died.” I shouldn’t have asked. Thankfully there was a spot I could pause in. A public drop off point for transport vehicles.

Once I reached the landing area, I pulled out worn down black robe and tossed it over myself. Once that was done, I picked a spot on a far corner of the platform. People were moving about, move pallets of supplies, but I didn’t even warrant a glance.

“They won’t look at me?” I asked Bones.

“As long as you stay in an out of the way area, it isn’t worth the risk or hassle to go after you. This kind of thing, while not common, happens quite a bit. We might run into other beings who are doing this. That is why there is a small area set aside. The expectation is to be quiet and not start trouble,” Bones explained.

“Alright, I am going to sleep,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I will keep an eye out,” Bones replied. I was used to going to sleep in odd places while traveling. The dark robe on top of my usual outfit was to further obscure anyone looking at me.

There were no incidents while sleeping. I woke up without incident. I had a small bit of food and water, put away the extra robe, and then left. I quickly learned that the most annoying thing about traveling through the Forever City was the fact I needed to go up and down before I could move horizontally across the gaps between towers.

The hike would take about three months. Without Bones giving directions, it would have been much harder to figure out where to go in the endless gray towers and yellow smog clouds. The only excitement was when I ran into monsters.

The second encounter was a month into my trip. “Stop.” I came to a stop. “We have to reroute. Look closely at the tower across from you,” Bones said, and I looked at it. I finally spotted the fate outline of something where the yellow smog clouds moved around.

“What is that? It has to be massive?” I said.

“A baby doom spider. The adult ones are tower destroyers, will hollow one out to make a lair. Very good camouflage and patience. The real issue is when one of them manages to eat the implants of one of a person. They have great internal bio-manipulation to make them functional.”

“So, immortal? But wouldn’t they have drawbacks?” I asked.

“The implants only have so big a range. The doom spiders will consume their own body and regrow it. They are also quite smart. That location is probably where vehicles slow down on a rare trajectory. The doom spider will use the metals to strengthen its massive body.” That was insane.

“Which way for the detour?” I asked.

“We can, but we also might be able to kill it, and sell it. Worth around 10,000 credits in raw supplies,” Bones said.

“It is as big as half a floor. That thing is massive,” I said.

“But it is small, compared to adults. Its camouflage is really good. Looking at it, no one iota of energy leakage. I suspect it has consumed a couple observation blockers. But it can’t use techniques with the implants,” Bones said. That was a weakness, but not a big one in my mind.

“And its physical body is massive. How would I even kill it?” I asked.

“Frustrating. It is like free credits, but you are too weak. Let’s keep moving. A turn and a half to your right,” Bones gave me new directions. I agreed it was a shame, but something that large would require a lot of damage to kill or a precise attack. My sword wasn’t big enough, and aiming with my gun would be a big risk to get the perfect shot.

A month and a half since the start of my journey I ran into the third monster. “Urg. How do the spider people have a tower.”

“Spider people?” I asked Bones.

“A faction, kind of. They are nominally part of the Heavenly Alliance, but they use questionable cultivation methods. Spider body cultivation, grafting spider parts onto their bodies. We need to circle around that tower. They won’t hesitate to go outside the tower to kill you.” I adjust my course.

“I am sensing a theme with all these spiders,” I said.

“It is fallout from the war with another super-organization, the Spider Cult. These kind of remnants are the traces of that conflict that spilled into this section of the Forever City a long time ago. The Spider God made a deep push, into this portion.”

“That happens? I thought that other super-organizations were kept out?” I asked.

“They are. But that doesn’t mean they won’t attack if they think they can gain an advantage. Conflict is never ending between super organizations. But like other attacks, it was repelled out of the Forever City by the Heavenly Alliance. But now you see remnants from that conflict. Micro energy spiders, doom spiders, spider body cultivation, the list goes on. If spider remnants are all that we see, then we aren’t doing that poorly in our trek.”

“How many years, or cycles ago was this war?” I asked.

“You need to talk to a historian to answer that question. Only the top-rated factions have one among their members. As for cycles, a massive obscene number most likely. Cycles are just used as a measure of credit and energy consumption. Like you and me might measure stuff in seconds, factions measure stuff in cycles.”

That was interesting, on the aftereffects of a war lingered on. It was like the special areas on the continent. Only instead of altering the terrain, it altered the monsters that inhabited an area. “But didn’t you say the micro energy spiders infest all of the Forever City?”

“And that is why I know about the Spider Cult. There tends to be a higher proportion of spider themed monsters, but there are other kinds out there. Some I might not know of. And they aren’t swarming at the moment, since there is no invasion and they have been purged. No one wants a doom spider on their tower.”

“The immortals can’t sense it?” I asked.

“No. Its skill is that good. If the immortals scanned the outside in person, then they would spot it. But they aren’t going to do that unless there is a problem. Also if the problem fixes itself, less work for them.”

“And these immortals just sit around all day and manage the tower?” I asked.

“Or they are off doing other things. Looking to expand their power and influence. It is a lot of floors and there are constant issues. Getting supplies, shipping out supplies, and so on. Threats of attack. Faction politics. I was offered a position managing a tower, but I turned it down. It is a trap. You aren’t going to get stronger running a tower. They are retirement homes at best, prisons that immortals make for themselves at worst,” Bones explained. He clearly wasn’t a fan of the Forever City and the towers.

“Why not ship in supplies from the continents?” I asked.

“Because longer term the continents are more profitable. Sure, stuff is shipped in, but you see how big this place is. How many floors each tower has. Immortals can just use techniques to get a tower up and running.”

It was an interesting situation. I could tell Bones didn’t have all the answers, or he might not be able to share everything. But he explained more than enough about why this place was the way it was. The Forever City was a post scarcity civilization run by immortals with immense personal power.

While I was in what was considered the slums, the place was immense. The thousands of levels in each tower had entire civilizations that never left and rarely interacted with outside forces. Eventually they would experience a catastrophe and there were risk charts the factions had. That was how the rings were created, dividing things up by the probability of a disaster happening to a tower within a billion cycles.

The sixth ring meant that there was a sixty percent chance of something occurring. The eighth ring had an eighty percent chance. This information was released by the Heavenly Alliance and also determined the worth of ownership of a tower.

Something like the Spider Cult attacking, was the last disaster to hit several areas. But the time scale was a billion years, or cycles as they called it in this place, which I was quickly coming to dislike. The dim light, the poisoned clouds, and the oppressive atmosphere gave the entire Forever City a grim feeling.

Two and a half months into my trip, we came across a tower that was damaged. The docking area for vehicles where we stopped at had numerous potholes and burn marks all over it. There was also another person resting there in a heavy cloak. They briefly glanced my way as I put on a heavy cloak and settled in at the furthest point away from them.

“Greetings,” a feminine sounding voice said.

“Be careful. I have no idea about their strength,” Bones told me.

“Hello,” I replied neutrally.

“I am headed out towards the conflict, you?” the being asked me.

“Something similar,” I replied.

“We should consider teaming up. Two independents like us,” the cloaked figure said.

“I am not sure that is a good idea. We would have to share skills and techniques,” I replied.

“I will go first then. I am Rhiza, blade for hire.” The figure then pulled off the hood of their cloak revealing a woman with short light green hair, eyes, and a hard face.

“I am called Yuan,” I replied as Bones warned me to not share my first name while I removed my hood. The woman gasped.

“A child. You are not vat grown. Are you?” she asked.

“No,” I replied.

“How rare. A lost scion perhaps. Sorry, I shouldn’t pry. I decided to quit my job and seek a life of fortune with a blade at my side. One day, I will raise enough credits to cultivate,” she said.

“I require credits for my cultivation as well,” I replied.

“Well, then we should consider working togeather. Have you done this before?” she asked.

“I know what I need to do, but working togeather is difficult. There is the requirement for trust, the rarest resource in the Forever City,” I countered and she nodded.

“That is a fair point. But if people don’t work togeather, then you will always have your heart closed.” The fact that the woman saying this looked like she was chewing on a lemon did not help her case. “But it is ultimately your choice.”

“Perhaps if we run into each other-“ the tower shook.

“A side battle has spread in this direction. We need to take action, we can’t rest here. Mask on, cloak off. We need to leave this landing area and ascend this tower before we are cut off. Hurry.” I quickly got to work following Bones’ instructions.

Rhiza had pulled out a massive sword from a spatial dimension, that was as tall as her and just as thick. The blade only had an edge on one side. She rushed off, while I picked another direction that Bones told me to go in. We exited the tower and began ascending the outside. There was an explosion below and the tower shook. Beams of searing light cut through the air around the tower.

“Ascend, keep ascending.” A beam cut into the tower near where we were running. Molten globs of tower material bubbled up and deformed the outside. “Left!” I quickly moved left as another beam hit where I had been running. Thankfully there were no more attacks after that.

Once we climbed up to floor 45,712, there was another landing we stopped at. “I thought you said there would be no attacks on the outside?”

“It happens occasionally, if a tower is assaulted. This is good news, we arrived at the front early, in an area where it is expanding. This gives us the opportunity to scavenge.” The tower shook. “We rest, then go back down. The outside fighting will have stopped by then as emplacements are set up and the ground slog will start.”

I glanced to the side as I noticed a Rhiza come out of the tower stairs, or at least where it should be. The layout of the key portions of each tower was the same and that was the direction of the stairs, so not a huge assumption since I saw her down below before.

“Yuan,” she said and walked over to me. “You must be strong to risk going outside.”

“It is challenging. Congratulations on avoiding the soldiers sent in,” I replied.

“Just have to be quick enough to get above the bridge to the next tower,” Rhiza replied while sitting down at the farthest point from me. “We have some time, since I doubt, they will try to flank from higher up.” I nodded at this. Bones had explained most conflicts between factions happened in the 50,000 levels above and below level 0. This was truer the further one went out into the rings.

“I am scavenging, you?” I asked.

“The same. That is why we should team up,” Rhiza replied.

“We seem to have different ways of getting about,” I countered, and she nodded.

“True. Well, truce at least?” she asked with a smile.

“I can agree to a truce, but why so friendly?” I asked. It just seemed odd.

“Yuan, you are one of those people who worry about everything. Planning, and thinking. It is not a bad thing, but it weighs you down. I prefer to live in the moment. To trust my own strength,” Rhiza said.

“This woman is insane,” Bones muttered. While I was tempted to agree, there was something refreshing about meeting someone who wasn’t worried constantly. She would probably die horribly from betrayal or making a mistake, but it was still refreshing.

“That is a very brave way to live. I don’t think I could do that,” I replied.

“It is my choice. Now, I am going to rest before checking below. The real trick is getting in between the two battle fronts and getting out,” she replied as she pulled out a dark set of robes and put them on. I did the same.

I wanted to ask Bones some questions but didn’t want to alert Rhiza about my companion. “I will keep an eye out don’t worry. She is a modded human. Not a cultivator, that’s for sure. I can tell by the observation blocker. It is implanted into her. You don’t do that unless you are modded. Also, she indicated she was vat grown, which heavily indicates being modded. Still, can’t be sure.”

“Physically, she is quite strong based on her movements and that sword she had before. I would place the energy locking implant as one of the best possible ones. She is probably from the second or maybe even first ring. She would be around a stage 6 cultivator, or about the strength you will have if you breakthrough,” Bones explained to me.

That was a lot. A shame implants and cultivation did not mix. If she got them pulled, she would have to have the funds to pay to be cultivated to immortality, or a high enough stage so she wouldn’t die. There were ways to speed up the lower stages of cultivation immensely in the Forever City. They weren’t cheap and they had serious issues, but they had the technology.

Bones had sounded slightly bitter about that, so my guess was that they used templates that had issues. Unlike my cultivation, which I designed from the ground up. It would make sense if they had equipment that it was standardized with standard cultivation.

I glanced over at Rhiza again and couldn’t help but feel slightly less alone in the Forever City. I couldn’t trust her, but she was a literal breath of fresh air. I would honor the truce we had agreed on. There also had to be something more about her. Probably some ability at stealth if she managed to get up the stairs during the assault on this tower.

Since she wasn’t going outside, stealth seemed like the most likely option. By being a modded human, she was much more likely to escape notice. While the observation blockers were good, Bones had warned me they weren’t perfect, and my presence alone would draw questions.

I drifted off to sleep thinking about how I was going to gather up a lot of stuff and earn piles and piles of credits from various battlefields. And no spiders, definitely avoiding the spiders.

Chapter 63 – A Life Free Of Fear

“Clear for the next ten levels then a checkpoint,” I said while checking the staircase, while it was really Bones telling me.

“Your sensory abilities are quite good,” Rhiza responded. I wished they were that good.

“Let’s get to it,” I said, and she nodded. Getting any closer than 10 levels was too risky. The levels above and below checkpoints often had teams waiting according to Bones and Rhiza had mentioned the same thing. We both left the staircase, Rhiza taking the lead.

That was the main reason why Bones consented to working with her, she was a meat shield. Combined with his knowledge and sensory abilities, which were used through me, we made a fairly decent scavenger team.

“Anything?” Rhiza asked once we entered the floor of the tower. The numbers all started to blur togeather after a while. The important thing was that the battle front had moved downwards recently, which allowed us to check this floor for stuff in the immediate aftermath.

We had hours before a faction’s main scavenger teams came through this area. “Just Grunts and Eyes, off in the distance, that way,” I pointed. They were our competitors. Grunts didn’t speak, just grunted, hence the nickname I gave him. Eyes, had too many eyes and a weird body shape I wasn’t sure about. Definitely not humanoid.

They were freelance scavengers as well. The entire battlefront had some kind of order to it. First one side or the other was pushed back. The size of the push varied. The larger the push, the better it was for us. The side doing the pushing had an elite scavenger team right behind, moving away all the really high value stuff. Weapons, spatial items, potions, and bio-mods. It was quick and dirty in case the battle front swung back the other way to deny key resources to the enemy faction.

The main clearing teams were a ways back and took longer to move through an area, since they were carting out everything to be repurposed, leaving blank tower floors to also be repurposed. Checkpoints were set up along the staircase, floors with outside access, and the tunnels connecting towers. I didn’t like the term tunnels, but it was the slang that was used.

Since most beings in the Forever City weren’t able to leave the towers, it was viewed as some kind of ground, but was made of air. Normally one would think the atmosphere in this case, but the Forever City had no ground. Hence the pathways between towers were called tunnels and not bridges.

Where Rhiza, the other freelance scavengers, and myself came in was to move between the front quick scavengers and the slow comprehensive ones. It had taken a bit of work to maneuver ourselves into this position. Now that we were here, the risks were immense.

If the front swung back the other way, we would be caught in the battle and killed. If we ran into a faction scavenger group, we would be killed. If we ran into a checkpoint, we would be killed. If another freelancer didn’t like us, they might kill us. Finally, there might even be traps left behind. While not that common, it did happen.

With infinite time, the factions had seen it all. Fake retreats, decoys, fake soldiers, fake scavengers, it had all been done before. We were left alone since it wasn’t economical to go after us, and we were technically trapped between the slow scavenging faction team and the checkpoint.

Getting into and out of this position was the most gut-wrenching part of this entire job. Right now, picking up trash was the easy part. Bones was particularly helpful in this regard. Without him, I wouldn’t have known what to grab. Was dirt more valuable, or a barrel of water? Was a certain piece of equipment repairable or salvageable? If something was large, what was the key component that could be removed that had the most value to keep space open in my spatial ring?

These were the questions he answered while keeping an eye on the wider area. I also got free lessons on the various levels we scavenged from. “This was a grow vat facility, crystals from the looks of it. Cheap ones, but they have their uses in other productions areas. My guess the levels nearby.” I rushed through the hallways and rooms, looking around so Bones could look around as well. Rhiza was exploring for stuff to pick up in another direction.

“The valuable items would be crystal compressors and possibly shapers.” There were lots of bodies and blood splatter littering various areas. The corpses were desecrated and stripped clean. They were the first targets of the front-line faction scavengers.

There were also no signs. One of the things factions knew, was that labeling things would let any invading force know where the good stuff was kept. While the stairs were the main transit up and down, there were staircases that cut between floors. That was the main method to get around checkpoints and the slow scavenger group.

The factions had long ago worked out that trying to hunt down freelance scavengers wasn’t worth the cost incurred or the credits saved. It also meant there was rarely anything of value. While Bones talked about specific machines, those kind of items would have been packed away. Still there was a chance that something had been missed.

Sometimes layouts on floors changed, the fast scavenging group missed a side facility, or a worker was doing a personal project in a separate area. There were countless reasons why key items could be missed. It was incredibly rare and like the lottery, but Bones liked to talk about such things and I liked to get an understanding of the various floors as I went through them.

“Crystal fluid containers. Low grade, but high density.” I quickly moved the cannisters into my storage ring. “The liquification machine was taken. Now that would be a nice chunk of credits. You got them all, let’s keep moving,” he told me.

High density items were what I wanted. Since my spatial ring was limited by space. I would only be able to take a fraction of a floor’s materials if I started tossing it all inside my free ring. Freelance scavengers quickly learned what was valuable, but Bones’ assistance put me above the rest.

“Stop, there to the right. That box. Hit by blast fire, but only the outer casing is melted. That is a crystal etcher. Probably kept here for minor repairs on various components. This room is a repair workshop. The rest of the tools are gone,” I took the box.

The other big thing was that I could repair a lot of these items under Bones’ expert guidance and ability. It greatly increased the value of the item. I also had a deal with Rhiza to split the credits earned on the difference for any repair work for any item she brought me once we were done on our scavenging run.

I noticed a small organic eye crawl on several legs into the room. It gave me a look before moving on. That was Eyes, who sent out his eyes to scope out a floor. As long as we didn’t mess with Eyes’ eyes, the being would leave us alone.

Freelance scavengers rarely fought each other, but the rule was first come first served. Fighting would draw attention, which was bad for everyone. If you stopped to look at things, then someone else might swoop in and take the item you are looking at. Moving and covering ground was key to getting the most credits.

Bones kept track of the other freelancers’ movements and told me where to go while talking about the rooms and their purpose. Once we cleared out what he had said were the high value areas we moved to the next floor up an interior staircase, that was heavily damaged and began checking the next floor.

The process repeated again, only this time, the floor above us was involved with growing plants that would be processed for crystal fluid. There was less valuable stuff here, we only picked up a handheld tool buried under the remains of a corpse, a soil empowerment rod. About the size of my small arm, it was worth about 8 credits resold. The brand-new price would be 12 credits for a similar device.

There were bulk buyers trailing behind the slow-moving scavenger group. While factions tended to be self-contained nations, they also preferred standardization, and might not have enough recycling facilities. That is where bulk buyers came in. Stationed at an open floor past the slow-moving group of scavengers, they would purchase specific items their backers wanted, either for recycling or repurposing.

Corpses were one of the biggest items bulk buyers purchased. Or used organic material. Bones had said, that anything to sabotage others had been done in the past. That included bio-weapons and corpse weapons that had long term delayed traps implanted into them. Zombie outbreaks due to contaminating biowaste was a legitimate tactic. That was why some factions sold a lot of the low value stuff off instead of trying to handle it all themselves. These resources would be sold to friendly factions.

All of this meant that there were buyers for anything the freelance scavengers picked up. Everything had value to someone. The problem was getting enough stuff with value. One floor, and only finding an 8-credit rod was frustrating but all too common in this line of work.

That was the nature of scavenging the leftovers of a brutal and violent conflict. I had also become used to the casualties left behind. Men, women, and other creatures were ripped apart. The most common thing was burnt chunks of meat. That was why there tended to be a pork smell that lingered throughout the conflict areas. Blast weapons were the cheapest and most common weapons. Shoot concentrated blasts of super-heated fire to cut through defenses and wound opponents.

Guns, while useful were considered more elite due to their precision nature. With blast weapons, you pointed and fired. There were shields that could block such attacks, but combat tended to come down to both sides running and blasting each other. At least with a wide scale conflict like this.

Other factions had different methods of operation and might favor certain techniques instead of equipment. Elite teams contesting static lines. But this was a full-scale war, where everything possible was being used. The elites would be holding key chokepoints and fallback locations. Blast weapons were given to cannon fodder. But the only reason we were able to scavenge was because the conflict was spread out across a wide range of towers.

Bones had explained that it wasn’t rare, but it also wasn’t common either. It only happened when factions were sure their flanks were secure, and it was always a proxy battle between higher ranking factions.

“The slow team is two floors up. We need to get out of here,” Bones said. I scooped up a lot of raw materials, that would only be worth bits, but better than nothing. Once that was done, I went and found Rhiza based on Bone’s directions.

“Let’s get set up,” she said, and I nodded at this. She picked out a room next to the staircase and pulled out a tower cutter. She out a large block from the tower structure. The cutter didn’t work fast, and the damage would be noticed once we left, but by then it would be too late. It took about ten minutes of slow cutting to remove the piece of the tower so she could put it in a spatial item. We then both stepped inside the gap she had made, and she activated an illusion projector.

Each freelance scavenger had their own secret method that they used. Bones had been planning for us to try and get in through the outside and then the elevator shaft. But that would have been incredibly risky. Rhiza’s way was a hundred times better.

“Floor above us now,” I told her.

“Everything is stable. Find anything good?” she asked. The projector would block out sound as well, which Bones had confirmed. Unless one of the guards attacked the wall, they could touch it and not notice the difference.

My warnings on movements were my half the trade with Rhiza in our partnership. “Not much. With repairs at most a hundred credits. You?” I asked.

“I have a couple of devices I want you to take a look at, but nothing exciting,” she said.

“A shame we can’t get right behind the battle front,” I muttered. Getting ahead of the fast scavenger team would mean serious credits.

“This illusion wall is good, but one blast attack, and it will crumble. Also, they have sweepers at the front and the rear of their armies checking for just this tactic,” Rhiza countered. Bones had said the same thing, but it felt like we were going too slow.

While earning 100 credits in one day might sound amazing, it took a month before we were in the right position and the front moved in the correct direction for us to insert ourselves onto these floors. Split that with Bones, and I got about 2 credits per day of work.

That meant it would take about 1,400 years to earn a million credits. Bones still wasn’t sure how much he truly needed or me, but we both knew it was a lot. Those kinds of questions could only be answered once we had the credits to make the inquiries.

The basic goal was a million credits. Even if he put his body at half a million, that didn’t include all the credits we needed to get to that point to make such a purchase. I really wanted to earn more. That meant scavenging right behind the front line and the faction’s fast scavenging team.

“Just thinking about credits. I need a lot,” I said.

“We all do. But slow and steady is best. People worry about the past, the future, but focusing on the moment is key,” Rhiza said. I wish I could have her free spirit outlook.

“Perhaps. I just need to buy some upgraded equipment myself. A faster cutter, and a better illusion projector. Or I might us use a slab of the tower in front of me and fill up the cracks.” That was the best idea Bones and I had come up with. Cut out a piece of the tower like Rhiza, and then put a thin slab in front, to better hide.

Unfortunately, that would block out Bones’ ability to sense long range. There was a reason we were hiding in the portion of the tower next to the stairs and elevator. There was only the central pillar, and the outer pillar supports. Everything else was put in by a faction, including the walls.

That was why Bones could scan a floor or the staircase, but not at the same time. The tower material blocked his ability to sense. It also meant that my plan would cut off our ability to sense danger.

“The gap is too small. Here we have a hundred to twenty floors. But there are only two to five floors. With how the battlefront and surge back at any time, we risk being caught out. I don’t mind some risk, but that would also draw the wrong kind of attention,” Rhiza said.

“You just need to manage once, and you would get 100,000 credits,” I muttered.

“Can’t spend it if you are dead. One day there will be luck and you will find something really good,” Rhiza said.

“Maybe, but it is doubtful, or will take too long,” I replied.

“It is your life. But your warnings are helpful. I don’t have to prepare an escape area on each floor now or retreat down. More time for scavenging,” Rhiza said. I knew she liked our partnership. It wasn’t a big deal to warn her, and it was simple enough to make her closet space a little bigger to fit me.

At least we could look out through the illusion, since it was one way. That way we could confirm when the faction’s scavenging team had passed. We might have considered trying to bypass the checkpoint, but the front wasn’t too far from it. The tower shaking occasionally was so common by now, that I had grown used to it.

“There are old scavengers and bold scavengers, but no old and bold scavengers,” I replied with the maxim Rhiza had thrown at me in the past.

“Exactly. We all need credits, but death is permanent. You try and push, you will get crushed. I have seen it before,” she said. She didn’t say how long she had been doing this. But her experience indicated a long time.

Bones had pointed out that she lacked partners for a reason. While we could trust her to a certain extent, we had contingencies in place. She was quite good about marking out her boundaries. While she was open and friendly, I got the sense it was more from boredom rather than trying to earn a few more credits. Rhiza was a woman who lived in the moment. The one thing she absolutely disliked was the waiting around modification.

“They are on this floor now,” I replied.

“Well, let’s hope we don’t run into trouble,” she replied, and we got quiet. While we didn’t need to, there was no need to take unnecessary risks. It didn’t take long before a team of people in simple gray robes with a faction symbol on their backs swept through the area. They picked up everything moving it towards the stairs.

Organic remains were placed into cargo boxes and sealed up. Same with non-organic items, they were rounded up as well, with only some minor sorting going on. The fast scavenging team took anything that was worth sorting and us freelancers picked through the rest. The remaining stuff were items meant for recycling.

It was almost impressive how recycling focused Forever City was. Bones explained that is was more cost effective than transporting resources. Spatial items, had a limit before they interfered with transportation methods. My rings were too small, the same with any other spatial item from the continents. But something that could fit enough resources to fill a town, would interfere with the transport cylinders the Heavenly Alliance used.

There were always rumors that the Heavenly Alliance could work around those restrictions, but smugglers tended to disappear, and the Heavenly Alliance didn’t claim credit. That lent credibility to the idea that there were things out there. I was trying very hard not to think of a certain number that suddenly popped up in my head.

After the last small-scale stuff was removed, the scavenging team moved on. In time a construction team would come through. Remove the walls and replace everything on the floor if the faction decided to. Probably another crystal facility and floors related to that production line to feed the various weapons and equipment at the front.

We waited another hour after the slow scavenging team passed. Sometimes soldiers would linger behind to catch freelance scavengers. But they would get bored as well and move on. “All clear, this floor and up,” Bones told me.

“All clear, this floor and up,” I repeated. Rhiza dropped the illusion, and we stepped out. She put back the tower block out of her spatial ring. While tower materials could be sold, that would draw the wrong kind of attention. While what we were doing would get us in trouble with the constructor golems, it was the equivalent of some moss on an out of the way building in the slums. Nothing they were concerned about.

The tower would self-repair fairly quickly with the material back in place. Which was the equivalent of herbicide to our minor damage. Once we were out we made our way to the main staircase, and I gave the all clear as we began our ascent up the tower. Faction members were carrying up boxes of scavenged material. They didn’t bother us, and we didn’t bother them.

It would take an elite team to get behind enemy lines, and if freelancers ran off and did ambushes, it would get ugly. The status quo had settled onto the faction ignoring us if we didn’t interfere with their efforts and didn’t run into their soldiers. In return, we didn’t sabotage everything and become a nuisance they would have to invest funds to dig out.

This also meant free lance scavengers also tended to take out enemy teams that slipped by, to get their stuff, since no help would come, and to not draw unwanted attention. The factions paid us by leaving us alone and allowing us to conduct business with the bulk buyers. Not all factions were like this, with some being much more militant, but it was the exception. The optimal methods had been determined long ago. It was called the Forever City for a reason.

Rhiza and I made our way to the small area that the freelance scavengers were congregating. None of us trusted each other, but there was safety in numbers. No one wanted to be the troublemaker and killed off by the rest. That was why everyone could have their own little spot to sit on the floor and sort through stuff before bringing it over.

Rhiza sat next to me and began pulling out the stuff she thought I could repair. “Too damaged. The core component is missing. This one I can do,” I replied and pulled out the fabrication box. I began setting things up as Bones told me to so I could repair a small spatial disruptor. Basically, it twisted space to create a gap through an object. Often used for repairs on sealed items.

The value of the small spatial disruptor went up from 4 credits to 10 credits based on the prices Bones had I had seen. I was grateful for him remembering. I was trying to, but there was just so much random junk. I almost never saw the same thing twice, unless I grabbed them out of the same room. “Four to ten, three credits,” I said and Rhiza nodded. She paid me and took the item back.

Grunt came over as well. “Urg,” he grunted out and set down a large rod with a hook on the end.

“That’s a static plant harvester. The stasis portion is out of alignment. Put it in the box. That should move the value from two to six,” Bone said and I followed his instructions.

“Two to six, two credits,” I said as I did the repair.

“Urg,” Grunt replied. Once I was done, I handed him the item and then he paid me. No one else came up, but I could see a couple other free lance scavengers glancing over. Hopefully the repair business would grow in time. Bones was hopeful we would be offered a faction contract if we were impressive enough. Lots of pay for fixing hard to fix critical machines.

With the proper equipment we could go much faster and repair a lot more. But without backing, we could only do a little bit like now. Getting up, I made my way to a bulk trader I was familiar with. Glorp was a sentient slime stuck in what could only be called a diving suit. He could be a body cultivator focused on slime, or a slime that gained sentience. I didn’t ask and didn’t care. He was the best of the bulk traders in terms of not trying to mess with me.

“Ah, the little scion of the freelancers has come. Lots of good stuff,” his modulated voice said from his metal suit.

“Yes, table?” I asked and he gestured at a nearby table. I began unloading everything onto it. Glorp began looking it over and making notations on a higher end pad. Once I was done, he flipped it around for me to look over. I compared his list and prices to the stuff I had found.

“The soil empowerment rod is 8 credits, not 6.5.”

“Ah my mistake,” he replied. I found two more things underpriced, and left one. That way he felt he had gotten one over on me, even if it cost me a credit.

I earned 106.812 credits once the transactions were completed. It was a really nice number of credits for a very long day of work and risking my life. “Anything you are interested in. I can get anything,” Glorp said.

“An illusion projector and tower cutter, how much?” I asked.

“A thousand credits each. Custom order, very illegal. Will have to transport through the towers, not by vehicle.” That was way too much for both of them. I then listed out the components that Bones gave me and Glorp seemed to jiggle at that.

“Oh, those components are quite easy. Nothing illegal or banned. All told, 120 credits with a no questions asked discount. Will take half a cycle though. Have to spread out the order since it is legal,” he replied.

“Half now, half when you complete delivery,” I replied.

“Of course, of course,” Glorp said and I paid him the 60 credits. There went a large chunk of my earnings, but Glorp was trustworthy enough for this. While he could run off there was no point over such a small transaction. And scamming me would lead to a loss of business. He was overcharging as well, but that was just the cost of doing business. If I made the trek out of the conflict zone, I could probably purchase all the components for 80 credits myself.

He would probably spend 20 on the transport and pocket 20. But that was the price of convenience. I looked over and Rhiza was done trading with another bulk trader. We then went back to the freelancer resting area and one of the freelancers pulled out a renegade interlink tower.

Normally used to transmit and receive information over long distances, the freelancer was tapping into the public notifications about the battle front. Everyone around, including me all made the cloaked figure a credit for listening in. There wasn’t anything that interesting to listen to at the moment, since the front had frozen. But the moment it started shifting, the renegade interlink tower would light up.

“Well that was a good day,” Rhiza said as we sat togeather on the floor near the back of the small crowd of cloaked figures that had gathered. We had pulled up our hoods as well.

“It was. Want to play cards?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied. I got out cards and tokens. Each token represented a different amount of bits and we began to play poker for basically pennies to pass the time. The front tended to change within a day, if it didn’t then we would be waiting around, and I would be trying to figure out other ways to earn money.

All the other freelancers kept to their own corners, content to ignore our quiet chatting and we discussed the items we had found, if the front would move, and how we hoped there would be a lot of stuff on other floors.

Rhiza had explained to me, that most freelancers didn’t like working with others, that was why they were freelancers. Team ups were incredibly rare, since there needed to be trust. While I trusted Rhiza, there was a reason I was going to prepare my own equipment. If hers ever broke down, or she left, I couldn’t afford to be dependent on her.

I didn’t plan on betraying her, since it would be too risky. Same reason everyone else stayed in line as well, and being a duo meant there was even more deterrence among this group of desperate beings. We paused our game, when there was a small commotion near the renegade interlink.

“I am in charge here. You pay a protection fee,” a large man said to the scavenger managing the interlink.

“Get out of here,” Bones said. I quickly put everything away from our game, not bothering about the bits Rhiza owed me and quickly began moving away. Rhiza was right next to me.

“Foolish…human…” the cloaked figure hissed out loudly. That was when an immense pressure came over the area.

“Ahhh!” The large man screamed and swung his fist. The hissing cloaked being seemed to engulf the man as the screams continued in a muffled manner. “Duck!” Bones said to me and I quickly dove for the ground. The large man had a blasting stick. A concentrated beam of fire shot out, through the dark robes engulfing him and striking another scavenger, who screamed as they burst into flames.

More beams were released and then the guards rushed in at the troublemakers. I quickly scrambled away with Rhiza as the fighting progressed. We retreated to the staircase. Some went up, but most went down, to hide in the empty levels and spy on the front, getting ready to move in case the battle shifted directions once again.

“Idiots,” Rhiza muttered.

“Crazy,” I agreed. It could be another scavenger unleashing a sneak mental attack, a false flag by the faction to move the freelancers away, to just a crazy person who thought they were strong enough to make trouble. Regardless, we had worn out our welcome for a little bit. That meant picking a spot down below for a while and waiting things out.

The tower shook some more. “Lots of stuff going on below, looks like the front is shifting upwards. Fairly quickly as well, a massive push, check this floor,” Bones said.

“Checking the floor,” I told Rhiza and walked out of the staircase through the double doors. She was right behind me. The entire floor was just an empty space and quite dark, except near the central pillar and the outer support pillars.

“Above as well. They took the tunnels and have multiple breaches on the outside. They are attempting to take the entire tower,” Bones said and I quickly repeated this to Rhiza. She got a worried look on her face as the tower shook a lot more than before. The bulk traders were quickly leaving as well, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

An unstable front, or a swarm battle from above and below was the most dangerous for freelancers like us. “We need to cut into the wall and hide,” I said.

“On an empty floor? It will be spotted. They are always checked. There is no way we can hide, we need to go down,” Rhiza said and quickly turned around. I was right behind her as she didn’t hesitate to race down the staircase.

“Battles in the main staircase, above and below.” I repeated what I was told out loud. “Fighting twenty floors down. Now eighteen, quickly ascending!”

Rhiza went into another floor, which hadn’t been emptied out. She began cutting out a portion of the wall after circling around to a side room next to the central staircase. Once the portion of the wall was cut out, she put the slab away, and then started her illusion projector and frowned.

“There is a problem. The power is good, but it takes time to recharge. I can leave it off, but we might get scanned. Leave it on, and I don’t know if we can outlast this battle,” she said.

“There are multiple scans sweeping the tower right now, we need to leave it on,” I replied.

“That is not good. Very not good. We might have to exit the tower, to escape the front.” I could do it, but she didn’t like it and only did it to scavenge. The techniques Bones had taught me to not get melted in the outside atmosphere were quite useful. Rhiza had some kind of shielding device, but it wasn’t great, and if conditions were rough it could fail.

“We can wait, see how things play out. There is fighting all across the tower, and some of the outside, I think. There is too much going on, to get a clear sense of everything without revealing our position,” I replied.

“It is fine, we wait and hope. This floor has already been cleared. But once the tower is taken by one faction, they will seal off all the points, and purge their area. Since there are bound to be traps in a non-linear fight up and down,” she said.

“Were you in one before?” I asked.

“Yes, and it isn’t pleasant getting out. Sure, there is a lot of scavenge, but soldiers will be everywhere. They won’t clear an area and move on. There will be traps. The tower might become a dead tower for a while. If the conflict is going on at this height, as well as above, then the entire tower is probably in contention,” Rhiza explained.

Chapter 64 – Chaos Is A Tower?

The tower shook again as the various forces fought each other. Thankfully no one came into the small room we were hiding in next to the main staircase. “Clear, three down, five up,” I repeated what Bones told me. I really wish I had my own cutter and illusion projector. This was a great opportunity in my mind to get stuff, but Rhiza wanted a wider margin of error.

She insisted on having ten floors in the direction we were moving and 5 floors in the other direction. Normally she would have waited until things quieted down, but with me around and knowing where people were in the tower, she was willing to take some small risks.

“I want to move as well, but Rhiza is right. If we get caught in the conflict, it won’t end well. It will be attack first, ask questions second. Anything less than five floors is risky. Hold on, forces below are moving up, and they appear to be sweeping the floors,” Bones said.

“Forces below us are moving up and sweeping the floors,” I repeated.

“Let me know when they get close, I will close us in,” Rhiza said, and I nodded at that. Using a slab of tower material to block off the opening of the nook she had cut would block Bones’ ability to keep an eye on things, but it would be near impossible to detect.

I let her know when the forces came to this floor, and she released the slab of material from her spatial item while we were silent. I heard movement and shouting outside of our nook and remained quiet. There were explosions, more shouting, the tower shook a bit, and then back to silence. After waiting for ten minutes, Rhiza removed the slab.

“Fighting six floors above us, nothing for at least ten floors down, but hard to tell,” I replied.

“Alright, we move then, downwards,” she said. I let her take the lead as we left the nook. We quickly came across a corpse that hadn’t been desecrated. Rhiza quickly got to work taking out the implants the person had. I swept the area for weapons and other stuff Bones’ picked up on. Rhiza and I had agreed to split everything we found.

Once Rhiza was done with the corpse, it was still incredibly fresh. I pulled out the coffin I had from Aoyin a long time ago and tossed it in there. While there would only be a small amount of cultivation remaining to extract, there were still some unlike other corpses. That meant they had value. The resulting blood crystals could be sold for far more than the corpses themselves. Everything of value had to be taken, and fresh corpses had value.

We moved through the floor, taking a staircase set up between floors to keep going down, finding the occasional corpse and lots more damage than when I had been scavenging here before.

“Leaving the tower is important and soon. Eventually one faction will take it, or a battle line will be created. Then each side will check their portion of the tower and clear it out. They might strip everything out, but that is unlikely. The most valuable thing in the Forever City for factions is real estate.”

That had been how Bones had explained the current conflict to me. Having more floors, meant more production and growth facilities, which could be used to fund more conflicts. Very rarely did factions fight to the bitter end. Normally a ceasefire was called after a certain point to stop losing resources and to digest gains.

This conflict we were in the middle of had progressed to this point since it would send ripple effects out through several linked factions. It was do or die for both competing factions, and there was even a chance faction members themselves might get involved.

“If faction members join in the conflict, then it is about to spiral out of control. Normally it ends up with several towers heavily damaged as the core faction members fight themselves, instead of proxies. It will be win or die for both sides,” Bones had explained.

“That fact that both sides attacked from the outside of the tower instead of pushing up or down, shows the desperation is increasing. Doing that maneuver gains a slight advantage but also signals weakness. Not sure which faction created this chaos first, but it doesn’t matter. The entire front will be a complete mess, and leaving the tower itself is dangerous. The best bet is to go very high or low, before attempting to cross to another tower,” he explained.

We were descending, which was not the direction we wanted to go. The closer we got to floor 0, the more intense things would be. Those were the more lucrative floors, since there were more connections between towers, which were used to transverse the Forever City.

“Another blast weapon,” I said and picked one up and put it away. We were raking in the credits. Each corpse we came upon was worth about 20 to 100 credits depending on their gear and if it was intact.

“The elites are fighting now, we need to keep moving,” Rhiza said after she took out some implants and put them away. We went to the next floor.

“Stop,” I said as she went for another corpse. “It has been moved, look at the blood,” I pointed out to her, and she paused. I had spotted this not Bones.

“A trap?” she asked.

“I can’t spot anything, but there is a high chance. Clearly didn’t drag themselves to this spot. Maybe a friend trying to get them to safety? But that seems unlikely,” I replied.

“Let’s check. Move to the next room,” she told me. Once we were out of the way, Rhiza pulled out a metal ball. She tossed it back the way we came. There was suddenly a loud explosion. “Trapped. We will need to be careful.”

“Good catch. I completely missed that. Probably a physical trigger. Rare, but they do exist,” Bones said. We continued more carefully, specifically around corpses. Several more were trapped. Rhiza had a small directional force bombs, the metal balls. They would blast things away when they detonated, could be reused, and highly durable. They didn’t do much damage but were great for disturbing areas and setting off possible traps.

She had support gear as did I. Just that mine was less capable in this environment. Flash bangs weren’t that useful. If there was a fight, I would be completely outclassed. The destruction on the floors we passed through was clear evidence, that attempting to join any of these fights was a bad idea.

Another thing that was unfortunate was that there were no spatial items. While the fighters would waste too much time stripping their companions of cheap weapons and modifications, spatial items tended to be compact and easy to pick up. Even if there was only one survivor, they would pick up the spatial items left behind.

That was why being a fighter, if you survived was so profitable. But with the sheer number of corpses I had seen while scavenging, it was clear that surviving was much harder than it appeared. Bones was firmly against joining any kind of conflict, since they were meat grinders. The casualties were just numbers at the end of the day for the people running the faction. If I was strong enough to not be on the front lines, there were better options.

“Forces coming up from below, a large group,” I said after checking the main staircase in the center of the tower. “They are breaking off into groups on the floors below us.”

“We need to hide,” Rhiza said and she proceeded to cut out another tower section to make a nook which we hid inside.

I had asked Bones why towers didn’t have labels or numbers, and he said there were things like that, but for people like us they didn’t matter. Each tower was the same as the last. Knowing the ring and the level was enough. Combined with a pad that showed key areas, general layout, and could be updated, there was no need to label towers. It all depended on which faction was controlling which tower.

That brought up the question of manual transportation instead of using spatial items and vehicles. It was a cost issue on larger shipments and trade caravans. We weren’t strong enough or had the backing to use the faster methods of traveling the Forever City at the middle levels. But if you needed to move millions, upon millions, risking a vehicle could lead to large losses. Also trade caravans would only sell a portion of their goods to the various factions they passed by while purchasing goods to trade, making loops about the Forever City. It was an entirely different culture in the middle levels.

As for not moving stuff out, that was tried, but there was only so much room things could be moved and neither side expected they would lose. Also, the equipment and the set-ups on the floors we passed through had the least valuable stuff. Weapon’s production, food production, and other key resources would be produced in a faction’s core area.

Also, there was the sheer scale of it all. Sure, clearing a floor of a couple key components ahead of time was simple. But clearing out hundreds of floors worth of stuff in the event you might be attacked, was just not worthwhile or practical.

The value each floor produced in this tower was miniscule, but they added up over time. That was why it was worthwhile to leave so much stuff behind, but still fight over the space. The stuff could be replaced, but it was the floor space that mattered to the factions. Also leaving stuff behind, like the walls, meant that the faction who had knowledge of the layout would have an advantage, however slight. Also equipment could be booby trapped against any invading force.

Once the large group swept by, there were no more useful corpses or high value items. It had been a fast scavenger group from a faction. They probably were gaining control of this section of the tower and thought too much wealth was lying about. We continued downwards and reached the floor above a tunnel to another tower.

“Time to make a run for it,” Rhiza muttered as she got to work cutting through the side of the tower. There was no one nearby. Once she removed square section to the outside atmosphere, I was ready to move. I went out first.

“All clear, I think. But there are things in the distance that I am concerned about.”

“Might be stuff at a distance,” I said and quickly left. The narrow gray connector was easy to transverse across using my skills. Rhiza was much slower as her boots secured her, so she wasn’t swept off. Still, she made decent time and we reached the next tower, which she began cutting a small hole into.

Once a small hole was cut through the tower’s exterior, she extended a small narrow rod through it. “No good, occupied,” she said.

“Nearest open floor is around this tower on another one, up two hundred levels, across another tunnel, up about a thousand levels,” I said.

“Let’s go,” she said through her mask. I took the lead during this part of the trek, having to go slower so Rhiza could keep up.

“Someone is checking the exteriors,” Bones told me.

“Some is checking us out,” I repeated, and we kept moving while looking about. Luckily, we were deemed unimportant enough to be left alone thankfully. We circled around the tower and then crossed over to another one. Then we had a climb up outside to the open floor.

There were several bulk traders set up and a couple of freelancers in one corner, but a lot less than before. Apparently, several were caught in the nearby conflict or had left. We got some glances coming in from the outside, but no one said anything.

We found spots, while Rhiza was struggling to breathe. The outside atmosphere really did a number on her. I noticed her pop a potion from the supply she kept on hand. The toxicity was no joke. Those yellow clouds were floating death. There was no renegade interlink set up, or any kind of tap into the local information network.

That would be a pain, trying to find out where the front was shifting. Thankfully we had picked up quite a bit. After resting for a day, Rhiza and I began carefully going through the loot we had picked up to clean up before selling.

“Welcome back, my favorite scavenger,” Glorp said once Rhiza and I went over to sell what we had recovered. The slime in a suit jiggled, which meant he was probably happy about making some credits.

“Mostly weapons and modifications this time,” I said.

“Just lay it out, I will give you a fair price don’t worry,” he replied. Rhiza and I lay out our haul that we had gathered. While it wasn’t as much as previous times, the value was much higher. The most valuable item was a penetrating eye, which could see through basic walls.

Glorp handed over the pad he had marked down the prices on. “The blasting rods, you are only offering 5 credits, instead of 8 credits,” I pointed out.

“Market saturation. Everyone is bringing weapons here to sell, and the conflict has been going on for a while. The price is lower here. I would have to carry them around for a long time to get more than 6 credits in this area,” Glorp countered.

“Everyone needs weapons and they are all mostly charged. Make it 6 credits,” I countered. Glorp thought about that for a moment before agreeing. There was nothing else that stood out as a concern. Rhiza and I both earned 387 credits each once the transactions were completed. A decent amount, but a far cry from the amount I needed to earn.

After getting her credits, Rhiza went to rest some more. I stayed behind to speak with Glorp. “The items, I ordered. Still on track?” I asked.

“Word has been sent, they will arrive, don’t worry. Tenth of a cycle before they come in on the next courier transport, you get your components and I get your credits. You wanted something else?” he asked.

“A low end repair station. With a basic database. That should run about 250 credits,” I said.

“I don’t know where you got that price, but you are looking at 400 credits,” Glorp said.

“That is a scam. They easily cost only 200 credits. Another 50 for transportation,” Bones complained.

“That is high, normally they cost around 200 credits,” I countered.

“But you aren’t a faction, and this is a warzone. There will be questions asked, and you probably don’t want questions. Transport fees need to be paid. Also, it is on the restricted list for this conflict by the faction running this tower. I should charge you more, but 400 credits is the friend price,” Glorp said.

“What a scam. But we need a proper repair station with a database. That is the best way to earn some money. Using what we scavenge to build better items. Ask about the material recycler,” Bones told me.

“What about a low-end material recycler?” Glorp titled his suit away from me.

“You and what faction? Those cost 1,000 credits. Out here, at least five times that, around 5,000. Everyone wants a material recycler. You should look at going to a central trade nexus for stuff like this. Sorry,” Glorp said. We left him and went back to our area.

“We should have left Rhiza behind, or killed her,” Bones said.

I shook my head and spoke very quietly under my robes, the rustle of the cloth and my mask hopefully covering up my reply. “It isn’t worth the risk. She might not have your sensory abilities, but she is capable and doesn’t let her guard down.”

“I am just frustrated. You are doing a good job and listen thankfully. But it will take cycles upon cycles to even get close to earning enough at this rate. Even when we got the good stuff, it wasn’t worth that much more. The only option is to make custom gear and rob factions,” Bones said.

“Is that even possible with immortals watching their towers?” I asked.

“For almost anyone else, yes. But your weakness is a big help here. The observation absorber will need to be modified and improved. There is also other equipment. But we aren’t getting enough for the risks we are taking. We break onto a floor. We can easily steal enough stuff to earn thousands of credits instead of hundreds.”

“Why don’t more people do this?” I asked.

“All comes down to the equipment. I have been working through everything I know for a while. I haven’t just been sitting around just observing. The faster credits are earned the faster I get my body back. And there are two factors like I said. You are weak enough, that most scans will miss you.”

“Then the observation absorber is for?”

“For more localized searches. But if the threshold is set too low, then an immortal checking over a tower will have a lot of false readings. Especially this far out in the Forever City. If we were near the center, we would be found based on individuals with specialized techniques, like looking for spatial items. We aren’t going to go after a faction’s core tower either.”

“And then the equipment. How much?”

“If we had a recycler and a repair station, I could do quite a bit. Enough to get us outfitted well enough not to worry. Normally someone of my power would be too big a risk to steal from a faction. And someone as weak as you wouldn’t have the knowledge or equipment.”

“It would be discovered quickly, and once a theft is spotted, there would be a lot more scans,” I quietly replied.

“A concern, but that is why we would be careful about what to steal and hide well enough. The factions would think it is just sabotage or some kind of internal conflict. There is risk, but the same with scavenging. Better to go for more value,” Bones said.

While I didn’t like the idea of robbing factions, I liked scavenging less. “We couldn’t set up a legitimate business?”

“Again, without any kind of faction backing us, it would be expensive. I can fake having backing, but factions live and die by their reputation. Faking backing from an actual faction would lead to them disavowing us and we would be captured and killed quickly. Making up a faction has the same issue. While factions might compete, they hate when people scam them in any way. Our credentials would be checked.”

“This means we would have to purchase backing from a faction. There are factions that do this, but the prices aren’t cheap, and there is already a tremendous amount of competition in the crafting sector. People prefer crafting over fighting, lower risk, but also lower margins.”

“And your technical expertise can’t get around that? Be high end?” I asked.

“At best it is low end. Basic field repairs are something I can do, with trash tier equipment. But anything more valuable requires specialized knowledge. Also, that kind of stuff is often reverse engineered or dismantled due to the risk. Reputation matters for anything above trash tier.”

“And the equipment I would need to rob factions is trash tier?” I asked.

“Yes. Again, you are so weak, it is fairly easy to sort out this issue. But getting the equipment to build the equipment is a huge hurdle. The only thing we can do is wait and save up.”

“What about checking out the edges of the Forever City?” I asked. There was silence at that question.

“It is an alternative. But the danger there is much greater and more varied. With the factions, I know how they operate, and their thought process. If we run into another super-organization, then there is no telling what might happen. While trafficking in those kinds of goods is something I know well, going into that kind of situation without strength is not a good idea.”

“Or I can sneak by and earn more?” I asked.

“Different detection methods. Cultivators sense the changes in the energy around them, being in tune with their Dao. But as you have seen eyes, there are other methods out there. Dispersed biological scanning is just one. There are countless others. Countering all of them is much more difficult than working around what cultivators do.”

“The other super-organizations don’t take advantage?” I asked Bones.

“How to explain this. The Forever City which is run by the Heavenly Alliance, focuses on cultivation science and techniques. That is what I know. Countering cultivation scanning with cultivation equipment is far easier than countering other forms of scanning. The same is true in reverse. Cultivators have a range of scanning methods, but they fall into the same category of cultivation.”

“It is a mismatch in technology then,” I worked out what Bones was trying to convey.

“Exactly. I know the factions won’t care about someone as weak as you, or scan at that level. The false readings would be too much and hard to work out from other beings in and around a tower. But more visual scanning, or spatial scanning are just two methods that would locate you very quickly. That is not counting other methods that I might have no knowledge of. Anyone at my strength that engages in stealth has to be very good,” Bones explained.

“And if we pull all this off, selling the stolen goods?” I asked.

“There will always be someone willing to buy. I am not saying it is easy, but there wouldn’t be more risk than there is now, just a different kind,” Bones answered.

“Which brings us back to the issue of getting enough credits. We have about 500 at the moment, but we need thousands more. I guess once we have the tower cutter and illusion projector we can try without Rhiza,” I said quietly.

“Exactly. Also we can move outside easier than her. Don’t get me wrong, she is a nice person, as nice as you get in the Forever City, but she is immortal. Unless she gets incredibly unlucky, she will eventually earn enough credits to pay to have her modifications removed and a cultivation pattern imparted onto her.”

“Its that easy?” I felt cheated by how easy it seemed.

“Don’t sound so depressed. The cultivation methods sold are trash. Your cultivation is the kind of thing that would make a faction take note of and keep to themselves. With enough credits anything is possible, but she would need to save up a tremendous amount to pay for a cultivation method that has potential after reaching immortality. At best she would become a low level officer inside of a faction, with almost no prospect for greater power,” Bones explained.

“She couldn’t leave like you did?” I asked.

“I left my faction for this reason. Once you reach immortality, advancement is incredibly difficult. The simple explanation is that, your foundation is immense. Stupidly immense. So immense that it will probably collapse horribly. But at the higher levels of cultivation, having a larger foundation is invaluable.” That did make me feel better at least.

“And you can’t just pay to get ahead?” I asked.

“You can, but the price becomes too much. Far too much. And then there are other setbacks that occur, like losing all your flesh. Also, the greater the threats become and the competition. There are a limited number of resources to push forward. That is why venturing out into the wider Firmament was my plan to get stronger.” I could sense the frustration coming from Bones, so I stopped asking. None of this information would really help me. I just wanted to know.

I had a real challenge. When I had been born, I had a silver spoon in my mouth and a loving family, helpful masters. That was easy mode. The Forever City was difficult mode. I had gotten lucky allying with Bones, but there was a clear limit to our cooperation. He would be getting his body before I attempted to break through the first bottleneck.

After that he would be off doing his own thing and I would be on my own. Factions weren’t bound by perception like the Imperial Sect had been either. Without backing here, no one would say anything if I was killed. That was why I kept pushing Bones to explain things to better understand how things worked in the middle class of this society, which was where most factions were.

The upper class was the Heavenly Alliance. While the rest of the beings in the Forever City was the lower class, struggling to rise up and not die. Backing was everything in the Forever City, for travel, survival, knowledge, and resources. Even if I got past the first bottleneck, I would still be incredibly weak, compared to the factions.

Bones had no idea what would happen if I survived, just that my base would be incredibly strong if I didn’t die. He had no advice, since cultivation science wasn’t a big part of his studies. He had a track of progression laid out for him by his parents. While he deviated later on, there was very little public information about the beginning stages.

Some factions offered advice to their foot soldiers, but it was expensive and Bones had warned me that their utility was questionable. Most factions had seven to fifteen templates they used exclusively, with another three to five reserved for elites of their faction. The goal was to create a strong base, which could reach the level Bones had without issue.

But a different method like mine, they wouldn’t have information. While the efforts on the various continents could be considered research, it was either classified, or there was just too much. If I wanted answers, I would have to pay for a specialist, which would be incredibly expensive on its own. That was the kind of thing a faction leader would pay for, millions of credits.

Since creating a larger foundation was seen as creating a future competitor, it was very expensive to hire any kind of specialist to lay out things step by step and work out any issues. My cultivation while impressive, was just not cost effective or proven. All of this meant I had to get more credits, somehow.

That was the real bottleneck. Everything was done between factions and their proxies. Like massive icebergs crashing into each other, while the small boat that was me struggled to survive. The coffin would take a while to process the corpses, but there was no rush. It wasn’t like any more corpses would turn up any time soon.

I pulled out some food and water from under my cloak. My supplies were still solid. I had decades worth of supplies as long as I rationed them. I also had enough credits that I could survive for quite a while and even return home if I wanted. But that would be the end of my cultivation journey. It was a mental balm to have a plan to leave if I ever needed to.

Bones would probably kill me, or do something, but once we were separated, that would be an option. Also, once we had enough credits, I could begin drinking potions regularly to draw in condensed energy into my cores. That was a long term plan, for now I needed to save up credits in order to earn more credits. Even if that was by theft. It would take a lot of theft, or something valuable enough to get a faction excited.

I knew Bones hadn’t thought through the entire plan from start to finish. The first step was equipment, then the second step was finding a target. Hopefully, once I had my own tower cutter and illusion projector, I would be able to get a lot more credits.

Once I was done eating and drinking, I checked my pocket watch. Time was ticking steadily away. While things didn’t feel urgent, I had a feeling it would be a major hassle to complete my cultivation before my life ran out.

Chapter 65 – The Pit Stop Of Hell

It had been fifty years since I had first arrived in the Forever City and I was 256 years old and had 12,982 credits to my name and change. My equipment was upgraded quite heavily, so that upgrading further wasn’t worthwhile. I had been learning how the stuff worked as well to a minor degree. Lots of energy runes and imprinting in conjunction with different materials.

Anything better would require backing from a faction and attention I couldn’t afford. While I had multiple observation blockers attached to my body, it was never a good idea to press things. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on the Forever City, but I would call myself experienced after living in this place for so long.

Running along the outside wall of a tower, I spiraled my way up the outside. I came to the open floor. I peeked over the edge, and pulled out a passive scanner hooked up to my navigation pad and a renegade interlink. No spike in the local chatter. I had scanned in other directions while circling up. Chatter in the directions of the regional conflict. This one was looking to be a big one based on the public information I could tap into.

It was less internet, and more sophisticated radio. Some factions like to broadcast in the open to block other communications, send hidden messages, and to be annoying to their neighbors. Their efforts were my gain, as information propagated out through the Forever City if one was willing to listen. I had a small device attached to my waste, which broadcast the three strongest signals into closed compartments that Bones could listen to.

I stepped onto the open floor, which was the gathering point of freelancers who had established a mobile community of a sort. This was my first time running into them. They didn’t broadcast their location, but some beings talked, and word spread about the mobile community.

There was a large vehicle sitting on the open floor, with one side completely open with a bar and eatery. There was also a visual holographic display of the nearby towers and the projected movements of various forces. The place was named the Pit Stop of Hell. A horrible name, but it was the meeting point of serious scavengers and scavenger teams.

I walked into the area where they had set up several tables past their bar. I took a seat at an empty table. In moments, a young beautiful looking woman came over. “Welcome, seating or placing an order?” she asked.

“Energy infused into plain water, two drops worth,” I said.

“That is ten credits,” which was completely overpriced. But I wasn’t just paying for the energy infused water. I was paying for the seat. I pulled out my credit card and casually paid. I got some glances from the other robe clad figures, but no one said anything about my presence.

“The bar tender is quite strong. Above the level of a tower owner,” Bones said.

“And he has the mark of the Heavenly Alliance on his vehicle,” I added quietly.

“Only way he could be so brazen moving about and having a place for freelancers. It is a naked ploy by the Heavenly Alliance to keep an eye on things, while being able to get a feeling on the undercurrents of the Forever City. Probably a freelancer who moved up, and somehow got a sweetheart deal,” Bones replied.

The young lady came over with my drink. “Energy infused into plain water, two drops,” she said as she set the large mug on the table.

“Thank you,” I replied. She moved off. Tipping wasn’t a thing unless I wanted her company or to buy information. I picked up the mug and pulled out a filter straw. A small but useful piece of equipment to filter out any poisons or toxins from liquids that I consumed. Unfortunately, it was designed to only handle a single type of liquid, energy infused into plain water. I sipped the water as my channels drew in the energy along with my core from my physical body.

After sipping my drink, I continued to watch everyone else and the display. I counted 17 other scavengers. A massive gathering for our line of work. That was when I saw an old face walk into the area the bar was set up, making the number 18. Rhiza glanced over at me, and I brought up a hand to wave at her, and lowered my hood.

She smiled when she saw me and came over. “Yuan, it has been a while. Glad to see you are still alive after going off on your own,” she said.

“Thank you Rhiza. You never told me about this place,” I said.

“It moves about. And isn’t a place for new scavengers. You clearly upgraded, your work?” she asked.

“Some. Nice sword. I didn’t expect you to change it,” I replied.

“Lost my last one about ten cycles ago. Used it to block an attack while escaping a tower.” The server lady then came over. “Courage, a double,” Rhiza said before the server could speak.

“Twenty credits,” the server said and Rhiza paid.

“Courage?” I asked her.

“A specialty of this place. Contains traces of the Dao of Courage. Good for reinforcing one’s mental determination,” she explained.

“You had something like that, it would rip right through you. Your body might not explode with how tough it is, but there would be serious damage,” Bones told me.

“Maybe in the future. I prefer something a bit more plain,” I replied.

“Your choice. You been waiting here long?” she asked.

“I showed up just before you. It is a pain traveling,” I said.

“Well, you go outside. I just got a vehicle to this staging point,” Rhiza replied. I could have gotten a vehicle as well, but Bones insisted that I keep up my practice at moving outside the towers to keep my techniques fresh in my mind. Most other people just paid credits for a vehicle for long distance travel.

Bones also mentioned that while rare, some vehicles were used as traps. I couldn’t afford to fight anything with how weak I was. “Keeps my skills fresh. I hope things kick off soon, I don’t want to have to make a tenth of a loop to the other major conflict going on right now,” I replied.

“That is a ways away. Not going for the smaller stuff?” Rhiza asked.

“Less pay. You know how it is. Also, you were a good teacher. Thank you for that,” I told her. She smiled slightly at the compliment.

“It was a pleasure. It’s not like there is a lot of competition,” she said, and I nodded at that. Scavenging was a high-risk job. Beings disappeared all the time and you might never see them again.

“A double order of Courage,” the young lady brought back a tall green glass that was releasing some smoke. Rhiza began to sip it.

“I wouldn’t get excited. More abstract cultivation methods are much harder to progress due to their unique circumstances. Specifically Daos that operate on a less than physical level,” Bones told me. It didn’t matter that much, but it was nice of him to mention. I wasn’t going to make my cultivation more complicated. It already had enough issues I needed to sort out.

“You work out your cultivation plan you are going with?” I asked Rhiza.

“Not any time soon. I need to save up a lot first. At least a hundred thousand to get something half decent. Anything custom, well it will take longer to save up and I have the time,” she answered. I nodded at that. She probably wanted something decent, which meant expensive. “You make any progress?”

“Better equipment, but still need a lot of credits. If you are interested in buying some martial robes with better protection or a mask, I could sell them to you,” I offered.

“How much?” Rhiza asked.

“A thousand credits for each, and that is with a discount. Take a look,” I pulled out a spare mask and handed it over. She carefully looked it over. If I could make a sale, that would help me out raising more money. While a thousand credits were only 0.1% of the million-credit target, it was still progress. Finished products were always more valuable than raw resources and there was a lot of downtime.

“Double filters, and an integrated mask. Linked into data crystal shards to highlight information, but they are empty,” she said.

“It is customizable. While it is mostly low-end, it has a lot of features working togeather. Sound protection. Visual protection. I use the same thing,” I replied. Another reason why I was making a sales pitch was that this type of item was too good. Sure, the bulk buyers and other traders might buy low credit and repaired goods, but this mask and helmet combination was custom.

Most freelancers were highly skeptical of any kind of new equipment. Since their equipment was their life, they were very careful with it for the most part and developed a certain familiarity with different brands. What I made would easily be worth 5,000 credits from a more well-known source.

It looked more like a hodgepodge of different components, which it was, than one unified item. Still the functionality and everything else was the same besides the aesthetics and ease of repair. Hence the large discount on the price.

Rhiza was carefully looking it over, pulling open some panels to check the inside components. “It is well made. As good as an elite soldier would get. But I already have something similar,” she replied and set the piece of equipment on the table. I picked it up and put it away.

“A shame,” I replied.

“No luck looking for other buyers?” she asked.

“No. I can offer a ten percent finder’s fee if you locate anyone wanting stuff like this,” I replied.

“Most people use what they scavenge, but customizations are always useful.” I noticed a cloaked figure at a nearby table with two other beings sitting at get up. They came over slowly.

“You can alter and fix stuff?” they asked me.

“Some stuff. Also depends on what kind of modification. But yes,” I replied. They pulled out a large piece of equipment and set it on the table. I couldn’t make out what it was, even with everything I had done with Bones.

“That’s an implosion bomb, turned into an implosion weapon. Or at least that was the attempt. You could really damage a tower if this thing explodes. I would class it as a mid-tier piece of equipment, not trash tier. Do they want it working, or disassembled?” Bones said.

“You want it working or disassembled?” I asked.

“I was hoping you recognize what it is. Not on any of the databases and the traders only offer scrap value,” they said.

“I do. Just information, ten credits,” I replied. They nodded at this and paid me. “It is an implosion bomb turned into an implosion projector. This large rear portion with several rods facing inwards creates a field and a void. This tube unleashes the attack. The problem is it is unstable. The rods at the rear are misaligned, which causes the void to fizzle out. Base components, about 200 credits. If it was working, closer to 5,000 credits. That is for the bomb part. The weapon part is useless, since this is so fragile. Maybe it was a tool,” I explained, easily giving them their credits worth.

“Can you repair?” they asked.

“You need specialized equipment, or cultivation that aligns with this. Right now, it doesn’t work, but it would be a lot worse if it worked, then failed. And the value comes from properly aligning the rods. I could get it to work for at least one shot, but after that it would have to be realigned again. This is the kind of weapon, you constantly have to fiddle with. If you use it, better to figure it out yourself,” I replied.

“I am satisfied.” They put the piece of equipment and walked back to their table, starting up a hushed conversation with their two companions.

“I didn’t even recognize that. You really know quite a bit,” Rhiza told me.

“I have just picked up things along the way.” We sat there after that chatting about various topics as time passed. I occasionally checked my pocket watch to keep track of time as we waited.

After a week, the conflict exploded with violence with both factions attacking each other. That meant it was time for me to begin earning real money in this place. It had taken a long time to build up and run into the right circumstance.

I left the open floor on the tower and began making my way outside once the conflict started. Rhiza would find her own way, but it had been nice running into her again. I would even consider her a work friend. Everyone else was very anti-social for the most part. Free spirits like Rhiza were the exception, not the rule of the Forever City, at least outside factions at our level of strength.

One would think that in society with infinite time, people would become more social, but it was just the opposite. There was more scheming, betrayal, and self-interest. I could only guess that it was the fundamental nature of cultivation society coming through. Regardless, I had my own path, a path to a lot of credits.

I crossed into the conflict area, occasional blasts of energy zipped through the yellow atmosphere and off into the distance, eventually hitting a tower. The gaps between towers while large, were less than the towers themselves for the most part. If it wasn’t for the yellow haze blocking seeing into the distance, the image of hundreds of towers going on forever would be like some kind of fractal image.

Checking the display in my goggles, I confirmed I was at the right location. “This should be it,” I said quietly to Bones.

“We need to get the level right, and it should be. Just need to work out the orientation of the floor, circle around to your right,” Bones said, and I began to circle. The tower shook a couple of times as we walked around.

“Stop. Right here. Begin cutting in,” he told me and I got to work cutting into the tower. The first step was to remove a shallow slab to cover up the outside. Then a deeper portion to hide in while replacing the outside. Then finally breaking into the floor.

Once the first two slabs were cut out, I entered into the outer wall of the tower and replaced the outer portion. I pulled out a tower quick patch, with a canister of solidifying fluid. This had cost 4,000 credits for the device components and other 50 credits for the cannister. But it was necessary to avoid drawing attention. Anything to mitigate risk we had prepared over the decades.

That was why we had held off on heists until this point. The outside was sealed back up. I was glad I was small, since that meant a lot less cutting. I then used a specialized tower cutter, to make a tiny hole in the interior wall. “This is the room,” I said quietly.

“Yes. Drive thruster components for vehicles, finished and waiting to be sold or moved.” The hardest part had been picking something valuable enough, that could be easily sold, and wouldn’t be moved at the first sign of fighting. Drive thrusters for vehicles were unique in a way that made them perfect for stealing. These were the things that allowed vehicles to go at insane speeds to cross the Forever City very quickly.

The first and most important aspect was that certain key components couldn’t be stored into spatial rings. Taking these components out and putting them back in, would normally be impossible to do so without destroying the drive thrusters themselves. Different spatial manipulations didn’t work well togeather.

But Bones knew how to quickly pull out the components in a way that they could be put back in later on. It would be an entire process and incredibly difficult, but it was possible. He had worked on more complex versions in the past and said he knew ways around the safeguards put into place.

The nice thing was that the drive thrusters themselves were their high value and the spatial components were small enough, I could carry them in a pack, once I pulled them all out. There were two workers loading up the large drive thrusters onto pallets to be carried out of the tower. The stockpile looked low, but they had clearly been working on production until the last moment.

The manufacturing equipment, which was far more valuable had already been moved out without question. But these items had to be carried out, which meant even with their value they were considered a low priority due to the difficulty in transport. Which was good for us.

I attached a gas cannister onto the hole I made into the large storage room and began pumping in gas. The gas cannister was 500 credits. If the people were killed that would alert the immortal watching the tower that there was an issue in this area.

What I had thought would have been the hardest part of the planning, getting information as the easiest part. What each level was generally used for wasn’t hidden knowledge. And once Bones knew the layout of a more common floor, he had worked out the layout for the transportation drive assembly floor. There were specific layouts used for maximum productivity.

There were a lot of standardized designs, but they flowed from one to another. So, with the layout of the open floor known where goods were received and shipped out on, it was possible to reverse engineer the layout of the adjacent floors based on their purpose. Bones had been working on this while we had been scavenging, which showed the impressive mental power a higher level cultivator had. And he was focused on Body cultivation, not Mind.

The knockout gas spread out, and I quickly began cutting into the room. Once I was in, I went to the large doorway leading to an internal lift between floors. Vehicle assembly was one floor down. Normally this kind of production would be in a faction’s key area, but this faction kept their food and raw material processing in their core areas, even if it was less valuable, in order to be less vulnerable to their core economy.

Bones said it was a sub-optimal strategy, but it wasn’t a bad one. Just more of a preference in order to reduce one kind of vulnerability, while increasing the chance of another. In fact, finding the right faction to go after had been the biggest problem out of all of this since it needed to be timed right at the start of the conflict when distractions were at a peak.

I pulled out another specialized cutter and began cutting the spatial components out of the drive systems. They went into my pack, while the rest of the device went into one of my spatial rings. I got four of them packed away, and was about to start on my fifth, when Bones gave me a heads up.

“Small group moving towards this area. Not cultivators, but there are six people. Most likely going to move the pallets out.” That meant it was time to go. I quickly went to my hole in the wall and brought out the slab of tower wall once more. I then sealed it up and stayed in the space I had made between the interior of the tower and the exterior.

I carefully pulled out two long term observation obscurers and set the rods up on either side of me. They would work for quite a while but couldn’t be moved. Once the theft was discovered, this area would be checked, and the key thing was to not leave any kind of trace while an investigation was done. Now the only thing that was left, was to wait for a long time. At least twenty days.

Bones said that was twice the time needed to be sure no one was watching just to be on the safe side. The heist we had just pulled off was massive. Once fixed, each of the drive systems would be worth 15,000 credits at resale. That was a total of 60,000 credits. More than I had earned in the last 50 years of running around this city and scavenging.

The hope had been to get more, but we couldn’t be greedy. Once I had to get out, it was time to get out. Fighting of any kind would draw attention. That was the advantage someone as weak as me had, no alarms were set off. Passive sensors wouldn’t pick me up along with passive scanning from immortals. Just the equipment present on various floors was stronger than me.

It was incredibly boring locked in the dark, but I didn’t mind. Bones was more than willing to explain the intricacies of drive systems, how they manipulated acceleration and worked in conjunction with inertial dampeners to remove the force imparted into the interior of the vehicles.

“Why aren’t they used more? They don’t seem that expensive?” I asked.

“Transportation vehicles for passengers aren’t that bad. Since most factions have signed onto a free movement agreement. The factions that don’t have a much rougher time. They are also very expensive to make. A full low tier vehicle costs about 100,000 credits. Operational costs are quite low.”

“But I would think they would pile up over time?” I asked.

“A lot of them are lost, especially in conflicts like this. They are used to move in troops and supplies and are often targets. Large caravans that are intercepted by other large caravans. Thousands of vehicles at once. The individual transport vehicles are often ignored, too much risk of offending the wrong person. Which works for us,” Bones explained. It made sense, but sometimes the logic of the Forever City seemed to take a weird turn.

The best example of weird logic was food and water. While both were luxuries, troops were often paid in food and water, instead of credits. The vat grown humans rarely had credit cards. Someone like Rhiza had to pay a lot of goods to get one to start off. By coming into the Forever City on a cylinder ship I was entitled to basic goods.

This meant that shock troops, even less valuable than outside cultivators, were paid in small portions of food and water that were worth bits. They didn’t need the stuff, but it was for morale purposes more than anything else. Anything and everything would find a use to squeeze out a couple more percentage points of value or to gain a slight edge. The factions that didn’t were slowly replaced over time by factions that did. This created the hyper competitive environment of the Forever City.

Time passed and after waiting inside a cramped cut out nook for twenty days, I cut a small hole to the outside and checked. While the tower had shaken and had been attacked several times during this time period, I hadn’t been in trouble. Nothing concerning outside. I then cut my way out and took my observation obscurers before I left. It wasn’t worth going back inside. The area would be watched more closely and marked down as compromised.

Once outside the tower, I set off towards the next location, while Bones listened to the local chatter. Bad thing about being stuck inside a tower wall was being isolated. The tower material was also good thing for remaining hidden. I made my way to the next target.

High density liquid crystals. Another item that couldn’t be easily put into storage rings, very hard to move, and quite explosive. I reached the tower and then made my way to the level the storage tanks were located on.

Again, being so weak was a huge asset. Bones let me know that anyone strongest than myself would set off all sorts of alarms. Thankfully the high density liquid crystals and the supporting equipment would hide my presence. Even with all my equipment, it just blocked casual scans.

If an immortal in charge of a tower focused on my position, they would spot something was off. Only by hiding inside the tower walls with observation obscurers designed to mimic the tower walls themselves would I be able to hide. The towers with their thousands upon thousands of floors, countless beings, and now a war meant my security was obtained through obscurity.

Cutting into the floor, the tanks weren’t near the outer edge of the tower. I cut a small hole so Bones could observe the movements of the people on the floor. The fighting was less intense, and they were attempting to distribute the high density crystals out to smaller containers for easier transport. Crystals were used in various components and liquid crystals were highly versatile in their applications.

Once Bones said the coast was clear, I cut my way out of the tower wall and made my way into the interior of the tower. I then hooked up a crystal compressor we had made. It basically turned the high density liquid crystal into solid crystal bars.

This normally wasn’t done since turning the bars back into crystals, would cause about a 25% loss in density, which directly related to value. Since the energy compressing the liquid down was consumed. But the crystal bars could be stored in a spatial ring. They were also a useful form of currency outside of credits with other super-organizations.

Once I partially drained one tank and someone was coming along, I would move to another one, Bones plotting out my entire path with ease. We looped around the entire floor and pocketed 223 crystal bars, which had a value of around 111,500 credits, each crystal bar having a resale value of 500 credits. We then quickly hid in the tower wall again for another long stretch of time.

“That kind of value is pocket change for factions. We didn’t empty any of the tanks or steal the manufacturing equipment for a reason. If that happened then the tower master would have to report it to the faction, which would draw specialized investigators.”

“Which would be bad,” I replied.

“They would have techniques to backtrace the movement of items and valuables. But the tower master will fudge some numbers most likely to cover this up to not look bag. While he will investigate, the people running the towers aren’t investigators, more administrators. Even if they wanted to look into this, the ongoing war would cause issues.”

“And they can’t hire out or something else?”

“This is less than a drop in the bucket for the Heavenly Alliance. Now if we stole the manufacturing equipment or more than ten percent of the high-density liquid crystal, then maybe. But we stole such a small amount, the cost of follow up isn’t worthwhile.”

“And the faction won’t report things internally?”

“Nope. Running a tower is a prestigious position. It also allows the person in charge to skim off the top. If there was a full audit, their actions would be discovered. And I will find you an upright tower master when you find a cultivator cultivating the Dao of Kindness.” That basically meant it would never happen. Bones had proven himself countless times with his knowledge.

This knowledge, while not rare, wasn’t spread about or known in the lower classes. Even information brokers wouldn’t have the sheer scope that Bones did. Knowing all this tiny minutiae about factions and the Forever City. It was like having cheat codes to everything. While I made sure to pay attention, ask questions, and learn, there was just a tremendous amount of little things one wouldn’t even realize until they asked the right questions.

With the theft of the crystal bars, I made my way around the conflict zone towards the other faction. There was only one theft target there, more high density liquid crystal. Their manufacturing facilities were too secure.

I used the same procedures as last time and made off with 178 crystal bars, or another 89,000 credits. All that preparation had managed to net me goods worth 260,500 credits worth of goods. Selling all of them and getting those credits was a concern.

Bones and I had discussed the issue, and even he wasn’t sure how to sell everything without me being killed on the spot and everything stolen. Any transaction we did over 10,000 credits was too high of a risk, which meant we needed backing of some kind, which meant we needed to pay a lot. The other issue was space. All these items took up space in my spatial rings, and in my pack for the spatial components of the drive systems.

The gap in wealth was immense, and clawing my way up from scavenger, to actual member of society wasn’t simple. “Anyone backing you will want to know your history and abilities. The big issue is that you are weak, incredibly weak. So any faction will think you are a plant or an easy mark. They will probably use someone more disposable to kill you and see what happens.”

“There aren’t rouge factions or something that are more open?” I asked.

“It comes down to strength. You fall into the category below the modded workers. While you can get away being a scavenger since no one looks that closely at another, we aren’t going through the front door on any faction. Or the back door. We need someone with connections, but willing to deal with us without questions on high value goods,” Bones explained as we tried to think about how to sell our stolen goods.

“And an open market doesn’t have the credits,” I replied.

“Exactly. These goods are faction level or traded between much more powerful people. I don’t know where to start. The best option might be going to a member of another super-organization and cutting a deal, with the hope they don’t realize how outclassed you are. We would also lose value, like thirty percent converting to credits, but it is the only way.”

“That much, why that much?”

“Credits are used internally by the Heavenly Alliance. That means someone has to work outside of them to do the trade. That means illegal transactions. Which means risks. At least we have crystal bars which are solidified raw energy to some extent, and drive systems which are useful in a wide range of things.”

“So where do we go?” I asked.

“No idea. That is the problem. Everything else I could work out. But this, I have no idea.”

“And we can’t go to the Pit Stop of Hell and ask around because that is run by the Heavenly Alliance.”

“That is exactly why that kind of place is set up. It is the bottom of the barrel kind of thing, but the one thing that gets the Heavenly Alliance excited would be another super-organization doing anything. Getting involved with the Heavenly Alliance is a bad idea. My usual method would be to beat some beings up and get information from them, work up the power chain. Or pay a high end information broker. But we can’t with how weak you are.”

“I can’t disguise that?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“What if someone killed us, and stole what we had. How would they deal with the items?”

“Resale on the cheap. They would get ten percent of the actual resale value. Closer to 26,000 credits. That is unacceptable.”

“There has to be a freelancer faction? One that would back us without too many questions for people who don’t want questions, but charge a higher fee?”

“That might be a possibility. Good idea. We can ask around,” Bones replied and I felt proud of myself for coming up with an idea. Now I was hoping it would work out.

Chapter 66 – Just A Minor Shockwave

“Thanks,” I said to the cloaked figure as they pushed over a crystal shard that would go into the map pad. They also put down a black metal card with two large white X’s and then a smaller one between the two.

“You paid for it,” the cloaked figure said while getting up, ending our transaction. It had cost 11,000 credits in the end. The first 1,000 credits was to pay the bar tender for directions to a reputable information broker. Then the next 10,000 credits was to pay for directions to an open faction.

“It smells like a trap or a scam. But this many layers of scamming would be complex,” Bones said. An open faction took all people into it and provided external backing. It just had very high fees and the core members were carefully screened. But it was a viable option that a faction could make work. Just a very suboptimal approach to running a faction in the Forever City.

“They could be missing connections to the continents, based entirely in the Forever City,” I suggested while putting in the shard into our map pad and letting Bones pull up the information we had just shelled out a lot of credits for.

“Perhaps. They are on the far side of the Forever City in the third ring. And TripleX, that isn’t a name. You want something like Flaming Fist, Black Dragon, not TripleX. The faction does exist there, based on previous map information, but we have a precise level and location to go to.”

“You never heard of them?” I asked.

“There are billions of factions in the Forever City. Impossible to keep track of them all. The saying goes, a quintillion immortals, a trillion towers, a billion factions, a million paths, a thousand defenders, and one Forever City. I know a lot, but most of my knowledge is how things work around this place.”

“Is that saying accurate?” I asked.

“You want to do a census? Go right ahead. Getting there will be best be done by vehicle. At your speed, it would take two cycles to cross that kind of distance. Make that three, since we would have to loop around the core,” he said.

“And we can’t go up or down, since you never do that,” I muttered quietly.

“It is lawless at either ends of the towers. Damage takes longer to repair. There is always a low level conflict at the fringes of the towers. Best to stay far away.” That was true, fighting was too big a risk. Well it was time to leave the Pit Stop of Hell and catch a ride over to the far side of the Forever City. One thing this place had was fast, but expensive transport. Cross city transport was where it got expensive. Flying out, was cheaper than flying in towards the center.

Something about traffic density, speed, priority lanes, and other factors. It wasn’t going to be a handful of credits, but around a hundred to get a ride.

“Shield array, left side!” Bones quickly told me. I didn’t hesitate and pulled out a handheld device that was good for a single use against an overwhelming attack. I pushed the button and spun to face the direction Bones had told me.

The Pit Stop of Hell was a large vehicle with one side acting as a patio bar. Turning to my left, put me facing the front of the vehicle and I could see some of the outside, past the vehicle itself. I noticed all the other patrons were looking around as well. “Run the opposite direction, keep the shield pointing the same way, no matter what. Run!”

Other patrons had started moving as well. I noted the vehicle running the bar had quickly closed up and was pulling out of the tower. “What is it?” I asked as I quickly crossed the open floor of the tower. Other cloaked beings were running. The faction workers looked confused, while the vehicles were all quickly leaving.

“A serious fight, not the previous kiddie-previous kiddie-previous kidde-“ Bones suddenly began to repeat himself. The shield flared once brightly and then burnt out. Everything tilted. There was a massive rush of wind and screams.

“Get up! GET UP!” Bones was yelling at me as I struggled back onto my feet. Dark red clouds were rushing through the tower. “Technique!” I quickly activated my techniques to shield my body and reorient to the ground. There was a massive pressure change, and I was sent flying through the air, like I had just been kicked. I spun and landed on my feet.

“Run, slight right, keep running.” I saw the few faction workers left screaming as the red gas deformed their flesh horrifically. “Don’t look. It could have a visual attack vector. Keep running.” Looking past the columns on the outside of the tower, I saw everything tilting. I couldn’t keep track of the forces acting on me, I just made sure I kept running and attached to the tower.

One moment there was a quarter of a tower left to run across to reach the edge, the next moment, a large chunk of gray tower just broke away. I saw material and people spilling out from the inside floors. It wasn’t easy to see past the red gas, and it wasn’t pretty.

“Keep running towards the edge and then along it towards the edge of the tower. Don’t stop no matter what or fall into one of the floors. It is only going to get worse.”

“What is happening?” I didn’t bother to mumble as I ran.

“Shockwaves from a serious fight. I guess some people were losing the war or didn’t like what the other side had done. We just need to get out of here and on an intact tower before we are vaporized.” I raced along the edge of the break, and reached the portion of the level that was connected to the outside. I quickly crossed over.

I had to fight back an intense bout of nausea as the outside world was spinning around. Chunks of tower that I was on, along with the stuff from the floors was flying off into clouds of yellow and red gas. It had cleared up enough so I could see at a distance. I then caught sight of the damage and had a hard time processing it.

Multiple towers had been shattered, with debris flying everywhere. It was like a kid had punched through bunch of building blocks, creating a huge mess. Countless lives lost and equipment. “Keep running! Right half a turn. Get ready to jump and go straight when I tell you. Now!”

I leapt, flying through the air. I was spinning in weird directions and after a couple of seconds I slammed into the side of another tower. I clung to it as I got to my feet. Pieces of debris slammed into the area around me as I kept running. If this was the aftershocks of a serious fight, I didn’t want to see a serious fight.

“Around the side of this tower, and we should be clear of the worst of it.”

“Were you that strong?” I asked.

“Close enough. But the cultivators who did this are already fleeing or dead. That is why factions have proxy battles instead of getting involved themselves. Otherwise there would be nothing left,” Bones explained. I had known that, since he had told me before. But I only got it now. The sheer scale of destruction. I reached the corner of the tower I was on and went around. I then came to a stop and turned around to look back at the destruction. “Lay down and keep yourself attached to the tower.” Bones said. I quickly followed his instructions. There was a sudden displacement of air as all the gas was pushed away giving me a clear view of a massive square structure that had appeared around one of the broken towers. The outside was curved in a semi-circle, but the corners were sharp angles.

“A constructor golem.”

“Its massive, what is it doing?” I asked.

“Charging up and aligning with the tower it has surrounded. This is always fun to watch, but hard to see in person. They move quickly to fix severe damage in areas like this.” The massive golem began to slide down towards the broken part of the tower. Everything left behind was perfectly pristine and rebuilt from what I could tell. Thousands of broken levels replaced in under a minute.

“What about the debris?”

“It sucked it all up when it appeared. There won’t be anything inside the floors, and the faction that lost them will be quite unhappy. The party responsible will have to pay for all of it. The Heavenly Alliance has set rules about that kind of thing.” The constructor golem was so fast and then just disappeared after all the floors were replaced.

“How did it even appear and disappear around a tower?” I asked.

“It has special permissions to use the Astral Plane for transit inside the Forever City. Anything else doing that, is in for a very bad time. They are run by the Heavenly Alliance to keep the Forever City up and running. If you really screw up or mess with a constructor, then an administrator golem comes. If the fight lasted for more than a couple of attacks, then one would show up.”

All those people killed instantly without any warning. Just wiped out. “You sensed it?”

“I am quite sensitive to techniques. A good way to stay alive. But anyone fighting like that here, well they are desperate and dying.” It clicked then. This is where the powerful cultivators kept their manufacturing and nice things. They got upset if other people broke them and made a mess.

“At least the air is clear,” I said through my mask. “Couldn’t they do it all the time?”

“It is power intensive. The inner areas of the Forever City are kept clear. The core is the nice part, with the first ring being seen as middle class. The second ring is lower class. The remaining rings are considered trash areas used for production, buffer, and combat outlet. We should get moving to an open floor with vehicles for hire.”

I got up and began running along the outside of the tower. “The red gas?” I asked.

“Probably a cultivation type resource stored, manufactured, or processed in a nearby tower. Or it could be a wound remnants inflicted on a high level cultivator. Or a technique. The major issue was the shockwave, that was a decent punch.”

“A punch? I can’t imagine that kind of strength,” I muttered.

“It was a shockwave from the main attack. It had some interesting spatial, temporal, and vibrational properties. Well, just another day,” Bones said. It was not just another day. That kind of fight was immense, shattering towers from the shockwaves.

“But I didn’t see a clear trail of damage?” I asked.

“Some towers were better prepared to defend from others. The person in the tower we were at was clearly away or slacking. That is another duty of running a tower. Protecting it from shockwaves from stupid cultivators fighting where they shouldn’t. If you ever get that strong, then the proper procedure is to go outside the rings of the Forever City, to the top or bottom, or just somewhere else. You don’t make a mess the construction golems have to deal with,” Bones said.

“I am guessing the Heavenly Alliance, doesn’t like cleaning up,” I replied.

“The construction golems are expensive. The stuff on all those floors is expensive. If it isn’t the fight that will kill you, it is the faction ending bill you will get saddled with. Another reason why factions are careful about who they let join. If we joined the TripleX faction and then did that, then they would also be on the hook,” Bones explained.

“That’s why you are skeptical. That makes sense,” I replied.

“It would be great if this TripleX faction is on the level. But the risk is just too much. Still, they might be open to trading with us. And vet members more thoroughly with a track record.”

It took some time to reach an open floor with vehicles available for transit. Most of the nearby ones were completely empty. There was a strong avoidance of combat areas in the aftermath, in case there was a reoccurrence. The biggest risk was being around when the constructor golem appeared, sucking up everything that wasn’t inside a tower.

While it was incredibly rare, sometimes factions got desperate and went out in a blaze of glory, rather than paying the bill the Heavenly Alliance hit them with. Bones had explained that such a bill was despair inducing. Even with immortality, death was seen as the better option, since it was crushing. If a cultivator couldn’t pay, the Heavenly Alliance would use their body as collateral.

Those that couldn’t escape, often preferred to fight to the death. It was sheer stupidity to have large scale fights in the Forever City, but sometimes a cultivator lost all control over something, which sucked a faction into the chaos and crushing debt.

Note to self, never start a fight in the Forever City when I am super powerful. This place was insane. But that would be the same view of any kind of lifeform living in a city that wasn’t meant for them. For the elite and powerful, this was probably a great place to hang out with lots of opportunities. For us weak people, it an urban nightmare upscaled massively.

Getting a vehicle over to the far end of the Forever City was a nice way to travel. Even if it was brutally expensive it was incredibly quick. Arriving at the tower indicated, we went down to floor 19,891. Exiting on that floor was a tastefully decorated reception area with the symbol for the TripleX faction behind the receptionist. There were actual plants in the lobby and the lighting wasn’t dim.

“Greetings, and welcome to the outside welcoming point for the faction TripleX,” the receptionist was a younger looking woman.

“Hello, I was told to come here if I wanted to speak to someone about selling high value goods,” I said.

“Yes, you are in the correct place. However, you don’t appear to be recognized customer we have done business with before. Is this correct?” the receptionist asked.

“I have not done business with your faction before, but I was given this,” I held up a black metal card I was given with the faction logo on it.

“That is a customer card, you have purchased. Please hand it over.” I handed it over and the receptionist did something behind the counter. I wished that I was taller, but most likely she was just putting it in some kind of device.

“This is a blank faction customer card. You will not need to purchase one from us. And are entitled to trade in the lowest asset class,” the receptionist handed it back to me.

“Anyone can use this?” I held up the card.

“No. Your parameters have been recorded since you arrived. And will be checked against future uses of the card. While we try to stop theft, unless you wish to register your full identity, no guarantee is made. But handing off your card to someone else will void it.” So not as secure as the base credit card handed out on arrival.

“What are the asset classes?” I asked.

“The level you trade with us. The TripleX faction is an open faction. This means, we accept trades and membership applications from anyone. You are not considered a member and have no backing, but are considered a customer. Your asset class determines how much effort we put into protecting you, if other groups ask about you and the price we charge,” a completely mercenary faction then.

“I am guessing your faction handles a lot of questionable goods?” I asked.

“Indeed. If you sell over ten million credits worth of goods to us, your estimated net worth will increase to the second level. If you sell over a billion credits worth of goods to us, your estimated net worth will increase to the third and highest level.”

“You sell items as well?” I asked.

“For a fee. All transactions, either buying or selling, come with our standard service fee of 40%.” I wanted to spew blood out at that percentage. That was highway robbery. No wonder why they set this place up. “That also comes with our security guarantee. You will not be bothered, ambushed, or questioned on the providence of anything you sell. You will always be allowed to leave peacefully, since we hope for repeat business.”

At that kind of percentage, you better offer services like that. “That is insane. 40% is not possible. Ask if there is a lower percentage.” Bones told me.

“Is it possible to negotiate that percentage?” I asked and the receptionist shook her head.

“Unfortunately, no. There are a lot of expenses with handling high value questionable goods. The majority of those funds are used to ensure your safety while you are here.”

“But you will sell my information?” I asked.

“We won’t seek buyers. But if a faction comes to us and pays ten million credits for your asset class of one, then we will inform them if you have purchased anything or show up. They are basically buying out your future earning potential.” Basically, if I offended someone really important, they could pay to have me crushed but TripleX would squeeze them.

So, a very low risk versus investment. If I had stolen more valuable goods, then that might have happened. But I had low value goods. “So how does this work? I speak to someone else, and show them what I have?” I asked.

“We have appraisal rooms. You can lay out everything you want to sell. Once you are done, ring the bell and an appraiser will arrive. They will price your goods based on the highest trading price for those goods in the last 30 cycles based on our up to date market scans.”

“The highest price, not the lowest?” I asked.

“We don’t haggle in any way. An appraiser’s time is valuable. Would you like a room?” she asked.

“Yes. We won’t be able to sell anywhere else. Instead of killing us and robbing us for everything. They are basically taking a very large fraction to squeeze us for more in the future. My guess is that person who sold us that card is a sales agent. Probably have several scattered about feeding into this one black market trader.”

“I would like that, thank you,” I said.

“No problem. Please go to third room on your right down that hall. The doorway will be green.” I went down the hall. The two rooms I passed had red outlines on their door. The doors past mine were not lit up. I went inside to a fairly large room. There was nothing inside of it at all.

“No danger,” I looked around. There was a bell next to the doorway. The empty room was well lit at least.

“Of course not. The scam of this place, is the ease of use. They clearly don’t want trash like corpses of mods brought in. But high value stolen goods. This place is big enough to fit quite a bit of equipment. Let’s start getting everything out.”

I began unloading my stolen goods and fixing up the drive systems. It took a bit of time, but there was clearly no time limit on this place, but I wasn’t going to sleep here. They probably wouldn’t make a fuss if I stayed here a couple of days and rested as well. But if I didn’t sell stuff off for their insane fee, then a fuss would be made.

Better to not ask and just rest after unloading and fixing everything. Once I had rest, I got up and rang the bell and stepped away from the doorway. An old man with a clean-shaven face and wrinkles entered. He had a martial robe on.

“I am Han of the TripleX faction. I will be your assessor for this sale. Do you have any questions, concerns, or comments?” he asked.

“No,” I replied and he nodded.

“Good, I will begin inspecting your goods. I will have to touch them, will that be a problem?”

“No,” I replied. He seemed quite bored and reciting lines from memory. He walked over to a crystal bar and picked it up.

“High density, but not purposefully manufactured that way. So slight loss. Highest public sale price, 523 credits each. All of similar quality, no major deviations.” He set it back down and then walked over to the drive systems and began looking them over more carefully.

“Drive systems with reinstalled standard spatial components. Brand new, not refurbished either. No tampering. Low level overall quality. Highest public sale, 15,811 credits each. Total value of all goods 272,967 credits. Final sale price after fee applied, 163,780 credits. Do you accept?”

It hurt to say it, but I wasn’t going to get a better deal without a lot more risks. “I accept,” I said, and Han nodded.

“Credit card and TripleX card,” I handed both of them over. “Your credits are applied to your credit card. Your TripleX card will record this sale and indicate your value as a customer for us.” Also, a way to track people when they show up with new goods, since people could hide themselves or change identities. But that wasn’t a concern for me.

He handed them both back to me. “Do you have any questions?” he asked me.

“No,” I replied. While I had questions, this man clearly didn’t want to answer them and was strong. Better to keep things moving along.

“Then you may leave, this room is now off limits,” he said, and I quickly left through the door. I returned to the lobby and went up to the receptionist.

“Does it cost anything to get a price on specific goods?” I asked.

“If you purchase the goods, then no. If you do not reserve a purchase order, then yes. It is 100 credits per price inquiry,” she replied.

“And this list isn’t shared publicly?” I asked.

“Unless someone pays ten million credits based on your current asset class, then no. Do you have any inquiries you would like to make?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said and pulled out a list Bones had put togeather. It had items I had no clue what they were, but all of it was meant to get his body back.

“This is an extensive list and I count 72 distinct items listed. That will be 7,200 credits,” she said. I pulled out my credit card and she deducted that amount. Easy come, easy go, even if it was painful to see that much wealth go away to just get some answers.

“Please wait one moment while I make the inquiries. You may have a seat, this will only take a short amount of time,” she said. I took a seat.

“Hopefully they are cheap. But I suspect not,” Bones said.

“And you won’t need anything else?” I asked quietly, adjusting my mask to block out my speaking.

“No. Just a secluded area and a chunk of time. But that is easy enough to find once we have everything. I wasn’t hopeful, but if we can get everything from this place, even with a horrendous 40% markup it shouldn’t be that bad. I can get my body back, and you can be alone once more.”

“And my cultivation,” I replied.

“Even split. I still think your cultivation is going to cost way more. But that is just drinking energy potions. Those things are so universal it is insane. Whoever came up with the formula is making a mint,” Bones replied.

“But you think I need a specialist to make sure I don’t kill myself?” I asked.

“You will need something. This place seems focused on material goods, which suits my needs. I am putting my guess in at 1.2 million credits,” Bones said. Guessing at the final price the receptionist was going to come back with.

“Three million, including their markup. Some of those items you said were incredibly rare,” I replied.

“Some, but not that much. Unless prices have changed dramatically. They could have…hopefully not. There is no good way to recreate my body except with all those materials. It isn’t just the cost, but the harmonization with my Dao. As a body cultivator without a body, any new body will have to be compatible at the very least.”

That was the main requirement for Bones. Getting the right combination of stuff had taken him a long time to work out, and there was no good backup plan based on materials that he knew. Any other body restoration material combination would be much more expensive. While he wasn’t saying it, there would be a loss in power from his original strength.

He wasn’t happy about that, but he clearly hated not having a body more. Once he was up and moving again, then he could work out the issues in time. But the key step was actually getting a body. Nice thing about being immortal, you had a lot of time.

“Thank you for waiting, I have prepared a list of prices for each of the materials on this pad. They will be good for 30 cycles if you wish to purchase them,” I got up and faced the receptionist. She handed back the original list and the pad. “You may keep the pad.”

She returned to her desk, while my eyes scanned the list. I went to the very bottom. “FOUR POINT NINE MILLION! Robbery! Scammers!” That was 3.5 million credits without the factions markup. “Look at that, Refined Hyper Azure Blood, 180,000 credits. That should cost a tenth of the price.” The ranting by Bones continued for another couple of minutes.

“Done?” I asked him.

“Yes. This is a nightmare. Everything is more expensive than I thought it would be. But some of these prices, things have changed since my time,” Bones muttered. I still had no idea how long ago that was.

“Maybe inflation?” I asked.

“Perhaps. But most likely changing cultivation methods to those that are more cost efficient, thereby raising up the prices. Well let’s head to mid-tower and find a bazar. We can stock you up on high quality energy potions. Since it doesn’t look like I am going to get a new body any time soon. You will need increased strength and energy, if we are going to try and earn some more credits.”

I left the lobby back to the main staircase and started heading down. “We won’t run into problems?” I asked.

“We have credits for minor transit fees. While it will only be a small bit, increasing your strength will be important for surviving. We need to steal a lot more and take a lot more risks to raise this kind of amount. Also, you need to live long enough. This is going to take a while,” Bones muttered.

“It appears my cultivation is faster,” I replied in a cheeky tone.

“You say that, but getting to the next stage, is going to be a nightmare. You need a specialist and those aren’t cheap. Also the resources they are going to suggest, aren’t going to be cheap either. While your mentors might have thought you can cross the first bottleneck with some luck, there is a reason your cultivation method has never been done.”

“You just don’t know that reason,” I complained.

“Things are done a certain way for a reason. It is called the Forever City because if you stay here forever, you will eventually see anything possible. The fact I have never seen or heard of your kind of cultivation is a very bad sign.”

Chapter 67 – The Central Levels

I paid 1 credit to get a temporary pass for one cycle through the tower at the checkpoint on the main staircase. I had also noticed traffic was picking up. Despite being large the Forever City had always seemed quite empty for a super massive city. Several of the people weren’t wearing cloaks hiding their identities either.

“The middle levels are always the most populated and have high traffic. Anything under 5,000 would be considered the middle. Above or below that up to around 100,000 is mostly used for production. Down here are a wider range of places and where factions keep their core strength and valuables. Also where traffic moves through,” Bones explained.

“Don’t most people just live as mindless zombies?”

“A lot of the people running stuff try to do better, there are entertainment districts, and other facilities in the middle levels. Not as many as you would think, but the people running things there are of higher quality. The investment into them is around 500 to 1,000 credits instead of 100 credits. This is probably where Rhiza comes from.”

“So, classes of people, but there are no opportunities?”

“Nothing worthwhile. These levels are designed to suck credits out of your card, not put them in. We need millions upon millions of credits. For both of us. This isn’t the kind of thing you can earn just sitting around for a short period of time. Saving up that kind of wealth, in these middle levels is impossible. I might consider gambling, but such places are closely watched.”

“Which just leaves stealing from outer industrial levels,” I replied.

“Yes. Consumption of resources never ends. And to get high value goods, takes several processing steps, and very large equipment for a small percentage of improvement. Those drive systems we stole, how many levels of production and people do you think they took?” I considered that question carefully based on everything I knew.

“I would guess 10 levels and 5,000 people including support personnel,” I guessed.

“Close, but it is around 15 levels and 8,000 people. Automation is too expensive and prone to complicated sabotage. Humans are much more versatile. But my point is that, everything is like that. Layers upon layers of production facilities, feeding final products. The energy potion I want you to get, takes 50 levels and 35,000 people to produce.”

It was hard for me to mentally process the prices. A lot of things cost bits, fractions of a credit. But I was past that level of poverty now. Huge production facilities all feeding into a narrow range of people. Part of the problem was the scope and how packed everything was into the Forever City.

“If space is expensive, why not go out to a continent?” I ask.

“Risk and logistics. Everything feeds into the Forever City. There is the Heavenly Alliance. You start producing valuable energy potions in the trash heap you came from, then other factions will find out eventually and make a move. Even worse is there is very little protection from another super faction. It is about consolidation, social standards, and the defensive pact that keeps the Forever City humming along.”

I was asking all of these questions of Bones, since I wanted to start a business and earn passively. That was where the real money was. Set myself up like the TripleX faction and just have people come to me and earn money off of them, rather than risk my life.

The sheer wealth scale was also mind boggling. A credit was the equivalent of a rank 6 spirit stone in my mind. A 100,000 credits was more wealth than could be contemplated by sects back on the continent. But the issue was finding anything to spend it on. It would be like a billionaire going to a third world country, there just wouldn’t be anything of value and a small selection of the few items that were interesting. Then there was the issue of spending all of that money, since I had never heard of credits before coming to the Forever City.

The other suckers who had come with me out here were most likely all dead in some minor conflict. Even if they lived, they would be paid a handful of credits and not know any better. The factions wouldn’t explain all these things to them. Without Bones, it would be impossible to have gained an understanding of how this place worked and the unspoken rules.

I came to a stop on level 182, which contained an open market and tunnels to neighboring towers. Large regions tended to try and keep tunnels at the same level for ease of transportation between towers. It was a good sign that if tunnels were on the same level, factions were on good relations.

The entire floor was like a mall. Shops lined the wide hallways with signs and displays. There were several people without observation absorbers, and they were all powerful. I was definitely the weakest one around. “First thing is to get cleaned up. Otherwise we will be looked at like a scavenger.” Fitting in was key.

I stopped at a store with the name, Cleansing Spa And Outfitters. “It is a shared name. Certain sets of stores have agreed on standards to use the same name, with rules governing their operation. No one faction being the controlling interest in these things. Since they run the shops in their own tower. But creating familiar branding increases revenue.” I also mentally amended that statement, with the caveat that it was only some factions that did things like that. There would be other factions that saw value in having their own stores. Most likely these chains were supported in some way by the Heavenly Alliance.

We entered the store, and I removed my hood and mask since Bones told me to do so. “Welcome honored customer. How can we assist you today,” a young woman asked. She had a floral scent about her, a flower in her hair, and a flawless face that was the most beautiful I had ever seen. It took me small moment to compose myself.

“I have been traveling and require discretion. Cleaning for my equipment, and an outfit to make some minor purchases,” I said.

“Of course, of course. That is all easily handled honored customer. It would only cost 50 credits for discretion and another 50 credits for an outfit. Unless you wanted something heavily customized?”

“No, just the basics and discretion,” I said.

“Of course.” After that I was shown to a room and asked to removed everything. Bones said it was fine so I trusted him. After stripping down, attendants came in and hand washed me and cleaned my equipment where I could see them. I was then given a robe and a set of very nice martial robes were laid out for me.

I got changed into them, making sure to put back on all my key equipment, except my mask. “Down here, looking so young will be an advantage. You will be seen as important scion of a faction.”

“Not some old powerful cultivator?” I asked.

“Maybe. There are all types out there. But appearance is a choice once you are strong enough. I could speak for a long time about the subtle nuances in terms of how cultivators present themselves. Appearing as young as you do, is a clear statement you have powerful backers supporting you. With no faction patch and nice, but generic clothing, you will be seen as a young but important cultivator looking about, with hidden guards.”

That was incredibly complex in terms of working out the social nuances. I left the Cleansing Spa And Outfitters back onto the main concourse of the shopping level. There was no chain store that Bones saw for potions, so we stopped at the local store.

I began looking over the options that had been publicly laid out. An attendant was nearby. “Gravity is a close enough concept, and these energy potions are slightly aligned for gravity.”

“How much are these ones?” I pointed to the gravity type energy potions on display.

“Honored customer, those cost 2 credits per bottle. However there is the slightly more purified version for 10 credits per bottle, do you wish to inspect one?” the female asked me. She looked remarkably similar to the receptionist in the last store. Probably from the same vat line of humans created by the TripleX sect.

“Yes please,” I replied. They went to the back room. While there was no one directly watching me, Bones warned me not to steal anything in a place like this. The middle levels had security, very good security. Trying to steal anything wasn’t worth the risk compared to the reward for a theft.

The attendant brought out a slightly fancier bottle and handed it over to me. “Expensive, but worthwhile. There is a risk with long term use of the cheaper stuff to degrade your cultivation. The small bit you have consumed so far, isn’t a concern. But you want energy soaked in the essence of a Dao. While gravity is slightly different from force, it is close enough.”

I wasn’t happy about that, but it wasn’t a huge deal in my mind. I had only consumed a small amount of energy potions over the decades I had been working with Bones. We had to conserve credits in the past, now we were rich enough.

“Are there any discounts are larger orders?” I asked the attendant.

“It depends on the size of the order. How many were you considering purchasing?” the attendant asked.

“Ten thousand,” I said casually. There was a long stretch of silence. That was a very large order by an individual purchaser. While it would get some attention, this tower was owned by the TripleX faction. That was why Bones felt comfortable for me to make such a purchase.

That would be enough for 10,000 drops of energy divided across all my cores. It would be a good start, just 600,000 drops of energy to go after that. I was hoping I could arrange a discount.

“An additional 500 bottles at the same standard can be offered,” the attendant said. I quickly did the math. That was 9.524 credits per bottle. It wasn’t a huge discount, but it was a discount. Or I was getting a bonus of 5,000 credits which wasn’t a small amount.

“That is acceptable. How quickly can my order be prepared?” I asked.

“Just a short time. We would be happy to arrange a meal and a place to relax while your order is processed,” the attendant said. I nodded at this.

“Very well,” I replied. I was then asked to pay in full up front, and Bones said it was fine, so I went ahead and paid.

“They won’t try and scam you. Not in a place like this. With the way you are dressed and presented yourself. Not worth the risk that they might offend someone a lot more powerful that is behind you. Also, they are getting a decent number of credits in this deal.” The attendant called a similar looking woman who led me to a nearby restaurant. I noticed several other cultivators eating and was told my meal would be covered.

Looking through the menu, I had to puzzle out what a lot of things were on it. Even Bones had no idea. In the end, I went with cooked flank meat and assorted vegetables. The cost on the menu listed it as 10 credits, which was in the mid-range of prices.

The first thing I noticed was that the meal had energy inside the food. I carefully tried some and the meat practically melted in my mouth. The vegetables had a rich earthy flavor. The water served with my meal, was incredibly refreshing.

Partway through, a note was delivered indicating my order was ready for me to pick up at the store. It would be easy to get addicted to this, instead of my rations. “How was the food so good?” I asked Bones as I walked back.

“Very careful preparation. The cost was fairly high for a basic meal, but there are better. Customized meals, instead of potions, are very expensive. You would easily be looking at 20 credits for something easy to consume that is the same quality as the energy potions we are getting.”

“People can just eat their way to power? Did you?” I asked Bones.

“Yes. Actual food is a luxury. And it is about making the consumption of energy enjoyable. Your friend Rhiza had that drink, Courage. The real challenge is packaging in a Dao into the food without diluting it. Getting the right ingredients is a major challenge if you don’t have a cultivation base already prepared by a faction. For you, it is a nice treat. For actual factions, they can afford that and far more.”

The wealth gap was immense. “Where do factions make their money. I see business and it is kind of busy, but not immense enough to support the factions and how big their budget is,” I replied.

“Factions pay a lot out to their main members. Each faction tends to be a collection of powerful cultivators working togeather. As for business, there is a lot of churn at the lower end of things, but there are also specialty products. Like rare ingredients, that are shipped across the Forever City in bulk. Those people need places to rest and stop. And then factions want to keep things internalized as well. Most of these people are middle and upper managers.”

“Since you can’t go to other factions normally on a vacation,” I responded.

“Yes. Well you can, but it is a pointless risk. Each faction is a nation unto itself. That is why most factions are more than happy for outside visitors to come through these areas and squeeze them for all they are worth.” Bones clearly meant us. But we had the credits to spend at the moment.

“So, damage from the previous energy potions and these ones are better? Why not bring it up before?” I asked it was a minor betrayal, but still a betrayal.

“Damage was the wrong term to use. Sub-optimal would be the more technically correct term. It will provide a slightly stronger foundation when you get help. While it costs more, the total price will be close to the cost of materials for my body. When you try them, you will experience a difference. It will also make techniques related to Force easier to use,” Bones explained. He hadn’t steered me wrong so far.

“I am guessing you want to pay me back, by offering to help with my cultivation at the end of this?” I asked. We had spent enough time togeather I had worked out how his thoughts worked to some extent.

“Yes. I don’t wish to be in debt to you for a long time. Once I get my body back, I can easily arrange for a consultation and to address any issues at your first bottleneck from a specialist.”

“You have hidden wealth somewhere?” I asked.

“At my level, I can take on debts. I also have a track record of accomplishments to draw upon. This will allow me to get you some help and pay you back for your help, severing all karmic connections between us.”

“Even if this seems to be more in my favor?” I asked carefully.

“Karma isn’t something you have to worry about until you reach immortality. Kids do not owe their parents a debt and so on. I prefer our relationship lean towards you for that very reason.” That was a good explanation and matched everything else he had told me.

But I didn’t underestimate Bones. You don’t become an old cultivator by giving handouts. Thankfully the huge power gap worked in my favor for once. He wouldn’t mind investing a couple million credits to sort out my problems once I had gotten his body back. And even if he didn’t help me, I would have enough drops by then.

If he did make a move, I could attempt to break through right on the spot. The resulting explosion from attempting to cross into the next stage was sure to me incredibly large and dangerous. Even a threat to a cultivator like Bones. Trust was hard when one side held all the power.

He had never led me astray and made sure I stayed alive. The problem was, once he had a body, I would have no leverage on him. I didn’t need leverage, but I didn’t want to be killed. That was one reason why I had never really dug into his background. I had only generalities and no name to go by. I doubted the regular name he went by was Bones.

He clearly wanted to be done with me. If he left early that was fine. I just didn’t want him annoyed at me, once we parted ways.

“I can bet you are worried. Don’t be. I swear by my immortal soul, that I will not seek to harm or hinder you after you get me my body. We are getting closer than ever, and I won’t jeopardize that.”

“Trust is hard,” I replied.

“It is. To trust you to not trip and die is much harder for me than you. I have to resist screaming when things occur so you can focus.” I reached the shop.

“Welcome back honored customer. We have prepared a spatial ring for your convenience,” the attendant said. I carefully took it and put it on. Checking the contents was not hard. It was a very small compared to my mid sized ring, they had used up all the space.

“This is very generous of you,” I replied.

“The TripleX faction likes to encourage its customers to make bulk purchases here. A spatial ring, is a small price to pay for a good relationship,” the attendant said. I nodded at this.

“I will remember this and think well of your faction. Please convey my gratitude,” I replied and they bowed as I left.

“Cunning, but pointless. They were trying to indebt the faction backing you. Your clothes really paid off.”

“But wouldn’t they know?” I asked.

“They would know you are a scavenger. But by purchasing clothing and presenting yourself the way you did, they made you think you are a scion of a faction out on a lark to look around the Forever City and have a bit of an adventure. Regardless, it is to our advantage. Now we need to decide on our next move.”

“Find another battle and then go there to liberate some supplies?” I asked.

“Yes. We are going to head down to the lower floors. Conflicts tend to be mirrored across the middle, but there are subtle differences we can take advantage of. The biggest one is that no one will link us to the thefts if we go back to the battlefield. Or not easily.”

“Even if we hit the same faction?”

“Even then. Just have to avoid the same towers and we should be fine. After such a large explosion, the conflict will only heat up as desperation sets in. We can look at doing a major heist on the losing faction. Hopefully a couple million.”

“What? That much?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes. With the TripleX faction, we can unload a lot of valuable goods. That was the biggest concern before. And if a faction is losing, then they won’t have the resources to spare to come after us or investigate.” I nodded at this and trusted Bones.

I went up a couple of levels to an open floor and got a vehicle back out to the outer edge of the conflict area we were at before and the Pit Stop of Hell. Bones had figured out a way to track the location. A high level, but minor technique he could do to track places he had been.

The cost for returning was slightly cheaper than it had been to get a vehicle to TripleX. We were heading further out, but still crossing the Forever City. There had been color at the shops I had visited which was nice. I had to change in the vehicle, back to a dark cloak which hid my features dealing with other beings in dark cloaks.

I also tried a sip of an energy potion I had gotten. Bones insisted, I slowly began to sip it. There was some pain, but it was nowhere the level I thought it would be. The previous energy potions he had to dilute.

“The lack of pain is due to compatibility. You will feel bloated, but there is no difficulty of the energy entering your channels and being forced into your core. If you wanted to advance quickly, then there are boxes to place you in, similar to that coffin, but far less crude, where gallons of energy potions would be poured onto you.”

“You really did come from a super-rich family,” I half joked as the vehicle flew towards our destination.

“We were well off, but there are other people who have had better starts. Not many, but they are out there,” Bones explained to me, not giving any more clues about his past.

I sipped more of the potion. “I feel like my body is going to balloon up,” I complained.

“It won’t get easier. You are putting an insane amount of pressure on your cultivation. Anyone else at your level would explode. But with how sturdy your body and cultivation are, you will be fine. Keep drinking, since it loses potency,” Bones said. I sipped some more.

“I am guessing it takes time to settle, which is why you wanted me to start now?” I asked.

“Exactly. And putting you in a personal energy inducer would be even more expensive, if far quicker. This is the next best option that is affordable. At your current cultivation level, you need 610,000 drops. That means, on average two per day with how you measure time. Preferably three potions per day. That would last 10 cycles, more than enough time to get a lot more credits.” I sipped some more. I was halfway through and felt like I was about to pop.

“You sure? I feel like I am about to literally explode. I can feel my eyeballs pushing their way out of my skull,” I said.

“Yes. You can’t consume these potions while using a technique. I know it hurts, but you must keep going if you wish to cultivate. There is no other option, based on how much lifespan you have left. About 1,000 cycles, maybe some more with your age. But time is of the essence. I do not want to wait for you.” I took another longer sip and let out a groan.

“You sure there is nothing wrong? I feel like something is wrong?” I asked with a groan. My entire body felt like it was barely holding togeather. My cultivation felt strained as well.

“Yes. I can monitor your cultivation. If you explode, then you will take me with you, since I am latched on top of your cultivation network. And no, I don’t want or need these potions. But you need to get used to this feeling.” I finished off the potion. I felt energy pushing its way into my channels. Like my entire body was being squeezed through a juice compressor.

“Done,” I gasped out.

“Your absorption rate is decent, but not good. That is the problem with using something that is slightly off, but looking for a specific energy potion is too risky, and the costs would shoot up, since it would have to be ordered,” Bones explained.

“Any idea how long?” I asked.

“Not too long, but you must endure. Your physical body is just being stressed.”

“I might actually grow,” I muttered.

“That is a possibility. But even that isn’t that bad. You are small enough to afford quite a bit of growth at the moment,” Bones had a chuckle in his mental voice. He was clearly amused by my complaints. I just wasn’t used to the feeling, but I was managing to cope.

The value of these energy potions were immense. The Cloudy Moon Sect would kill for them. A lot of cultivators could be promoted and the strength of the sect would increase. Just from stealing from some factions in the Forever City. The sheer difference in scale was so immense. And then you had mortals. My heart clenched at that thought. I had left my family behind. I still had the picture my sister had given me.

Bones hadn’t commented about it. He understood it was a personal item. Countless people had sacrificed for me, and I would not betray their trust. I would endure no matter what and get stronger. I pulled out a second potion. “Am I good for another?”

“Yes. Sip away. Your body can handle it, even if it is uncomfortable.” I nodded and opened up the second bottle, taking a sip. I would push forward no matter what. I wasn’t going to stop due to being uncomfortable and a little pain.

“It seems unfair that people can just bypass entire stages with credits,” I muttered as I took another sip.

“It works quite well for the lower stages of cultivation. But it also helps that they have been thoroughly investigated. Choices are made based on resources more than anything else. If you do survive to reach the next stage of your cultivation, then your foundation, well, it will be immense. Even the cherished scions of the Heavenly Alliance, might look at you with a tiny bit of envy,” Bones explained.

“Really?” I sipped the energy potion. “That seems like a stretch with how powerful they are.”

“It is the uniqueness of your cultivation of combining so many paths into one. That suction vortex, is the most impressive. Cultivators gave up pieces of their cultivation to create such a thing. You have told me the story, but creating such a circumstance is not simple. Also the astral soul stabilizer has a lot of value.”

I took another sip. “Really? A piece of the Great Devourer? What exactly is that?” I asked out of curiosity.

“No idea. I probably know it by a different name though. The Astral Plane, is the layer between the Firmament and Chaos. A thin layer, that everyone wants to tap into. The stronger you are, the greater the risk. To go there and return, is something I would not risk.”

“Like the ancient being I met that opened a single eye?” I asked.

“Exactly like that. Such things are beyond dangerous. You do not live in the Astral Plane, if you value life, yours or others. A faction would waste tremendous resources trying to get anything from there. And using such an item? Your Sect Master probably learned his techniques here in the Forever City and ventured there under a contract.”

“They made it sound like they could go there and find a piece of the Great Devourer,” I challenged Bones and took another sip. I was glad for the conversation to distract me.

“Perhaps. But there are better and easier things to do across the Firmament.”

“We could go there and look for something to sell?” I suggested.

“No. My presence would be sensed. Observation absorbers would be of limited use. Also, do not underestimate the power of external forces protecting you. While Fate and Luck are concepts that have never been cultivated as far as I know, they do exist and cultivators have tried. They are real concepts.”

“If Karma is a thing, that isn’t surprising. Even with the Heavenly Alliance? No one could do it?”

“As far as I know, no. Time is incredibly risky along with Space. The more abstract a concept one takes as their Dao, the riskier things become. Force is a good choice to focus on and all its derivatives. Also resources are an issue in terms of compatibility. The more abstract a choice, the more aligned the energy needs to be for one’s cultivation. If one could grow Luck, would they grow anything else. Then there are issues of balance. If there is luck then there is unluck. If there is fate, there is unfate.”

“Which would be bad. But force would just have force?”

“Exactly. The pitfalls of more abstract cultivation become far worse the further you go. But the more powerful you would be.”

“Well, I can’t afford to make my cultivation any more complex,” I joked and sipped the energy potion. I squeezed my eyelids shut as I felt my eyes were going to pop out.

Chapter 68 – Cultivation Complications

“The pain is getting worse,” I mumbled as I sipped some more energy potion. I had been constantly taking them for the last 100 years or cycles as they called time around this place. I had accumulated 106,800 drops, divided equally between all 9 sub-divisions of cores, which meant 11,866.6 drops per core.

Each of my cores had quickly progressed through the stages of gas, liquid, and solid. Now they were putting out immense amounts of pressure on my cultivation system and body, while I was squeezed the other way from the energy potions. I needed to keep drinking them to get more drops, but the main in the center of my body was becoming much worse. Enough that it was distracting.

While my pain tolerance was high, this was enough, that it was a struggle to do techniques and keep up my robberies from war zones. Bones and I had already accumulated 2.4 million credits in total. Not counting the money spent on general supplies, everything was divided in half. I had spent a lot of my wealth on potions, while he was saving his credits up to replace his body.

“You need to get someone specialized to take a look.” That was not good. I had about 200,000 credits left of my share of 1.2 million. The rest had gone into energy potions.

“A faction specialist,” I said with a groan as pain laced through me.

“Yes. We have made inquiries, we just need to go sooner rather than later.” Thankfully Bones didn’t make an objection when we left the conflict area a bit sooner than planned. We would only get a couple hundred thousand credits from selling goods, but they had been adding up over the last century.

The hardest part was finding good targets and the longest part was waiting for an opportune moment to strike. While the Forever City was incredibly large, we couldn’t afford to get too greedy or just steal trash. Sometimes Bones would call off a heist due to the risk he perceived. I didn’t argue with him. While we were stealing pocket change from the factions, no one liked to be robbed.

I made my way to an open floor, and then paid a vehicle a couple thousand credits to take me to the first ring of the Forever City. I also changed my clothes. The TripleX faction had charged a fee for the information on an independent cultivation consultant. Normally their services were used by rich cultivators who wanted a second opinion for their child or a unique cultivation method. Or fixing mistakes by these rich scions.

When I got out of the vehicle, the sight was completely changed. The air was clear outside the tower, and the towers had symbols and decorations on the outside. It was like night and day to the other parts of the Forever City. “The first ring and core of the Forever City has always been quite nice. But also expensive. There are no stairs here. Well there are, but they are closed off. We will need to pay an attendant to transport us through the elevator shaft.”

I made my way over. “Floor 12,” I said to the attendant.

“Five hundred credits,” they calmly replied. I paid the fee without hesitation. This was just the first road block to visit a specialist. The faction that was protecting them, charged high visitations fees that would only be a minor annoyance to other cultivators in factions. It would also keep the riff raff out. I stepped on the platform with the attendant and I didn’t feel any force as it moved into the elevator shaft.

I could sense the forces acting on it, but I didn’t physically feel it as we transversed 781 levels in the span of a single breath. We reached floor 12 and I exited off the platform. There were several medical facilities lined up on this level of this tower.

While the TripleX faction didn’t control this tower, they were allied to the faction that did, along with being allied with several smaller but service-oriented factions. The idea being, to keep customers inside their alliance to generate as much profit as possible. Bones said it left them exposed, but they probably had a super stronger backer that was keeping quiet in order to have a wide ranging information network using other factions as proxies.

In the end it was all about who you knew. There was no internet that was searchable. The pad only gave major locations and local information that was updated. Over the years we had filled in swaths of the Forever City, but the total amount was probably less than 2%. The Forever City was just that big.

Another thing of the Forever City beyond my paygrade. The important thing was to visit a specialist. I entered a small shop labeled, Ten Thousands Paths One Destination. There was no attendant standing around which was not the norm for most places.

“Oh, a customer,” a middle aged man stepped out from a back room into the tiny lobby area. “Are you a customer?” they asked.

“Yes, honored senior. My name is Yuan and I require a consultation and discretion about my cultivation,” I said.

“I am Ming Jiei. Expert on unique cultivation methods. I will do a general assessment and then give the price for my advice. First thing, you will need to remove the observation absorbers so I can take a close look,” he said. I didn’t argue and put them away in my spatial rings. I saw a look of growing shock on his face.

“Who did this to you? And you are still alive? Three path cultivation. Four, no five, wait. Nine distinct core structures. I count 1,304 channels. Already over 100,000 drops. The pressure on your soul is immense. Force cultivation. A suction vortex. Body, soul, and mind base refinements,” Ming Jiei said as he pierced through my cultivation in seconds. This was why I needed all those observation absorbers.

“There has been an increasing amount of pain in my core area, or gut,” I said.

“I can see that. Well, a diagnosis will cost you 50,000 credits. That includes possible solutions,” Ming Jiei said.

“Will that include issues related to breaking through the bottleneck to the next stage?” I asked.

“That? I don’t even know where to start there. I need to think on that issue. But that is a separate issue with a separate price,” he said.

“Very well senior Ming Jiei,” I said and paid his fee. There was no point going to a top end specialist if you weren’t willing to pay out the credits for their advice.

“The problem is your physical body. It is not an adult’s body. But the pressure on it is not good either. That is the first problem. The best solution is to wait until you grow to an adult body and then continue cultivation,” Ming Jiei said.

“That would not leave me enough time to gather the drops of energy I need,” I replied and he tapped his clean shaven chin with his right hand as he continued to stare at me.

“The root of the first problem, is the impact on your body. Your soul is pushing against its physical constraints, and it will only get worse. Your physical body needs to get bigger. There is too much pressure and force being applied from multiple directions,” he explained.

“A channel system is not meant to take in energy from the body like you are doing. You are abusing energy potions. While cost effective, channels are meant to absorb energy from the outside, or at least yours are. If you wanted to go through direct absorption, then you need a pocket type structure instead of channels.”

“Pocket type structure?” I asked.

“Reinforced areas of your body to draw and transmit energy from your physical body into your core. Thankfully your cultivation is dense enough that you aren’t exploding. But you have about a century of accumulated stress. You have to stop all use of energy potions.”

“What about alternatives to waiting?” I asked.

“A chamber of some kind to absorb outside energy is the best bet. More expensive, but it is the best solution. More energy potions will only get worse, since your cores are pushing back on your channels. But your physical body is trying to push energy into your channels. That is why you are experiencing pain all over. If you keep using energy potions, your body will collapse in about four to seven decades. Which brings up the second major issue with your health and cultivation.”

“Soul instability. While your internal structure is incredibly strong. One of, if not the strongest internal structure I have seen, you have carved most of your soul out.”

“Isn’t a soul supposed to be carved out?” I asked.

“Yes, it is. One of the common problems I see, is soul instability from putting in too much. Your base refinements of the aspects of your cultivation had mitigated your death. But the remaining portions of your soul are experiencing stress cracks. There is just too much pressure, primarily from your cores.”

“They are solid, aren’t they?” I asked.

“You are going to try and ignite them? Increasing the pressure so much, that the solid energy collapses?” Ming Jiei asked me.

“Yes senior. That was the plan,” I replied.

“Your cores are sending minute vibrations out in your soul. The base material is developing very tiny stresses. With how far it appears you plan to go with your cultivation, this issue will quickly become unmanageable once your cores ignite. Instead of a solid core being compressed denser and denser, your cores will ignite, actively pushing back.”

“I was thinking I could use my Force cultivation to contain them better,” I replied.

“That would at best be a stop gap measure. For your second issue, it is complicated by the fact you have an energy vortex as part of your cultivation. There are three options. The first is strict regimen of medication designed to strengthen your soul. The cost would only be 1.5 million, but I have great belief in its effectiveness to stabilize your soul.” I nodded slowly at this. Expensive, but not terrible.

“The second option, would be modifications designed to absorb the vibrations output by your cores. They would always exist as a critical weakness, and while allowing you to get to the end of your current stage of cultivation, will create greater problems reaching the next. The cost is only about 100,000 credits.” That was not an option then, if they just made the bottleneck harder.

“The third option I have, is to pay for an external device. It would draw up the vibrations your cores are putting off. Only 10,000 credits, but it would need to be replaced every 50 to 100 cycles depending on the strength of your cores.” The cheapest option, but not really a solution. Bones was not giving advice since he was concealing himself from the cultivation specialist.

All this talk of pressure could also mean that Bones was part of the problem. “How would the medication work?” I asked.

“Soaking your body in soul strengthening potions for a cycle. They would seep into your body, and then your astral soul, preventing it from developing cracks. It isn’t a common procedure, and the expense is a big reason why most cultivators don’t go for something like that. It is permanent however.”

“And it won’t interfere with breaking through to the next stage?” I asked.

“No. In fact it would be useful. Hmm, there are several issues there as well. Two main issues there as well. But that is another 50,000 credits,” he said. It was robbery, but when you needed healing and advice, I couldn’t ask just anyone.

“Before that, let me make sure I understand senior Ming Jiei, the best options for my problems are to wait and use a chamber of some kind of absorb energy externally after I grow up, and to pay for expensive medication,” I replied.

“Yes. You are welcome to get a second opinion. There might be other options out there, but it is doubtful. As for the first issue, you can absorb energy externally without growing up. It would help mitigate the issues and allow you to absorb energy quicker, but it is not a requirement. The main thing is external absorption, not through potion consumption,” he explained.

“Any rush on needing the medication?” I asked.

“You need it before you take in more drops. So, solving the second problem first would be the best route. I give advice accumulated from my very long experience. If you want to ignore it, that is up to you, but your cultivation is a very big mess. While it has advantages, getting through the later stages will be a hassle,” Ming Jiei said. I hesitated for a moment before paying out another 50,000 credits for an explanation on the last two issues. At least the first two could be solved with credits.

That was the only redeeming feature about the Forever City in my opinion. If you had the wealth, you could solve almost any problem you were faced with by just throwing money at it. It would be obscene amounts of money, but you could still throw money at the problem.

“The first issue is surviving your core detonations. You will release your mind shell cores and detonate your soul cores to compress your body core. Your cultivation structure is well built, but the problem comes from the moment afterwards once you need to stabilize your cultivation,” Ming Jiei explained.

“For the Nascent Soul path you need to reform your soul in the void created. For the Nascent Body path you need to create a singularity to draw in energy. And for the Nascent Mind path you need to actualize on the Dao itself. This is compounded by the number of cores.” I had been following the explanations so far.

“The problem comes from doing that all at once. Managing one core is incredibly hard, nine is impossible. And they must all happen at the same time. What is even worse is that the paths conflict in different ways. Body will disrupt Soul which will disrupt Mind which will disrupt Body. Body draws in energy, while the Soul is about stability. Soul will focus on the self while Mind is focused on the Dao. Mind is an expansive focus, while Body is a singular focus,” that did not sound good.

“I can’t say how one would harmonize such an event. Since you have paid my fee, I will look into this issue for a couple of cycles. But see no path forward. Then there is the second issue. Cultivation at the later stages. The fifth stage is about bringing your base level up as far as you can go, regardless of the path. But the sixth stage, varies wildly, you know of this?” Ming Jiei asked.

“Yes. With Soul you create pillars to a Dao to draw in energy from the Astral Plane, which is why it is called Pillar Establishment. Body you have Conduit Establishment, with conduits to feed into your body core to keep drawing in energy. And for Mind you have Astral Core Establishment to create focal points for harmonizing with the Dao,” I explained.

“And the difference between pillars and conduits?” Ming Jiei asked.

“I am not entirely sure senior,” I replied. That was a question I had for a while.

“They will conflict with each other. Each path of cultivation is about drawing in and processing energy in order to turn that to one’s Dao. Each method will impact your existence in different ways that will conflict with each other. While these differences will decrease as your stage of cultivation increases, at the start those differences will be immense.” That was definitely not good.

“This will greatly slow down your fifth and sixth stages of cultivation. As for solutions, this isn’t something that comes up. Multi-path cultivation is rarely done successfully, and only by the factions for a reason. This is another issue I will have to look into a solution to. Give me at least ten cycles and I will have made some inquiries. I can tell you now that it won’t be cheap. The only question is how much,” Ming Jiei explained.

“Thank you senior. I will look into arranging the funds for the medication before I return,” I replied, and he nodded.

“It is up to you. But if you return, you will have my advice on these two aspects of your cultivation going forward since you have paid me.” Like a certain Elder Healer Song, Ming Jiei’s business model was based on repeat business. He might have an idea for a solution, but clearly wanted me to come back and pay for a treatment for my soul. It wasn’t a scam, since he would heal me, but it was incredibly expensive.

Before leaving I put back on all my equipment. I left his office and paid for an elevator back up to the open floor and then a vehicle to head back to the conflict zone that was our next target. The vehicles where the passenger section was separated from the driving section were the best in my opinion as I got changed and put on my mask and cloak. “Well, that explains a lot,” Bones said.

“Your presence isn’t causing a problem?” I asked.

“No. I am layered on top of your cultivation. Getting pulled into it would be bad for both of us. I have to apologize. I thought the energy potions were an effective solution to your cores based on your cultivation,” Bones apologized.

“It is fine, I thought the same thing, after you explained it to me,” I replied It was also due to the lack of his knowledge about my cultivation, since I had taken things to such extremes.

“Well I have some good news. While the specialist might be knowledgeable about cultivation techniques, he isn’t knowledgeable about other methods. Let’s start on the immediate issues. You need slightly more than half a million drops worth of energy. An ultra-high specialized energy chamber, will require about five cycles for the amount you need, which would cost fifty million credits.” I felt my heart freeze at that amount.

“That is way too much,” I replied. I might have to stick with potions.

“Thankfully you have me. Building such a chamber would cost a million credits, and then we fill it up with potions. All told, the price will be around 6 million more credits. Plus the 1.5 million credits for treatment, would bring the final cost of reaching the end of your cultivation stage to around 7.5 million.”

I had about 100,000 credits left, since I had already spent 1.1 million credits of my 1.2 million credits on energy potions and the consultation. Bones had his full 1.2 million credits in reserve for when he needed supplies to purchase the supplies for his body. The imbalance was rapidly growing between what each of us needed.

“High level factions have a trick they use to help individuals with the first bottleneck.” That meant Bones probably got the benefit of such a method. “A temporal compression chamber to stretch one moment into an eternity.”

“Can you make one, or could we rent one?” I asked.

“No and no. And a faction’s chamber wouldn’t work for your purposes, due to sheer power of your breakthrough, it will be massive. There won’t be a conventional way to bleed the effects off. There is a solution, but I am guessing that is why the specialist Ming Jiei didn’t mention it. It is a solution, but there are too many hurdles. He wants to present something he can implement and charge for.”

“He isn’t over charging?” I asked.

“Not much. I would guess only ten percent for the prices he listed as treatments. The kind of potions he is talking about usually is used to treat high level wounds for much stronger cultivators. That is why the price is high for you.” That made sense, but that still left the last issue.

“What about the issue of conflict between cultivation methods?” I asked.

“Hope he comes up with something. There are ways to work around such things, but your cultivation is too intertwined. Thankfully, we can count on pride working in our favor in this case. If he has no solution, it would look poorly on his abilities. For someone like that, he needs all the business he can get. Not having a solution is poor business,” Bones explained.

“We need a lot more credits,” I said heavily.

“The energy chamber can also be repurposed for my needs, or the other way around really. I need something much more durable to reconstitute my body. So, when I build it, you can have the first test run,” Bones said.

“Really? That would be amazing. That would lower my expenses by a million credits, putting me at a target of 6.5 million credits,” I worked out.

“It will be a good test run to work out any minor issues in containment. With you, it would just be some lost energy, which is a minor expense. With the ingredients I am using, including my bones, there is only one shot. I can’t afford anything to be leaking out,” Bones explained.

“That is a lot of credits we have left to steal, another 13 million,” I said since we were splitting credits earned evenly. We were earning at a good clip, but I hated stealing. I wanted a passive income, or a business. While I was running a criminal enterprise with two members, it was not a real business.

“Trust me. I would prefer credits to flow to us without complaint, but it is what it is. We don’t have the identity or backing to start a business of any kind. If you breakthrough, then you might be able to start something or negotiate with a faction to a degree. You won’t be able to steal anymore. You strength will not go unnoticed.”

“Can’t I just get better observation blockers?” I asked.

“Even with them, your astral soul is a single point. After you reach the next stage, it will no longer be a single point and have weight. While incredibly light, it will have weight, and can be detected. That is why we are able to get away with so much constantly. Even with high ranking cultivators looking for us, we blend in with the background. But if you have weight to your soul, well there is a chance to be noticed. Incredibly small chance, but a chance nonetheless, which makes stealing impractical,” Bones explained.

“So, I better stock up on credits while I can, is what you are saying. As for a temporal compression chamber, could we hire someone to make one?” I asked.

“Temporal techniques, from skills to crafting, are highly valued. The chamber my faction used was maintained by a cultivator from the Heavenly Alliance. You are talking about a handful of people with the skills to make such a thing. Then there is the issue of materials and power. But it has given me some ideas as to the breakthrough problem.”

“Other things that can alter my perception of time?” I asked.

“Exactly. But they each have their own risks and problems. The best option would be to break through in the Astral Plane itself. You would have unlimited time there, since your soul would be exposed.”

“I am sensing a big issue with this plan otherwise more people would do it. I am guessing it will be a beacon for anything that wants to eat me or consume me?” I asked.

“Yes. A beacon would be the perfect way to describe this. With your cultivation exposed like that, everything will come for you. No one would willingly protect you either from the threats out there. You could enter someplace important, and then break through. Then you would just have to escape from some incredibly pissed cultivators afterwards.”

“They wouldn’t be able to target me during my breakthrough?” I asked.

“Depends. It is just an idea, not even a good one. But I don’t see any other option, unless Ming Jiei has a massive breakthrough. It isn’t just slowing your perception, but the rate your cultivation collapses back togeather after detonating your cores. That’s why you can’t just drink a potion to slow your perception. You will only be able to act so fast. You need the entire process spread out as much as possible,” Bones explained, which clarified some confusion I was having.

“So, a place would be like the arrival station for the cylinder ships?” I asked, since they traveled through the Astral Plane from what Bones had told me.

“Precisely one of those locations. But you breakthrough in such a location, then you will piss off a lot of very powerful people. Getting away will not be simple or easy. There is a reason no one does it, even if it is one of the best solutions to this problem. There are things out there, that scare even me.”

So basically, not a good option. “You can’t section off a portion of the Astral Plane, like build a fortress?”

“Physical things attract attention and aren’t a real barrier. There is no real barrier to many of the threats out there. Many of them operate on completely different principles than either of us understand. Traveling through the Astral Plane has immense dangers. It is the layer between the Firmament upon which we stand, and Chaos.”

“And Chaos is bad?”

“In the sense of living. But it is more the environment. Good example are temporal effects. You have a cause and an effect. Even if something loops backwards, there is a cause and effect. But the further you go, you can eventually skip the cause. And when you have things that can manipulate such an outcome, it is very dangerous. Beyond dangerous.”

That didn’t make much sense. But my understanding of reality was clearly lacking. “Like being attacked and taking damage, but there is not attack?” I asked.

“Yes. Those kinds of things can enter the Astral Plane. There are memetic hazards which you experienced before.” Not thinking about those numbers. “And countless other threats. The further they move away from the layer of Chaos, the harder it becomes for them to do certain things and leaves them weak. That is why most of them don’t show up and kill everyone and everything. Hmmm, let me give you the example I was given when traveling.”

I listened closely. Bones didn’t often share stories of his adventures or background. He only liked to provide explanations of things that were immediate concerns. “There is something that propagates backwards through time through physic emanations formed by knowledge of this things existence.”

“Isn’t it dangerous to talk about then?” I asked worriedly.

“I don’t know its name and it stays unnamed. Just that once one being knows of it, it comes into existence, propagating backwards in time sending out physic emanations to propagate itself to other people backwards and forwards.”

“And how would that even work with time travel? Like going backwards, wouldn’t it change things, or are there multiple realities?” I ask.

“No multiple realities. But you are missing the point. There is only one singular point in time. But if this thing can possess you and propagate to you, then it will do so throughout your entire existence, killing you. But that is the level of threat that will come at you in the Astral Plane, or any other cultivator. Things that make no sense based on logic and progression.”

“So I can suddenly, just die, based on a mistake of my future self?” I asked.

“Temporal mechanics is complicated. The answer is both yes and no, depending on where you are. Right now, causality holds within the Forever City. But if you risk that, then you and a lot of people you know could be wiped out. Each situation is unique, when you break causality, or something else does.”

“Note to self, never go into the Astral Plane ever again,” I muttered.

“Many people don’t. The last time you went, you were weak and easily ignored. A breakthrough of your magnitude would be a disaster of epic proportions. You need to be aware of the dangers that can occur. Even if they make absolutely no sense, and are not easily explained.”

“This is all I can think about now. It is hurting my head.”

“That is why I didn’t bring this kind of thing up before. It is best to ignore rationality and put it all in one box that you won’t touch, until you reach that point. The threats on that level are the kind that would threaten the Forever City.”

“I have a million more questions,” I muttered.

“I don’t have answers unfortunately. I gave you the same warning and explanation I was given. Until you get much stronger, stronger than even me, dealing with things that break the foundations of reality is a very bad idea. Avoiding the Astral Plane and going lower, is a very good idea.”

“I will remember that. But couldn’t one go to a place like that, and get super powerful without having to do anything?” I asked and Bones began to laugh.

“I asked the same question. Is it possible yes. Will you get the outcome you want. No. Firmament topology is an incredibly advanced topic. It’s like the energy potions. Could you keep drinking them and somehow survive and become more powerful. Yes. But you will probably die horribly.”

“The only shortcut is credits. Well if you come up with any more ideas, let me know please?” I asked Bones.

“I will. But your situation does not have a simple resolution. If you do survive to immortality, then I shudder to think of how immense your foundation will be. And how many credits are spent in pursuit of that goal. I might even shed a tear at the immense cost you will incur.”

Well at least I had a path forward in the immediate future. Get lots and lots of credits. There was less of a time crunch with how well I had been doing. I wouldn’t slow down and had no plans to. But the main concern was surviving entering the next stage.

My cultivation was already incredibly complex, now there were just countless issues that were the result of that complexity that needed to be addressed. Before, I just needed to get some basic supplies and help, but now I was entering untrod ground. The fact that there was no readily available solution in the Forever City, with its massive size and length of existence was incredibly scary.

Chapter 69 – A Millenia Weighs Heavily

I was a thousand years old. It was kind of funny that no one cared but me. I had outlasted countless people, enemies, family, and friends. Time did not fly by. Each day was another exhausting day of planning out thefts and moving about the Forever City.

“You ever get tired?” I asked Bones as I sat at a table in our room drinking some pure water.

“You are more melancholy than normal since we are so close. Problem?” Bones asked me.

“Just thinking about how long I have been alive. Most of it has been in this hell, but it all just blurs togeather sometimes. You ever miss home?” I asked.

“No. What you are experiencing is living sickness. It happens to everyone eventually. You either learn to adapt, or you die,” Bones told me.

“Or waste away in silence,” I muttered.

“That too. I have lived far longer than this speck of time you have been in the Forever City. So have many other cultivators. I learned to deal with it, by focusing on myself. Since that was the only thing that was constant.”

I looked at the painting I had set up on the table that my sister had drawn so long ago. This place was terrible for me mentally. I had been here for far too long and it was depressing. I could understand how a native might not have a problem with the Forever City, but it was bleakness made manifest. Where everything that made life worth living was cut away for the naked pursuit of more power. The Forever City needed a park, or some place that didn’t feel like I was sinking into the abyss.

I definitely didn’t want to stay here long term. “Is there somewhere else I could go after the Forever City?” I asked Bones.

“For a cultivator who wants to cultivate up stages, no. This is the place to be at your strength. After your breakthrough, anywhere else would still be risky in the Firmament. You would not last long, even if you had a guide. To endure is to cultivate. After all this time, effort, and sacrifice, you are getting cold feet?”

“No, just wondering if there is anything more to life than this?” I asked.

“Life is what we make of it Yuan Zhou. Even its setbacks and successes in equal measure. Now is the moment of triumph. If anything you should be celebrating. We have everything we need for both your cultivation and my body,” he said.

“And still no plan for my breakthrough. Even after all this time, there is nothing,” I replied.

“You have hundreds of cycles left to find a solution. Perhaps you will grow a bit as well. I have heard you complain enough about your stature.” I glanced over at the coffin that held Bones’ bones. He had repurposed the coffin Aoyin gave me along with a bunch of other materials to reconstitute a physical body. Right now it was cooking and we were waiting for it to be done.

Once it was, Bones would change it over to energy use from potions. I would submerge myself in the liquid energy, and skip to the end of the fourth stage. It was just that easy. Almost too easy. But that was the scale of the Forever City.

What was an insurmountable problem in the past, could be solved with credits. We had also prepared clothes and a separate credit card for Bones to use once he had his body back. We had talked about our parting in the past and he would be leaving once he got his body back and was sure that I was absorbing energy safely.

He had offered many times for me to go first, but his body took about a month, while I would be submerged for three years. I knew he wanted to leave and go do his own thing. It was better to part on good terms. Also, I suspected he might try absorbing or using the energy from my cultivation submersion procedure. He had changed some of the items he needed when he made the final purchases.

I didn’t mind. It was just the natural instinct of a cultivator to maximize every situation if possible. I would have 1.4 million credits once this was over. Bones would be leaving with 2.1 million credits. Both sizable amounts.

Right now there was nothing to do but wait. Leaving the body unattended was not going to happen. Bones would not take that risk with his return. “I have been thinking about your breakthrough actually. There is something I can do to help you,” he said.

“Oh, now I am interested, what is it?” I asked.

“I have a contact I can reach out to and arrange a meeting with. They might, and it is a big might, be able to help you. If anyone can for a non-ruinous cost, it would be them.”

“And you didn’t bring this up before?” I asked calmly. I might have been annoyed in the past, but Bones liked to be very deliberate about what he shared and what he didn’t.

“They owe me a favor I am loathe to give up. But it is the best option. While your cultivation is regained, I will sort out my existence during those couple of cycles. Then escort you to my friend. Payment will be up to you,” Bones said.

“And that would make us even and you would leave after that?” I asked.

“Yes. While it has been fun Yuan Zhou, having my own body again is greatly preferable. I am sure you feel the same way,” Bones told me.

“Perhaps. Without your help, I would have never gotten so far. Thank you,” I honestly replied.

“Well, I didn’t think I would get my body back. My plan was a long shot. After getting poisoned, the odds of me coming back were astronomically small, but we have pulled it off.” We had. It had taken far too long, but we had. The most notorious small time thief in the Forever City.

“What will your friend what and who exactly are they?” I asked.

“Friend might be a bit much, acquaintance is better. They go by the title of Broker and trade in favors and tasks. Credits will be useless with them. I was hoping to use my favor I had banked up to get started on my comeback.”

“And it is just good enough for a meeting? That seems, off?” I replied.

“What you need is not small. And this entity is not to be trifled with. Any deal you make, is up to you. Death is preferable to failing,” Bones explained.

“Omnious. So in the Forever City?” I asked.

“The edge, somewhere. Once I get my body back, I can locate them while you absorb all the energy you need to. They are outside the purview of the Heavenly Alliance and possibly work for another super-organization. No idea which one, but that is not a question I am qualified to ask.” Bones rarely liked to downplay himself, and when he did he liked to make it clear he was no match for the organization or being in question.

“Then you have my thanks.” There was a soft chime. I finished my water and put the picture away. I then made my way to the smoking coffin. Thankfully we had gotten a high quality room with ventilation. I pushed open the lid and there was a female body, completely naked lying down in the coffin.

“A woman?” I asked in surprise. I thought Bones had been a guy.

“Yes. It is not my preference, but I plan to surprise my betrayers. Changing my appearance and body shape so drastically, will give the advantage in surprise for that one moment.”

“Well she, you, look good,” I replied. The body started breathing and I startled a bit.

“It is pathetic. A fraction of my true might and potential, but enough to house my soul once more. It is active, the compatibility appears strong enough as well to support me, even if just barely. Put your head onto its head, and relax,” Bones said. I did as he instructed, leaning over one edge of the coffin turned portable chamber.

“Ahhhhhh!” the woman took in a deep breath under me, and her eyes opened. “Bones?” I asked.

“Indeed,” a male voiced came from the woman who frowned. “Indeed. Indeed. There that is better,” she replied in a more feminine voice.

“I can lift my head?” I asked.

“One moment, I am making sure I didn’t leave anything behind. Nothing, you can lift your head,” she said. It was weird to hear Bones speak in such a light airy tone. I lifted my head and moved back. She slowly got up and gestured. A spatial ring flew onto her finger and she was instantly clothed.

Looking at her, I could see the pulse of energy through her quickly growing, but it still seemed quite weak. “Any issues?” I asked.

“Many. Far too many, but this will do for now. I am not completely crippled and can improve from here.” Bones turned towards me and then bowed fairly deep. “Thank you Yuan Zhou for returning me to a body.”

“Of course senior,” I replied and bowed back. We then straightened up and she looked at her hands and made a fist. She bunched her fist into her palm and frowned.

“My advice is to never lose your body. It is the foundation of what makes you, you. I have countless cycles ahead of me, working to get everything in order again.” She then closed her eyes and I had to squint as there was a sudden torrent of energy moving around her. I heard bones cracking, organs squishing, and then it finally stopped after a minute. “Ahh, that is better,” she said.

“You altered your body?” I asked. I couldn’t see any outwards difference, but her energy was flowing more vigorously now.

“Just adjusting the internals. The nice thing about a constructed body is its malleability. I am sure I will have to do that many more times as more issues come up. But first, you. Let us get this chamber switched over so you can cultivate to the end of your current stage,” she said and turned around. I walked over to watch her work adjusting runes and the energy flowing through the coffin.

“Should I still call you Bones?” I asked.

“It is fine. For we are closer than family. To have trust is a rare and valuable thing. One would say the most valuable thing one can have. My old friends and family are gone. Now it is time to focus on recovery and then revenge. Perhaps in the future we shall meet if fate ordains our paths cross again. But it is doubtful. And done. Containment is more than sufficient if it was good enough for me,” Bones said. She got up and then went to the nearby table and picked up a pad. She put her hand on it and then handed it to me.

I looked at the pad and there were instructions to go to a specific location in the seventh ring and floor 222,222. “Lots of twos,” I said.

“It amuses the Broker. Go there and you will meet an intermediary. Present this token to gain access and to make a deal,” Bones said and put down a coin that was a metallic white. I picked it up, it was incredibly heavy and the energy inside of it was immense.

“Where did you get this?” I asked.

“When you are at my level of cultivation, you don’t need spatial rings for everything. Regardless, that is for you Yuan Zhou as payment for helping me.”

“So, you won’t be here when I come out?” I asked.

“I might, but most likely not. I have my own path and so do you,” she said.

“One last question, how strong are you? Like what stage? I know you said I am a one, to an immortals two, to your three,” I replied and she smiled.

“That really is your last question?” she asked.

“I considered asking about your past, but you clearly want to keep that secret,” I replied. The fact she wasn’t even wearing the same face or body type was a clear indication of that.

“A three little cultivator, a three,” and then she just disappeared with a pop of air. For a brief moment I saw the Astral Plane behind her. She just left through the Astral Plane. It took me a moment to process that Bones really was gone and doing such a thing clearly showed she had power.

“I swear, if I ever make it to the top, I am going to get better labels and measurement systems in place,” I muttered in complaint. Well it was all on me now. I set up the huge tank of energy potions and hooked it up to the portable chamber. I had enough experience with cultivator scripts over the centuries by watching Bones that I understood what she had been doing. She just disabled the body shaping aspect that had been ingrained into the device. That was still weirding me out, that she was now a woman.

I understood going all in on a plan for revenge, but that felt like a bit much. Still, she was super powerful and could do what she wanted to do. I took off my clothes and entered the coffin. While it should be technically called a portable chamber, it was coffin shaped and had a coffin lid. I put on a tiny mask over my mouth and nose so I could breathe.

Liquid flooded the coffin and I felt the pressure of energy outside of my body. I was quickly covered and began to absorb the energy through my channels. It had been a long time since I had improved my cultivation. While I had the very rare sip of an energy potion to keep my channels full for techniques, I was never improving, just gathering credits to buy resources to make the leap all at once.

It was disappointing that Bones had left right away, but I would have gone insane if I had to depend on another person to get my body back. While we worked well togeather, I could tell that he, no she, was frustrated by my limitations. It was a slow grind to the needed number of credits, but we had done it with time to spare at least.

Bones left me with a path forward. Unfortunately, even the specialist Ming Jiei had struggled with the issue regarding the bottleneck. I had paid for my soul to be healed, but he had no good solution about my breakthrough. He had suggested a faction might be willing to use a temporal chamber for fifty million credits.

That was never going to happen and was completely out of my price range. I had been prepared to accept the fate that befell my first master and stop. I didn’t know where I would live out the remainder of my life if I made such a choice, just not the Forever City. I could still return to the continent any time. But there was nothing left there for me.

While Bones might be focused on revenge, to me it was pointless. Aoyin and his demonic sect seemed so small and petty now. While I had been wronged, it wasn’t worth going after him. I could go back and help the Cloudy Moon Sect. I owed them a huge debt. Too bad there were no shipment services, otherwise I could have spent a thousand credits to send some valuable cultivation resources back.

It was funny that I was using Aoyin for my advantage. I guess the best revenge was a life well lived. I could only hope he was dead. It would be hilarious if he came to the Forever City to try and find me. But he was probably here before and left. Or maybe he didn’t want to take the risk. Without a guide like Bones I would have died countless times.

But Bones had left a path forward for me. I could go see this broker. It would be dangerous. That high up in one of the outer rings, was very risky. I had never gone past floor 100,000 in any of the towers. The risk was just too high in Bones’ opinion. Now I was on my own. The training wheels were off.

Energy continued to rush into me as I thought over what I should do. Having a path forward gave me new hope, keeping the depression at bay. As long as I could move forward, everything would be fine. Once I reached immortality then I could have a long breakdown. The will to keep going was not simple. Each time I thought I had the mental maturity to endure, time wore me down.

The pressure on my cores built up, but there was no pain thankfully. The cracks had been fixed and I wasn’t absorbing energy through my physical body, but through my channels like my cultivation plan was designed for.

The pressure continued to build up as the solid cores were compressed more and more. The durability of my body was immense. Then I felt the first ignition as my cores quickly transitioned from a solid to a plasma one by one. There was no logical explanation why energy in cores followed the states of matter. I had even asked Bones, but she had just shrugged at that. Her lack of knowledge in some areas was really confusing sometimes.

The ignition, made my body tremble, and I had to focus to keep drawing in more energy. I also activated the technique I had been working on, to use the energy of my cores to contain itself with force barriers. The pressure continued to build as I took in more and more energy. Without creating these barriers, the risk of damage to my cultivation was too high.

I would have to slowly reduce them once I was done taking in energy. Soon the pull of sleep began to come to me. I slowed down the pull of energy to a trickle through my channels and ensured my technique was stable. I then drifted off to sleep. I woke up in a little bit of a panic and started drawing in energy once more.

This process would take three years. I had six tanks worth of energy potion to get through. Once one was done, I would exit the coffin, eat, drink, and then hook up a new tank and get back in. While I had a lot of channels, they could only take in energy so quickly. The fact that I could get half a million drops of energy inside of me in three years was what was really impressive.

There would be a small bit of wastage at the end, but Bones had done the calculations and worked out what I needed with a small margin of error. While I had a decent number of credits to my name, I didn’t want to waste them. I didn’t feel bloated, but full as I took in more and more energy.

It was insane that I was using up enough energy that existed on the entire continent, or close enough that the comparison wasn’t far off. I really was a pig, consuming resources like I was. But the Forever City had resources to spare, if you had the credits.

Once I was past the first bottleneck, I vowed to get back onto the path of business. Also, I wouldn’t be able to get away with stealing with my slightly increased strength. It was possible, but the risk was slightly higher. I would get caught eventually.

No, I wanted to actually run a business and after spending so long in this hell, I had gotten a very good sense of what this city needed. I just needed to break through the bottleneck so I had the strength to see my dreams through. Bones thought my idea, while good, was doomed to fail. I wasn’t so pessimistic.

The trick was to give ongoing value, while not being worth the trouble to get rid of, nor valuable enough that other factions wanted to get rid of me. It was a very narrow tightrope, but I had hope that I could walk it once I got past the hurdle of my cultivation. As much as I wished to focus on business, I had to deal with my cultivation issues first and foremost.

As I drew in more energy, the outer mind shell cores filled up first. I stopped drawing in energy from those channels. I had years of practice controlling my channels. If this was centuries ago when I had first come to the Forever City, this would have been impossible, but now, it was simply a matter of intense focus.

I could focus for days at a time, or even weeks. Stealing stuff was a risky business where one needed to be able to move at a moment’s notice. Without Bones’ ability to sense at a very far distance, I would never have been able to get away with so much larceny. Crime didn’t pay, only if you were weak or were caught.

If you could get away with it like I had, it was a viable method to survive and gain credits in the Forever City. There was always a need for credits. Any problem, could be fixed or solved with enough credits. I had tried asking economic questions of Bones, but they went over her head. Was there a set limit of credits in circulation or did the Heavenly Alliance manage the supply?

That high level information, there was no answer for. I just had to be content with what I could observe and pick up during my thievery. While I knew there was a lot Bones wasn’t telling me, I felt like I had picked her mind clean on almost everything about the Forever City. And none of that changed my mind about how depressing this place was.

I guess if I was one of the elites it wouldn’t be so bad. But living out in the slums and heavy manufacturing area most of the time was mentally and emotionally draining. At least thing were changing now, and I wasn’t going to keep doing the same thing over and over again, or at least for a while if I could help it. Cultivation, then business, even if it killed me. I was going to get my passive income. No fighting, or stressful adventures once I got past this bottleneck.

My body core filled up, and now it was just my four main cores that I was drawing in energy for. The force barriers inside my filled up cores were slowly be reduced in strength as my channels settled, my body adapted, and my cultivation became less turbulent inside my cores.

Getting back into the coffin for the fifth and last time, I was filled with rising hope that I would not be stuck in a rut. Like I had been. That vow felt feeble when I realized I promised myself to not lock myself up in a dark chamber after the nightmare of the third stage of my cultivation.

At least it was only a couple of years. If this had to go past a decade, I would have screamed. It made me regret not coming out here at the start of my third stage, but Bones had told me, I would have died without techniques to shield me from the environment. So, it all worked out in the end.

As I got closer to absorbing the last drops of energy, the pressure on my cultivation was large, but it was holding togeather. The special channels were doing their job along with the icosahedron multi-layered core structure to keep everything togeather. If I was poked, I was scared about the amount of energy I would release. I felt it would be a large explosion. No wonder why Bones had said I couldn’t breakthrough in any random location, due to the risk my breakthrough presented.

Such an occurrence would shatter the tower I was in and possibly the nearby towers to some extent without proper preparations. I could feel the immense amount of energy contained within me. The rich kids in the Forever City really had it easy if their parents paid for everything. But seeing Bones, that help came with strings attached.

Not having a faction backing me was a weakness, but also a strength in many ways. I was not beholden to anyone but myself. Now that Bones had left, there was no one else to worry about. It felt lonely and freeing at the same time.

I counted down the drops as they entered my soul cores. I had a very good sense of the density of energy within me after spending all this time absorbing energy and using it. I pushed off the lid of the coffin, sitting up. The energy fluid left behind was mostly drained. There was some left, but I didn’t need it anymore.

Pulling off my mask, I took a deep breath. I felt stronger and more powerful than ever before. I almost felt weightless to a large extent. Exerting a force technique to leverage me to an upright position was easier than ever before, consuming a smaller fraction of energy than it would have before this cultivation session.

I could almost see and sense the forces acting upon everything in the room. From the table, coffin, and tank pushing down on the floor, to the floor pushing back up on them. To the currents of air that circulated within the room from a vent. There was a mental clarity that was hitting me in terms of understanding all the forces acting upon each other.

When I looked down at my own arm. Beyond sensing my cultivation, I could feel the forces acting on me. My blood, my cells, and my bones. I focused a bit more, but I couldn’t sense the forces of my cultivation, only some vague aftereffects. I couldn’t sense the force of my thoughts and actions. The more esoteric meanings of force were still beyond me.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my entire body ripple with force acting upon it. Even with how much stronger I felt right now, that meant nothing. I would not let hubris consume after coming so far. I got out of the coffin and used the shower in the room. It had been paid for, for quite a while. For ten cycles at 500 credits per cycle. But it came with fresh air, and pure running water.

While I would be checking out early, that was fine. It was important to have peace of mind while everything had been done in here. I went into the shower and cleaned myself off of the remaining fluid that left behind a sticky blue residue. I stayed under the shower for quite a while.

Once I was done, I put on a clean martial robe I had prepared for this occasion and pulled out a meal. I enjoyed eating the meal I had saved up for this point. I had eaten during my breaks, but that was a quick thing so I could go back to cultivating. Now that I was done, I was going to relax and mentally recover. I had done the impossible. I had made it the end of the fourth stage of cultivation.

It was surreal how so many people had doubted me. But we were all frogs in a well, country bumpkins, with no idea about the true scope of cultivation society and the Firmament. My thoughts drifted to my reincarnation, the one thing I had never shared with Bones. She had never brought it up either, so I could only assume she didn’t know. I didn’t even hint about it with a question.

Also, I thought of this life as my life. Compared to my time on Earth, I had spent far more time cultivating and in the Forever City than anywhere else. After finishing my meal, I slowly got up and stretched, feeling my body effortlessly move and sensing the forces acting upon me. It was tempting to use some stronger techniques Bones had taught me over the years, but I resisted. It would not due to draw attention to myself here.

It was easy to think that I was the center of everything, and not a mere speck. While I had superhuman abilities before, I fully felt superhuman at this very moment. I went to my bed, it was mine, since the room didn’t come with one. I slept for a long time.

When I woke up, I was surprised five days had passed, but felt much better. Sleeping inside a fluid filled coffin for years was not a good way to rest. My head felt clearer than ever before. The only thing that was missing was Bones’ presence. I let out a small sigh at that.

It was time to move on, and go to this Broker. Perhaps they would have a solution for my breakthrough issue. The future cultivation issue was something that was still up in the air. Even Ming Jiei had no suggestion there, since my cultivation was unique. What came after my breakthrough would determine if I could advance forward anymore. It was very possible to breakthrough and while surviving and reaching the fifth stage, being unable to cultivate any further.

Regardless I would push forward. I pulled out the white metallic coin. It was smooth, no ridges, or iconography. But there was energy inside of it. It was the densest source of energy besides a cultivator I had ever seen. Time to see if Bones’ last gift would allow me to move forward or not.

Chapter 70 – The Broker

I carefully moved up the outside of the tower. There were chunks missing. Larger chunks the further I got up. The spatial turbulence and the clouds of yellow death also increased as I went up the tower to where the broker resided. I checked my improved compass, confirming which level I was at.

Past floor 100,000 the inside of the tower quickly became a mess, and there were a lot more questionable characters. That was why I went outside to climb up instead. Experience I had picked up from Bones over the centuries.

Once I got past floor 150,000 I could see cracks in the gray material that made up the tower. I had to carefully navigate my way up as I continued to ascend towards my destination. At around floor 200,000 I ran into the first gaps. It wasn’t just missing chunks, but much larger portions that were missing. I also sensed several strong presences that weren’t concealing themselves in the area as well.

My progress slowed to a crawl. I finally reached floor, 222,222 and the entire floor was intact. I found an open floor on 222,225 and made my way to the staircase. There was some minor trash scattered about and a couple of cloaked beings just resting in various areas on this floor. I reached the main staircase and descended three floors. No one stopped me or challenged me. I got off on floor 222,222 after confirming the location I had been given.

The entire floor was pitch black, the only light coming from the flickering illumination from the staircase. My eyes couldn’t see through anything. I pulled out the coin I was given. “I was told I could speak to the Broker with this and negotiate?” I said out loud.

“A token of my favor. No harm shall befall you, since you have arrived with such a thing. I swear this upon my existence. Close the door behind you. You are letting in a draft,” the voice was like nails on a chalk board. Pressing down on my mind. I closed the door and was stuck in pitch dark.

“Greetings senior, a friend gave me this token to come to you. I am looking to break through to the next stage of cultivation, but the biggest issue is that I need time to manage my break through and the sheer size,” I said.

“I see. An intriguing problem and I am the seller of solutions. For that is why I am called the Broker. Bringing some small semblance of order to the chaos of the Firmament.” I felt my eyes begin to water from listening to this being.

“I was offered a couple of solutions, but none of them were practical. What do you suggest senior?” I asked.

“I might be senior to you, but I require no respect. For I only work in the currency of deals. Your problem is not simple. But no one comes to me with simple problems. Now that would be amusing. It is the impossible you want. For your cultivation breaks the rules,” the Broker said.

“I am curious what you mean, but isn’t the knowledge valuable? Will I have to trade for it?” I asked.

“Not at all. Consider it the sales pitch for the solution I will soon present and the cost of the solution. Based on your question, you clearly know nothing about cultivation tied to the Forever City. There are other cultivation societies out there, the Firmament is infinite after all. But what matters in your situation, is that your cultivation exceeds the boundaries put in place by the masters of this place,” the Broker said.

“I don’t feel like there are boundaries. Or do you mean the cultivation system as a whole?” I asked.

“Indeed. All cultivation is merely a construct of lesser beings, trying to become greater beings. Some cultivation systems are narrow, but they struggle with compatibility beyond their creator. Other cultivation systems are too broad and cannot progress. You have gone outside the bounds of your cultivation system,” the Broker said.

“But there were others who walked this path and there were possible solutions to my cultivation issues,” I said.

“A road shared does not mean it won’t diverge. You cannot cultivate the later stages of your cultivation system. Anyone who claims otherwise is ignorant and lacks true understanding of what cultivation is. Multiple paths cannot cultivate beyond the point where you now stand. Even if you survive a breakthrough, you will hit a dead end,” the Broker said.

“So, you know, but other people are wrong?” I asked.

“They have no idea how you will cultivate the later stages, do they? They might say things, offer advice. But they have no idea. Since there is no way forward.” That was a severe mental blow, but I remained firm. I had made it this far and this being that I couldn’t see was clearly going to try and sell me a solution.

“And you have an answer?” I asked.

“Many answers. The easiest one is to submit before a higher power. They would lift you up. Or to get modifications to adjust your physical state. Or you could have your cultivation erased and start over. Or you could do countless other things. But that is not what you want. You want to advance on your own and retain the power you have cultivated, is that correct?”

“Yes. After all this work, I don’t want to go backwards,” I replied.

“A cultivator answer and expected. A new system of cultivation will need to created. One that unifies all of that inside of you. That is what you must achieve during your breakthrough. Not three separate cultivations, but a single cultivation, a single path,” the Broker said.

“And how would that work, where would I start?” I asked.

“And now we come to the part of the conversation, where we shall make a deal with each other. I have in my possession, the Book of the First Dao. It was written by an ancient cultivator, describing his path. I suspect it would give you powerful insights on how to advance. I could allow you to read it. As for your breakthrough, once you are ready, I can arrange for a location and a temporal chamber of significant power as well. Three significant favors.”

“And this coin won’t pay for them?” I asked.

“It could pay for one, but its value for visiting me is immense. For it guarantees you will safely leave. If you wish to use it on your final request, that can be arranged,” the Broker said.

“And how are you asking me to pay for the rest of what you are offering?” I asked.

“I do not allow beings to owe me favors. For they disappear and never return. I have long since learned the futility of collecting on unpaid debts. That is why the favors must be completed first. Here are three tasks, you may replace one with that coin you possess.” I listened intently to what was being said, even if each and every word this being spoke was like a knife to the head.

“The Black Lotus of Eternity. Guarded in one of the central gardens of the Forever City at its core. I desire one. The age does not matter. An energy filter. There is one built into the very foundation of cultivation continent protected by the cultivators managing them. It must be working, some minor damage is fine. The final thing you could get me, is a single cannister of gray fluidic matter. Such a thing can be found under the control of a replicating super-organization, which they will not easily part with and it cannot be stolen.”

All of those things were utterly impossible. I had done fetch quests before, and I knew when it was utterly insane. The first item, The Black Lotus of Eternity was located in the core of the Forever City. That area was heavily guarded and watched.

While I might be able to maneuver through it with enough credits, I wasn’t going to be able to steal a priceless flower and get away with it. While I had stolen from the outer towers before, that was like stealing from an industrial sector of a city with warehouses that were rarely patrolled.

Stealing from the core of the Forever City would be like breaking into an incredibly secure bank vault, with guards, cameras, and other forms of active surveillance. It just wasn’t possible. There was even a chance that asking about such a thing, would lead to negative attention on myself. I made it in the Forever City by staying below the gaze of important people. This would be going up and poking them in the eye and hoping they don’t crush me with a glance.

The second item while better, was equally as impossible but for different reasons. I had talked with Bones about the continents and my home. They had ambient energy from energy filters that drew up energy and dispersed it for general use. That was where motes of Qi came from, since they were clumps that were released.

Different continents might have slightly different filters to be optimized for different styles of cultivation. But the filter itself was the beating heart that kept everything running. But even that wasn’t the problem. The problem was size. The thing was at least the size of a small town. At least the central part. And they only got bigger. They also used spatial components which couldn’t be put into spatial rings.

Trying to get one back would be a hundred times harder than the heist itself. That was if the cultivators guarding it didn’t instantly murder me. If the filter was destroyed, the energy gathering efforts on a continent would stagnate and people would be in serious trouble. It was one of the few critical points of infrastructure that would be targeted by hostile cultivators looking to take over.

That left item number three. Trading with another super-organization. The first issue was that I didn’t have the qualifications to even speak directly to a super-organization. But lets say that I found a sub-faction, I didn’t have anything of value to trade for what was clearly something incredibly valuable.

“All three are impossible for me,” I replied.

“You have things that you value, I have things that I value.” That was the problem with being weak. I just wasn’t qualified to make deals with more powerful beings. I just didn’t have anything they might want. I looked at the coin in my hand.

“I will trade the coin, after I have been given time to read the book and consult with you on it,” I said. Whatever Bones did in the past was clearly a massive hassle to get this coin. No wonder why she kept it even after losing her body.

“Very well,” the Broker said, and a single light shown down onto a table just off to my side with an old worn book on it. There were two thin wooden sticks next to it. “It is beyond valuable. Do not touch it. Use only the wooden sticks provided to turn the pages.”

“I understand,” I replied and went over. I picked up the wooden sticks, one in each hand and opened the cover. I then began reading as the words were translated for me by my equipment.

There is no beginning or end, only the Dao that one walks across the primordial turmoil of the Firmament. While others might say that all cultivation has a beginning, souls exist in eternity. Rising out of chaos and sinking back down to start once more in the cycle of reincarnation.

I record these thoughts so that others may experience the same enlightenment that I did while considering the immortal nature of one’s very soul as I searched for understanding. The balance of conflicting energies. The immaterial and the material. The ying and the yang. This balance is key to all things that wish to exist and not be dragged down.

The first step of cultivation is to gain an understanding of one’s soul. Without an understanding, only conflict and inner turmoil will result. To understand every facet and to shape it in the image of yourself. Only then will your will be immutable and take the first step on the path of the Dao.

The second step of cultivation is to step onto the path of the Dao while maintaining one’s soul. To deviate from that path is to deviate from the Dao. For understanding begets understanding. It is not enough to merely wish or think, but one must understand the facets of the path they walk. A gem where every face is cut and polished to reveal its true potential.

The third step of cultivation is bring forth this understanding in the world around you. Not through imposition of will. But through one’s Dao. To harmonize with existence itself and to bring this understanding to completion.

Beyond this, there is only achieving a greater understanding and honing that understanding to flawless perfection. For that is the path of cultivation, of balance, of ying and yang. Where one transcends the physical, and then eventually comes back to it on their path of enlightenment.

Thoughts On Dao Of Cultivation

Each page had sprawling symbology and characters as I slowly went through it. After reading it once, I went back and read everything again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. “I am in the first step, about to enter the second step?” I asked.

“Indeed. The stages that cultivators use are but merely smaller portions of the greater whole that have been designed for convenience while cultivating,” the Broker answered.

“How did the first cultivators cultivate? There weren’t motes and while this place is called the Forever City, it had to start at one time,” I said.

“Indeed, which is why this book is so valuable. It is one of a handful of objects that is dated to before the Forever City was first created.” I looked up in surprise. “Uncountable cycles. The Firmament is forever, but everything is pulled down into Chaos eventually. To survive this long is a rarity for anything,” the Broker said.

“I can sense my soul. Every facet of it, very well, but it sounds like I need a way to understand the Dao in the next stages of cultivation. Which is what the regular stages do. But it doesn’t explain the technicalities. Of constructing pillars, conduits, or anything else like that. This isn’t a step by step guide,” I countered.

“It is not. But I have lived in the Forever City and seen countless cultivators. Let me share my insight. You need to create a system that can progress to the third stage, your immortality. A system that cultivates understanding of a concept. In your case, Force. In the end, cultivation stages are a mental construct meant to aid your feeble mind in the process of changing what you are,” the Broker challenged me.

I took a while to think over his words and the Broker was content to wait while I thought things over. I reread the book for a third time. I needed to create my own system. But how would that occur with what I had already built? Soul cores cleared the soul, allowing one to establish a soul. Body core drew in energy to strengthen a soul. And mind cores harmonized to draw in understanding. What kind of system would unify all three things in a single conceptual whole?

That all important step was missing. But instead of nine cores, I needed to think about it as one. “How much influence does a cultivator have when moving to the fifth stage?” I asked.

“An immense amount. You have more than enough power to get through any transformation. And your soul is strong enough to withstand almost any changes. The question is what do you create. You understand yourself. Then you must understand your path. Then you must enforce that path upon the world, sharing that understanding. Even violence is a form of sharing,” the Broker said.

“If only it were that easy,” I muttered as I thought over the issue. “You have no suggestions on practical applications?” I asked.

“And give you something that might fail? While I am not affected by karma like cultivators, it is not a deal I can make or information I can share. I have offered advice and guidance. You seem disinclined to acquire things to get my support. But I cannot hold your hand,” the Broker said.

It was infuriating, but at least I had an idea of what I needed to come up with to have a solution to my issue. “Any other advice before I leave?” I asked.

“When you breakthrough, don’t do it near me. I do not want that kind of attention and would become annoyed. And when you do breakthrough, the consequences will be immense. Not just from the energy within you and the scope of your cultivation, but it will be carving a new path. Separate from any other cultivation system that has been created,” the Broker said.

“So, there is no one else who can help me?” I asked.

“The beings that could help you, scare even me. The words you read from that book are the best advice you can possibly get.” I nodded at this. It was unfortunate but there was nothing else that came to mind that I could ask. I pulled out the coin and set in on the table next to the book I had read.

“Thank you, Broker, for answering my questions,” I said.

“Once you leave, you will only be welcomed back if you bring something interesting to trade. And you know my desires. If you find something of equal value, then you may visit me and we shall discuss things,” the Broker said from the darkness. A light appeared above the doorway I had come in illuminating it.

It was tempting to ask one final question, why powerful beings like to hide in darkness, but that would be rude. Better not to risk offending the super powerful being hiding out on the edge of the Forever City. While it was tempting to think it was like the Wizard of Oz, a lot of bark and no bite, Bones had made it clear that was foolish.

Beings like the Broker only hid out here to slowly build up their strength while sheltering in the Forever City. The effort to get rid of them was not worthwhile, since other things would slink in from the Firmament. Better to keep the beings in place who didn’t cause a fuss or a mess. There was no formal agreement, but that was the understanding that beings such as the Broker had with the Heavenly Alliance.

No one wanted to clean out the sewers when they would get dirty again. Only if there was a blockage or something else that required attention would these beings be dislodged. The more violent ones had succumbed to natural pressures and had been killed off. The real danger was that their strength could vary wildly as well their methods of combat.

Bones had explained that was the biggest danger. You never know what one of these beings might be able to do if they were put into a corner. That was probably why they hid in darkness. Some sort of technique to obscure their presence from anyone or anything that might be looking for them and to protect themselves from being observed. Not everyone could use the equipment that cultivators made for themselves.

I left the room, and went into the stairway, the door swinging shut behind me. I then realized that the lights had shown down from three floors above. Whatever was hiding in this tower was massive. I hadn’t picked up a single clue and there was no large yellow cat-like eye staring at me this time.

Making my way up to the open floor, I wasn’t bothered. The real question. Was what now? I had followed Bones’ directions for so long I felt lost. I needed to come up with a new system of cultivation, find a way to bridge that, and then breakthrough in a way that didn’t draw lots of attention or kill me.

I felt a sense of danger from the side. I quickly pulled out my sword and pointed it in that direction at the cloaked figure and they froze. “Don’t,” I said and slowly backed to the edge of the tower and went outside. They didn’t pursue me outside the tower.

This entire place was a nightmare. I looked up. How far did the tower extend? At what level did it no longer exist? Bones said most towers stopped having any kind of existence around floor 300,000. There was just too much damage. But there was the occasional tower that went to level 500,000. Islands of existence is the spatial and atmospheric turbulence.

Well, I wouldn’t be breaking through near this tower and pissing off the broker. I descended to around level 120,000 before I found a connection to a nearby tower. I went over the tunnel, which I thought was a bridge. Like using cycles instead of years. The Forever City populace had some weird quirks. I made my way further out into the ring before ascending a tower to see how far it went.

It was risky and stupid, but I was curious. I had been in the city for almost a millennia and had not done real sightseeing. I made it to level 281,281 before there was nothing beyond that level. Just swirling yellow clouds of gas. They were so thick I could not see the nearby towers either. I went back down and tried another tower. I got up to level 272,128 before there was nothing more.

I checked tower after tower, until the 37th tower kept going up and up. I crossed level 300,000. There was damage, but the tower still continued. It went up to level 421,121. I could barely cling to the side of the tower when I reached the final level. The wind shifted constantly and I felt like it was grinding down my clothes. Gravity shifted at a whim.

I made my way onto the ruined level and there was no one. Reaching the exposed staircase, it was flooded with yellow gas, and I felt a sense of danger coming from that direction. I backed away and picked a corner on top of the tower to sit, looking out at the swirling clouds above me.

Very rarely was there a brief lull, letting me see a bit further in the oppressive haze. It was a good place to think and try and sort out what I would be doing. There was no tranquil waterfall to sit under and meditate, I just had the top of a tower while being buffeted by the hellish environmental conditions. The only thing this place was missing was acid rain to be complete.

“What now?” I asked out loud, but there was no response. I missed Bones. Her company had allowed me to focus. Now I needed to figure out a completely new system of cultivation, to walk a new path and then breakthrough to that path.

Cultivation was about the soul. I closed my eyes and could feel every inch of it. My cultivation was extensive enough that the triangular lattice in the interior and the hexagon pattern on the edge were portions I was intimately familiar with. The channels, the meridians, the gates, and the cores. But beyond that there were the space in-between. The solid portions of my soul.

What would the end result look like. To know what to do I needed to know what kind of ending I would reach. I tried to think, really think on everything I knew about cultivation and myself. That was the moment, I had an epiphany.

My soul would be in the shape of my physical body. They would overlap, one empowering the other in an endless cycle. Two halves of one whole, ying and yang. I would draw energy in through my soul and filter it into physical body and the rest of my soul.

That way there would be nothing complicated in the later stages. As my understanding increased, so would my strength. Eventually I would step gradually into immortality. There would be minor complications, of that I had no doubt. But conceptually it was a sound idea.

Unfortunately, my enlightenment only went so far. I had no idea how to get that end result with my current cultivation. I needed to figure out a way to use my breakthrough to undergo a fundamental transformation. This wasn’t something I could consult with someone else about. While before I might have been slightly charting my own path, there was still a dirt track to follow. This would be blazing an entirely new trail.

The Broker had been right, and their guidance was sound. A truly outside perspective had been needed to see the problem that I was faced with. Now if only getting there was so simple. I would need to put some serious thought into this issue of changing the end result of moving to the next stage of cultivation.

The bottleneck, wasn’t a bottleneck. Well, it was since many people failed. But it was also a qualitative transformation of one’s cultivation. The same with the second bottleneck. The difficulty came from creating a stable threshold for one to continue advancing.

As I continued to sit on top of the tower, keeping myself stuck there as spatial eddies tried to pull me off, I slowly began to think how I needed to transform my cultivation. It was tempting to want to get something out to write on, but I wanted to keep the lingering feeling I had from my split second of enlightenment as long as possible.

My thoughts were as free as the toxic yellow gas that whooshed past me. A waterfall somewhere serene would have been nicer, but for some reason this place in the Forever City felt strangely appropriate. I couldn’t explain why, perhaps I was going crazy, but it was probably the techniques I was using.

My outer body would be a barrier, like the technique I constantly used so I wasn’t melted and ripped apart. A barrier to separate me from the world. To separate my soul from everything else. To define me, to define my soul.

The channels would not survive in any form inside my body once I broke through. But my cores would become repositories of energy and places to filter it, back into my body. I had no idea how that would work on a technical level, but that was what made the most sense.

The rest of my cultivation, would be the anchor tying my soul to my physical body. To link both halves in harmony. Even as I worked this out, I realized it would require a lot more thought. Also I needed to work out the exact method before hand that I would make the transition. I wouldn’t need a long period of time. Since there wouldn’t be multiple cores.

There would be a single unified cultivation system within me that would be built as I broke through. It would be complicated though, so maybe the problem wasn’t solved. Regardless, I had a way forward. I just had to reinvent cultivation in a way that was unknown in the Forever City. Did my mentors and masters realize the path they had set me on? I didn’t think so, but I was not upset about the position I was now in.

I had chosen the path of defiance, and now I was defying the standard cultivation path that the Forever City and all its tributaries used. I would need to spend a lot of time thinking on this. I also wanted to wait for a second reason. While being in a child’s body had its advantages, it felt off. I was an adult, now some creepy child.

Being in tune with myself was important. To bring everything into harmony. It was time to write my third thesis. The first one had been using Artificial Intelligence for traffic patterns. The second one had been my initial cultivation plan. Now it was time for a third one. The future cultivation plan and how to make that leap from where I was currently onto that new path.

At least I had the credits to get a place to stay and nothing on the earlier stages of cultivation were confidential. It was just a matter of paying for access with the right person. It was time to make my way back to the TripleX faction and pay for everything they had on the first bottleneck and the later stages of cultivation to inform my decisions.

While enlightenment was a great starting point, proper research and a methodical approach was far superior in the long run. Using past data to inform future choices was the proper way to solve any problem. Still, I wouldn’t say no to the inspiration I had already received.

I slowly got up and moved to the edge of the tower and began to descend. If these towers weren’t connected at the top or the bottom, and the tunnels were incredibly small, what kept them in place? Another mystery and one Bones would have just told me to not worry about it, since thinking on the issue would just give me a headache.

I smiled as I made my descent. It was good to have a direction to advance once more.

Chapter 71 – Life Is What You Make Of It

“Rhiza?” I called out and the figure paused. I had spent enough time with her in the past, that I could pick up the small details that set her apart from other cloaked figures.

“Yuan?” she turned to look at me.

“Yes, it is good to see you,” I replied and went over to her and we both removed the hoods on our cloaks.

“You as well. It is rare to see someone after you part ways. But if anything, the Pit Stop from Hell is a good meeting place,” she said.

“It is nice to a see a friendly face. You taught me quite a bit,” I said as we took a seat at an empty table.

“With out your sensing ability, things would have been much more difficult. You are looking well. Did you get a body modification?” she asked me.

“No, I am just aging. A bit slow, but at least I don’t look like a child anymore,” I replied.

“Really aging, how novel. You look remarkably similar, but the extra height was throwing me off,” Rhiza said.

“Indeed, what about you? Having good luck scavenging?” I asked.

“A bit. You know how difficult it can get. Even with the right equipment. But you appear to be a bit nicely dressed for this place,” Rhiza commented.

“For a meeting. This is neutral ground. So, it works out. Are you thinking about getting a cultivation system any time soon? I know that was your goal,” I asked.

“Still saving up. I only have one shot, and as you know, everything is expensive. A couple thousand more cycles and I should have enough. It seems you have sorted out your path forward?” she asked.

“To some extent, but I am trying to gather more information from outside the Forever City. It isn’t cheap, but thankfully I only need some basic information. The hard part was finding someone. That has been incredibly annoying, going from one being to the next,” I said.

“Indeed. It can be frustrating to find anyone, or a specific good in the Forever City,” Rhiza said. A server came by, and we both placed our orders. She got Courage and I got clear water. “How is your cultivation handling getting bigger?”

“It is expanding with my growth, with my soul still overlapping my physical body. Though I suspect it is taking longer than other cultivators due to the strength of my cultivation. I was thinking I would only live to 1,500 years, I mean cycles, at most before there were serious issues. But it has been just over 1,450 cycles since my birth and I am aging incredibly slowly. Probably have at least 400 cycles before I decide to break through,” I replied.

“I have been alive for over 10,000 cycles at least, maybe 12,000. It is admirable that you work so hard on your cultivation while aging,” Rhiza said. I did not expect her to be that old.

“You must be really saving up for your cultivation,” I said.

“Indeed. I want to purchase the best possible cultivation system I can and have credits afterwards for equipment that would work for me at that level. But it takes time to save up and I am still doing some research. Any suggestions?” she asked.

“Only one. Don’t copy what I did and pick multiple paths. It causes a lot of problems,” I said. While I was being friendly, I wasn’t about to share the details of my cultivation or my future plans with anyone. I had spent the lest couple of centuries carefully working on how my future cultivation system.

Even now I was still working on it, trying to get information about other cultivation systems outside the Forever City. That knowledge was incredibly rare due to the simple fact that people rarely traveled the Firmament. Those that did so were much stronger than me. And getting in contact at a reasonable price was difficult.

Thankfully the TripleX faction had come through. They pointed me in the direction of an information broker, who had in turn set up a meeting with the Travel Syndicate. They handled movement for groups outside of the Forever City and its continents for cultivators. Like a mercenary taxi service, with lots of fire power. While I wasn’t qualified to leave the Forever City yet, I was able to put in an information request for them, asking for basic knowledge on other cultivation systems.

I had paid the Travel Syndicate 100,000 credits to put up the request with the offer of another 100,000 credits per basic information on another cultivation system. Something a person like Bones could pick up as a side job while outside the Forever City for some spare change. Well Bones didn’t talk about her adventures outside of the Forever City and I hadn’t pressed her.

Even when things got boring over the centuries, she had her secrets she wanted to keep just as I did. So, I hadn’t pressed. Even the concept of the Travel Syndicate, was not something that was widely advertised. Stationed in the first ring of the Forever City. It was the private airlines of travel. While the cylinder ships that the Heavenly Alliance used were more like the public airplanes people traveled on.

Thankfully they had a request system in place, but I had to go there in person, purchase a specialized communicator, pay the upkeep on the communicator, in addition to the other costs. I had spent over 20,000 credits on just travel and other expenses. And that was for the basic of goods.

It was a lot of money, but I needed to understand how other cultivation systems advanced through the stages and to make a comparative analysis. While one would expect a faction like TripleX to have this information on hand to sell, they operated solely in the Forever City. There was a lot of possible information they could collect, but it just wasn’t worth the investment compared to the payout.

My situation was unique, since everyone else followed the cultivation system that had been set up long ago by the ruling individuals in the Heavenly Alliance. Sure, there was variance and cultivators could go off track, but there was a clear progression of power that worked.

If I had just cultivated normally and come to the Forever City, I could already be an immortal. While this thought occasionally crossed my mind, I didn’t regret my choices even in hindsight. My focus was on the future.

My hope was that by learning about other possible cultivation systems out there, I would be able to better confirm what I had come up with for my breakthrough. While I hoped it would be the last major expense, I would probably need to spend some more when I did finally break through. I was down to around 800,000 credits at the moment. Burning through the money I had saved up previously.

“Excuse me, you asked to be notified if someone asked about you,” the server came over.

“Ah yes. Rhiza must contact is here, I am sorry I have to go,” I replied.

“It is fine. Hopefully we meet again Yuan,” she said. I got up and tipped the server who alerted me. They then showed me to the bar. There was a man that had huge thick muscles and their cultivation was immense. An immortal then. I gulped nervously but sat down next to them.

“So you are the one picking up my drink tab, huh. Weak,” he said.

“The information?” I asked.

“Three sets. Don’t know if they are good, bad, or whatever. That would be 300,000 credits, up front first,” he said. I pulled out my credit card and exchanged the money. That brought be down to around half a million. I then took the crystal data shards.

“Thank you senior,” I replied.

“Whatever, get out of my presence,” he said. Even if I had a complaint about the information or questions, this cultivator was clearly not interested in talking at all. Better to not to risk angering someone that powerful. I went to an empty table and began checking the information on each one.

The first method was to set up a collection system harmonized to a certain line of thought, and have people think that thought to draw in energy in the first part of cultivation, which corresponded to the first four stages of the system I was using. That was it. There was no information on the second or third part of cultivation in that system.

The hard part it appeared was getting the initial portion in place to draw in a specific line of thought and then getting beings to think that thought. There were other limitations, range being the biggest one.

The second method was grafting. One would find creatures out in the Firmament with powerful abilities, cut those off the monster and graft them on, both physically and on the soul. There were some monster adaptation chains that were listed. First monster A in this way, then monster B over here, and so on.

This method had drawbacks as well. One had to graft portions of the monsters onto their soul and physical body. Then one had to be able to get said monsters in the first place. It was easy to capture and use weaker monsters, but getting stronger ones were tricky. There was mention about purpose breeding monsters, but you would ultimately need some way to contain them.

In some ways it reminded me of demonic cultivation. Actually, the more I read it, the more it was demonic cultivation. Only for demonic cultivation they used other cultivators. Since they were the best and most compatible resource that was available.

The third method I looked over on the reading pad involved a completely different cultivation structure, but still a structure. It was turning the entire body into a core shaped body, with just meridians to suck in energy, and then reinforcing the outer shell to contain more energy over time.

This method was a single path, but I could understand its effectiveness. The amount of energy a cultivator would be able to contain would be immense. But using the energy in a controlled fashion would be far more difficult. Techniques would depend more on equipment and pushing energy through them, direct blasts, and pure body strengthening.

The force technique I used to protect my body while traveling between towers in the Forever City would not be possible with this kind of cultivation method. As for the later portions, it said to just repeat over and over. Increase the strength of the shell, improve the meridians, and so on.

Each of these methods was incredibly interesting. While it was only the broad descriptions of how they progressed and lacking on the later portions, only talking about harmonizing one’s energy with a Dao, it was still very useful for me in working out a new cultivation system on my own.

The predominant method of the Forever City, while more complex with its stages, also a lot more variation. I could easily see these systems being labeled as trash systems or niche systems of cultivation. Unless you had an inheritance or a senior to guide you and support you, then they weren’t as good.

The idea of using one’s entire body aligned with my thoughts on where I should end up. A single soul tied into my body. That was the most basic concept of my planned system at the moment. Progression would occur by deepening this connection and being to draw in more energy over time to advance. It was very similar to the third method of cultivation I had been given, which I was thinking as mono-cultivation. The first method being faith and the second being demonic cultivation.

Detonating my soul cores cleared out an area so my astral soul could form. The implosion from the body core would draw in energy through my soul from the Astral Plane. And the mind cores would disperse and increase my understanding of the Dao they were based on, harmonizing with the energy of the Astral Plane.

I had looked into if I could just disperse my mind cores and advance that way. The short answer was no, while the longer answer was that when they dispersed, the entire cultivation structure would also disperse at the same time. Rather than forcing one’s way through, it was much gentler. Normally no one cultivated multiple paths, so it wasn’t a common problem to have. But if I did that, then the rest of my cores would have issues with no way to contain all that energy.

I couldn’t change which path my cores followed, since that was set in stone. That was the downside of the system I had used. There was a lot of adaptability and variation, but it also did not allow for one to go backwards. I looked at the mono-cultivation method and they didn’t align motes. They processed them in some way into different building materials that could be adjusted.

Such a cultivation system required a lot more effort for the same effect as the one I was using. But they could adjust things after the fact to a certain extent to fix foundational issues with their cultivation. But the idea of using motes to construct more complex internal cultivation structures was interesting.

Another additional thing I noticed was that there were three clear steps in each cultivation method. A foundational or preparation step. Then an energy gathering step. And finally, immortality by harmonizing with one’s Dao or path. For some of these methods the second and third step were only mentioned in passing. But the second step needed to fulfill two key purposes. Being able to gather energy in some way and being able to advance towards immortality.

With information in hand, I took a vehicle back to the room I had arranged on one of the floors of the TripleX faction building. The entire room had charts, notes, and other diagrams all over the place as I had been working for a long time on the issue of creating my own system.

Even with all the time I had, the system I used was too good in many ways. Trying to unify them all was beyond greedy. And even lesser methods were questionable. I looked at the stack of crystal shards that contained countless notes on the current cultivation system I was using, the first bottleneck, and the stages after that.

That was where a lot of my money had gone over the years. Housing, while expensive, was priced in terms of years. So it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t have running water, but that was fine. I was content to have a room to work out of. Trying to keep everything in my spatial rings and moving about was headache inducing. Since there was no one qualified that I could speak to about my cultivation, I had to figure it out myself.

“Explode the cores, form my astral soul. But how to use all my cores at the same time. And how to translate that into a single functional system,” I muttered to myself while looking over my notes. I had a lot of time left, but I had already spent lifetimes on trying to figure out this problem and at its most basic, I had good ideas on what I needed to get to, but no idea how to achieve any of them.

I saw various destinations, but there was no connecting road. The alternative cultivation methods were what I was hoping would be the thing I needed to have an epiphany. I would have preferred that, rather than the insight of what would be the most optimal cultivation to work towards. I only had a very limited amount of actions I could take.

Looking over at the flow chart I had made, I considered any alternatives. Lots of lines to boxes in regards to my cores. A gap, and then the best possible system at the end. Having the former cores being energy processing structures. I had been missing on how to build them, but the mono-cultivation method gave me ideas in terms of building more complex structures, but not how to get the building materials, or manipulate them once I had gotten them.

Harmonizing my soul and body, while possible lacked any clear method. While I could disperse the mind cores to try and achieve this, that was risky. Mind cores were meant to harmonize with a Dao, not with oneself. The barrier on the outside was the easiest. That could be formed and strengthened once I detonated my cores.

I jumped when there was a knock on my door. I was paid up in full, so why would anyone be knocking. I put on my cloak and equipment very quickly and went to the door. This rest area was protected by the TripleX faction, so I wasn’t too worried. While I had stolen a lot, I had moved up on their list of valuable people. The amount a cultivator would have to pay them would be immense. And if a cultivator did that, they would just burst in and not knock.

My cultivation notes weren’t in view of the front door, but I still moved everything into a spatial ring. While the walls and doors on a level would block observation techniques, if I opened my door, I had no idea if the person outside would be able to spy on me.

There was no way for me to check who it was through the door, so I just opened it. “Greetings, are you Yuan Zhou?” the figure asked. They were wearing a symbol of the White Lotus. Interesting, that was the faction that managed the continent I had come from and generally took in most new arrivals from there.

The figure was well dressed, but her cultivation was not massive. I would put them at the sixth stage at best. So fairly weak by Forever City standards.

“I am Yuan Zhou,” I replied, curious what could bring them here, since finding me couldn’t have been easy or cheap.

“Your presence is requested at the White Lotus tower,” they said and then gave the location.

“Why?” I asked.

“I wasn’t given an explanation. But you are requested immediately,” the female cultivator said.

“Unfortunately, I am busy. Without an explanation, I am afraid I won’t be able to visit,” I replied. There was silence at my declaration. They could beat me up and capture me, but this wasn’t their tower, but the tower of the TripleX faction which prided itself on working with outside people. If I was newly arrived, did less business, or was anywhere else then I would be in trouble.

But this cultivator wouldn’t dare act with impunity. It wasn’t that the TripleX faction cared about me, but more about their reputation. If any cultivator could kidnap someone from their tower, they wouldn’t be considered a faction. And if they were backing this lady from the White Lotus, they would have sent a representative to make sure there was no fuss while I was being handed over. That’s how I had the confidence to push back.

“That will make several seniors quite upset,” the female cultivator said. Basically, I would be on their hit list. And they might even come for me. While unlikely, this kind of threat wasn’t a common occurrence. I decided to be a bit cheeky.

“That sounds like a them problem, not a me problem. If they wanted me to visit and went to the trouble of locating me, and sending your esteemed self, they should give a reason senior,” I replied. The woman just looked at me and the seconds stretched on. She could kill me easily, but the fall out was not something she could survive.

I felt an overwhelming sense of danger and leapt backwards as her hand moved through the space where I had been occupying. She advanced into my room without hesitation. It had been a long time, but I pulled out my gun from my spatial ring and fired without hesitation.

The attack appeared to catch her by surprise, as she began dodging a bit too late. The rank 6 bullet struck the side of her face, leaving a long gash behind, that began to slowly ooze blood. The attack impacted the hallway outside of the room.

She gave me a glare and then rushed out of my room. I checked the corridor, but she was already gone. I put my gun away just as I felt an overwhelming presence focus on me. I could barely breathe for a couple of moments and then it was gone. The tower master had taken a look at what was going on and probably moved on since there was no more fighting. Once the presence moved on, I went to the lobby for this housing rental level of the tower.

“How can I help you honored customer?” the man behind the counter asked me.

“I was disturbed by a cultivator and had to unleash an attack to force them away,” I said. He asked for the TripleX card I had, and I passed it over.

“We take no responsibility for the safety of our guests. However, you are an honored guest and your account with us has not been flagged with us. And no one has made inquiries. However, you were located, it was not by our faction,” the man replied. I frowned at that. How was I found then?

“Thank you,” I replied and got the TripleX card back before going back to my room. They wouldn’t do anything else unless I paid more credits. That had been too close for comfort, and I wouldn’t be opening up my door again.

At least the room was at the edge of the tower. If necessary, I could cut my way out and leave that way. Why send someone so weak? Maybe they were just to confirm my presence and kidnap me if possible. That made sense. Demand that I follow them, and then I would be at their mercy.

It had been a long time since I had been in a fight, and I didn’t want to get into one. I tried to think why the White Lotus faction would want to bother me after all this time. I was a nobody and I had never stolen from them either during my time in the Forever City. I wasn’t sure if they were allied with one of the factions I had stolen from, but even that wouldn’t warrant sending someone out to get me, let alone whatever esoteric tracking method they had used.

There was something else going on and the woman who had shown up, clearly wasn’t ready for me to fight back. Why did she think I would go with her? Just by giving me an order, she thought I would comply. Well, that was possible even if I thought it was stupid. The arrogance of some cultivators was immense. And the look on the woman’s face, like I was dung indicated that.

Like she had any strength to look down on others. That was a joke. Well, it was time to get ready in case I needed to leave in a hurry. I cut a portion out of the tower’s wall to make an alcove. I could hide in there and seal up the outside. I had the equipment from my thieving days still on me just in case.

After a month and no follow up, I figured the White Lotus had given up or was waiting until I left this tower. That would be a reasonable assumption to make. Spook me, so I left, and they could ambush that way.

I didn’t like the situation. Getting any kind of answer would be too expensive, since that meant hiring someone through the TripleX faction. Which meant hundreds of thousands of credits for their time. I didn’t plan to leave until I was ready to head off for my breakthrough, and hopefully I wouldn’t run into any issues.

That was an equally big headache. The body core that would implode at the center of everything was still not something I could figure out a solution for. The mind cores would harmonize my body and soul. The soul core explosions would allow me to strengthen my soul. That much variance in my breakthrough was possible based on the notes and records I had managed to get my hands on.

“The idea of the body core is that it creates a void, the energy imploding creating a bridge between the soul and the body. Unlike the mono-cultivation method, it normally impacts only the body. I can’t use this method, since there would be no way to progress. Normally conduits are built from this hole across the body to move energy about and draw it into one’s body.”

“But, I don’t want a gaping hole connecting the two parts, my body and soul. Since that will create an energy imbalance. It works fine for body path cultivators, since the conduits will filter the energy out to them. That method will conflict if I try to harmonize my entire body with the Dao from the mind cores. And the barrier created to define my soul will also create a barrier around this hole. I need to repurpose the body core’s implosion, but there is no good alternative,” I speculated as I looked over my notes.

That was why I had looked at alternative outcomes to deal with the body core imploding and the effect that would have on my soul and cultivation. If I never had a body core, I would probably be in a better position.

I needed to use the soul cores to define the edge of my soul, since I would be gathering energy into myself, and needed my soul to perfectly overlap my body. Normally the souls cores would strengthen the soul as a whole, but I could just focus on the exterior. Defining the edge would provide the most benefit and avoid conflicting with the mind cores since they would be handling the rest. That would invert how the cores were set up, with a shell of a mind core around a soul core. This dichotomy should also help based on the literature.

But what was left? My physical body, which would make sense for the body core. Then it hit me. “I need an organ from a monster, or something that will help me in the long run. I would channel the implosion into it, which in turn would boost my body,” I said as I looked at my notes.

There were lots of problem with that idea and I worked back through everything from the start to make sure I wasn’t missing any steps. I needed to harmonize my physical body and my soul. That way I could draw in and process energy once I advanced, so I could increase my power to reach immortality. There would be complications in terms of building refining structures, but I could focus on the four points where the main cores were, as filter points. I needed flush this out more, but it made sense.

When cores did what they did, they left a mark on a cultivators soul regardless of the core type. The soul cores would define the edge of my soul to my body while my mind cores linked my physical body and soul. Both steps were key, so my soul didn’t disperse or collapse. That was what happened in failed breakthroughs.

For the body core, the implosion would be channeled into an organ or modification of some kind, that was placed in my body, and would in turn strengthen my body. A modification would be way too expensive and not improve with me, requiring me to upgrade it and other difficulties. An organ would be much better both long and short term.

I opened up the notes regarding demonic cultivation but focused on monsters. There were some notes included on specific parts that could be used as a set, but nothing what I was looking for. This was the last piece of information and item I needed to get. And then I would need to put it inside myself. That would require a specialist of some kind, since I wasn’t qualified in any way for that sort of procedure.

Then I could break through with a full plan on how to reach the next stage and the steps after that. Building structures where the cores used to be, to process my energy with my understanding of the Dao of Force. Over time this accumulation would build up and I could worry about issues after that. I didn’t like putting off my problems like that, but there was no way I could know what problems I would face until I learned of them firsthand. That was the challenge of going a completely different direction compared to others and changing my cultivation system.

Chapter 72 – The Organ Dealer

The TripleX faction came through once again for a chunk of my remaining credits, directing me towards an individual who specialized in organ trafficking. I needed something to handle my body core when I broke through.

It was amusing how many problems I had to keep overcoming for my cultivation, but I didn’t mind. I had come to accept that my cultivation would continue to have problems over the centuries. As long as I could keep moving forward that was the most important thing.

Once I had my breakthrough, I had plans to make more credits in the Forever City, and I would start looking to leave as well. This place was a trap. The longer one stayed here, the more mentally unbalanced they became. Maybe the core regions weren’t as depressing, since I had seen the clear air of the first ring and the colorful towers, but it was still a depressing environment.

Making my way up from a lower open level, I climbed up the tower. I entered level 157,212 of the tower in the seventh ring, I had been directed towards by the TripleX faction when inquiring about someone who was specialized in cultivating using external organs or equipment.

This place was quite far from the center of the Forbidden City and the level clearly indicated that this wasn’t someone who was mainstream in the slightest. But looking for outside systems of cultivation, I didn’t expect them to have prominent locations. But this was quite far out.

“Oh, hello there,” a young smiling girl greeted me. She looked like a pre-teen but appearances could be deceiving. The level itself was much better than the level indicated. At least the lobby area was clean with some plants and non-descript artwork.

A sharp contrast for where it was located in the Forever City. I looked around, and this place set me slightly on edge for a reason I couldn’t place. I had paid to come out here, might as well ask some questions and hopefully get some useful answers.

“Hello, I am here to speak to the Organ Dealer and make inquiries as to their services,” I said.

“I can help you out. Don’t worry, senior. You can call me Liao. My father is quite busy with his research,” she said. I removed my hood and mask, since she had hers removed as well and I intended to do business. While questionable in such a sketchy place, I wasn’t overly worried since I had my observation blockers in place.

“You appear to be quite young,” I said while looking her over. She had no observation blockers, no mods, nothing. Liao smiled at me. I was unsettled.

“My father takes care of me, you don’t need to worry,” she said.

“My apologies for my rudeness. I haven’t seen any young people in the Forever City until you,” I replied. Mentally I had been caught off guard. Another bad thing about holing myself up for long periods of time.

“No worries senior. Now what are you looking for?” Liao asked me while smiling. I didn’t trust her cuteness for a single moment. Nobody was what they appeared like. Young girls were ancient grandmothers. Buff looking men could easily be cowards.

“I am looking for a transplanted organ to help with my cultivation,” I answered.

“Then you have come to the right place. Not many follow the path of adaptation.” She looked me over. “Claws or something a bit more complex?” Liao asked.

“An organ to bridge the gap between my soul and my physical body. It needs to be able to handle a tremendous amount of energy. Be able to process that energy. And connect when I use a body core to break through,” I answered.

“Very complex. A core pillar of your cultivation. The good news is that my father can help you. But the question is cost,” she said. It always came down to this.

“How much?” I asked.

“5,000 credits for a consult and afterwards, well that is up to you and my father.” I didn’t hesitate to pay that amount. Solving my cultivation issues with money would make things a lot simpler. Also paying a deposit gave me confidence this place was legitimate.

I was shown to another waiting room, that was more of a medical office. I noticed several tools and scanners on the walls and shelves. I sat on the elevated bed while I waited. It didn’t take long for an older man and Liao to enter the room togeather.

“Strip. Even those blockers you have on,” the man said. I only hesitated a moment before complying. While tempting to argue, it would just slow the process down. I did keep my spatial rings nearby, within easy grasp, just in case. He looked my naked body over carefully.

“What do you think daughter? Give me your expert opinion on this case,” the Organ Dealer said to Liao.

“The most complex cultivation base I have seen. Three paths. And five distinct core structures, with the outer cores having two layers. All filled with energy, practically overflowing. That will be the hardest part in any operation. The instability of the cores. One mistake and they will explode. With his request, he clearly is doing non-standard cultivation. A rare hybrid approach,” Liao said while examining me.

“Indeed. You can put on your clothes. I have seen enough. With your request, you clearly want to do something crazy. Explain this to me, so I can understand exactly what you are looking for,” the Organ Dealer told me.

While I got dressed, I explained my cultivation plan. “I need to unify all three paths, otherwise, even if I manage to survive my breakthrough, I will be able to go no further. I have gotten expert opinions on this. I started looking into other cultivation methods and developing my own.”

“I would use my soul cores to form a soul with a hard outer shell. The mind cores to link my body and soul. With the goal of drawing in energy to cultivate long term, building it up. But the issue is my body core and the implosion effect. I need it to be a bridge to draw in energy but tied to my body. I can’t just create a structure in my soul like the standard method, since I need structures to filter energy where my cores would have been,” I explained.

“So, you need an organ instead. The problem is immense. You need something that will handle your breakthrough and carry you forward. Since it will be a pivotal point of your cultivation, you won’t be able to replace it later either,” he said and then looked at his daughter. “What do you think daughter?”

“A seed of some kind. Any kind of monster or beast organ would crumble under the pressure. A plant would be studier. And it will have distinct stages. But the compatibility would be terrible, no matter what option we went with,” Liao said.

“Indeed daughter. Indeed. Well, I see two solutions. The first is to find a bio-manipulator and have them build you what you desire. It won’t be cheap a couple hundred million credits, but it would solve your problem nicely.” I shook my head at that. There was no way I could afford such a service.

“Which means the only option, is option two. A seed of the Garfafel Plant,” the Organ Dealer said.

“Father, such an option would be quite poor,” Liao said.

“But it is within our poor cultivator’s price range. Only 100,000 credits. But there are serious complications using the seeds of such a plant.”

“What complications are those senior?” I asked.

“First, it will disrupt your Dao, whatever it is. The Garfafel Plant consumes energy voraciously and outputs small amounts of plant-based energy. Its return is very poor. Like ten to one. For every ten parts of energy it draws up, it outputs one. Finally, it will grow and intertwine with your cultivation more and more, eventually taking it over, turning you into a Garfafel Plant,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Let me guess senior. There is a way to counteract it later on?” I asked.

“No.” I was surprised at such a blunt answer. “It is a parasite of the highest order. Once it is inside your cultivation, removing it will rip out your cultivation. Killing it will kill you. Often used on people factions want to cripple or punish long term. But that is the only possibility for what you need, unless you have a cultivator organ made from scratch,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Isn’t there anything else that can be done? Why breakthrough if I will be doomed afterwards?” I asked.

“No clue and not my business. If you came to me at the start of your cultivation, something might be possible. But now, you are too far forward in your progress. With all the energy in your cores. I can’t adjust your soul in the slightest. So whatever is put in has to be physical and transform and meet all your other requirements,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Father, there is a third option now that I am thinking about this situation,” Liao said, and we all looked at her. “Cut the channels around the body core. Pull it out and replace it entirely.”

“Oh, but that would mess up his cultivation plan,” the Organ Dealer said.

“It is already messed up. Like a tower that has been shattered. Better to just rip out the old and replace what is there. We could use the Helix type body-soul linkage. Anchor one point to his physical body, another to his soul,” Liao said.

“He wouldn’t be able to use any techniques, if we do something like that until his breakthrough. The body core is the center of all the other cores,” the Organ Dealer said.

“But it would work. The real problem is the level of Helix type body-soul linkage we use,” Liao said. I kept looking back and forth between the two as they ping ponged back and forth.

“The pressure from the rest of his cultivation would be too much,” the Organ Dealer replied while stroking his chin in contemplation.

“But we use four Helix type body-soul linkages instead of one. One for each of his other cores. Pressure relieved and it would provide a direct flow of energy from his soul to his physical body,” Liao said.

“He did say he wanted to focus on building some kind of filtering structures, so that would make sense. How intriguing. The problem then becomes his physical body. That much stress. It is strong, stronger than most other people. But four linkages, will cause health complications later on,” the Organ Dealer replied. I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Yes there will be, but it would be the best option,” Liao countered.

“Very well,” the Organ Dealer turned back towards me. “We will extract your body core, put in four Helix type body-soul linkages. When you breakthrough, they should hold your soul and physical body togeather like you wanted.”

“What about the health issues later on?” I asked.

“Changing the energy to match your Dao will be problematic. But with your cultivation plan, it isn’t impossible. Also you will be incapable of using techniques once this operation is done, since your channels will be completely messed up,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“The cost and what will happen with my body core?” I asked.

“The same answer. We will hold onto it for resale. Such a dense body core will be quite valuable, and it is filled with energy. There is always a market for such things,” Liao said, and her father nodded.

“Indeed. My little Liao came up with such a great idea,” the Organ Dealer said. I felt something was off. They were being far too helpful. Maybe it was just the atmosphere of the Forever City, but this entire visit was super sketchy. I had gone down a rabbit hole for a simple solution to my problems. But something about this was setting me off.

“This Helix type body-soul linkage, can I see one, or what is written about it first?” I asked casually.

“Sure, Liao, can you get one that has been grown. They come from an etheric type monster, but we don’t grow the monster, only part of it. A very rare find, but quite useful. No one else would have such a thing, I can guarantee you that,” the Organ Dealer said with a smile on his face.

“Etheric type? What exactly is that?” I asked.

“Oh, they have half a foot in terms of drawing energy from the astral plane. But there are other names for such a creature. The real trick is to find one that has a useful linkage, between both halves, and to be able to cultivate such an organ.” I kept my facial expression the same, but inside I was frowning.

They were too friendly and helpful. Liao brought back a tray on a cart with a finger sized helix shaped structure lying on it, hooked to tubes. The flesh was pulsing slightly as fluids moved through it. I looked closely at the item and there was no energy within it. For something that would be a link, the fact there was no energy inside of it undercut the explanations given by these two.

It was too well rehearsed and their answers came too easily. And one thing I had learned to trust with Bones was when something felt off, to trust your instinct. Instinct was the effect of picking up on small traces of ambient energy interacting with me. That’s where danger sense came from as well.

“This is one of the things you would want to put in me?” I asked.

“Yes. Well not this one specifically. The ones we use for you would have to be specifically grown,” the Organ Dealer said with a smile. But I could see the naked greed and threat behind them.

“Very well, I will let my escort know I have made my decision,” I said, and he nodded. His daughter wheeled it right back out.

“We will just need some blood first to get started,” the Organ Dealer said.

“After I let my escort know, then I will return right away. They are with a vehicle at the lower open level,” I said. The Organ Dealer frowned slightly and then shrugged.

“Liao will handle things then,” he said and left the room.

I quickly left as well, wanting to get out of here. This had been a terrible idea. I quickly reached the staircase and retreated back down the tower to one of the lower open levels and leave this place. I had become more and more desperate, looking for solutions where there were none.

If I had let them operate on me, I would probably find my cultivation yanked out of my body and my corpse used for fertilizer. I would make my own inquiries about this Helix structure, but my guess was that it was completely made up or used for a different purpose.

The fact that it had no energy, was the confirmation I needed, that they were just saying a lot of stuff to get me to buy into whatever they wanted to sell me. The way they presented my options felt sketchy as well. Just the entire thing seemed off. But that put me back to square one.

“Yuan Zhou.” I paused for a moment in shock, on the staircase when my name was mentioned. I looked down and there were five cultivators at a lower level. All of them were in the sixth or seventh stage of cultivation. They had the symbol of the White Lotus Sect on their robes.

I had my cloak on along with my other equipment. They showed up after I removed my observation blockers. That couldn’t be a coincidence. But locating me on the stairway wouldn’t be hard. There were only so many directions I could be heading in, and they were on a lower level right before an open one, waiting to intercept me. This high up in the tower meant that the tower master wouldn’t care unless we did a lot of damage.

“And what does the White Lotus want with me?” I asked hoping to get information before a conflict broke out.

“We weren’t told, but you can’t escape,” their leader said. They didn’t advance on me. I saw a cloud of energy drifting towards me in the air. I had another minute or so before I was in trouble and was forced to move, before the technique reached me.

“If you invite someone, it is only polite if a reason is given,” I countered, hoping for more information.

“And you think you can run away from all five of us? I would prefer to bring you in without any issues,” their leader spoke up and stepped forward. I stepped back and turned slightly.

“You won’t be able to catch me,” I flicked out a flash bomb from my spatial ring as I said this. It exploded and I was off up the staircase as the cultivators chased after me. I passed the level with the Organ Dealer, not stopping down for a single moment. They were on my heals, but I threw out the occasional flash bomb or explosive from my spatial ring, slowing down pursuit.

The other beings inhabiting the staircase were quickly excited and two of the pursuing cultivators were ambushed. This is why you didn’t start trouble in the Forever City. Everyone was just waiting to third party any kind of small-scale conflict.

That was why you just didn’t start fights unless you were sure you could win. The moment any kind of weakness was sensed, the beings just sitting around would act. They tended to blend into the background, and they would just be ignored. But that was the kind of mistake a new person to the Forever City would make.

Also, the cultivators didn’t have observation blockers, or other proper equipment on them. Another huge mistake. That was why even while I ran away, none of the beings bothered me. They didn’t know my strength. And while they might guess that I was weaker than the cultivators chasing me, they couldn’t know for sure. Better to target individuals they knew the strength of.

While I had my doubts initially when I had first arrived and teamed up with Bones, I would have been killed leaving the room without her. And these beings were purposely created as well, to clean up any riff raff inside of a tower. That was why the factions tolerated these cloaked beings.

Some were human, others monsters, and there was a lot of mystery. Bones explained, that different factions used different beings. Some people just went insane, but didn’t die, so camped out doing nothing for the rest of their life, waiting to target those weaker than them. The list was endless in terms of what these cloaked beings resting all over the Forever City could be.

Bones had joked that the only thing more horrifying than the Forever City was seeing what was under all the cloaks. From what little I had seen this had been the case. Still, whomever sent these cultivators after me was just throwing their lives away.

I reached an open floor, and left the staircase, racing for the edge of the tower. I dove off the side just as techniques were released. Beams of fire lanced where I had been as I tumbled through the thick yellow clouds and spatial turbulence.

I landed on the side of the tower and raced back down. I checked behind me and there was no pursuit. I let out a sigh of relief. Clearly the White Lotus was not content to leave me alone. But sending a greater force would only draw attention and start a faction conflict. Five cultivators like that was the limit based on what Bones had shared with me over the centuries.

Anything larger without getting permission beforehand or just transversing through would invite much more scrutiny. The White Lotus, while a faction, wasn’t anywhere near the top of the food chain to be throwing their weight around. The ambushed cultivators probably survived but with severe injuries. Ones that would cost credits.

I had no good way to estimate how much they had already spent, but there was no personal disagreement between the faction and myself. At least I thought so. It was hard to say when they would give up, but eventually they would have to when the cost exceeded any benefit I could provide.

All that remained now was to figure out what to do in regards to my cultivation. I didn’t want to align myself with any faction, due to the risks, but I had a better understanding of how to mitigate them going forward. I would have to sell myself to a faction in return for help. Any problem could be fixed with credits, the unofficial motto of the Forever City.

I had worked with the TripleX faction enough in the past, that I would be able to start there. These White Lotus members chasing after me were more an annoyance than anything else. They weren’t even faction members, they were disposable cultivators brought in from the continents to fight for the faction in whatever conflict it was supporting at the time.

I made my way a couple towers over to an open level and got a vehicle back to the TripleX faction’s tower. Trying to do this by myself was risking my life in an incredibly risky manner. Like a patient with a terminal illness seeking out more outlandish cures. I needed actual professionals and the investment of millions of credits into my development.

If that wasn’t an option, I would have to give up. It pained me to even think about such an outcome. But there were only so many things I could do. I had cultivated myself into a corner. I had been too greedy, and even with all the help I had received over the years, I didn’t not want to die on some surgery table in some remote level of the Forever City.

As I was thinking over all of this, the vehicle I had paid to transport me back suddenly jerked. I felt the force on me, and only my instinctive use of my force technique to protect my body, I wasn’t ripped apart. The seat I was on, and this part of the vehicle went one way, while various other pieces went different directions.

The piece I was in slammed into a tower, and another shock went through my body. At the speed a vehicle was traveling, any accident was catastrophic. I unclipped myself and pulled myself out of my seat. I leapt out and went through the air for a bit before landing on the side of a tower. Looking back, I saw a several tentacles bursting out of a tower in the distance, barely visible through the yellow haze.

I saw another vehicle strike one of the tentacles waving about. It was shredded instantly. That was the Forever City, there could be an accident at any time. No one was doing anything. The tentacle monster either was the tower master or had killed them. With no conflict, the tower masters nearby were hesitant to intervene or were afraid to. They were administrative positions normally, not fighting ones.

That meant they were waiting for a higher up from their faction or the Heavenly Alliance to respond to the situation. Either outcome was one I didn’t want to stick around. But I hesitated and looked back at the massive barbed tentacles coming out of the tower once more. Even if I wanted to try and get some benefits it was too risky.

There was getting in the middle of a conflict between factions and getting in range of that thing and the response that was about to hit it. I was circling the tower I was on, when I felt a sense of danger. I clung to the tower as wave after wave of pressure and heat struck me. The yellow clouds were forced away as the tower the tentacle monster had emerged from was hit with bright beams of energy that cut into the tentacles and tower the monster was using as a shell. Burnt purple tentacles, green fluid, and tower rubble were all blown away. I noted figures with highly concentrated energy moving in on the threat.

I felt the tower I was on shake and suddenly a massive tentacle burst out of the incredibly durable gray stone that made up the tower’s exterior. I noticed several other towers nearby suffering the same fate. I began to run even faster as debris began to fly everywhere. This wasn’t a small incursion, but a major push by another super faction.

I needed to get clear of the tentacle infested towers as quickly as possible. I crossed a tunnel between two of the towers and kept running. This entire area was being taken over, I noticed as the towers I was headed for had tentacles burst out of them as well. There were more vehicle collisions. This was really bad.

Bones had explained that a serious incursion like this was rare and often what was used as a measure of time for the factions residing in the Forever City. Whatever this thing was, it clearly had no interest in me as countless more battles broke out. I kept running as more sections of tower were destroyed as the conflict grew worse.

Three days of running, past hundreds of towers, finally let me escape the conflict area. I found a corner of a stairway in the tower I had reached that was unoccupied and collapsed in exhaustion.

When I woke up, there was a lot more activity. Thankfully I was ignored as people moved up and down the main staircase moving supplies and other goods. I made my way back out to the open level and there were countless vehicles. Listening in I managed to pick up what was going on.

The Heavenly Alliance had crushed whatever the tentacle monster was, and a faction had been wiped out. Weather the faction was wiped out from the monster or from the Heavenly Alliance being annoyed they allowed this to happen in their tower was unclear. Regardless, there was a huge swath of open real estate all other factions nearby were moving in to claim.

The tentacle monster was still present in some areas, but greatly weakened as cultivators continued to fight it across all towers and a perimeter was being put into place. Thankfully I had made it outside the perimeter before it went up. I wasn’t qualified to take part in such a conflict. Better to get out of here as quickly as possible before I got caught up in more of this drama.

In time this place would be like the spider area of the Forever City. It would be changed by an attack, but the Forever City would continue regardless. Grinding up cultivators and lives until it no longer did. That kind of time frame was beyond thinking about and it was hard to imagine how such a place would be destroyed in totality, when hundreds of towers being ripped apart from the inside out by giant tentacles wasn’t even a pinprick against the Forever City’s total power and might.

I managed to get a vehicle and left the area back to the TripleX faction. There would have been an opportunity back there with all the ruined towers and levels, but the risk was immense. It was time to consider alternatives, to make a change in how I was progressing. Bones had been helpful, but she hadn’t promoted a healthy mentality. I had been in survival mode for far too long and was spiraling. It was time to make a drastic change in how I handled my problems.

If my new approach failed, then I would be leaving the Forever City. I had some debts I could repay with my immense wealth. If I was going to die, then I would try and set things right first. An organ dealer, I couldn’t believe that I had honestly considered such a sketchy option in the first place.

Chapter 73 – Negotiating A Deal

“You may enter now,” the servant said, and I got up. I had been waiting for quite a while to meet with an official representative of the TripleX faction. It hadn’t cost anything surprisingly. I had done enough business with them, that they were willing to meet with me without an upfront payment. I was on level -3.

I didn’t often go to the negative levels. It was more a preference thing between Bones and myself wanting to be higher up, rather than lower down. While the outside environment of the Forever City didn’t have a strong gravitational field, things tended to go down more than up, even with the spatial turbulence.

The office was incredibly lavish and took three floors worth of height. It was immense. More of a garden than an office. There was running water, plants, and I saw a couple of birds actually tweeting out a song in the background. The walls and ceilings were hidden by powerful illusions, giving the impression I was actually outside. If I didn’t know I was in the Forever City, I would have thought this would be an idyllic clearing of some kind.

There was an old man with a long white beard sitting on a rock. There were smaller rocks in front of it. When you are super powerful, you can have your office any way you wanted. I kneeled down in front of the powerful immortal. “Junior Yuan Zhou greets Senior of the TripleX faction.” I felt like a kid again, begging for a cultivator to take me on as an apprentice to Yi Rong.

There was silence and I stayed in place with my head pressed against the ground. The birds continued to tweet, and I continued to wait. I didn’t dare lift my head, since this was clearly a test. I had been made to wait for months to get to this meeting. And now the immortal would make me wait even more.

It was petty and annoying, but I had no choice. If I complained about such a thing, then I would complain about other issues in the future. It wasn’t just about making me wait, it was a test of temperament. At least I had the pleasant sounds of birds tweeting in harmony with each other to listen to.

“You may raise your head and sit,” the immortal said. I brought up my head and then moved to a seated position, with my knees tucked under my body. “Yuan Zhou, the cultivator who has messed up their cultivation. The cultivator who has been stealing from other factions to fund their cultivation but has remained hidden. The cultivator who has garner the attention of a member of the White Lotus faction, since coming from one of their tributaries.”

The immortal laid so many things about me bare in a single moment. But I didn’t say anything since there was no question. “I am Vice Leader Qiang You. State your reason for requesting this audience,” he said.

“Honored Vice Leader Qiang You, I require help with my cultivation. I ask this in turn for subordinating myself to your faction,” I answered, and he nodded while stroking his beard. The rest of his face gave nothing away about how he felt regarding this request.

“It is good you have made that request with no observation blockers. I can see the mess of your cultivation. The cost, even I shudder to think at the cost it would take to fix things. Your background is known to me. Someone considered a genius, but you have made mistakes with your cultivation. But you have somehow survived and even thrived in the Forever City. A very rare occurrence,” Qiang You said. He inclined his head a fraction at me indicating I should speak.

“Being a scavenger in the Forever City has given me some success, but it has been challenging. My success is attributed is about assessing risks and gathering knowledge.” I wasn’t going to mention Bones since that was a complication I didn’t need. But I wasn’t lying, Bones was the source of my knowledge.

All the effort I had put in so far wasn’t wasted. It showed that I was capable. It was the equivalent of padding one’s resume with work experience to get a much better job in the future.

“Indeed. That is the only reason why I am talking to you and considering your request. It would cost 30 million credits to get you to the next stage by having a specialty organ made for you. I have heard your cultivation plan, and it is interesting. But untested. And if I invested into you once, then I would have to do so again and again. I could raise many more people to greater heights than you. What do you say about this?” Qiang You asked.

“Honored Vice Leader, I have the chance to go further. While past success doesn’t guarantee the future, it does indicate a trend. Also, while I know little of the limits of immortals, I do know that by going my own path, I will be able to go further than other cultivators,” I said.

“Far in the future. Very far in the future. If I applied any kind of interest rate to the investment needed it would be ruinous. Still, you are correct in what you say. But the risk is immense and will impact my revenue, lowering my standing within the faction. Our fates would be intertwined with each other as well. The risk of karma is not small.” I didn’t know what to say about any of this.

“This is an immense favor. For I know you have nowhere else to go. No backing and no support. To reach down and help you would be charity. But you are a hard worker and capable. So, there is a chance you will achieve great things however small. Very well, I will gamble on you Yuan Zhou, but there are conditions,” he said and I listened intently to what Qiang You was about to say.

“You will be given a line of credit for a hundred million credits, to advance your cultivation. I sense there will be even more issues in the future, and I will not give any more. In return you will owe a thousand times of whatever you borrow. That would be a hundred billion credits if you use the full amount.” My eyes went wide at that. That was an immense amount, both what he was willing to give me and expect me to repay.

“That is the bare minimum I can accept as a repayment for the risk I am going to take on you. In addition, you will owe three favors to me personally. I will not ask for your life or your cultivation, but anything less than that you will fulfill. What do you think of these terms?” Qiang You asked.

There were horrible terms. This man was a loan shark of the highest order. I could almost feel the greed rolling off him in waves. But you don’t become an immortal cultivator with kindness and generosity. The higher up you were the more cutthroat one would become.

This was the hardest point in the conversation. Accepting immediately would secure my future but put me in debt or eons. But that debt would also be my shield and protection. It also made me weep inside thought to be taken advantage of this egregiously. I would also be able to make money in a legitimate way now. While Qiang You was probably thinking I would be fighting or doing something else that involved conflict, I would be looking into business once more.

“I would be honored Vice Leader Qiang You to accept your offer,” I replied and kowtowed once more.

“Raise your head. Now that the initial offer has been accepted, there is much more to discuss. You are an investment Yuan Zhou. A massive investment. That is why I must make sure you don’t kill yourself with something foolish. Explain your cultivation plan to me,” he demanded.

“Yes Vice Leader. I plan to use my the breakthrough of my soul cores to establish the boundary of my soul. The breakthrough of my mind cores to bind my soul and physical body. A cultivation organ and my body core to draw in energy. For the future, I would use the spaces I had my cores to create filters for this energy, gathering it inside my body to advance,” I explained.

Qiang You stroked his beard while staring intently at me. “Combining three different cultivation methods. How bold, but your research is sound. You started with the Qi Emplacement method, which is the most versatile and stable of all methods. The one that is favored by the factions of the Heavenly Alliance. Body Replacement method using an external organ is a much harder path and leads to many fallen cultivators. Eventually they are replaced in full, mind, body, and soul.” Qiang You shook his head at this method, clearly disapproving.

“Then you have the Full Body method. To use one’s entire body as the cultivation focus. But your foundation is much stronger, alleviating a critical weakness of this method. Strengthening one’s body to sustain one’s cultivation and the energy to breakthrough requires resources that aren’t cost effective. That is why the Qi Emplacement method developed over the eons is the most effective for advancing,” Qiang You explained. I listened intently, since even Bones had not been able to explain such things.

“I speak about these methods, since your path will be paved with hardship. The amount of energy you will need is immense. Your foundation is too big. But that is why you are a worthwhile investment. Improving one’s foundation is impossibly hard once you get past the various breakthrough points. Countless cycles are spent trying to eek out that one more bit of improvement,” Qiang You said. Clearly the favors were the most valuable aspect of the deal to him. Not the credits, but the ability to call those favors in once I got strong enough.

“But to reach immortality with your base. It is heaven defying. Hmmm, I know how to repay one of the favors you will owe me. Your breakthrough will be quite an event. It can be used to draw attention to one of the factions that oppose us.” I winced at this. I would be used as bait. But I was in no position to object.

“Yes Vice Leader. I am honored I can repay a favor so quickly,” I replied, and he smirked slightly. I was really starting to dislike the old powerful cultivators I had to suck up to in order to move forward. But that was how cultivation society worked. Those stronger gathered resources unto themselves to advance.

I also noted the Qiang You had not offered to be my master. Instead, he was content on just supporting me. There was a subtle but key difference between the two. Being a disciple was much more personal. One did not take on a disciple lightly. They held a position of importance. If Qiang You had a disciple and they were weaker than me, I would have to bow my head towards them.

This also meant that he wouldn’t be as invested into my safety. While I could not ignore the favors I owed, I couldn’t count on him to risk himself to save me in any way. If I was ever too much of a burden I would be killed or suffer some unspeakable fate. There would be no forgiveness or leeway for any kind of missteps.

The fact that my position was so precarious was exactly the reason I had held off to this course of action until there were no other alternatives. I wanted to go to a faction after my breakthrough and negotiate from a position of greater strength. I would probably owe only ten times the investment and maybe a favor if that had been the case.

But I was too weak now and Qiang You could do whatever he wanted. I was at his complete and utter mercy. He also didn’t have much faith in me paying him back either. The number of credits was just tacked on in order to saddle some other cultivator or faction with my debt if they killed me. In fact, I could guess that was what he was probably going to try and do.

“There is also the matter of you and the White Lotus faction that must be resolved. You will carry my emblem and go to them and resolve this conflict. Once that is done, then you will be able to fully focus on your breakthrough,” Qiang You said. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

I called it. While I would like to claim some kind of future insight, it was obvious what was going to happen. He wanted the Whtie Lotus faction to kill me and then try and use some external channels claiming they had to repay my debt to him. This also couldn’t be counted as a favor, since the White Lotus faction was my problem. I was glad I didn’t have any more personal problems that needed to be dealt with, since they would be used as leverage for my death.

Bones had explained that rarely would upper-level cultivators fight. Conflict was handled through proxies or mediation through the Heavenly Alliance. Qiang You would claim a hundredth of my debt and be seen as generous or something, while profiting ten times off my corpse. And that was if I used up all the credits he was offering.

After being independent for so long, it was hard to bow my head again, but it was the only choice I had in order to advance. And while the deal he offered was terrible, it was better than any other faction would give me. They would have just killed me and used my body for spare parts or fertilizer.

“Yes Vice Leader, do you know why they have targeted me?” I asked.

“No. But it needs to be resolved before you can officially join the TripleX faction. Here,” he tossed a metal symbol of the TripleX sect. I caught the metal badge and looked at it. Three ‘X’s overlapping each other made with white metal. I could see energy inside of it. My best guess put the value of the metal around 50,000 credits based on my experience.

“And see my servant for new robes. Can’t have you wearing those rags. Go forth under my authority. Once you return, an organ will be prepared for your breakthrough. The place and time will be decided by me.” That meant I couldn’t try to breakthrough without his approval.

There was the option of running away, but then I would always have an enemy. Since Qiang You was a faction leader it would mean the TripleX faction would be my enemy as well, which in turn would draw me into a conflict with the Heavenly Alliance. That was the power of having backing. People and beings with any kind of intelligence would just give up before even thinking about causing trouble.

The melodic tweeting of the birds in the background did nothing to improve my mood at the moment. I knew this would be a pivotal and risky decision, but it was the best one. I stood up and bowed deeply and then backed away. I spared a quick glance at the immortal Qiang You, and he already had his eyes closed once more and seemed to be meditating peacefully.

I left the large indoor garden, and a servant was waiting outside. “Greetings, I am Head Servant of Qiang You.” The fact he did not give his name indicated he probably did not have one. His cultivation was non-existent, so probably modifications to keep him living indefinitely as a servant.

“Vice Leader Qiang You indicated that I could get appropriate robes and then conveyed to the White Lotus faction.” While the second was a small stretch of his orders, someone like Qiang You wouldn’t care. It was about completing the task. If I succeeded, I would prove myself capable and worth investment. If I was killed, he could claim recompense for my death. A win-win situation for him regardless of the outcome.

The Head Servant gave me a look up and down, his eyes stopping at the faction symbol in my hand. “I see he has recruited you under his purview. A great honor.” A giant debt trap that I had to accept with my life on the line, was the more accurate description.

“Indeed, it is the greatest honor I have received,” I replied while holding back the sarcasm.

“Midnight black robes, with luminescent pearl white threading would be best,” the Head Servant said.

“Why those colors? Shouldn’t they be reversed?” I asked, since Qiang You had been robed in gold and white, and the servant here was also in those colors. The Head Servant gave me a look like I was an idiot child who just made a mess.

“You are nothing but scum beneath the master’s eyes. You shall wear what you are provided. Unless you wish to complain to him yourself?” That escalated quickly.

“And disrespect Vice Leader Qiang You and the faction? That would be unacceptable and lower his standing,” I countered. We then had a staring contest. The man refused to give in as he continued to glare at me. Time to back off, and hopefully not create an enemy.

“Head Servant of Qiang You, if I offended you, I apologize for my transgression.” I then bowed my head.

“Here in the TripleX faction, we don’t need riff raff like you. Why the master has seen fit to show his benevolence is beyond me. Your power is pathetic. Your demands are immense. And your cultivation is a disgrace. Your very presence sickens me to see you disgrace these halls with your presence.” I blinked slowly at the vitriol that was spewed at me.

“I hope to prove myself worthy of the benevolence Vice Leader Qiang You has bestowed upon me,” I replied slowly. The Head Servant let out a scoff.

“You will take black robes with white threading without complaint,” the Head Servant said. Well, there was nothing I could do to argue with this person. He had all the power to make my life miserable. Hopefully he wouldn’t go out of his way to make things harder. I followed him to a side room and was given robes fitting my size.

I was looking older thankfully. Like an older teen. Still youthful, but not an old man. It felt much better to be an appropriate size compared to a child. My new robes were of immense quality and expertly made. They conveyed a high degree of protection just wearing them.

Once I was changed I followed the Head Servant to another level of the tower. There were private vehicles and actual doorways to the outside environment. It wasn’t just an open floor, but there were barriers in place.

“The driver has been informed of your destination. They will wait for you to return, and you will return with them,” the Head Servant said, and I got in. I noticed the much more streamlined appearance of the vehicle. Normally they felt more like flying bricks, where function was the only thing that mattered. This actually felt like something that was streamlined and built with form over function in mind.

I settled into a comfortable chair and there was an actual display showing where we were in the Forever City as the vehicle quickly transited into a straight line lane and then massively accelerated. It was far faster than the other vehicles I had used. And based on the positioning, had priority movement in the Forever City. I quickly began to put on my equipment and observation blockers.

The vehicle ascended and we came to a stop at level 35,212 on an open level of a tower belonging to the White Lotus faction. I got out of the vehicle. It would have been too much to hope that Qiang You had phoned ahead. That was why I was being dropped off so high and not one of the middle levels. I let out a sigh and exited the vehicle. I put the badge on my chest and it stayed there.

I got some looks, but no one bothered me. I pulled up the tower’s public information on my pad. I had to go down to level 5,680 to reach the public office for the White Lotus. Most factions had a low level office where people could reach out from other factions. It was like a reverse embassy. Since I didn’t have a contact here, this was my best option for resolving whatever conflict was occurring.

I entered the staircase and began my descent. Some of the cloaked beings shifted away from me slightly as I passed by. With my new robes and badge, it was clear that I had the backing of a faction. That meant I wasn’t someone they would mess with.

At level 22,122, I encountered a checkpoint set up on the staircase. I paid a fee of 5 credits and kept descending. I occasionally encountered another checkpoint, the cost increasing as I go closer to the middle floors.

Eventually I reached the public office for the White Lotus. Their iconography was everywhere as I entered. Now that I made it here, the amount of tension I was feeling decreased slightly. The person at the front desk blinked a couple of times as I entered. A clear indication they were off in dream land from one of their modifications.

“How can I help you?” the woman asked. Thanks to Bones I had some idea how to handle this type of situation. Low level conflicts could be resolved fairly easily if someone more powerful stepped in.

“I have had some low-level conflicts with the White Lotus faction. I have been requested by my senior to resolve these conflicts in an amicable manner,” I replied. I had to be careful not to represent myself as speaking for the TripleX faction or Vice Leader Qiang You. But implying that I had his support was more than acceptable.

“Name, location, and time of the incidents?” the woman asked.

“Yuan Zhou,” I replied and listed off the two incidents. If I hadn’t made it here, then I might have been disappeared or killed. But now that I made it near, they were obliged to sort the mess out. Also, I had no doubt that Qiang You was watching through the badge he had given me. Assuming I had any privacy going forward would be foolish in the extreme.

“Please wait, a member of our faction will be here shortly to address the issue,” she said. I was content to wait and took a seat in their lobby area.

It took about an hour for someone to show up. “Junior greets senior,” I replied. While the woman was wearing observation blockers, not letting me see their level of cultivation, they were dressed as well as I was with a faction symbol on their clothing.

Since they were after me, they clearly knew my level of cultivation. There was no need to try and be rude for no reason. “So, you are Yuan Zhou. How interesting. And you have found a faction. TripleX. Surprised they would take someone so weak,” she said impassively.

“They saw my potential,” I replied calmly.

“Potential. That is one way to call your advancement so far. There is a conflict that predates your arrival to the Forever City and one of our members has a claim on you as a cultivation furnace,” the woman said with a sinister smile.

It took me a moment to put everything togeather. “Aoyin?” I asked. That was the only guess that made sense.

“Indeed. And he has made significant contributions to our sect. Enough that we are more than happy to pay whatever fee you have paid to TripleX,” she said and took a menacing step forward.

“One hundred billion credits and three favors,” I replied calmly. She paused all of a sudden and stared at me. Probably trying to process what I just said. “If you kill me, that is my debt. I am sure the Vice Leader Qiang You will be more than happy if you kill me, so he can file a claim with the Heavenly Alliance.” I then pointed at my badge. The same one she was wearing.

These were normally only given to people who had reached immortality or favored cultivators inside a sect. She couldn’t kill me while I was wearing it, but the threat of how much I owed, and the risk that debt would be transferred was immense.

“I suppose his claims that you truly are a genius might hold some merit. And to come here as well. But Aoyin has a similar debt. His cultivation cannot advance without killing you and striping you of yours. We might be willing to shoulder some of that. I am sure Vice Leader Qiang You would not mind,” she said. I didn’t blink or act surprised. I kept my breathing steady. She was trying to get a reaction. There was no way she would risk that kind of debt or headache.

That was a surprise he had come to the Forever City. I guess he didn’t expect me to flee all the way here. He was probably conscripted in one of the endless battles, earned credits, and then spent those credits looking for me. This is why you don’t sacrifice a part of your cultivation, no matter what. The risks were high and reaching immortality was not simple. While there was probably a way around, it would most likely be insanely expensive.

Aoyin had most likely done the math and realized it was cheaper to try and kidnap me. He most likely had command of some subordinates, which was why he sent out weaker cultivators to kidnap me. The piece of his cultivation he had placed into me, Aoyin’s fang, had come back to bite him centuries later. His rage must be immense at this point.

She let out a snort and then stepped back. “Very well. The White Lotus faction will no longer support Aoyin’s attempts to reclaim you. So, I swear on behalf of the White Lotus faction under the watchful eye of the Heavenly Alliance.” She didn’t wait to hear my response but turned and left immediately.

I rolled my eyes as the door closed behind the woman who hadn’t even bothered to give her name. She was clearly angling to have Aoyin kill me and push all the blame onto him. It also meant that he wouldn’t be using the White Lotus as a proxy to try and come after me. His rage was probably immense at the moment, and it just brought me amusement. His sect had terrorized my life. I had zero compassion for the Demonic Blood Sect that he ran. He had killed my niece and destroyed the Cloudy Moon Sect.

While I had no chance against him currently, I could greatly inconvenience him. Right now was also the point I was the most vulnerable. I had no doubt that Aoyin would try and ambush me if I went up through the interior of the building. Even the exterior was risky.

I left the public office of the White Lotus and stopped in the staircase. He would use the elevator shaft most likely. I wasn’t capable of that yet. He would be easily able to intercept me if I went up or down. While this tower belonged to the White Lotus, they would just say he went rouge. Qiang You would complain and get some credits thrown his way.

Getting the White Lotus to back off while I had a faction behind me was easy enough. But an individual who wanted to kill me and knew where I was, that was a completely different situation. I checked the levels above and below me. There was a shopping level that was open to the public one level down.

I went to that level and made my way to one of the stores at the outer edge. “A thousand credits if you look the other way,” I told the clerk manning the counter at the store.

“What?” he asked.

“Look away from that wall, and don’t ask questions. You get a thousand credits,” I said. He took a moment to think before nodding. I paid him the amount and went over to the wall and moved a shelf of hair product. I then began cutting into the tower’s outer wall.

The clerk didn’t say anything and I cut out a pocket inside the wall. I then dragged the shelf back over and pulled the slab of the tower wall out, replacing the outward portion I had cut out. I then put on my cloak and mask next and cut my way to the outside. Once outside I replaced the portion of the wall I had cut, since I had no doubt the White Lotus faction was watching me in some way.

Once the outer wall was replaced, I began running towards the nearest tunnel connecting two towers. I crossed to an adjacent tower, and then another one, before I started ascending and looking for a open floor to get a vehicle back to the TripleX faction.

It had been a slightly risky situation, but I had managed to get clear of Aoyin without running into him. I had no wish to be cut apart and harvested. I am sure many people were disappointed that I hadn’t been killed horribly, specifically Qiang You. He was the real winner regardless since I owed him and he could claim credit for getting the White Lotus faction to back off of me.

That wasn’t true in the slightest. But when you were old and powerful, you got to make the rules. It was probably amusing to him how I had to suck up with no way to protest or argue. And at the end of the day he was technically helping me. At least now I would be able to advance with my cultivation and hopefully not die from being used as bait.

I took a vehicle a short distance to return in the vehicle I had come with from the TripleX faction. Those were the orders I had been given from the Head Servant. I thought they were stupid, but it was probably to try and pin me down. Aoyin would be waiting on the open floor when I returned. That was the entire point. The Head Servant wanted me to die as well.

I missed the Cloudy Moon Sect. While they weren’t the most social people, they weren’t trying to kill me and profit off my death in some way. I missed my family. While it would have been a short life, it would have been a better life in many ways. Perhaps I would have come back a third time? The only option left was to keep moving forward. I couldn’t quit, and admitted that much to myself.

Once I was in the vehicle to make the short trip back to the White Lotus’ tower and the open floor the vehicle I had to reach was in, I got changed again. A completely different outfit. More observation blockers as well and hid my spatial rings in my cloak. New boots with lifts in the heels to make me appear taller as well. I pulled out a box as well, filled with miscellaneous components that I had collected while pillaging the Forever City.

Exiting, I could see an older man standing off to one side looking closely at everyone and everything. That was probably Aoyin. He was getting older as his cultivation ran down to the end of his lifespan. How unfortunate for him.

Box in hand, I made my way across the open floor. I got looked at heavily, but Aoyin didn’t make a move. I turned and went into the stairway and found a cloaked being two levels down, sitting in a corner. “A thousand credits for you to go up to the open floor and walk around it hundred times.”

“Box,” the being hissed out and pointed. I tossed the box over. It disappeared into one of their spatial devices. They got up and left. I went down three more levels and found another being in a corner. This one took the thousand credits. The third being didn’t even move, they might have been dead or just a pile of rags. The fourth being took the credits. I replaced my outfit a third time and went back up.

I could see the man that was most likely Aoyin, looking around in confusion as several cloaked beings were walking about. I joined their walk. No one wanted to take the risk of interfering with any of us, since there was no telling how strong we were. Aoyin, while powerful, was not an absolute powerhouse in the Forever City.

He had just a single chance to act and intercept a single cloaked being and was clearly feeling stressed. I passed by him and could see wrinkles on his face. Stress lines under his eyes. He glanced at me but didn’t act. I stepped into the vehicle of the TripleX faction and pulled out my badge.

“Let us depart,” I told the driver. They immediately sealed the doorway and took off. I could almost here the scream of rage as we left. I was beyond Aoyin for now. While not the revenge I wanted, avoiding him was all that I could do to make his life difficult.

I changed my outfit once more to the TripleX faction’s martial robe before the vehicle arrived. Once it landed, I got off and the Head Servant looked disappointed for a brief moment. “My task has been completed,” I said.

“Anyone could have done what you did. Regardless, master is pleased that you have resolved the possibly of any factional conflict. I am to show you to your room. Once the specialist arrives to assist your pathetic cultivation, you will be called for,” the Head Servant said.

“Any idea how long that will be?” I asked.

“No. Now come,” he said, and I followed. I was led to a large suite of rooms. “This is yours for now. As long as you don’t disappoint master.” I nodded at this. This place was far nicer than any of the rooms I had stayed in so far in the Forever City. A working bathroom, several potted plants. Pictures of scenery scattered about. A sitting room and a kitchen.

I had no doubt this was their worst set of rooms, but the Head Servant could only make things so terrible. Direct sabotage was off the table, but he could inconvenience me. Thankfully I had a thick skin, so I wasn’t too concerned. The worst room here, was a paradise compared to sleeping in dark and dirty corners of the Forever City.

Chapter 74 – Faction Mates

“New face, come sit,” a middle-aged woman waved me over. The TripleX faction like others, had a gathering place for members of their faction. There was nothing else for me to do and I felt getting to understand the faction better would be useful.

What could be called a club slash bar existed that members could visit and relax at for no cost. The risk of betrayal was huge, which was why factions went out of their way for official members to reduce the chance of any resentment building.

The place was elegantly decorated like all the other faction spaces I had been in. High quality goods, with energy inside of them for durability. Extremely fine craftsmanship as well. This was only considered middle class in the Forever City, while it would have been the height of luxury back on the continent.

Along with the middle-aged woman who invited me over were two younger looking men. “Thank you senior. I am Yuan Zhou,” I said with a bow before sitting down at the chair she gestured at. Everyone had on observation blockers including me. Still, there was no doubt in my mind that they were stronger.

“I am Song Mo, and this is Song Wen and Song Zhang. Not often we get a new face around here,” she explained.

“I recently joined under the authority of Vice Leader Qiang You,” I replied and they all looked slightly surprised before schooling their expressions.

“An external member, how rare. Well let me be the first to welcome you,” Song Mo said.

“Welcome, welcome. You must be quite capable if you have been invited. I can’t recall the last person who was invited into our faction,” Song Wen said with a smile. This was a huge difference in treatment than before. It was a bit surprising.

“The last person was that Wan fellow. He never returned from his assigned mission,” Song Zhang said.

“Ah, him. He truly was forgettable. That was what, two hundred cycles ago?” Song Wen asked.

“Something like that. Now we have a fresh face once more. You are either incredibly strong, incredibly talented, or have some incredible connections,” Song Zhang said.

“It is talent. If he was strong he wouldn’t use blockers or come here. And anyone with connections would join another faction,” Song Mo said.

“I would have to say it is talent and potential as the basis for why I was invited into the TripleX faction. I am quite grateful to Qiang You for allowing me to join. I am curious how things work,” I replied.

“We wait around until we are called on for a mission. Mostly information gathering which is our specialty. But we also do support. There are other groups that show up here as well. The faction doesn’t control many towers, but we are rich. As long as you can pay, you can purchase guaranteed support from us,” Song Mo explained.

“Wouldn’t factions hire internally?” I asked.

“Most of them do. But vat grown cultivators are absolutely useless in combat. You need experience and knowledge to survive. You figure out how to beat one, you can beat them all. Even with different models of cultivators used, diversity is a strength,” Song Zhang explained. I nodded at this. It made sense. If everyone used fireball, then just bring anti-fireball techniques or equipment to an inter-faction battle.

“But mostly we do information gathering at a high level. Scout out other forces, handle diplomacy, stuff like that,” Song Wen added.

“So, talent, huh. Any special skills?” Song Mo asked. That was a tough question to answer. I couldn’t say my talent was getting around the Forever City or my cultivation. The first one needed to be phrased better and the second would invite tricky questions and reveal how weak I truly was.

“My scavenging and thieving skills gave me quite a lot of credibility with Vice Leader Qiang You,” I said.

“That is a rare path. Normally it is combat, or information gathering. But scavenging, that is fairly rare to meet anyone who goes far enough to get to a high enough level. And thieving, you stole something super valuable?” Song Mo asked.

“I was never caught. And I stole over ten million credits worth of goods,” I replied curious as to their reactions to that amount. There were nods at that amount.

“Now that is impressive. We earn about a million credits per mission. Get one every hundred cycles or so,” Song Wen said in a slightly bragging tone. I nodded at this.

“That does sound impressive,” I replied. A servant then came over to ask what I would like to drink. I said water, while the others refilled their specialty drinks. The drinks were quickly brought out along with a selection of finger food. I noted there were slight traces of energy in all the creatures.

“Welcome to the good life,” Song Mo said to me with a smile.

“It is always like this?” I asked.

“Yes. The faction takes half of anything we earn, so it is more than paid for,” she replied. My heart seized up at that. Half?! That was robbery. How would I ever repay my debt since I would have to give half of it up. Then there were more cultivation resources, equipment, and everything else.

“What about contributing in other ways? Like crafting?” I asked.

“For the specialty stuff, which is all handled out of faction. We have some allied crafting factions we work with. For the lesser stuff, that is what the servants are for. Why, were you thinking about earning money between jobs?” Song Wen asked.

“Yes. I was thinking about ways to supplement my income,” I replied.

“Take more missions, but the risks go up and your pay decreases. Also, there are only so many missions,” Song Mo said.

“Indeed, there is a limited amount to go around. Well, I am sure you will find something to do,” Song Wen added.

“What about starting a business? Who would I need to speak to about that?” I asked.

“A business? Maybe the faction quartermaster or their assistant, but their position is as high or higher than a tower master. Other tower masters handle specific duties inside the faction, but normally the faction focuses on a specific type of trade itself,” Song Mo said. I nodded at this, frustrated but not surprised.

These were all things Bones had explained to me before, but I wanted to confirm. Businesses tended to fall under the purview of the faction itself or tower masters who had the wealth to invest. If I could run a business myself, that would be it. I would just be able to run it myself. There were too many other interests to consider otherwise.

That was the problem, back on the continent and here in the Forever City. People who lived a long time created an incredibly stagnant society in terms of opportunities. What made things even worse was that the level of competition inside the Forever City was immense. At least on the continent, there was enough room to breathe, however slightly. Here, all avenues were chocked off.

It probably wasn’t intentional, but just a natural result of endless competition over a long period of time. The benefits that could be squeezed out were squeezed until only a few drops remained behind. That was the downside of an immortal society with very little scruples. It also explained why there wasn’t slavery. If you didn’t work, you would have a hard life, or become a cloaked figure living out their life on a staircase for eternity, or until the tower you were in was destroyed.

With my debt and the fact I wouldn’t be an immortal even after my breakthrough, but a massive amount of pressure on me to figure out a solution. That was clearly the point of the deal I had made with Qiang You. He wanted to profit off of me as much as possible. And the worst part was, that his investment into me would be considered a great kindness. I didn’t dare complain or bad mouth him in the slightest. I might think bad thoughts, but cultivation society hadn’t become that controlling.

Bones had mentioned that some factions did that, track people’s thoughts, but it led to the issue of creating group think and a monoculture, which didn’t stand up well against factions with more variety. I would need to find a way to create wealth without stepping on any toes. And I didn’t think a rocking chair would cut it this time.

I used to think that Half Moon City was hard mode in terms of starting up a business, but it was super easy mode compared to the Forever City. I had backing, support, a kind master, and lots of people looking out for me. Here I had only myself, and I was now in massive debt.

Escaping or running away was impossible as well. While I might be able to escape, Qiang You would follow up and put a bounty on me. Then people like the cultivators I was talking to would hunt me down professionally. I could easily see him throwing couple million credits to have me killed if I offended him by trying to get out of my debt in any other way than paying it back.

There was also the fact that the credit card I had was issued by the Heavenly Alliance. While they didn’t bother with tracking people down, or cutting off their funds, they could do that. If Qiang You was pissed enough, he could cut me off entirely from monetary transactions. I was locked in now and there was no escape. Just the pressure to earn a lot of credits and cultivate.

“So, all your off time is spent here?” I asked. That was a lot of time to spend just sitting around. Song Mo gave me a smile.

“There are other ways to pass the time. Some people prefer to go into hibernation to pass the time quickly instead. But good food and drinks help pass the time. Also, we are tapped into the news. You hear about that tentacle incident?” Song Mo asked me.

“I was there actually. I barely managed to escape. The tentacles just ripped through the towers. Then the fighting. I was lucky to survive,” I replied.

“Well thankfully it was contained. Still making the conflict there quite interesting. If you survived such a conflict, you clearly have some talent,” Song Zhang said and tilted his head towards me.

“Thank you, senior Zhang,” I replied I continued to eat the finger food and chat with the cultivators.

I learned quite a bit chatting with them. The TripleX faction had only five towers throughout the Forever City, but they were scattered. Each tower master also held another position. Qiang You was one of the strongest, but the exact abilities and powers of the higher ups were closely guarded secrets. At that level of fighting, it was less about raw power apparently and more about skill.

“It is all about leverage with techniques. The hardest part is at the start of a fight,” Song Mo said.

“I disagree. Surviving is simple enough if you aren’t stupid. It is figuring out a counter or attacking back. Everyone is a turtle. And they like to hide in their shells,” Song Wen said.

“What do you think Yuan Zhou?” Song Mo asked me.

“I would say it all comes down to each fight. Every fight is different and each opponent has a different level of skills. At least that is what I have picked up from my limited experience. I personally prefer to hide or run away,” I replied.

“The rabbit strategy. That is smart. When the tigers and dragons prowl about, it is better not to be caught,” Song Zhang said.

“Bounties are the most important thing. That is where you can make real money,” Song Mo said.

“Bounties? How does that work?” I asked. This was something Bones hadn’t talked about.

“Well, we are a mercenary faction. Hunting and killing targets is a quick way to make a lot of credits. Factions put up bounties on members of factions they don’t like. We share a kill list with a couple other mercenary factions. Good news, that also keeps us off those kinds of lists,” Song Mo explained.

“What are we talking, a couple million credits?” I asked.

“For experienced members, yeah. But a tower master is easily priced at tens of millions. Key members of a faction, hundreds of millions of credits. It’s a lot, but it is cheaper than fighting. And no one knows who posts the bounties on a specific faction. That information is kept strictly secret and handled by the hire ups,” Song Mo said.

“But we don’t get them if they come here. Bad for business. But mostly it is just for show and to make people motivated to go in for the kill,” Song Zhang added.

“Couldn’t it be abused. Like a faction setting up fake members?” I asked.

“Everyone is registered with the Heavenly Alliance, including you. Don’t look so surprised. They keep track of it all. I have no doubt they have at least an entire tower dedicated to tracking everything and everyone in the Forever City,” Song Wen said.

“They would just have someone super powerful, nota full tower,” Song Mo said.

“There is a reason traveling through the core area of the Forever City is restricted. And they probably have both. That’s the big rule. Never go against the Heavenly Alliance. You see a member, you get on your knees and hope they don’t crush you,” Song Zhang explained.

“They aren’t that bad. Don’t listen to your seniors too much. They just like to scare new people,” Song Mo said.

“It is fine. I appreciate the warnings. So, no assassination team or faction?” I asked.

“At that kind of power difference, no. Well, it is rare. I mean the senses of a tower master are immense, and their personal chambers are incredibly protected. Anything too powerful, well you will draw the wrong kind of attention,” Song Wen said.

“Trust us, we have brainstormed on the idea several times. Just one assassination, and we would have loads of credits, but it is too risky. You either are daring and dead. Or cautious and alive,” Song Mo said. I nodded at this. That mirrored my life philosophy as well. I didn’t like fighting.

“Anything else? Like going into the Firmament?” I asked.

“Ha! Oh, that is a good joke,” Song Wen said.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Song Zhang asked while staring at me.

“I heard it was a good way to get credits,” I said.

“And die horribly. The things out there. Well, even the faction leader would be hesitant. You have to be from one of the mega-factions to even consider such a thing. And a lot of power to back yourself up. Sure, people go out there, but you never know what you will run into,” Song Mo said and shook her head.

“At least with cultivators you know what to expect and can assess danger. But out there, poking around different bubbles, you are just asking for the wrong kind of attention. Anything worth taking will always be claimed by something stronger,” Song Zhang said.

“So, no trading with other cultivation societies or super-organizations?” I asked.

“That is the kind of stuff the Heavenly Alliance handles. Not low-level people like us. Sure, there is the very rare job that might lead outside the Forever City, but they aren’t worth doing. Too much risk, compared to whatever reward is being handed out,” Song Mo explained.

There went another idea up in flames on how to make money. Post scarcity societies sucked for capitalism. I had known this before, but it was incredibly aggravating at the moment. The opportunities for any kind of advancement were just non-existent. And all these high-level cultivators did not want any kind of entertainment. They were aesthetic monks, lusting after more power. Sure it appeared that the portions of the tower were luxuriously decorated, but at a certain point it was just a matter of personal preference.

When one had millions of credits of wealth they could move around at a whim and were immortal, they would see to their comfort first. But even the drinks and food I was enjoying, only cost bits, fractions of a credit as their raw value. They weren’t even valuable enough for a faction to consider charging for them.

Even if the faction spent ten credits a day on a member for a hundred years, or cycles, it was only 365,000 credits. That amount would be easily earned back from just one of their missions. The economy didn’t have a need for physical goods, it was a service economy. With the primary service of any value being violence.

It was weird to look at such an advanced society, seeing them come so far, and be so utterly barren of societal advancement.

“There has to be other opportunities around here,” I said.

“If you find any, let us know,” Song Mo added.

“Better than sitting around and just chatting most of the time,” Song Wen said.

“What about training combat skills or techniques?” I asked.

“We do that, but there is only so good you can get just practicing. What we do works. It is all about slow and steady, building up those credits,” Song Zhang answered.

I then realized that all of these members were immortals. It should have been obvious before, but they were so far above me. It was just that the faction didn’t have a low enough rank for a member like me. If they knew my actual strength, they would be truly shocked. I was the lowest of the low in terms of ability and power.

With the observation blockers on place on all of us, there was no way to tell how strong we all were. That was the same reason beings were hesitant to start fights. Strength was normally assumed by one’s position. Since I was a faction member, they assumed that while I was weak based on my statements, I was on a similar level to them.

But the truth was, all three of them were far above me. That difference was hard to process. They were content to take the safe jobs, since time was not a valuable resource for them. There was no rush to get stronger. The safer they were, the longer they would live, which would naturally allow them to earn more credits and increase their strength however immortals increased their strength.

“That is frustrating. I was hoping to start a business of some kind,” I said.

“When you run a tower, then you can. But getting a tower, now that is incredibly hard. And this faction doesn’t do that, since it invites trouble. Normally we are nestled in with other dispersed factions or allied with a larger faction where our towers are located,” Song Zhang answered.

I nodded at this. They were being surprisingly helpful, but it made sense. If karma impacted me, they were probably trying to place me in their debt. As for Qiang You, him helping me in any way massively tilted the scales in his favor. The sad part was that all of these cultivators would be confused since I was unbound to karma. I was too weak. And I probably would never be bound. It all depended on the path I took once I reached immortality, which was a very far distance away.

Looking around I saw a few other small groups chatting and a couple individuals sitting by themselves as well. “Seems like there are a lot of members,” I said.

“Well this faction is more concentrated than most. But we also need members to defend in case of an attack. You can’t leave yourself defenseless, you know?” Song Wen said.

“Just surprised at how many members there are. Like a thousand per tower?” I asked.

“I would say that is about right. But the numbers aren’t made public for security reasons. And everyone has their own little groups they prefer. We just like to greet the new people like yourself,” Song Mo said, clearly implying that after this I wouldn’t be welcomed. Clearly, they were trying to get some kind of karma advantage on people who showed up, like a hazing ritual.

“That is understandable. Thank you for sharing so much,” I replied, knowing that their plan had backfired. Even the nice people were looking out for themselves. At least I had a much better idea of how the TripleX faction actually worked now and the organizational structure. This tended to be much more unique for every faction along with their primary revenue source was.

Looking around again, I noticed some members playing board games, others reading stuff on pads, and it was a pretty calm atmosphere. The kind you would find at an elite social club. I felt like I was an imposter and didn’t belong here. While everyone had observation blockers, they were all immortals. It was incredibly stressful and made me feel weird in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

While I was part of this club, I didn’t feel like part of it. While I continued to listen and chat with the three Song cultivators who had invited me to sit down, I realized I was entertainment for them as well. There was rarely anything knew and I could see them looking at me and my reactions. They probably had spoken with their counterparts, countless times.

“Are there any social tournaments like for games?” I asked once there was a lull in the conversation.

“There are events hosted by the Heavenly Alliance that you can look up. They cost a lot of credits to join and the competition is tough. The Dimensional Go competition is legendary,” Song Zhang answered. I soon learned that Go was apparently too simple and easy, so a three dimensional version of that game was the most popular past time for competitive individuals.

If you hadn’t played a million games and studied for at least ten thousand cycles, or years, it wasn’t even worth attempting to compete. It would just be a crushing humiliation. The grand masters played games that lasted around five to ten cycles. With some moves involving weeks of contemplation.

There were other games out there and competitions, but one needed credits and a lot of time to invest. The immortals who pursued these hobbies were incredibly competitive. And even the most hopeless of individuals would get better with endless time to practice. It was impossible for me to find any traction in that area of the Forever City. Another aspect of the culture Bones had failed to mention.

It was a minor detail, but an important one. There was a middle class out there. I just needed to find the right item to appeal to cultivators and a method of distribution. But the market was there. I would need to put a lot more thought into any kind of business idea I came up with.

Chapter 75 – Specialty Crafter

“Junior greets Qiang You. Junior greets senior,” I said and bowed to the man before me. Unlike most cultivators I had seen, he was not wearing a martial robe of some kind, but a large overcoat with lots of pockets. His thick glasses made him seem even more eccentric.

He walked up to me and put a hand on my head. I felt a wave of energy pass through me and then he released his hand. “You don’t ask for anything simple brat,” the eccentric man said. The fact he could call Qiang You a brat was heart stopping. That was when I noticed the symbol of the Heavenly Alliance stitched in upon his over coat.

I had been called here after a cycle of just waiting around the TripleX faction trying to work on my techniques and figuring out a business plan. I didn’t dare pester Qiang You to hurry up, since he clearly would not let me stick around and break through on the faction.

Back in the garden I had first met Qiang You in, it was clearly time for my cultivation to be fixed. I steadied my breathing to reign in my excitement.

“A challenge then. I have covered the expenses and have not lied,” Qiang You said.

“If you had, I would have left already after teaching you a lesson. I haven’t seen a cultivation system this messed up and stable for at least an era. An entirely new system and an organ to help it. You are lucky child. Out of everyone in the Forever City, I can count the cultivators on one hand that could fix your problem,” the eccentric man said.

“Thank you, seniors,” I quickly replied and bowed deeply again.

“Raise your head, let me look at you.” I obeyed quickly. “I am Cultivator Po. My titles and other achievements would make your head explode. Qiang You here did me a small favor long ago, and he has called it in to get me to take a look at you.” I glanced over at the man in question who was staring intently at me and then back at Cultivator Po. I wasn’t sure what to say.

“I understand it is a great honor and a debt that will be near impossible to repay,” I replied. Cultivator Po let out a scoff.

“At least you understand the enormity of what must be done. Your cultivation is impressive as well as your body. You have stolen the foundation of multiple beings. The monster cultivation you have undergone is formidable.” It took me a moment to process that statement. “Tell me of them.”

I began to list off everything I had used to boost my body and cultivation. Cultivator Po just listened while I went through everything. “The Astral Soul Stabilizer, inspired, but sub-par in construction. The blood reinforcement, decent but from a weak beast. At least you managed to kill it yourself. The plant combination for a pill, is far too aligned to nature. It would have been better to be from an animal. The energy vortex, is interesting but slightly unbalanced.” He cut down all my major achievements in the past.

“Please tell me there aren’t more like him?” Cultivator Po turned towards Qiang You.

“His origins have been inspected. Apparently he is a genius under the heavens,” Qiang You said with a touch of amusement.

“Heavens save us from geniuses who get ideas,” Cultivator Po muttered and then turned back towards me. “To craft you an organ that links your body and soul and will draw in power from your body core is only one part of the problem. It is by far the largest. Your foundation is incredible and impressive. But it has cracks, serious cracks.”

“Can it be done?” Qiang You asked him.

“Technically yes. Anything is possible as you know. But I will need reassurances that the breakthrough won’t happen inside the Forever City,” Cultivator Po said.

“I was thinking about using him on the outskirts to disrupt a certain faction that is entrenched against our interests,” Qiang You said, and Cultivator Po shook his head at that.

“It will exceed any safeguards we have in place. It would not be a minor incursion. So, I wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye, even with our friendship,” Cultivator Po said.

“That is unfortunate. Very well, I will make use of him in other ways,” Qiang you replied. I didn’t dare interject or complain as these two immortal cultivators discussed me like a piece of meat in the market.

“Good. Then I can grow something useful,” Cultivator Po said and Qiang You nodded at him. The eccentric man approached me once again and placed a hand on my head and another on my sternum. I felt powerful waves of energy move through me, and my cultivation shook. He moved the hand on my head to my gut and I felt like my cultivation was going to rip apart.

“Breathe, you won’t die while you stand in front of me,” Cultivator Po said, and I breathed. The pressure got worse. I felt like my channels were being compressed. “Your cultivation is too good, which is my I must be a bit forceful here.”

After ten minutes he let go. I struggled to say on my feet. “And done. Check my work,” Cultivator Po said, and Qiang You came over and put his hands on me.

“Inspired as always. Your technique is flawless,” Qiang You replied and released me. I looked at Cultivator Po wondering what he had done. The man took pity on me and explained thankfully.

“I created an organ on the spot. I have a specialty in biomanipulation. Surgery would wreck your cultivation and create massive instability. You would have never survived such a procedure. And even if you did, you would never break through. I merely combined the leftover bits from all the other things in your body to form an organ,” Cultivator Po explained.

“It is small but will grow over the next couple of cycles. I would wait at least five before breaking through. When you do, your body core will implode directly onto the organ and draw in the energy, forcing it to link with your astral soul. It has no name, since it has not been done. There are long term issues though.” I listened intently to the next portion that he would explain.

“What I have done is to smooth out your breakthrough and your next portion of cultivation. But reaching immortality with such an organ, will pose difficulties. You walk the path of physical force. A solid and dependable path, but the organ I created does not support such a path.” I didn’t understand and he let out a small sigh, clearly sensing my confusion.

“A regular cultivator follows the path of the Dao, which sounds repetitive, but it is not. The idea is to connect to a concept and become that concept in part by attuning one’s soul to the cosmic energy of the astral plane. Drawing power and energy from there. That organ bypasses that connection. You will draw in immense amounts of energy and filter it for use. But to breakthrough to immortality, you will not follow a Dao to attune yourself. Speak,” he said to me.

“Senior Cultivator Po, couldn’t I just gather more and more energy to break through to immortality?” I asked.

“For others yes. For you no. The energy gathering method focuses on processing the energy into one’s body as a whole. And while that happens slightly with our cultivation system, it is not the focus. You will never be able to reach that kind of density. Cultivators of our system focus on throughput, not on one’s reserves. But your connection is now regulated by the organ I have created,” Cultivator Po said.

“Senior Cultivator Po, couldn’t I improve or replace it?” I asked.

“Improve, no. Replace, anything is possible. But unlikely. You will need to find a new way to breakthrough to immortality. That is what it means to develop a new system, which is what you are doing. If I had to use my considerable experience to guess, your next stage would be Energy Filtering. Where you mentally construct the processes to draw in and filter energy. Then Energy Gathering, to fill yourself up. After that, no idea. No idea how it will impact your lifespan. I can say that the organ I have given you, will last longer than you,” Cultivator Po said.

“Thank you, Senior Cultivator Po,” I said with a bow.

“That’s what I am being paid for. Qiang You, that concludes things, unless there is something else?” Cultivator Po asked.

“That is all. Thank you for your time my friend,” Qiang You said and bowed his head.

“Cheeky brat. At least you bothered me for something slightly interesting. If he makes it to immortality, I would be curious to see what the outcome is,” Cultivator Po replied.

“If he lives that long, I will let you know,” Qiang You said and then the eccentric Cultivator Po just disappeared with a slight swirl of the air. I hadn’t noticed before, but the birds hadn’t been tweeting in harmony in the garden. Now they started up again.

“You will not understand Yuan Zhou, but that was one of the great powers of this city. Cultivator Po’s generosity was immense,” Qiang You said as he went to his stone seat and sat down.

“Thank you Vice Leader Qiang You for helping me,” I replied and bowed deeply.

“Sit. Let us drink tea and talk,” he said. The Head Servant quickly brought out tea and served both of us. He didn’t even complain or say anything as he poured us both a cup and then left. I drank first as the guest to show trust. Not that there was anything I could do if Qiang You decided to squish me.

“Those few moments of his time, cost fifty million credits on top of a minor favor,” Qiang You said. I nodded slowly at that.

“Thank you for telling me,” I replied. I had been hoping it was cheaper if anything.

“I can see your face, that you would think that such a small thing to the man would be cheap. It is not. The minor favor was to just arrange a discrete visit by him. The credits are for the energy and karmic ties he created. At a higher level, one can increase their strength through the application of credits,” Qiang You said. While Bones had never explicitly said this, it wasn’t a huge leap in logic. I nodded at this statement.

“I suspected as much Vice leader,” I replied.

“Others it would have been less, but with Cultivator Po, it is better to overpay for his services to sever any kind of karmic debt. He is easily offended. It is good that you did not misstep. To owe such a man a favor, is quite burdensome. And the favor I used was not spent, since I paid. It just means he will continue to be fond of me, until I am desperate. It is primarily used as an excuse for him to visit,” Qiang You said. I didn’t think he would share something like that with me.

“Now, you have been poking about the faction asking questions. If I did not know better, I would say you are a spy. But I suspect you are looking to start a business and earn credits. After looking into your history, you do have some business acumen, and your time in the Forever City shows common sense. Tell me of your ideas,” Qiang You demanded.

I wasn’t mentally ready for a business presentation, but it was clear that Qiang You wanted to sort things out with me all at once, now that I was being focused on. “Yes Vice Leader. My first idea, would be to create a more efficient method for vehicle routing.” Qiang You held up a hand.

“I will stop you there. That is the domain of the Heavenly Alliance. They set the traffic patterns in the Forever City, we have no say. Next idea,” he said.

“Small scale industrialization. Sell portable processors to factions, so they can replenish supplies as the progress in a conflict,” I said. Qiang You was silent at this and poured himself some more tea. I was silent as well as he considered the idea.

“You have intrigued me. That idea has been attempted before, but fell out of favor due to the lower costs of mass manufacturing and transporting goods. For small scale conflicts it isn’t useful, but for larger ones, such a device would shine. Very well, you will be given a chance,” Qiang You said.

I felt my heart speed up at this. “You will be given a budget of ten million from your line of credit and floor 19,521 of this tower. You will be allowed to access the first tier of historical records and construction methods. And you will be responsible for developing the sales and distribution of your product.”

“Thank you Vice Leader Qiang You,” I said.

“I doubt that you will succeed, but it is possible. I know you don’t wish to fight,” he said, and my heart froze at that. “While you keep your thoughts to yourself, I have been alive for far too long to allow my gaze to be diverted. I will not sabotage you, but I will not go out of my way to help you. Once you fail, then I will have you complete more dangerous tasks.”

Qiang You wanted to crush my spirit. The old man was evil incarnate. A floor and ten million credits to use was immense. But beyond creating a product, the hard part would be selling it. He was also shameless enough to admit to his plan as well. The Forever City peddled nothing but death and destruction.

It wasn’t the only two things they peddled, that was unfair. There was also misery and hopelessness. Qiang You wanted to give me enough space to fail. And then he would extend more control over me. Also, by showing he knew exactly what I was up to was a power play all on its own. He was saying, ‘Don’t try and mess with me, or else.’

One did not live a very long life and become a Vice Leader of faction by being stupid or letting their subordinates get away with things. I had no doubt that Qiang You had an eye on everyone in the tower and what they were doing. While he didn’t need to know everything, he clearly knew enough that I had no chance of concealing anything from him.

The difference in power was seen by the ease with which he handled things. He fixed my cultivation and gave me an opportunity to generate revenue. The real issue would be the taxes imposed by the faction. For an entire level of the tower, I would be expected to pay half my earnings in taxes for external sales. That was revenue, not profit.

Reading through the entire internal faction book had been brain numbingly boring, but also incredibly necessary to know what was expected of me and the pitfalls waiting.

“Thank you for taking my preferences into account Vice Leader,” I said, and he nodded at this. I felt a twinge through my body and had to resist moving my hand up towards my gut. Whatever Cultivator Po had done, I was starting to feel it.

“Here. Use this for business expenses so they can be tracked,” he pulled out a credit card and placed it on the table. I picked it up. “I have arranged for your funds to be on there. I look forward to being impressed with your business acumen.”

There were no free lunches here in the Forever City. But now that I had funds and a space to work from, I could begin testing out my ideas for various products. Seeing how far I could get the cost down and working out the distribution and sales.

“For now you can go. When it is time for you to breakthrough, I will call upon you once again,” Qiang You said. I thanked him again and left.

More pain hit my gut. I could sense something pushing on my insides. After a day of rest, it went away thankfully. Occasionally I would experience some pain again, but it would quickly go away afterwards.

After resting, the next thing I did was visit the tower quartermaster. This was a different position than the faction quartermaster. They handled internal production and requests, while the faction quartermaster handled trade between the entire faction. It was one way the faction kept an eye on the various towers it owned, seeing where the supplies and the credits flowed.

The first and most important request was for an individual to manage my floor. While I was interested in running a business, I also needed people to help run it for me. The trick was to create passive income.

The floor had already been cleared out and was completely empty. I was looking around, thinking on how to lay things out when Ting Rong showed up. “Greetings senior Yuan Zhou,” she said and bowed deeply. That was the first time anyone had bowed towards me in a long time.

“Ting Rong, welcome. Thank you for agreeing to help me manage this floor,” I said. She nodded and glanced about before focusing back on me.

“It seems there is much work to do, to get this place productive,” she said.

“Yes.” I then pulled out a table and put the sample I had made on top of it. “This is a materializer. Junk goes in this compartment, and you can select from several products to make. A great way to process goods during an extended battle, or to sell elsewhere,” I said. She walked over and looked at it.

“May I?” she asked, and I nodded. She began looking it over. “The formation work is impressive, but an older standard.” That was what I had learned from working with Bones. “Its speed is fairly slow, five minutes at least, probably ten with anything irregular that is picked up. Its capacity is also low. No repair functionality for the goods produced either.”

“It is meant to recycle things into usable combat options, or to turn raw materials into resource cubes for easier transport. Get a bunch of these set up, you can have a mobile processing facility for scrap when a force moves through. The turnaround time is much faster. And by turning items into raw materials, they can be used in more specialized repair stations that a faction brings along,” I pointed out.

“Looking at this, it would cost about 10 credits to manufacture just from the raw goods?” Ting Rong asked.

“A bit less. It is cheaply made. There is no durability to the materials. One hit and they will break. But the cost is only 5 credits,” I explained. She walked over and pinched various portions of the recycling device I had made.

“It is cheaply made. How good is the material extraction efficiency?” she asked.

“Only eighty percent at worst, closer to ninety percent. But it separates the stuff it can’t process is separated out. Set one of these up on a cart, and just roll it around processing goods that are captured,” I explained.

“Well it can be made with a material cost of around four credits and a labor cost of around two credits. If this entire floor is dedicated to the process, then one of these could be produced a day,” Ting Rong said.

“And set up cost?” I asked.

“About half a million credits. To build the machines to make this recycler. That is how much each production line will cost to build them from scratch. We could set up four production lines in total if you prefer. But I suggest setting up one, allowing me to sort out any issues, and then they can be manufactured. We can scale up as needed,” Ting Rong explained.

“Why that much for making them?” I asked with a frown.

“Honored senior, while you can freely manipulate energy, tools will be required for us lowly individuals to do so. If artisans are created instead, the material cost would be the same, the labor cost would be 10 credits, and the set-up cost would only be around 50,000 credits.”

That was 450,000 credits difference. If we sold these recyclers for wholesale around 15 credits each with the high investment option, then it would take 55,555 units to be sold to break even. With the artisan option it would take 50,000 units to break even as well. But the first option would see more money generated long term. This excluded the taxes I would be subject to as well.

Cultivators thought long term, very long term. That was why they would take the first option and throw money at the problem. This was why I had asked for Ting Rong to work with me. She was incredibly knowledgeable about setting up production floors. Now the question was, which option did I want to pursue.

“I am guessing the equipment can’t be repurposed?” I asked and she shook her head.

“It would be specialized to produce the parts only for your recycler. The artisans can be reassigned to other projects,” she answered.

“Let’s start with the artisans. They can produce the recyclers, and I can look for buyers. Any suggestions on that end?” I asked.

“I am sorry senior, but I have only been trained in production methodologies,” Ting Rong said. Very little creativity. That was the biggest issue with vat grown humans. They were good at what they did but struggled going outside their area of expertise. This wasn’t always true but held in most cases. Occasionally you got someone like Rhiza who charted their own path in life.

“Any issues with security?” I asked her.

“That will be part of the set-up process,” Ting Rong said, and I nodded at that.

“How long would it take to set up?” I asked. She took a moment to answer that question while looking over the prototype I had made.

“A single cycle. It can be done sooner, but that would greatly increase the price,” she replied.

“That long?” I asked.

“It will take that long to produce the artisans needed and arrange for raw material shipments,” she explained.

“That is fine. Any ideas on improvements that can be made to the recycler?” I asked.

“Streamlining using the TripleX standard formation system. Minor improvements to the layout and construction methodology. But that would require a professional craftsperson,” she explained.

“How much would that be?” I asked.

“That would have to be requested of another cultivator. There is an in-faction job board that can be used. Our you could hire externally,” she said, and I shook my head at that. Hiring outside the faction would look bad for someone so new to it.

“I guess that means I will be working on improving this. When would the design need to be finalized?” I asked.

“If we are going with artisans, then it needs to be ready when they are, in one cycle. You do know, there are other products like this out there senior?” Ting Rong asked, and I nodded.

“Yes, but the trick is to make the construction cheap, but the processing high quality. These pieces of equipment aren’t meant to be used in a combat situation. They aren’t weapons. And unless a cultivator or person using them is incompetent, they won’t get damaged that easily. Other models cost around 20 credits for the low end. But our market is the mid-end, which is around 50 credits,” I explained.

It was honestly surprising no one had done this, but it wasn’t an improvement. Just another way to handle a situation by creating something that was an incremental improvement and could come in at a lower price point. The plan was to sell these for 30 credits each, wholesale.

That would leave 15 credits after the faction tax. With production costs at 14 credits using artisans, I would make 1 credit per unit sold. But it was part of an entire product line. I then pulled out a much larger device I had constructed and set it next to the table. While the recycler was about the size of two large microwaves, the divider was about the size of two stoves stack on top of each other.

“This is a divider, another product. The idea is people toss in stuff into the top portion, and it is divided up into the lower portion’s containers. These containers are then slotted into the recyclers,” I pointed out. Ting Rong moved in and took a closer look.

The entire idea behind the divider, was that people clearing out floors, could just toss everything into it and it would be split up quickly into standard sized containers, which would then be taken out and placed into the recyclers. That way things didn’t have to be divided and sorted by hand.

The recyclers would churn out material cubes, which were more easily handled. The specialty waste would also be separated for more high-end recyclers to handle. But it would greatly reduce the movement of goods and time needed to process a floor.

One thing cultivators liked was more upfront investment to save a few credits over the long term. That was what my recycler and divider combo idea was all about. The divider would also compact stuff down as much as possible into the container that would be moved over to the recycler. Set up one divider and ten recyclers on a floor, and it could be cleared out incredibly quickly.

It would screw over scavengers, but there was no loyalty there. It was a job I had worked at long ago. Also, by quickly processing materials on site, then the risk of an enemy force retrieving them was low.

The divider would be priced at 100 credits, with Ting Rong estimating the production cost being 20 credits for the materials and another 15 credits for the labor. After the tax, that would give me 15 credits of profit per divider. Thankfully the same artisans could be used, but they would only be able to produce one recycler per day or one divider over two days. Dedicated production equipment would have run about 1 million credits and reduce the labor to 2 credits.

While tempting to go all out, better to have more flexibility in case I needed to pivot to other product ideas. The idea would be to sell bundles at the start. One divider and ten recyclers as a whole, for 400 credits. The hard part would be selling them in volume. Out of those 400 credits, I would only be making 25 credits of profit for myself.

It would take a lot of sales for this business to become profitable. The tax was the real killer. Otherwise, my profit would have been 225 credits per batch sold. Just to earn 50,000 credits, the difference was between 222 batches sold versus 2,000. It was a huge difference. But the faction tax was not something that could be worked around.

Since they provided protection and backing for production. That was the security guarantee. It was also why most businesses were individual service providers working for the tower master. They didn’t have to pay taxes to themselves, and the faction portion of the tax was only twenty five percent, which was much more manageable.

The entire system was incredibly frustrating, and I disliked how much I had to kick up to Qiang You. But opposing him was a fantasy. While I had planned to ask him for a floor, I had been waiting until I broke through. The fact he had given me a floor to set up a business showed how well informed he was about me. It made sense since I was such a large investment.

That was also why I wanted to verify what I was told. I used my granted access to the faction records, to look up anything about Cultivator Po. TripleX had an extensive database on factions and individuals from the information it had collected. Cultivator Po was a senior member of the Heavenly Alliance who specialized in biomanipulation.

That was it. There was nothing more listed about him. But it did confirm what I had been told and witnessed. While Qiang You could have tampered with the records, it was unlikely. I even visited another tower owned by the TripleX faction just to double check and got the same information. That was enough for me to put aside my fears.

And while I had considered running away, I was much more interested in starting up a business and working as a cog within the system. Trying to go my own way had led to nothing but hardship. While I had been free and independent that came with a cost of its own. After experiencing both sides, I was content with the deal I had made with Qiang You.

That didn’t mean I liked it, or thought the deal was fair. Just that it was better than living out of stairwells and going to shady merchants who would carve me up. All it cost me was crippling debt and putting my life into the hands of Qiang You and his whims. But that debt was also my shield. It would keep me alive. The more I earned, the less inclined he would be to sacrifice me using one of his favors.

The more thought I put into the matter, that was probably why he had given me this business opportunity before my breakthrough. He wanted to see if I could actually earn credits to pay him back. I was too weak to fight, which meant that my only value was my ability to conduct business. A deadline of five cycles had already been given.

It would take one cycle to grow the artisans. Which meant I needed to look at scaling up. Having one batch grown for 50,000 credits wasn’t enough. I had Ting Rong put in an order for four groups of artisans, which was the most my floor could handle. That would cost 200,000 credits, but I needed to go into this with a mindset of success.

My life was on the line based on how well I did. I would also need to come up with other products to develop a catalogue.

Chapter 76 – Creating A Market

“As you can see from the included packet, you can expect an overall increase of 4% credits over the course of a conflict, while denying your opponent those resources based on historical trends,” I presented to the representative from the Yellow Sapling faction.

“And why don’t we just do this ourselves?” the female representative asked. I smiled at that question, since I was ready for it.

“The same reason you would purchase anything outside of your faction. The ease with which it is all combined togeather, and suitable for rapid deployment behind the combat lines. And the loss would not be huge, based on the low prices. The economy of scale is why I am able to keep the prices so low.” That wasn’t the case. It was more that the formations were of much higher quality compared to the crafting materials. Bones’ knowledge had come in handy for developing this equipment.

“We will buy a batch to inspect,” the representative said.

“Excellent. It includes a thousand cycle non-compete clause as well,” I added on and the representative frowned but nodded. I pushed forward the contract. They purchased 10 recyclers and 1 divider for 500 credits. I had increased the price after giving the issue some thought. And for a faction it was pocket change to save a lot.

I left the meeting 500 credits richer, and another contact had been set up. I had been visiting the various factions that were fighting. Some factions purchased a test batch like the Yellow Sapling faction, while others purchased much more. Everyone purchased my equipment. Either to reverse engineer or to take a leg up on their competitors. One thing I included in the contracts was that a faction could pay double for me not to sell to one of their direct competitors. A couple of factions had taken me up on that.

The TripleX faction had a long list of contacts and was respected enough that I was able to get meetings and give my presentation. That was what I did every day, arrange sales meetings and go to them, to give my sales pitch. I couldn’t hand this task off, since I was a member of the TripleX faction so I had the backing to meet with a cultivator in the other factions who could authorize a purchase.

If I sent a modded human, then it would have been viewed as an insult, or they would have been regulated to an individual in the same circumstance, thereby diminishing my product. I had to personally go to meeting after meeting. At least the accommodations and travel were smooth, and without issues. There was a big difference between having a faction behind me and being a hobo in the Forever City.

I kept most of the finished product on me, in cheap spatial items, divided up by batches. It was easy enough to sell. The increased price covered my travel expenses and the spatial items. At least I was building up a list of contacts I knew and could go back and pitch another idea.

Apparently, the level of documentation and the energy I put into the sales pitch was quite refreshing. Most factions had members handle procurement by shopping around or internally produced items. There were very few sales pitches, which was why the other factions were willing to entertain me. They couldn’t risk declining me and then a rival faction getting an advantage.

That was why I had spent so long getting data and running scenarios to include with my sales pitch. It was a thesis worthy level packet worth of data. And the projected range my products would assist in bringing in more credits and other benefits.

I had no idea what Qiang You thought. I hadn’t met with him again. And while I had sold 800 batches for a total of 400,000 credits, only 12,500 credits had been earned so far. That was slightly less than 16 credits per batch. The faction tax and production cost had eaten up a lot of credits. The good news was that my floor was doing quite well compared to the tax revenue from other floors.

That 200,000 credits in tax was a boost to Qiang You’s income and standing. It was not a huge boost, but it was above the average that a floor would produce per cycle, which was around 1,000 credits in tax. With around 80,000 managed floors, which was 80,000,000 credits worth of tax revenue per cycle. That was the sheer power of a tower master.

A lot of floors produced nothing but feeder product for other floors. Just from production alone, the TripleX faction made around 400 million credits per cycle. And that was only about a tenth of the total faction revenue stream, which offered many other support and information services as their main business model.

That’s why controlling towers was so valuable and factions fought over them. Looking at the sheer economy of scale, it was mind boggling where all these credits were coming from and what it was all being spent on.

Trying to work out the full economic picture of the Forever City was a challenge. While I had access to faction data, I didn’t have access to the higher-level transactions that took place. The buyers for goods and services tended to be factions in desperate need of emergency supplies or third parties. TripleX’s production volume was fairly low with only five towers controlled.

My best guess was that the credits were used for high level purchases, protection payments, or possibly other investments. It wouldn’t surprise me that the TripleX faction had to pay other larger factions a portion of its tax revenue to be safe. The faction also didn’t recruit directly from the continents. Instead, the faction recruited outsiders and people who lost their previous factions.

That 50 million that was spent to pay Cultivator Po, was actually pretty cheap, since I was now a strategic, long-term asset. I looked all this up and researched this information in my own time, to better understand the overall economic situation as well as my personal situation. The more valuable that I was, the more likely I wouldn’t be disposed of.

Returning back to the TripleX faction, I collapsed in my chair in my tiny office on my floor. I was going to be worked to death. But it was still better than staying in a dark room for countless years trying to get stronger. Ting Rong then showed up.

“The current expenditure and production metrics you wanted handed to you,” she said.

“Thank you,” I replied, and she nodded. “Any inquiries in our direction?” I asked.

“Only one. From a distributor named Gen from the Red Spirit faction. I have set up the meeting for tomorrow,” Ting Rong said. She had adapted to how I counted time thankfully. I had periods blocked off in my schedule as personal, for when I slept. While the Forever City didn’t have set days between factions, the Heavenly Alliance, did have a standard schedule that most businesses worked off of.

I was handed a pad with my schedule laid out, and there was a new block marked off for a meeting with this Gen. “How high up is he? Any other information?” I asked. Ting Rong placed a large packet of information on top of my desk.

“Anything else?” I asked. She shook her head and gave a negative. “Then make the appropriate arrangements for the meeting tomorrow. We do have a meeting room on this floor set aside for such purposes, unless you think I should use one of the faction meeting rooms?” I asked.

“The faction meeting rooms would be better,” Ting Rong said.

“Then make the arrangements,” I told her, and she left. I then opened up the packet of information she had put togeather.

The Red Spirit faction was primarily based in the sixth ring and the latest intelligence indicated a sizable build up of resources and personnel. They were looking to expand. The real question was in which direction. That was something that the TripleX faction had no idea regarding. Looking at the surrounding factions it was hard to say who would be their target, but they were clearly looking to make some aggressive acquisitions.

As for Gen himself, he was a long time exterior dealer that worked on behalf of the faction to address resource shortages. He was an internal purchaser from the faction. The exact kind of person I wanted to do business with.

The following day came, and I met him on one of the lower levels. “Junior Yuan Zhou of the TripleX faction greets senior Gen of the Red Spirit Faction,” I said with a slight bow.

“Thank you for the warm welcome. I am glad you were able to meet with me so quickly,” Gen said with a bow as well. The politer they were, the more they were going to try and scam me in some way. While it wasn’t a perfect rule, it fit the environment of the Forever City perfectly.

“Please sit. Refreshments?” I offered him, playing the role of a kind host.

“Whatever you have prepared is fine,” he replied with a wave of his hand. I gestured and servants came out with food and drinks. “A wide selection,” he noted as food and drinks were laid out in front of him.

“We specialize in hosting guests of other factions,” I replied. Gen nodded and as he looked over the food. I sampled several pieces, and he did the same. Each piece was an exquisite work of art, but that was the power of a faction. The small things like food had already been addressed a long time ago. Those small comforts were part of the benefits of being a member and a way to be polite to members of other factions.

The food was also a signal, that the TripleX faction knew which food the Red Spirit faction preferred and served. An indication of my faction’s expansive intelligence gathering.

“Ah, this is the best part of my job. Traveling and enjoying the hospitality of other factions. But I am sure you are here not to just entertain me, but in regards to business. I am looking at purchasing 100 batches of equipment from you. Those recyclers and dividers,” he said.

“That is quite a bit. I am definitely interested. Are you looking to resell?” I asked, while trying to better understand if there was a chance for even more sales.

“Possibly. But it is more about the price and not having to procure any more later. Stockpiling up just in case,” Gen said.

“That would be 50,000 credits and the amount could be provided in a tenth of a cycle,” I replied. That would use up all the reserves that had been built up, but it was better to sell them, than hold onto them. It wasn’t like I was going to get a better deal.

“A discount would be expected for such a large purchase,” Gen said. I shook my head at this. I couldn’t afford discounts with how tight my margins were.

“If anything, the price should go up instead for such a large order. The price stays the same,” I said firmly.

“And what if I said that I could get your product introduced to several high ranking factions who might be interested in squeezing out whatever they can,” Gen countered. Now that was interesting. I was tempted, but I wouldn’t hand out anything on consignment. There was no good enforcement mechanism. Drawing in someone like Qiang You or the Heavenly Alliance would just piss them off far more, than I would recover if a deal went poorly.

“Then I would say that you would get a commission for any sales you can arrange,” I countered. Something I wouldn’t dare to say to someone as powerful as this person without the TripleX faction behind me.

“A little consideration would go a long way,” Gen said, and I nodded slowly at this statement. He clearly wanted some kind of compensation, but I wasn’t sure what was standard for a middleman in the Forever City.

“How much consideration would I be looking at?” I asked. Since without hard numbers, it would be hard to say what kind of discount I could offer.

“Half a million of your batches, including the spatial items,” Gen said and I had to use every fiber of my being to not react to this statement. I had been expecting him to list out a percentage of the sales he wanted, not the actual sales volume he was looking to resell.

“That is quite a lot,” I said, and Gen gave me a condescending smile.

“Of course, it is. The Red Spirit faction handles military bundles for other factions. Your goods caught my eye, and it would be good to include them as well. The little I am buying now is a test run. This larger order is contingent on the same level of quality. They would even be cleared for limited export by the Heavenly Alliance.” My heart froze at that statement and I knew I couldn’t contain my shock at what he had just said.

“You can export? How? Those licenses are strictly controlled. The forms and regulations for selling things outside the Forever City is not simple,” I challenged, and Gen smiled. I had looked into this, in terms of moving more goods. But it was incredibly complicated and the costs were massive. For someone as small as me, it wasn’t worthwhile.

“That is the power of the connections I have. It would all be legitimate, and you would not be on the hook, since I would be taking possession of everything,” Gen said. Half a million batches, meant a quarter of a billion credits in sales alone. That would require dedicated production lines and have serious implications on a faction level.

“I am interested, but what kind of discount are you looking for?” I asked.

“300 credits per batch of equipment,” he said without hesitation. That was a forty percent discount. That was impossible. I would be out of pocket at that price.

“400 credits per batch of equipment,” I countered, and he shook his head.

“That is what I will be selling them at. Otherwise, I would just make them myself. I want them close to cost. Think on it, I am not budging. For now, let’s complete the first transaction. If you want to sell more, let me know,” Gen said and got up. I stood up as well. A servant brought in the spatial items and he transferred the funds. He gave me a shallow head nod and then left. That hadn’t been the outcome I was expecting.

Right after I went to see Ting Rong. We began working through the numbers. “Even with dedicated production lines, you are looking at 22 credits for the divider and 6 credits for the recycler if made with dedicated production lines. The spatial ring is another 20 credits and another credit for overhead. That is 103 credits for production cost. With the faction tax at 300 credits, that would be a profit of 47 credits.”

I looked over the numbers. “We would have to switch over our production method,” I said, and she nodded. “Alright, let’s pass this onto Qiang You for approval and then sign the deal.”

“You would bother him with this?” Ting Rong asked me, and I nodded.

“This is a massive purchase. I might be stepping on some toes. I want to be sure he signs off on this transaction. We can send a message to through the Head Servant indicating the scale of the transaction. But I am worried how it just fell into my lap,” I said with a frown. It seemed a bit too easy. There was something else going on. My idea was decent, but it wasn’t something that was immune from being copied.

Why pay that much for another faction when you could just manufacture it yourself? I was called to speak to Qiang You a day after I sent him a message explaining the deal that had been offered and how I was inclined to accept.

I bowed in the garden again to Qiang You as he looked imperiously at me. “Sit. You did well to speak to me on this. It won’t be allowed.”

“May I ask why Vice Leader?” I asked.

“It is a trap to pull the TripleX faction into a conflict. Small scale sales are fine and are ignored. But anything over ten million credits or close to that amount would be considered a strategic purpose. There are different rules that govern such transactions by the Heavenly Alliance,” Qiang You said. That was annoying.

“There are six other major manufacturers of similar equipment. One of which is allied with a faction we are allied with. That is one possible avenue of attack. The second avenue would be to resell such stuff on a large scale outside the Heavenly Alliance. You would be held accountable as a warning for such transactions. The Gen is but a patsy for such schemes and the Red Spirit faction would disown him without hesitation,” Qiang You said.

“The faction wouldn’t be reprimanded?” I asked with a bit of surprise.

“A slap on the wrist. Giving up a member would satisfy any issues. And they would take precautions if they did make the sale, but they would be a middleman at best. But as the manufacturer we would be held to account and tracked down.”

“Even with the credits we earn, it wouldn’t be profitable,” I said.

“Exactly. The TripleX faction persists by not getting drawn into conflicts and sheltering other the umbrella of other factions. While the credits would be useful, conflict would not be. I am pleased that you reached out to me before embarrassing this faction.” I felt a small sense of accomplishment at avoiding a trap, not that it was hard. The cultivators of the Forever City truly were ruthless, even when they seemed polite.

I also picked up the hidden meaning he was trying to convey. Just as Gen would be cut loose, I would be as well. The risk of doing business that ran into issues, was that I would be disposed of if there were any headaches that resulted from my dealings. That was why he was willing to explain about Gen’s position. It was unclear how much leeway factions had with the Heavenly Alliance, but it was enough for me to lose my head if I went too far.

“Thank you, Vice Leader,” I replied and bowed my head.

“How has the new organ gifted by Cultivator Po been working?” Qiang You asked.

“There have been no issues, Vice Leader,” I replied, and he nodded slowly.

“Good. The time for your breakthrough is close. I have given the matter much thought. You will breakthrough in the Astral Plane, I have already arranged protection,” he said, and my eyes went wide at that.

“That is incredibly generous,” I gratefully replied, and Qiang You shook his head slightly.

“It will not count as a favor. Since your breakthrough can’t be used to disrupt certain portions of the Forever City, it is best that you survive to pay me back. I will personally protect you while you breakthrough. You should have enough time to sort out your cultivation,” Qiang You said. It was a shame, I would still owe three favors, but I wasn’t going to complain. I had been looking for an opportunity to break through and it was being offered this easily.

I sensed there was something else at work. There clearly was another plot happening. Qiang You was going to try and benefit in some way. No cultivator was this selfless. “I understand. When do we depart?” I asked.

“One cycle from now. I need to finish making preparations.” That didn’t sound like he was being altruistic towards me. “You are dismissed,” Qiang You said, and I left his garden. There was nothing more to say.

I made my way back up to my floor, frustrated that I didn’t know what Qiang You was planning to do with me. Material on the Astral Plane was at a higher tier of information than I had access to. While tempting to make the request for more information, it would not be approved. For all the niceties and help that Qiang You was giving me, he was absolutely ruthless.

If something didn’t benefit his interests, then there was no chance it would be allowed to happen. As I climbed up the stairs, I tried to think about how I could get around the issue of selling more recyclers and dividers. What I really needed was to sell to someone like Gen, but not have the sale be traced back to me. But that wouldn’t work, since everything would be paid for in credits.

I would have to take payment in some other material that I could convert to credits and somehow hide the origin of what was produced. That wasn’t possible. There were enough examples of my work out there, that hiding the origin was impossible.

It was more a matter of bulk sales rather than one off pieces. I guess if the value was much higher, then that would get the attention of the Heavenly Alliance. If I was going to find more opportunities, it wasn’t going to be here in the Forever City. I needed a more unstable market.

“Should I arrange for the production lines?” Ting Rong asked me when I returned. I shook my head at her question.

“No. We will stick with the small-scale production for now,” I said.

“It will take a long time to break even,” she replied.

“That is fine. It justifies the use of this floor, and we are earning credits. Also have the artisans put togeather the older model I designed. Say ten of them,” I replied.

“They aren’t as good as the more refined versions,” she said.

“That’s the point. No standard markings on them either indicating the origin,” I also said.

“That would lead to questions if audited,” she replied.

“Do audits happen?” I asked.

“They can, but they are rare. This will be reported to the tower master,” she answered. That was Qiang You, but it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t ask questions unless I got into trouble and then blame everything on me. If I wanted to get ahead, it wouldn’t be possible by playing nice or by the rules. I needed to start taking opportunities that came my way.

“How easy would it be to move the production equipment?” I asked.

“Not too hard, but anywhere else would be lacking security,” Ting Rong said.

“And how easy would it be to hide the origin of the recyclers and dividers?” I asked.

“Not too difficult. You want to set up a production line off the books?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Yes. Since I am viewed as a weak link to be taken advantage of, then it is time to make use of that. If this Gen wants to throw credits at me, I will take them, and give him what he asks for with no trace back to the TripleX faction,” I replied.

“There are techniques to trace the origin of items and we would have to set up in another tower,” Ting Rong said, and I nodded at this.

“We can use one of the upper floors in another tower in a conflict zone. Produce the goods and then arrange a transfer through another faction. That should conceal their origin,” I replied.

“Unless this Gen is caught and the transaction will still show up,” Ting Rong replied.

“That’s why we will structure it as several smaller transactions rather than one single large transaction. Possibly look into alternative methods of getting paid,” I explained.

“My expertise is in production, and moving production would result in several complications. The biggest one, getting any workers to operate the devices and the raw materials that will be needed,” Ting Rong explained.

“I will find an isolated location that can be used. As for the raw materials, spatial bags, the same ones we will bring back the finished batches in,” I replied.

“You want disposable workers then, low skilled labor. That will add to the production cost if they are purchased from outside the faction,” Ting Rong said.

“Multiple factions should work better for hiding our tracks,” I suggested.

“I will make the arrangements. It will take a cycle to prepare everything that is needed,” she replied.

“That is fine. I need to contact Gen and agree to his terms. Is there anything that I am missing?” I asked.

“I don’t believe so, but I am not an expert in anything other than manufacturing,” Ting Rong said. I rolled my eyes at that statement. She had a lot of ancillary skills, but she had no personality and lacked understanding of the scope of what I was trying to accomplish.

That was the problem with vat people, their creativity was incredibly lacking. They were good at what they were made to do, but beyond that, they struggled in terms of creativity and flexibility. There were exceptions and there was a small amount of growth over time, but it was rare that a vat human overcame their ingrown nature.

Ting Rong was the exact kind of personality who encapsulated why the Forever City didn’t bother with slavery. They just made willing workers. If they didn’t want to work they were defective and replaced. They were the smalls cogs in the giant machine that just churned up lives to empower the old cultivators and let them grasp onto a bit more power.

Now I was one of those cogs, in the endless struggle.

Chapter 77 – A Slave Obeys, A Man Chooses

“Vice Leader Qiang You,” I greeted my senior with a deep bow in his garden. It was time. After all this waiting, I was finally going to breakthrough. Either my life would be ending shortly, or I would be stepping onto a new and unexplored path in cultivation.

One part of me felt relieved it was time, another part of me felt incredibly worried. So much time had passed and this was it. I didn’t think my journey would lead me to this point, being in debt to an immortal, and the truth of cultivation society, embodied by the Forever City, but nonetheless I was here.

I had been doing research on breakthroughs and following up with my business. There had been some progress in both directions. But there had been major insights in either direction.

“Sit. The final preparations are being finished as we speak for your breakthrough,” he said. Since there was no question, I was silent before him. “I can sense your curiosity about what I have planned. While many others might choose to keep one such as yourself in ignorance, I will illuminate your mind instead. What do you think of that?” There was a teasing and mocking tone in Qiang You’s voice.

“You are generous Vice Leader Qiang You,” I said and bowed my head once more. It was just one more form of control he could layer upon me.

“I sense that you are displeased even if your words say otherwise. Nothing gave you away, it is just the nature of cultivators to hate being oppressed by a stronger cultivator. But that is the curse of those weaker.” Even his casual remarks cut through me. There was nothing hidden from this immortal. I had truly grabbed the tail of a tiger and was holding on for dear life.

“Your breakthrough will alter fate itself. A small pebble cast into the eddies of the Firmament, creating a nexus of chaos which will in turn draw threats and opportunity. It comes down to luck, the worst of all higher forces, but one I have studied extensively. When you hear that word, luck, what do you think?” Qiang You asked.

“Probability favoring one direction,” I answered, and he slowly nodded at that while stroking his beard.

“Probability is but an illusion. Luck is that illusion being stripped away.” Qiang You responded with a slight disgust in this tone. After that there was a long stretch of silence in which I dared not speak without invitation. “You think yourself clever, like all cultivators do. Then tell me, why has no one tread your path?”

The answer wasn’t resources. Anyone like Qiang You could marshal the resources that I had done with only a fraction of the effort. That was the power of the Forever City and the factions that resided here. My mind went back to my previous conversation. “Something or someone would stop such an event,” I replied.

“This city is not a battleground. It has existed for countless eons, by remaining discrete.” This place wasn’t a battleground? The tentacle monster? The countless fighting between factions? “The fights you have witnessed are but minor skirmishes that spill over. My original hope was to use you to pull the Forever City into a state of conflict. Cultivator Po has seen fit to stop such a thing. But now there is a new plan I have put togeather.”

My mind was spinning, why was I being told this? This was a plot against the Heavenly Alliance! To draw this city and the super organization in control of it into a war with another. How would my breakthrough even cause that?

“There are higher forces. Karma. Fate. Luck. Mere words cannot contain their full meaning and scope. But they hold value to cultivators like myself. Bringing conflict to the Forever City would have been devastating, but it would have created opportunities.” Qiang You shook his head. “Now that will no longer be the case. Speak.”

“Forgive me, but I don’t understand. Why would you want a conflict to occur? Isn’t stability and constant improvement the most important thing? And why would you tell me?” I asked all of that in a single breath.

“For weak minded fools raised up inside a faction. They are content, like sheep. While they get stronger slowly, that is but crumbs falling from the plates of those stronger. Stability becomes stagnation. The last time the entire Forever City was mobilized was eons ago. I tell you all this, since I can see the resentment within you. Your debt, the favors you owe. I should be the one to complain for how little I will be repaid,” Qiang You said while staring down at me. I didn’t dare speak up or offer an objection.

“After your breakthrough, you will be going on a journey. I have seen your attempts to raise funds to repay the debt you will owe me, but it would take far too long. Instead, if you survive, then you will undertake some tasks for me to repay the favors you owe. You will probably die horribly, but it will be the least you can do.” I honestly couldn’t tell if Qiang You liked me, hated me, or was just messing with me.

“Thank you senior,” I said and bowed my head while wondering where I would be sent and what I would have to do. At least that meant he thought I would survive my breakthrough. I would have to mentally sort through everything else he had told me later on. One thing I had learned was to never underestimate senior cultivators. One does that reach that age and power without an immense amount of cunning.

“Come,” Qiang You said and stood up. I followed him out of the garden onto a vehicle. If the general use faction vehicle was nice, Qiang You’s personal transportation was the height of luxury. The chairs were impossibly comfortable and I couldn’t even feel the vehicle moving in the slightest. Even checking for forces, there was nothing. The hull of the vehicle blocked my sight.

“Senior, what exactly is going to happen when I breakthrough?” I asked. Qiang You sent me a glare and I felt like I was a moment from death. The pressure vanished as quickly as it came. I was hoping for information and a clear explanation.

“A massive conflict. You will focus on stabilizing your cultivation with what time will be given to you. As for what shows up during or after, I do not have enough luck to say.” I felt there were unspoken words here. That if it was too much trouble or risk, I would be left behind to be killed. That was more information than I was hoping for, but less explanation than I wanted.

It was tempting to ask another question, but I knew that I had already pushed Qiang You’s forbearance. Asking about stuff I would have no role in, would only annoy him. It was like rushing to the cockpit of an airplane, asking how the plane was flying, what the controls were, and everything else about what was happening. I would just have to take it on faith and my limited knowledge that I would make it safely through my breakthrough.

A few minutes after we had boarded Qiang You’s private vehicle we came to a stop. I followed him off the vehicle onto a cylinder ship. This was not like the lower floor, with lots of chairs for lesser cultivators. We were escorted to a fancy room that had the same level of comfort as the vehicle I had just been in. Qiang You gestured for me to sit, which I did.

Another older looking man entered, and I noted he had the symbol of the TripleX faction on his robes. He had a similar look to Qiang You. I quickly stood up and bowed deeply, and I noted Qiang You stand up and incline his head as well. This person was clearly a bigshot if Qiang You could be made to bow. A hand reached out gripping my hair and lifted up my head. It was the height of rudeness, but I was nothing but a bug to these cultivators. I didn’t object or fight the impossibly steely grip.

“So, this is your project.” I felt a wave of energy pass through me, and the old man sneered. “You weren’t joking when you said his cultivation was a mess.”

“Indeed Leader Han, it is a mess,” Qiang You said. I recognized that name. I had seen it written down in several places. This was the faction leader of TripleX.

“A clever idea to stir the pot, but far too shallow. If it had worked, the consequences would have been immense. Now you seek to go fishing,” Leader Han let go of my hair and I went back to bowing, not daring to lift my head without his permission.

“It was a long shot, but one I had high hopes for. As for the new plan, I have taken precautions, and we could get something useful. Also, you sense the hand of fate on this one,” Qiang You said. I had fate on me? I had no idea what that meant, but I listened carefully.

“It is only because you have succeeded in the past, that I am even willing to consider this and come along,” Leader Han said with a scoff.

“We all do what we must,” Qiang You replied and inclined his head. There was a lot of subtext that I was missing between the two based on their history, but I couldn’t ask for clarification.

“You may both sit,” Leader Han said, which was an insult to Qiang You by lowering him to be in the same command as me, degrading his status. I quickly sat back down on the chair I had been originally seated on.

“There is no reward without risk. The plateaus at the higher levels are not easily broken. If anyone could gather such power, then we would just sit around,” Qiang You challenged Leader Han with this statement.

“What I expect from someone who looks to shake the Heavenly Alliance and see what tumbles out. You are lucky you were only warned. The depths of power at the higher echelons are immense,” Leader Han said as he took his own seat across from Qiang You who I was seated next to.

“But you don’t wish to stop me and will even see this though Leader Han. You might claim you don’t want to upset things, but you dislike where things stand,” Qiang You said in a challenging tone.

“Of course. Everyone does. No one truly wants a war, but it is better that the weak perish and the strong subjected to the crucible and refined.” Leader Han then looked at me. “Yuan Zhou, tell me, if you could gain immortality right now, without any risk, but not become stronger, would you?”

The moment I heard my name, I knew I wouldn’t get a simple question. There was no clear right answer. Saying I would pursue power but with risk, made it seem like I did not put value on my life, which was not true. But saying that I valued my life would be seen as cowardice and wanting to give up on what was about to happen.

This touched on what my goals were. I had started this path so long ago, that I was stuck on it. There was no way off without betraying the people who had placed their expectations upon me.

“Unfortunately, my path diverged from such a route and while I could have tried to make better choices in the past, I am here now, having come this far,” I replied hoping my answer would not offend by being too timid or meek.

“Arrogant. Unbridled arrogance to offer such an explanation. To think you have chosen better than your seniors. I see what you mean Qiang You, this one’s spirit is unbridled, perhaps the blessing of fate?” Leader Han turned back towards Qiang you. I felt my heart fall at those comments. I had given the wrong answer.

“I suspect so too. At first, I thought it was cultivation remnant, but even the arranged meeting with that demonic cultivator failed to produce anything interesting,” Qiang You said. The fact he could say something so casually in front of me, showed how little I meant. I was a plaything of these elites. They would toss me to the sharks, if they thought the sharks would give them some entertainment.

Back when I had been a rich young master, I had never given any thought to the debt slaves working for me. I had thought I was doing them a favor. I had helped them, but it was degrading. Just like I was being degraded now. I had no ability to speak up or object.

While I had no doubt these cultivators wouldn’t kill be for a minor offense, I would lose value in their eyes. I was a product, not a person. A tool to be wielded in whatever scheme they had cooked up, not a person with hopes and thoughts.

It was degrading and horrible to be in such a position. But that was cultivation society at its core. The weak had no ability to object. The strong could do whatever they wanted. The weak looked to become strong and the strong exploited the weak.

“And you upset him,” Leader Han chuckled. I hadn’t shown any emotion on my face and didn’t react to his comment. He was using a technique or cold reading me. Either was a possibility with someone who was so old and powerful. I still had on my equipment and observation blockers.

“When he came to beg me for my help, he knew the consequences. Now we shall go fishing and see what comes up,” Qiang You said. Clearly I was going to be used as bait to get some kind of monster these two would benefit from. A fish on a hook.

“The only reason I am going with you,” Leader Han replied. There was a soft chime. “And this is our stop.” That had been incredibly fast, but they had probably arranged for us to be the first stop on this cylinder ship. Both of the senior cultivators stood up and I stood up as well. We left the cylinder ship and made our way to a rocky platform. The cylinder ship left, leaving us in darkness. Qiang You held up his hand, creating a source of light.

There was just blackness off the edge of this chunk of rock. We made our way to the center of the circular piece of rock as the cylinder ship left. That was it. There was no sun, no other light source. Just a patch of rock in the middle of darkness. The air was clean and breathable for some weird reason. “Getting back will be a pain,” Leader Han muttered.

“Indeed,” Qiang You said and waved his hand that wasn’t glowing. Three patches of ground rose up and became smooth. The dust and smaller pieces of rock were pushed to the side. Various symbols were imprinted on two of the platforms, while the third one in the center was left blank.

“An interesting derivation. These sections,” Leader Han pointed out portions of the circle and Qiang You nodded.

“To stop detection on multiple paths, backwards and forwards,” Qiang You said.

“Inventive. But you always did like the rare and esoteric,” Leader Han said. They both stepped up on their respective platforms and Qiang You waved to me to stand on the blank platform. I noticed the various symbols on their platforms were glowing. I stepped forward and onto the third stone platform.

Qiang You pulled out a large square rod and pointed it in multiple directions into the blackness all around the circular stone landscape. “Senior, what are we doing here?” I asked hesitantly. Leader Han let out a chuckle while Qiang You spared me a glance before waving the square rod in his hand about. I had no idea what kind of functionality it had.

“You will breakthrough here. A small bubble of existence, instead of the Astral Plane directly. Leader Han has graciously offered to slow the passage of time for you while you breakthrough,” Qiang You said. My eyes went wide at that as I looked at Leader Han. He just chuckled slightly as he stared at me.

That wasn’t part of the plan. But there was no way I could object or say anything. I didn’t fully understand everything that would be happening. And even if I did know, there was nothing I could do. I had to place my trust into Qiang You and Leader Han without hesitation. That was my only chance of surviving.

“I would focus on completing your breakthrough as quickly as possible. Once you breakthrough, things will get chaotic,” he said with a smile that gave off a sense of unease. “How go the preparations?”

“It will take a little bit longer to sever any possible connection,” Qiang You said.

“Double check. I will not have some other person snatch away our hard work,” Leader Han replied.

“All clear, for now. Anything left is beyond me and hiding,” Qiang You said and dropped his hand that was giving off light. Now all that was left were the soft blue glowing symbols around the two immortals.

“Good. Now for the main act. Break through whenever you are ready,” Leader Han said while turning to face me.

“Now seniors?” I looked at Qiang You.

“All our preparations are done. Breakthrough now,” Qiang You said clearly indicating he would tolerate no further questions. There was another moment of hesitation, but I had come this far and couldn’t back down now. I unequipped my gear and put it away in my spatial ring. The air on this small patch of land in the middle of darkness was somehow breathable.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my mind. Neither of the senior cultivators said anything while I steadied my nerves here at the last moment. I had studied for this moment for a long time. The hardships I had endured had been immense and would only get worse going forward.

The first step was breaking the barrier on my mind core shells. To tie my body and soul togeather. The boundary on the outside shattered. The energy in the mind cores had the concept of force tied to them. It was engrained in every aspect. As the energy leaked out, I focused on forcing my body and soul to remain linked.

The energy released from the mind core shells flooded my body. Most of it was dispersed and lost, but some remained and settled down. Linking my body and soul togeather in a way that it hadn’t before.

“Such waste,” Leader Han muttered, but I didn’t focus on him. I had to keep my focus on the energy that was spreading out and dissipating inside of my body. As the energy decreased, my soul cores pushed outwards and then broke.

“Ahhh!” I screamed as my cultivation shattered. All the motes, channels, and meridians were pushed beyond the boundaries of my physical body by the four explosions inside of my soul. My body core in the center of those explosions was compressed inwards.

At that moment everything seemed to slow down, while I was in agony. Leader Han had a single hand pointed at me. I could see a bubble of energy form around me. I couldn’t move, and the agony I was in was immense.

The first thing to focus on was drawing the energy from my body core detonation, into my new organ. The pain I was feeling only increased. This was beyond a flesh wound, it felt like my body was being ripped apart at the very seams. I had to focus. Everything was happening in slow motion. Without everything slowing down, I would have had no time to react to do everything I needed to complete.

I didn’t like pain or suffering, but I had endured hardships for this long, I could endure a bit more as I felt the implanted organ inside me shifting and growing. Qiang You and Leader Han were talking, but I couldn’t pay attention to them at the moment as I focused on trying to direct the maelstrom of energy within me.

It was like trying to fly a kite in a hurricane. I had some control, but the overwhelming amount of energy in my cores was making it vary difficult to direct. As the secondary body core exploded I had to focus on drawing back my soul. I could feel it being pushed outwards. The very foundation that I had carved my cultivation into was being pushed outwards.

Letting go would be too easy. From what I had read, the problem had been not enough force, I had too much. It was hard to focus on what was me. I was everything around me. I looked down at the two immortals who had come for this.

My physical body was breaking apart. I was losing focus. It was a struggle to draw myself back togeather. I needed to focus on myself, pulling my soul back togeather. The boost from the mind cores and the organ gave me an anchor, a center to focus on as my soul slowly came back togeather.

Then there was the third thing during my breakthrough I needed to focus on. Creating the foundation for purifying the energy I drew in. I had studied long and hard in preparation for this, diving into the extensive information the TripleX faction had collected.

I created cylinders from the remnants of my internal cultivation structure. Four of them, each pointed towards the center, where my organ crossed between my soul and my body. I just needed the base structure in place, the internal mechanisms could come later. I just needed to have the foundation there to work off of.

Even with the extra time that I had, it was a struggle. Portions of energy and pieces of my cultivation flew away, and I couldn’t sense them anymore. Time stretched out as I kept trying to pull myself back togeather. Every fiber of my body and mind were screaming in protest.

My soul was slowly pulled back togeather. The pieces I wasn’t able to keep a mental hold of had dispersed outwards. There had been a lot of waste, but I had not been able to do more. I had given everything I had and held nothing back.

I could feel the steady pulse of the organ linking my body and soul. I could feel every portion of it. In my physical body it was a large lump of energy saturated flesh, pulsing with my heartbeat, unleashing energy into my physical body in a small trickle. For my astral soul, it was the center of my cultivation. What felt weird was that I could feel my soul in a way I couldn’t before. Previously it had been a nebulous feeling. Now, I could feel each and every contour with extreme precision.

The gaps and cracks left from trying to bring it back togeather were present as well. Energy seeping into my soul. The cylinder constructs built around the organ to purify the energy sent to my physical body. But the organ was present and overlapping both aspects of myself, which was giving me a headache. The overlaps were close, but there were minute differences. Like two similar pictures slightly offset from each other.

The world spun and shrunk. My entire body felt like it was on fire, and I was being slowly roasted. Time slowly sped back up. Just as I began to get my panic under control, I felt something grab onto my soul and my fear skyrocketed.

Chapter 78 – Battle Of The Rocky Platform

Qiang You

I stood on the small patch of solid Firmament watching Yuan Zhou prepare to breakthrough. He was an interesting cultivator, but interesting would only carry you so far.

“Your machinations are as multi-faceted as ever,” Leader Han told me through a mental transmission.

“That is the only way to win, when every outcome leads to victory,” I mentally replied. It had been a long-standing policy of mine. That any plots could not have a failure condition. Every outcome would be accounted for to avoid losses.

“If he dies, you will be out a couple of favors,” Leader Han pointed out.

“Which is why I am overseeing this personally, and even invited you,” I countered. We had a long history togeather, founding the TripleX faction from the DoubleX faction several eons ago. While both of us would betray the other if the benefits were high enough, we each knew where that line was.

“There he goes. Time for me to step up,” Leader Han muttered towards me mentally. He altered the flow of time around Yuan Zhou. An incredibly powerful and dangerous technique. That was why he was the faction leader and not I, his combat abilities were stronger than mine.

I had already sealed off this location as best as I could from external observations. That would draw the attention of several powers as a minor blind spot appeared within their vision. They would focus to see what nefarious deed was happening and would be blinded as Yuan Zhou broke through. Cultivator Po would have alerted the Heavenly Alliance in regards to Yuan Zhou’s breakthrough. My previous words would be picked up.

There could be no complaint, since we were not in the Forever City, but close enough to still be considered in its sphere of influence. A small bubble of material reality, floating in the Firmament used for secret meetings close to the city but outside of it. Several of these sites existed.

The Heavenly Alliance would not be able to move against us, but their watchers would be blinded out of concern. The greater the power, the greater the constraints. That was the problem with the cultivation system and the trap. The reason why so many factions had continents that produced cultivators. It was to find some way to break the ties of karma that bound us.

That was why Yuan Zhou was so interesting. Normally the faction that sponsored his trip would have easily taken him in, but he somehow survived on his own. There were no mods inside his body. He had no external backer either. The other factions tended to lack ambition. They would have made him fight, and he would have died. He was weak in a combat sense, but priceless since his cultivation broke all the norms and standards.

There were still remnant ties that would seek to bind him, but he was a free agent. That was his true value. He would draw attention for that alone and not just from the monsters we hoped to snare. With the watchers blinded for a moment, preparations would be made for future plans. These moments in time were rare.

Leader Han shared the same ambition as me and was content to let me plot and scheme. I watched as Yuan Zhou dispersed his mind cores. So much energy wasted, but they were focused on force, not on tying the body and soul togeather.

Then the soul cores detonated. I could tell Leader Han was putting quite a bit of effort into his technique. Stretching out this moment for as long as possible. The hidden pressure from the various watchers instantly broke off and I could imagine them cursing. For this breakthrough was immense enough to be blinding.

If I hadn’t set up a barrier to protect us, we would have been vaporized as waves of energy and cultivation remnants exploded away from Yuan Zhou. The very air burned, the ground around our positions shook and cracked. This small pocket of reality was breaking apart as the soul and the body drew close togeather, breaking the barrier to the astral plane.

Already I could sense several things approaching in that direction. Safe guarding one’s soul was no easy task. I focused my attention onto the astral plane as waves of energy and cultivation remnants were there as well. I did not manifest myself into that maelstrom just yet. Being this close to the Forever City was both a blessing and a curse.

For there were fewer lesser monsters, but there were greater predators that roamed around, seeking to pick off the occasional cultivator as a snack. There were also greater dangers that lurked. While I had divined all that I could, if a greater danger emerged, we would have to flee. Some things could not be fought.

My job was to scan for what fish we hooked with our bait. Killing such a creature would yield valuable resources. Multiple plans all coming togeather at the same time to advance. That was the secret to success. I picked up on a hint of danger approaching and focused my gaze in the astral plane to what was arriving.

It was only a Lesser Astral Behemoth. Yuan Zhou’s body core exploded and he began to draw in the energy into the cultivation organ that had been made for him. The value of such a thing was incredible. Cultivator Po was a recluse and only the favor I had done for him allowed me to reach out to such a talent. It was a shame that is physical adjustments no longer worked as well as they could once someone broke through to immortality.

By then their foundation was solidified too much to make any changes. For many that was a moment of happiness. For others like myself, it was a moment of despair once the path ahead was revealed. The Lesser Astral Behemoth was getting closer.

“TEN THOUSAND RIPPLES.” I unleashed my technique. The energy vibrated slightly at multiple points around the Behemoth. It was instantly crushed. For more physical threats I used sound instead. It was amusing when people entered my garden and did not realize how much danger they were in. Dispersing the origin of the attack gave almost no warning until it was unleashed.

Any combat cultivator would realize everyone and everything with any hint of self-preservation had danger sense. The ones that reached my level all had techniques that bypassed such a danger sense. Throwing super powerful beams of destruction around was impressive, but they were easily dodged or countered. Only when there was an extreme power difference or a target focused on defense, did such a skill make sense, which was rare.

Normally I would not have used such a strong technique, but Behemoths were resilient, and this was a fight that could not be drawn out. There would be more things approaching and we would need to deal with them quickly.

While there was boundless energy from Astral Plane, it was unformed, chaotic, and completely unusable except to the most depraved of monsters. But it could be altered, shaped, and made useful. The things that lurked out there desired such energy, always seeking to pray on others to get it.

I had read Yuan Zhou’s report of his first foray into the Astral Plane and meeting an ancient. Some physical beings preferred to hunt closer to the source of their food and power. The risks were greater, but the Firmament was infinite. Killing one of these creatures was the hope of my little fishing plan.

Scanning the area of the astral plane around where Yuan Zhou was breaking through, I noted two more lesser beasts approaching. I quickly killed them and pocketed their remains to be processed later. That was when I felt a sense of dread.

“TEMPORAL LOCK!” Leader Han used his signature skill to save our lives as his bubble of slowed time faded away. “I can hold.” I let out a sigh of relief at his mentally transmitted words. Anything that could attack through time was not simple and some of the most dangerous monsters that were out there.

For they broke the rules that governed causality. Thanks to Leader Han, this had become a fixed point of time, a bubble of stability, even as the material world broke away around us and we were all pulled into the astral plane. The physical platform we had been on, had been shredded by Yuan Zhou’s breakthrough. It just took a moment to crumble away.

I quickly reached out and flicked my finger, dragging Yuan Zhou’s physical and spiritual body next to mine. He was alive and his cultivation was stable, but heavily stressed. The same was true of his physical body.

“DISTORTION RIPPLE.” I unleashed a technique to disturb the surrounding area around us. The kaleidoscope of colors that was the astral plane was quickly blocked out as a bubble of darkness began to form around all of us. This would prevent anything from sneaking up on us while we were here.

“Still holding?” I asked Leader Han. If he fell, we would be vulnerable to more oblique attacks.

“I am. But the monster got hold of pieces of Yuan Zhou’s cultivation that were lost. It is attempting to attack him,” Leader Han said, and I frowned at that. “I can’t drag it out.”

We had hooked a large and powerful fish, but it was too powerful to deal with easily. That was when I noted a Dragon approaching. It must have been circling around our position in the Astral Plane, which was why there hadn’t been more lesser beasts. It was using their distraction to pluck them off for its own benefits.

A Dragon was one of the rare living things that could naturally draw upon energy. Their body was the perfect combination of flesh and energy. Their power was immense. In a straight fight, with no other distractions, both Leader Han and I would struggle to match such an opponent. Winning was near impossible with our respective strengths based on what I could tell.

If we weren’t being assaulted through time, it would have made the perfect fish. But now we had two fish, one fish too many caught on our hook. If it was anything other than a Dragon, I could have used Yuan Zhou’s body as a true bait. Tossing him out and attacking in that moment of weakness. But a Dragon was as smart or smarter than any cultivator. They would not fall to base instincts, if they had any.

“I need fifteen seconds,” I told Leader Han who nodded. I flung out my hand, sending tiny bits of energy out of our protective sphere. Their strength was incredibly weak, and they would blend in with the background energy. That was the first second.

The next second, I moved, tossing Yuan Zhou to one side. The Dragon instantly turned. With his cultivation still in flux, he was at his most delicious at this point in time. Leader Han would hold back the temporal monster attacking us while I countered the Dragon. I exited the sphere of darkness, as the great lizard eyed me from a distance and Yuan Zhou’s body that was flying away. Its black scales shimmered in the chromatic light given off by the background energy.

In the third second, I moved at the Dragon and used a lesser technique. “Separation!” The dragon easily countered by raising up a single claw and deflecting the attack. It then unleashed a wave of disintegration fog from its maw trying to obscure my vision.

In the fourth second, I sent out several more attacks, carefully working out the positioning to block the dragon from approaching Yuan Zhou. It deflected my attacks and advanced forward towards its prey. While it was not a beast, it was proud. It thought me weak and moved into the first layer of my trap.

In the fifth second, I activated my technique at a distance and rushed forward. “TEN THOUSAND RIPPLES.” The small portions of energy I had released seconds before, activated, and overlapped. A single one meant nothing. Even ten was put a pinprick. But ten thousand attacks hit the Dragon and it faltered momentarily.

In the sixth second of the battle, I reached the Dragon and struck out against its massive scaled chest with my palm. “RIPPED FATE!” The blow was one that had seen me threw countless battles. Many beings would shrug off physical attacks, but the more esoteric ones were far more dangerous. For nothing was completely invulnerable.

The instant the blow struck, the Dragon froze. Its future dimmed. Its power contained. Its techniques severed. I could feel its soul tremble from the weight of my blow. I ripped off one of its scales and stored it within my spatial ring.

In the seventh second, I activated my life saving talisman and a hundred cycles of accumulated energy was spent in a single moment as a shield formed around me. A massive clawed hand struck my barrier, cracking it and dispersing the energy invested into it. A Dragon’s claws were not kind to other forms of energy.

Using that moment I had bought, I moved to Yuan Zhou in the eighth second of the fight while tossing out an array of explosive talismans. Blasts of energy struck the dragon and it began to gather energy for a beam attack.

In the ninth second I grabbed Yuan Zhou and retreated backwards while spending a tenth of my total energy to create decoys. I also unleashed smaller bits of energy as preparation for a third attack. The beam attack missed, as it sliced through three of the decoys I had created.

In the eleventh second, I reached Leader Han and the Dragon had chosen to retreat. They were intelligent predators and I had let it know I had the strength to make the fight not worth the meal. It helped that Leader Han was with me as well. If he wasn’t the Dragon might have decided to continue to fight.

“One scale,” I told Leader Han. He gave me a mental grunt. It would have been nice to kill the entire Dragon and harvest its corpse, but that was out of our reach at the moment. That was one thing those beasts didn’t have, was preparation. While they might be stronger, they rarely used equipment which had given me an edge in the fight. Even if the cost was horrendous.

“I have an opening,” Leader Han mentally gave me the coordinates and I quickly struck out with my technique. I was beginning to feel tired from all my expenditures. My attack with the help of Leader Han, traveled through time and stuck whatever thing was trying to attack us.

“It is retreating. And heavily injured,” Leader Han communicated towards me. I didn’t let my guard down as I checked the surroundings once more. The Dragon was long gone. It was unfortunate, but it would have attacked while Leader Han and I had been dealing with the other monster.

I was about to suggest when we return to the Forever City when I felt an acute sense of danger. The fight wasn’t over yet. “What is it?” I asked Leader Han. He was using multiple techniques trying to determine the source while I checked the surroundings. There was nothing that I spotted, so probably something more dangerous and esoteric.

Without hesitation, Leader Han reached up and ripped out one of his eyes and tossed it away. That was not good. Whatever it was had used a visual attack to target him. Since he couldn’t block it, he had to get rid of the vector of attack. “A greater danger,” he mentally told me while unleashing an attack that burned away all traces of his eye he had ripped out.

“Escape possible?” I asked. He didn’t respond right away, which was a bad sign. He slowly shook his head.

“Can only wait. We might be in a loop,” he said and I mentally cursed at that. The monster only attacked because we were looking for an attack. We really did drag up even more trouble if it was something that ignored causality. Leader Han was the expert in esoteric attacks, which was why I was counting on him.

“Just a visual attack medium, I can be bait?” I asked. It was something we had done in the past.

“No. The strength of the thing is immense. It got through my defenses instantly.” I winced at that. It meant the monster could break the flow of events. It didn’t need countless cycles to probe Leader Han’s defenses. It automatically succeeded. I was already beginning to feel a headache forming. These types of fights were incredibly aggravating and dangerous.

One mistake and it would mean an instant loss. For a monster of this caliber, even a glancing wound could lead to exile from the Forever City to prevent the issue from cascading. “Nothing else approaching,” I let Leader Han know.

“It has probably already killed whatever else is out there. But it isn’t attacking through time. It is using another vector,” he said.

“It can’t be resonance, we have safe guards and Yuan Zhou is unconscious,” I said.

“Sleep.” Leader Han instantly realized the vector of attack. He reached out and put his hand on Yuan Zhou’s head. I waited patiently as we floated there in the astral plane. After a minute, he removed his hand. The sense of danger went away.

“Countered?” I asked.

“Yes. I had to decoy the monster away, it shouldn’t be back,” Leader Han said. I relaxed slightly at that. The sense of danger returned, and I tensed up again. “Hold his head.” I grabbed Yuan Zhou’s head with both of my hands while Leader Han pressed his palm over his closed eyes. I could barely sense the minute pulses of energy.

This was a battle of finesse, not power. Time continued to stretch as I kept an eye on our surroundings. “You, help me contain it, full barrier,” Leader Han said. I quickly pulled out the a metal box frame etched with multiple arrays.

I placed the box around Yuan Zhou’s head and Leader Han’s hands. I focused on creating a powerful barrier around his wrists and the other portions of the frame. Leader Han pulled his hands back a bit and the barriers began to pulse violently. It took all my remaining strength to keep them in place.

“Up slowly,” Leader Han said, and I raised the metal box frame up, adjusting the barrier around Yuan Zhou’s head until the box had completely cleared him. Once that was done I activated the arrays, to seal five of the six sides completely. Then Leader Han began to pull his hands out of the sixth side. Once he was clear, I sealed the last side.

The arrays were pushed to their limits, but the box held, and we both relaxed slightly. “Any lingering problems?” I asked.

“No. We should be clear. Same with Yuan Zhou here. A Thought Eater, we really did catch a big fish,” Leader Han said. The fact he used the name of the monster meant he fully believed that it was safely contained.

“At least we didn’t trigger a shark,” I said with a smile. That was one reason we were close to the Forever City. “How much?”

“At least two favors from anyone specializing in mental techniques. I would say four. Not easy to catch these things. If Yuan Zhou was awake, he would have instantly died instead of being used as a vector of attack. Luring and catching one, without looking at it, not simple,” Leader Han said. That was indeed a mighty catch.

It was a shame we hadn’t been able to catch that temporal monster. Leader Han could have used such a being. But it was better not to get greedy and take only what we could manage. A Thought Eater and a Dragon’s scale had more than paid for this expedition and then some. That was not counting everything else this trip had achieved as well.

“I do have concerns. That first monster, it could use him as a vector,” Leader Han said.

“The connection isn’t cut?” I asked worriedly.

“With cultivation remnants it will hunt him down. I got a sense of the thing. A Temporal Hunter, quite relentless,” Leader Han explained. Using the name of such a monster meant that it was no longer a threat to either of us at the moment.

“How long?” I asked.

“Impossible to say. Could be a cycle, could be a couple million. You were planning to send him on a trip. I suggest he goes up. If he ever comes back to the astral plane, then he would be attacked. Even other places in the Firmament would be risky,” Leader Han said. I frowned at this.

“I had other plans. Was going to use him to force a couple other factions into conflict and have him act as a third party,” I complained but didn’t object. “Anything higher has limited value. We could use him as bait?” I asked.

“No. The Temporal Hunter knows of me and was wounded. It won’t attack with me nearby, but I am not looking after your pet,” Leader Han said.

“Fine. I am sure I can come up with something that needs to be done. He will stagnate in the Mechanical Divide,” I muttered. That would upset some of my long term plans.

“Better some use than none. You already got value out of him. Everything else is profit. Unless you plan to keep him in the Forever City?” Leader Han asked me. I shook my head at this.

“No. That will draw too much attention. Sending him to the Mechanical Divide will be useful. Even if it slows down some long-term plans, he can make himself useful by finding some trinkets. If he survives,” I muttered.

“That is why I leave the complicated scheming to you,” Leader Han joked. That was our strength working togeather. He didn’t like schemes but enjoyed working out the esoteric skills and properties of our opponents. I was the reverse. I enjoyed my fights to be straight forward, while preferring to scheme in other areas. That dichotomy was what led to our successes both now and in the past.

That didn’t mean neither of us were capable in other areas, but we had our preferred methods that complimented each other. That was our strength both in combat and outside of it and the basis of our friendship. Still, if the benefits were big enough, we both knew there would be betrayal. Even an entire Dragon corpse wouldn’t be enough to split our resolve.

“I will arrange the sale of this thing. You want to sell or keep the scale?” Leader Han asked me. I considered the question. The favors would be split between us along with whatever credits were paid.

“A directional shield that I will keep. One can never have too many,” I replied. I was annoyed that I had lost a protection talisman but it was better to spend such an item than take a crippling injury. If those claws had struck me, death would have been the best outcome. Having more protection items was never a bad thing. I had several more saved up. The only problem was that they were only good in straight forward fights.

As Leader Han and I increased our strength, the threats had become more and more esoteric. Still, a Dragon was the perfect example of power triumphing over all else. It was tempting to consider a different combat style, but it would take too long to change and set me behind in my accumulation of strength and power.

“Now to get back,” Leader Han muttered, and I sent him a mental chuckle. “You know the barriers in place around the Forever City. We are going to have to find a continent and take public transport back.”

Leader Han hated traveling by cylinder ship, especially ones that were used to transport lesser cultivators. I just found it amusing. “You are too prideful. And you didn’t want to pay for a ship of our own,” I countered as we set off through the astral plane.

“The Heavenly Alliance should be called the Hellish Thieves with what they demand as payment to run cylinder ships. And we decided long ago that having a continent is just an extra headache neither of us want to manage in any way,” Leader Han said.

“That means hitching a ride on someone else’s cylinder ship,” I teased.

“And we will have to sit with the riff raff. We are faction leaders and our standing is considerable,” Leader Han complained. That was why he didn’t mind my schemes against the Heavenly Alliance and that den of thieves. Once a cultivator realized how truly shameless the leaders of the Forever City were, it would enrage anyone and would be too late to do anything.

I couldn’t help but look at Yuan Zhou, who I was dragging along. He thought that we were unbeatable powers, but there was always someone stronger. Even those at the peak of their super organizations had to contend with other super organizations and threats. The more powerful one became, the more everyone else tried to drag you down and the harder it became to advance.

It was survival of the fittest, both in terms of scheming and in terms of combat ability. If one did not have both, then they were not qualified to become stronger. And as frustrating as things could be, it did root out weakness. For the weak could only survive under the aegis of someone stronger than them. Yuan Zhou was lucky he was such a useful pawn on the gameboard. Perhaps he might even reach the rank of knight.

Like all other weak cultivators I could tell that he wondered how strong I truly was as his superior. Even I didn’t know. For only in combat would the truth be revealed, but that was a risky gamble unless, one was sure. I did know that Leader Han and I stood above other factions for a reason. People often mistook us as having protection deals from other factions, when they wanted us as protection for them.

But numbers and the pursuit of them was one of the many traps of the powers out there in the Firmament. It created a poor mentality to fight the esoteric threats that existed.

Chapter 79 – A Higher Stage

I woke up suddenly. My eyes quickly opened and my lungs gasping for air. Everything was incredibly clear in a way that was hard to describe. The currents of energy were subtly moving about me in a way I had never noticed through the walls and floors. Even the air, which was almost devoid of energy, I could pick up faint traces. I could feel these currents on a much deeper level and not just visually.

I was in my room back in the TripleX faction. “So, you are awake,” I glanced over at the Head Servant who was sitting on a chair nearby. I saw points in his body where energy was circulating. Those had to be his body modifications. I was still trying to gather my bearings as he stood up. I was in the same clothing and equipment I had been in when I had broken through.

“How long was I asleep?” I asked, my mouth felt dry.

“A few days. Now, get cleaned up and changed. Our Master wishes to speak to you,” the Head Servant said and remained standing there looking at me. I got up and quickly went to the bathroom. Thankfully he didn’t follow me. I took a shower and changed into a fresh martial robe. I made sure to put on my spatial rings and observation blockers.

I looked at them, and that was when it hit me in full. I had alive and had broken through. I had done it. My cultivation was a mess, but it felt much stronger, better. I closed my eyes and focused before I left the bathroom. I could feel my soul in fine detail. I could also feel the organ pulse in my gut.

“Hurry up,” the Head Servant called out. I would need more time to understand all the changes. I left the bathroom and followed the Head Servant back to Qiang You’s garden.

I entered and he was sitting on his platform. I could see him much more clearly than before. Instead of a blinding beacon of energy, there were patterns and layers. The intricacies of his cultivation were immense, and I didn’t understand any of what I was seeing. I also noted ripples of energy moving around the garden in tune with the energy inside his body. He gestured at me to approach, and I did. “Junior Yuan Zhou greets Vice Leader Qiang You,” I said with a deep bow.

“Sit, we have some things to discuss,” he said, and I quickly sat. “Any pain or immediate issues?”

“Nothing, but I still need to assess my cultivation,” I replied, and he nodded at that.

“A new path you have stepped on. The effort Leader Han and I exerted for you was considerable and cost us a great deal,” he said. That wasn’t a lie, but he wasn’t listing out the benefits he may have gotten. But once again I could not object. “There were also complications.” I paid very close attention to what he was about to say.

“Most of your cultivation base was either wasted or used to step onto a new system of cultivation. That is something you will have to work out on your own, but there are two things that resulted from this. The first being that a Temporal Hunter managed to get pieces of your cultivation and we were not able to kill it.” That did not sound good. Anything involving time was not simple.

“What this means in practical terms, is that if you enter the Astral Plane again it will hunt for you. If you are ever in a place in the Firmament that is unprotected, it will come to devour you. Ask your questions,” Qiang You said.

“Isn’t my soul linked to the Astral Plane?” I asked and he nodded.

“Indeed. The standard paths of cultivation provide protection. I cannot say anything about the path you have stepped on. While in the Forever City you are fine, but outside of it you will be at risk. Since the monster consumed pieces of your cultivation, it will be able to find you again. You will not be able to kill such a monster before you break through to immortality, and even then it would be difficult. Which brings up the second thing we must discuss. You are being sent on a couple of errands from me to work at repaying your debt,” Qiang You said. I wanted to discuss this monster that was after me a bit more, but he just plowed forward, uncaring about how concerned I was.

“How much do you know of reality?” Qiang You asked.

“The Firmament exists in the middle with the Astral Plane and then Chaos below,” I said.

“And above?” he asked.

“Very little Vice Leader,” I replied.

“That is understandable. I shall enlighten you before your departure. Reality exists as a cake.” It took me a moment to process that last line. “I sense your disbelief. And while it is far more complex in practice, for your simple mind it is the best metaphor.” I listened closely as he continued.

“There are three major layers and two minor layers. With positioning dependent upon the usage of energy and causality. At the top layer, the Material, you have almost no energy, and near complete causality. At the bottom layer, Chaos, you have endless energy, and almost no causality.” I figured as much about the energy, but the causality portion was something I hadn’t really known.

“While there is correlation between the two aspects, they should be considered separate. The Firmament exists in the middle. Where both are equally in flux. Some even claim that it was a minor layer like the others, until many beings came to inhabit it over time as their preferred environment, including us cultivators. Risking causality, is worth than death. That is why the Astral Plane is as far as anyone sane goes. But what about the other way, what do you think?” he asked. I wasn’t sure why he was asking but I considered the question.

“A lack of energy. Cultivators would struggle, but our souls are linked to the Astral Plane. I am not sure what would even work if a cultivator left the Firmament,” I finally said, and Qiang You nodded.

“Pain and stagnation. Energy is the singular resource that all desire. The higher up you go in terms of power and ability, the more refined one desires it to be. Cultivation links to the Astral Plane in a way that is safe, while keeping the physical body safe at the same time. There have been attempts to live on the Astral Plane, but they end in failure as monsters surge upwards from the depths of Chaos,” Qiang You explained.

“Cultivators can close off that connection. You can do the same. But that energy is the fuel for one’s progression. Instead you will have to find another way while running errands for me. As you go up, devices and equipment are more common. While our arrays and formations struggle. That is why the layer above us is called the Mechanical Divide. Ask your question.”

“And this monster won’t be able to get me there?” I asked.

“Monsters from Chaos rarely go beyond the Astral Plane. You could cut off your connection and live in the Firmament without much worry. But if you did that, it is no different than if you went to the Mechanical Divide. Everything wants energy. It is the ultimate power and source of power. Nothing is more valuable. That is why Chaos is at the bottom. Desperate people, civilizations, and other existences, seek to exploit such a resource, while bringing their own doom. That is why cultivation society is superior. We live at the boarder, extracting the most benefits with the greatest risk,” Qiang You said with some pride.

“I sense your skepticism. But our society, despite its flaws, allows for civilization in a place where none should exist. While it is stagnant, corrupt, and ruled by powerful old people who take most of the benefits, it still allows one a chance to climb up the ladder of power.” For a moment there I wasn’t sure if he was talking about himself or me, but then realized that was foolish. Qiang You stood above me in terms of power and standing and clearly enjoyed putting me in my place.

“I understand Vice Leader Qiang You. What errands would you have of me?” I asked with a bowed head. He flicked his hand, and I caught a folded piece of paper he threw at me.

“You may refer to that list. The value of each item is listed,” he said and I opened up the folded piece of paper. There were hundreds of things written in tiny print in three columns with value next to each item. At the end of it the items only listed value was favor. It was clearly scaled in terms of power. My eyes went to the last item on the list, the only one that listed two favors as payment.

Type 5 Energetic Calculator Core – 2 Favors

“Your efforts in business convinced me you aren’t hopeless, so I will let you figure out the rest yourself. You have access to the faction’s information. While it isn’t much, make of it what you will. Your departure is scheduled five cycles from now. Until that time, you may rest here and focus on stabilizing your cultivation,” Qiang You said.

I bowed my head deeply. “Junior thanks Vice Leader Qiang You for his guidance and generosity,” I said.

“I have invested quite a bit into you already. If that debt can be repaid, we shall see.” That was a dismissal. I got up and returned to my room. Thoughts were swirling in my head as I processed everything I had just been told.

I carefully set the list to the side and collapsed on my bed once I arrived in my room. “I did it,” I muttered with a smile. After all the headaches, hardships, and giving up my freedom, I had managed to get past the first bottleneck in cultivation.

There was still one major one left, but that was a problem for far in the future. It would be hard, there was no doubt about that. But I didn’t mind. I would find a way. I closed my eyes and a couple of tears escaped as my success truly hit me.

I fell asleep, mentally and emotionally exhausted. When I woke up again, I felt far more relaxed than I had in ages. I rang for a servant to bring me a meal, while I lounged in the sitting room. A far cry from the dark stairwells of countless towers I had lived in for a long time.

As I slowly ate, I focused on my body and soul. My breakthrough had managed to succeed quite well. The extra time I had been given to manage each step by Leader Han had made it possible. It made me wonder how strong both he and Qiang You were. There were no clear power rankings unfortunately. And higher ranked cultivators rarely fought, and even if they did that information wasn’t recorded down any place, I could access it.

The first thing that was clear was that I could feel energy thrumming through every part of my body and soul. In fact the two were so closely overlapped, there was some difficulty telling where one ended and the other began. The nexus of this issue was the cultivation organ. It had grown in my body and soul. I could feel energy being pulled in through the boundary of my soul, and then through the cultivation organ.

It was a slow process, but I could feel the entire process. I would need to create filters to process the energy. It wasn’t that hard to mentally cut off the connection and not draw in energy. The world seemed dimmer and I lost strength. Each breath was harder to take than the last. There was a brief period of panic, before I began drawing in energy once more.

That was why Qiang You didn’t run these errands himself. He would be incredibly weak, depending more on his physical body. It was only the constant influx of energy that kept my strength up. I would need to look into the long-term consequences of not drawing in energy.

The cylinders I had tried to fashion to build filters on top of, as well as the boundary to my soul were quite sturdy. Still the biggest accomplishment was how solid I felt. Before, I could only feel my soul by moving energy through it. Carving it out was painful and time consuming, but the sense came more from the energy and cultivation structures in my body.

Even as I gained the ability to sense force, it was like sensing the inside of my body through a foggy glass screen compared to now. This was a massive difference just in terms of my ability to detect everything about myself. I cut off the flow of energy once more and everything dimmed. Like dimming a lightbulb, there was less visualization and power within me.

My external senses were much finer as well. It wasn’t just my sight, but I could sense forces acting on everything around me. That nature of my cultivation carried through. A Dao or path was something that the cultivation system of the Forever City was based around. A cultivator would tie themselves to such a concept and use that realization to link their existence to it. I wasn’t completely sure about all the later details, but the cultivation path that was used was very focused on becoming one with a path.

I had broken that paradigm. While I would be able to strengthen my base, filter energy, and become stronger over time, the second breakthrough was no longer simple. I had stepped off of the standard path. If I had stayed on it somehow and made it that far with the cultivation I had, then it would have been easy.

All my accumulation wasn’t spent on making the second breakthrough easy but stepping into the unknown with a stable cultivation structure. It was a massive achievement, but I was in uncharted waters now. The cultivation structures to filter energy, the cultivation organ, and the link between my body and soul all needed to be improved in massive ways.

There was no step by step guide I could follow. It was intimidating, but also freeing in a way. The risk was immense, but I could feel how sturdy my soul was and how it overlapped my body. Compared to before, it was the difference between a thin sheet of rice paper and a block of steel. It really wasn’t a comparison.

I had a servant bring me several metal rods for strength testing purposes. Their durability quickly increased with each rod I tried to bend. My strength was far greater. I focused and my perception of my surroundings slowed down as well. If I had to place my strength and combat ability, not counting techniques, I would place myself at the sixth stage of cultivation in relation to the old system, for a body cultivator. It was an immense difference in personal power.

Still no match for immortals, and my techniques needed to be improved and refined with my newfound senses and control. But that would come with practice.

My attention instead turned to the task I had been given by Qiang You. While I hated how much I was in debt to him, I also acknowledged that I wouldn’t have made it this far without his support and help. My first master Yi Rong had taken me in out of pity. I had nothing to offer. My second master, Jiang Fengge had taken me in out of hope for a better future for his sect. A long term gamble.

Qiang You, was my master in another sense. He owned me with the amount of debt I had accumulated against his generosity. I noticed a trend. The higher up one went, there was less kindness and more focus on transactional relationships. But that was the nature of being immortal, you wouldn’t be kind to those beneath you. It was impossible. Any person would wear themselves out emotionally.

I rubbed my eyes as I thought about all the people I had left behind. The journey to immortality was a lonely one filled with hardships. I allowed myself this moment of weakness, since I had managed to make it this far. “I did it,” I muttered quietly to myself. It felt like a major accomplishment, and it was, but there was also a sense of loneliness.

It was easy to imagine other cultivators that had started on this path and couldn’t stop once they were on it. That was all they knew. It felt like all I knew. The singular focus on cultivation to get stronger.

I got up and picked up the list I had been given. I began to read through some of the items that caught my eye. “Dragon scale, a billion credits. Just got to kill a super beast. No problem there,” I muttered and rolled my eyes. That was never going to happen. “Knowledge fruit, ten million to a billion credits, based on the knowledge within. Let’s go find a garden. Weapon that breaks causality, one favor. Maybe one will just appear?” I looked around and no super weapon suddenly appeared near me.

The Firmament may be infinite along with the other planes of existence, but that didn’t mean these things grew on trees. Well the knowledge fruit might, but that was besides the point. Each of the items I could guess at were insanely valuable. I would need to do research on all of them. Create a binder of information on these items as well as looking up the Mechanical Divide.

What goods would be valuable and that I could bring over? Would my equipment work? And what methods did I have for maintaining my cultivation while traveling? Qiang You hadn’t explained all of this for a reason. I was expected to work it out on my own. Like a boss giving instructions and expecting their subordinate to fill in the gaps.

As for success or failure, it was how much I managed to gather while also improving my cultivation. I was being let go. That probably meant that Qiang You had managed to gather enough value from my breakthrough he was willing to give me a longer leash. Or that the danger around me was too much. Beter to be a rat that was alive, than a tiger that was dead. As long as I was alive, there was hope for the future.

Regardless, I didn’t plan on complaining. I was done with the Forever City and cultivation society. It was as toxic as the air. That wasn’t even a question in my mind. While Qiang You might appreciate its virtues, I did not. While the core of the Forever City might be slightly nicer, you can only have so much opulence, before it just didn’t matter.

With my expanded senses, I could understand why you would want a large environment, so you could relax one’s senses over a larger area to not be constantly stressed. But Qiang You seemed to have reached that limit, taking up three entire levels of his tower with his garden.

Looking at the information the sect had on the Mechanical Layer, there wasn’t much. Just like with other layers of the Firmament, there was a tremendous amount of variation. Just like with cake types, now that metaphor was never going to leave my head after Qiang You shared it.

The biggest issue was that the effects of arrays and formations would be far more limited unless the item was of high enough quality and imbued with enough energy. All my spatial items and almost all of my equipment were not rated for the Mechanical Layer. They would malfunction or just not work if I brought them with me.

The only thing that would still function properly was my sword from my first master, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth. It had served me well over my life and I was glad I would be able to find a use. The energy was imbued into the metal itself, which was what made the blade resistant to the changes in the environment.

Everything else I had used arrays, formations, or the ambient energy in some way. While my blade would be lesser, it would still function. I was at the proper strength to wield it effectively now and use techniques with it.

As for trade goods, it all depended on where I would be going, which would require a lot more research. Qiang You seemed content to just toss me off into the wilderness and see what would happen, hoping I would come back alive.

The biggest issue was that there was a lot of degradation in the Mechanical Layer. The Material was what I would refer to as my old reality. Matter made sense, there were very little shenanigans. Things were stable. As for the Firmament, there were pockets of more solid existence, outposts on the frontier before the Astral Plane that I had been staying in.

Material was being degraded slowly by ambient energy, moving upwards through the layers. It was a mess. Bones had been right, that the full Firmament was a place that was incredibly dangerous. The Mechanical Layer was far more chaotic. Which was why it was considered a lesser layer like the Astral Plane. There were very few long-term settlements. Everyone wanted energy, but the more they used, the more they depended on the stuff.

Like a drug, they kept getting closer and closer to the bottom layer of Chaos and instant death, or a worse fate. I would need to make arrangements for my survival in terms of environment and traveling to wherever I needed to go.

Like the Astral Plane, there was too much that was in flux on the Mechanical Layer. It made me wonder how things moved between layers. While Qiang You had described them like a cake, they clearly existed in a way that was far more complex than that.

The fact that things were in flux made a lot of information useless by being out of date. It was painful to admit that the Forever City held such a prominent position, since it had been around for so long and acted as a rest point for cultivators that were traveling beyond its borders. Many other groups didn’t have anything near as expensive or long lasting as the Forever City.

That combined with looking up the items Qiang You wanted, might have driven me to despair, but instead I relished the challenge. The Forever City would be behind me and while I would need to repay Qiang You, it was not urgent. If I ever wanted to return to the Forever City for whatever reason, then I would need to show results, but that would be a problem I could sort out once I reached immortality.

It felt wrong putting things off like that, but it was clear that Qiang You wanted to toss me away. He had gotten whatever value he could from me, and anything else would be extra. If I did succeed, then he could leverage the debt and the favors I owed him. If I died in some forgotten corner, he would shed no tears.

That feeling was liberating. To know that I was going to be a free agent. While I would still have the backing of the TripleX faction technically, that meant next to nothing outside the Forever City. Super organizations did not respect other super organizations. The differences between them was too great. Now if I was part of the Heavenly Alliance, then I might get some respect from another cultivator super organization.

The main thing was the ability to keep myself alive. Thankfully the TripleX faction had training levels I could practice on. I didn’t want to work on my combat abilities, but I needed to get used to the improvements in my body, mind, and soul. Also I could refine my Force techniques even more and work on the sword techniques I had inherited from the Cloudy Moon Sect.

Chapter 80 – An Old Friend

I looked out from my room in the core of the Forever City. The air was clear. The buildings had windows, were colorful, and had the scent of flowers in the air. The outskirts of the Forever City truly were the slums.

There was even a touch of energy in the air, making me feel more comfortable. I hadn’t noticed before, but once I arrived here, it was painfully clear. I sat on my terrace looking out at what could only be described as Cultivator Heaven.

The tunnels between buildings were open aired walkways instead of closed in paths. There were statues and other works of ark about the place. What made it all the more shocking were the people who were here and got to enjoy all of this.

The immortal cultivators living in the core of the Forever City rarely went out and walked about. This place was nice for their servants, or well their servants’ servants. Since anyone remotely important enough flew about. I couldn’t tell if they were using some piece of equipment or technique. Regardless, it was clear that they looked down on the other cultivators.

I looked up at the sky above. The true core of the Forever City was surrounded by a massive illusion, like the continent was. Well to call it an illusion was not correct. It was an immense formation, creating a bubble of enclosed reality. To take away that oppressive feeling the Forever City gave off for a much more scenic environment.

If the outskirts were some dystopian hell this core area would be an uncaring heaven. I was waiting here, since Qiang You had arranged transport for me to the layer of reality above this one, the Mechanical Layer. Apparently with so much energy, it was easy to tear a hole between the Firmament and the Astral Plane.

But going up was trickier and not easily accomplished. There was less energy to work with. Arrays and formations would struggle. That was why there were more technologically oriented solutions. Cultivators almost never went up, where there was less energy. Since every account I had read and looked into, indicated it was horrible.

Going back up to the Material supposedly would strip away one’s immortality if they weren’t strong enough. Strength would allow someone to bring energy with them internally, but it would be a limited resource. And techniques would struggle to work. An actual gun would be far more dangerous and actually threaten an immortal, where here in the Firmament, they eventually stopped being an effective weapon.

I was staying in this waiting area for when a method of transportation arose. I had no idea where I would end up either. Almost no one traveled in that direction. They wanted to come here, or someplace like this. Possibly even a continent type of environment. For all its faults, the Forever City was the city of opportunities. Where fortunes could rise and fall in an instant.

This room was Qiang You’s private residence in the core of the Forever City. I was staying here as a guest, so that when an opportunity arose for my departure, I would be ready to leave immediately. Even with a fast vehicle, there was no telling how long a transport method would wait around. Hence I was here, waiting for a lift to arrive any day now.

I had been studying, and double checked my notes as I waited. As one descended, technology was less effective, while energy was more effective. And vice versa, going the other way. That was why my sword would be some important.

There might also be an answer about my reincarnation that might be revealed. I had been hoping for something during my breakthrough, but nothing. It was one of the biggest mysteries about my life and very existence, which had no answer.

I had occasionally thought about it, but it was a pointless exercise. Perhaps when I reached immortality I would learn the truth, or it just might be unknowable. Looking out at the lower servants walking about the beautiful walkways was something I never imagined in the Forever City without seeing it myself. The same reasoning applied to my reincarnation. The answer was out there, but until I came across it, there was no way for me to figure out an answer. It was all too possible for the answer to be something I had never considered.

Well, I had thought about a lot of explanations, but there was no way to decide which one was right without solid data. I had discretely looked up this issue in the knowledge that the TripleX faction had out of curiosity.

I had made sure to describe my investigation by looking into immortality and if reincarnation even was possible. The short answer was that it was complicated. The longer answer was that as cultivators got stronger, they became more energy-based lifeforms, like based on physical brain matter.

That connection to the astral plane was something that was unique to humans under the aegis of the Forever City. That connection allowed cultivators to gather strength in the later stages. It was the lynchpin of cultivation.

As for why cultivators didn’t go running off into the astral plane, it was far too dangerous. It was too close to the layer of Chaos underneath everything. That was the reason that cultivators existed in the middle layer of reality, the Firmament. They didn’t want to fight horrors from the beyond constantly.

Whomever was the first cultivator to create that connection was a genius. The grandfather of cultivation, the first cultivator. Others argued that such a mythic figure didn’t exist. Rather it was this way for all eternity.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the connection, mine was going to be cut off. Thankfully I had quite a bit of time to recover after my breakthrough. If I had left immediately afterwards, there was a good chance my cultivation would have collapsed entirely.

That risk, that pain, was the reason behind Qiang You sent me off to leave as quickly as possible. I had no doubt I had paid back his initial investment and then some. But he wanted me to get more for him, to be his debt slave.

I would repay him no matter what. Having a senior cultivator as an enemy was not something I wanted. It would be hard, but I had faith in myself. I looked out at the people moving about in their martial robes. Even the servants were wearing them. For just a long and storied community, it was a rotting carcass of whatever system was in place before. Or perhaps it had always been that way? Another one of those questions with no clear answer.

It was called the Forever City. I chuckled to myself as the same had a touch of humor to it. For an immortal society, it had very little creativity. At a certain point, everything would start to feel repeated. I had seen that from the lowered ranked immortals in the TripleX faction. They had been grinding for power, to climb up for so long, they had lost sight of everything around them.

I had made the same choice with open eyes. The pursuit of power was about accumulating advantages over a long period of time. Cultivators who were too reckless didn’t last that long. It made me wonder what the true pinnacle looked like? How powerful would one be at that point? More questions I had no answers to.

Another thing that was bothering me was the human-like appearance of everyone, or at least cultivators. I didn’t know what I should have expected, but it raised some major questions. I knew there were other races out there. I had seen some in my time in the Forever City. There weren’t many, but all the beings standing in the staircase while I had been sulking around were a great example of the diversity of this crazy city.

There was a knock on my door. “Enter,” I called out. A servant entered and then bowed towards me.

“Mister Yuan Zhou, you have a guest, they did not give their name, but they had credentials. The choice is yoou” they said. I wondered who it could be and who had the clout to be here? Rhiza was off the list due to how there was no way she had managed to get here and I doubt it would be Qiang you. He would have just barged in.

“Please, send them in,” I replied and spun about in the chair I had been sitting on. People who could harness the fundamental aspects of reality to use techniques and liver longer weren’t idiots. Rocking chairs weren’t going to cut it. They hadn’t cut it in the past and they wouldn’t cut it going forward. I looked at the side of the room.

Qiang You was either flexing on me or making a point in some weird way. I didn’t dare ask, but there was a rocking chair. One of the custom ones made out of spirit wood. It had been recovered from the continent and brought here. I supposed it was a reminder that Qiang You’s reach was incredibly long. Crossing him would have him hire someone to hunt me down and punish me.

It really was a great idea. A shame, that eventually all the good ideas just got gobbled up. An immortal society was annoying that a business was a struggle to make money even with a strong backer. This was the true post scarcity society. A bunch of old people looking at the young people trying to reach their level while their servants carried out tasks for them. The fact that I even thought they might be sitting on a balcony like I had been, was a sign that my mind was going.

These cultivators would be scheming in some way or trying to get more powerful. At least the ones who weren’t wage slaves, thinking they would get powerful enough to advance quicker than their peers without putting in the corresponding effort.

I stood up and waited, while trying to figure out who my guest was. I had no doubt that whomever it was, Qiang You would learn nearly instantly.

“Hello, Yuan Zhou.” My mind went blank as I processed the woman standing in front of me. It was Bones.

“Greetings senior,” I said and bowed. She chuckled.

“I blocked out any observations,” she said. I had a lot of questions with her arrival. It took me a moment to get my thoughts in order to ask.

“Why now?” I asked. That was the most important question in my mind.

“It wasn’t difficult to learn that you were planning to depart the Forever City. I think it is foolish. You should stay here,” Bones said.

“Thank you for the advice,” I replied.

“But you aren’t going to follow it. Well, that is your choice,” Bones replied. The silence stretched out for a couple of seconds.

“Please, sit. Qiang You will not be happy about this,” I replied.

“I am hiding in plain sight,” Bones explained. “I wanted to see you before you left. You helped me out a lot. I am set to depart soon as well. It is a funny coincidence that our departures from the Forever City overlap.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

“While you spent your time breaking through, I spent my time adapting this body. I have made quite a bit of progress towards recovering my old strength. My revenge is already in motion. And now I go to seek a new path,” Bones said and I felt nervous all of a sudden.

“Are you here to dissect me?” I asked.

“While I admit I am curious to how you have structured your cultivation, this is merely a friendly visit,” Bone said. It was also a warning. But I had no choice but to leave to find my fortune. Qiang You was the axe above my head.

“Well, I am doing well enough. As for my cultivation, I haven’t started building up. I am still adapting to the changes. Now I am just waiting until a method of transportation comes up,” I replied. While tempting to ask for advice and reflect on my decisions, were now separate beings. Our interests didn’t align anymore. That was why I was hesitant to share unless there was an equal trade.

“Always thinking. I have to respect that,” Bone said.

“And karma, aren’t you building up a debt?” I asked.

“There are many kinds of debt. I am content to not interfere,” Bones said and then looked off to the side. “It is probably best I leave. If you change your mind, don’t hesitate to contact me,” Bones told me directly.

“Thank you senior,” I said and he turned and paused before he left the sitting room.

“I would offer you advice, but we have covered quite a lot togeather.” I nodded at this. We had been companions for a long period of time. Bones turned and left.

There was a lot I could have asked. But we had broken up for better and for worse. I couldn’t help but feel there was more to the visit. I was in no place to help others. I could barely help myself. I had also done enough with Bones in the past, that her showing up was incredibly suspicious.

She came back through the door. “I apologize for coming back, but I need information. I will make a trade with you.” I shook my head and didn’t say anything. I knew exactly what was happening. All the clues were here.

“You knew?” I was asked by the person that looked like Bones. I didn’t say anything. No answer was the best answer. I waited as the silence stretched out. Finally, the person impersonating Bones acted first. Bones’ figure shimmered and was replaced by Qiang You. It was all a trap to test how loyal I was to the TripleX faction.

“Of course, I knew. I merely looked backwards and the ripples you left behind. You have discernment at least,” Qiang You replied. “Also, a lot of luck. Both valuable qualities in order to survive outside the Forever City and my protection.”

“Who is she?” I asked out of curiosity. Since Qiang You already knew, it didn’t hurt to ask.

“A favored son of the heavens who fell from grace,” Qiang You said. That didn’t answer anything as he swept back through my room and took a seat on a chair, while turning to calmly look at me. It was incredibly intimidating. “I decided to relook at your past, and I found quite a bit.”

I didn’t know how to respond to such a statement. “Can I even betray anything?” I asked.

“Your knowledge is invaluable. Many would want the knowledge of how to survive in the Forever City along with other information.”

“I take it that I passed this test, since I wasn’t murdered off right away?” I asked.

“Yes. Being able to realize this was a trap was important. I am only looking after my investment,” Qiang You said with a smile. “You can teach many things, but you can’t teach common sense. It is far more valuable than many realize.”

“Also not betraying secrets,” I replied heavily.

“Also, that,” Qiang you said imperiously. “And a reminder that I know your thoughts before you do. Your knowledge of energy is that of a toddler. I merely need to glance at you and I can discern everything you are thinking of.”

“The observation blockers?” I asked hesitantly.

“They work to an extent, but I have seen you without them. And you never switched them out. It was easy enough to alter them near instantly to see through them,” Qiang You said with a grin, that felt far too sinister. There would be no running away was the point he was trying to make. “I also see you have worked hard on my list.”

“It would be a shame not to do research while I have the chance,” I replied. If I was being sent on an errand to reclaim my life, I wouldn’t be slacking off.

“Another reason why I am letting you scurry off. You could go beyond my reach, but I doubt you will take things that far,” Qiang You said, and I bowed my head. He just chuckled. This was the true face of cultivation. Lies and deceit all around. But I wasn’t about to stop moving forward just because of a little test.

“Thank you, Vice Leader,” I said and bowed deeply.

“Indeed. I consider you a project. One that I have invested some effort into. To see if you truly are a phoenix feather flying high, or a cabbage on the side of the road. But enough talk about such things. Your departure has been arranged. You leave immediately,” Qiang You said.

“I understand,” I grabbed my pack and put it on. Qiang You just kept smirking at me, and I had to endure it. He knew how I felt and got enjoyment from it, which was what really annoyed me.

“Come, stand up, let us depart,” Qiang You got up and I followed him out of the nice suite of rooms I had been staying in. I followed him through the tower. “Getting to the Mechanical Layer safely is hard. While I could rip open a path, it is far more settled than the Astral Plane in some areas. That place has a lot of nothing.”

That was not something in the reading I had done. But it made sense. “I wouldn’t have to worry, but for someone weak like you, well that is just inviting trouble. Trying to set up a permanent connection is a bad idea for various reasons. And most vessels like the cylinder ships run on arrays and energy. Trying to go up, well they don’t work properly.” I didn’t interrupt as I followed Qiang You, since he liked to hear his own voice while I got to learn.

“And the Material?” I asked with a bit of interest. Qiang You let out a snort.

“You will end up in the void of some bubble of space. A lot of nothing. The Mechanical Layer is where things descend towards the Firmament. But it isn’t as dangerous as the last chunks that make it all the way down here, outside the protective bubbles. Tell me, have you realized why you can travel about the astral plane, but not outside the bubbles we cultivators live in?” Qiang You asked.

That was a complicated question I had never considered deeply. “There is energy in the Astral Plane, which connects to our souls,” I finally replied after a couple long seconds of considering my answer.

“No. Well perhaps. But ultimately no. The rainbow light is the bleed over from the material breaking apart, back towards chaos. In the Mechanical Layer, it is called that and not some kind of Plane, since things are smashing togeather. Even with how much emptiness comes from the Material, there is still a lot of stuff. The danger is more environmental and less from monsters. The Firmament here is the best of both as it is with many other things,” Qiang You explained.

“I can see you are wondering why I am telling you this? I used to teach and give enlightenment to people,” Qiang You surprisingly shared something personal about himself. “I explained things so many times, in my past, but it is exhausting. Now I only like to teach those that are worth my time. Yuan Zhou, you have my attention. Try not to die horribly.”

“If I may be bold, the debt and throwing me in the deep end Vice Leader?” I asked hesitantly.

“Cultivators are soft. I would rather throw a million people and have them fight over a single opportunity, than to hand such an opportunity to a single person a silver platter. Immortality is both a blessing and a curse. I know you have been watching this city outside your window and you haven’t seen any cultivators. This place is stagnant. It is a prison of our own design. A retirement home for those who have stopped trying for something more,” Qiang You said, and I looked nervously around us as we walked across a walkway.

“Don’t look nervous. The Heavenly Alliance knows this. But their purpose is to keep the status quo for all eternity. A bastion of stagnation. Most have given up the pursuit of power as it gets more difficult, only increasing their strength at a smaller rate each cycle. And we have not advanced as individuals or as a society,” Qiang You said with disgust.

“If I was in charge, I would unite all cultivators and declare war on another super-organization. Fight to the death and repeat. Cultivators would get stronger over time. And soon nothing would stop us, but infinite itself,” Qiang You had quite a bit of passion and he was a battle fanatic. “So do not look on this as a punishment, but a gift. A gift to get stronger. One day, if you think you are strong enough, come and kill me. If you have surpassed me, then I deserve death.” Battle fanatic was being too nice.

Regardless, I would make my own future with my two hands. I had come this far, I was going to keep going no matter what. Qiang You was right about that. Immortality was just the first step of my journey and I was going to reach it one day no matter what.

Chapter 81 – Going Up

“Welcome to the Elevator,” I could hear the capitalization in the term. Also, the thing was massive. It wasn’t at the center of the Forever City, but the structure was the size of nine towers combined togeather. “I am your personal guide, Xi.”

I was leaving the Forever City. After breaking through, I was leaving to find one of many objects from a list Qiang You had given me. The immortal cultivator had left me here at the entry way and wished me luck. While I wanted to deny the huge debt I owed him, there was no way I would be able to.

While he seemed cruel and uncaring, he had gone out of his way for me to survive my breakthrough and step onto a new path of cultivation. I still didn’t know enough about him to understand his motivations. The most I could work out was that he seemed to want to invest in me, since I had succeeded in the past.

There was no doubt in my mind that he would be able to find me if I ran away from the debt I owed him, but there was no time frame attached to it. The big obstacle now was reaching immortality and surviving. Apparently during my breakthrough, a monster had gotten a piece of my cultivation and was after me, a temporal hunter. That was the other reason I was leaving the Forever City to go up to the Mechanical Layer.

I also wanted to leave this place. It was not a nice place to live or to try and make progress. The oppression by senior cultivators and other factions was a lot. Almost all the opportunities had been squeezed out.

“So how does this work exactly?” I asked as my personal guide gestured for me to follow him.

“A hole between layers is created at precise intervals and the elevator is pulled through the hole between layers of reality. The lack of energy and the distance from the Astral Plane will be quite an experience,” Xi explained.

“I already know. My techniques and equipment will lose quite a bit of power and I will struggle, is there anything else?” I asked.

“No. The drop off point is one of seven points that the Forever City rotates between. You passage has been paid for as well as a return passage. The same rules exist at the drop off points. Do not bring trouble back with you. In addition a place has been arranged at Drop Off Point Number Five, where you can adjust for up to one cycle. Your stay has been paid for. After that you will be subject to the standard rates,” Xi explained.

“How much are these rates?” I asked.

“Ten thousand credits per cycle,” he said and that was an absurd amount for just a place to stay. A cycle was about the length of a year, but in Forever City lingo. To charge so much for just a room for a year was far more than some of the slightly nicer places in the Forever City. “The drop off points are quite small, and it takes quite a bit of effort to protect them. The usual methods do not work.”

Xi clearly meant formations and arrays, the foundation of all technology in the Forever City. Using symbols to shape energy to behave in certain ways. I had some understanding, but the study of such things was the work of a lifetime.

After being led through a corridor, we came to the interior of the super tower that was hollowed out. There was a very large cylinder waiting in the middle of the tower, just floating there. “A special cylinder ship,” Xi said. Cylinder ships were often used to go between locations of the Firmament, like the Forever City and one of the many continents that supported it. But they tended to be smaller than the one in front of me.

“Why so big?” I asked as I was led towards a walkway that led into the massive cylinder ship.

“Shielding, power cores, and other mechanical devices to survive the ascent. While there are cultivators with an understanding of higher-level technology, the production methods are not simple. It is easier to just upscale the designs to make it easier instead. Also, the traffic to the Mechanical Layer is fairly limited. Please, follow me on board. A private room as been prepared for your ascent.”

I followed Xi to a private sitting room. Food and beverages were laid out as I settled into a comfortable chair. Xi took up a standing position off to one side. I remembered back to how I arrived in the Forever City in steerage class. Now I was leaving in super first class. While I had obligations to fulfill, I was happy with the progress I made.

There was a soft chime. “We will begin ascending soon, once two more chimes sound. Is there anything you wish for while we wait?” Xi asked.

“How long will this take?” I asked out of curiosity.

“It depends, but it shouldn’t be long,” Xi said. After another hour of waiting there were two light chimes that sounded out.

“And everything is on track,” Xi said with a smile.

“Do things ever go off track?” I asked.

“Well, there could be a Cascade event, an attack, or several other things happening which would interfere. There is a limited window of ascent,” Xi said and I didn’t feel anything and could only tell that we were moving in some way by the traces of force energy lingering about in the air.

“What is a Cascade event?” I asked. I had some idea from the reading I had done, but it wouldn’t hurt to gather more information since I had been assigned a personal guide.

“When matter from the Material falls into the Mechanical Layer. Excuse my non-technical explanation, but when you have planetoids and other large objects impact the material already in existence, it can get quite hectic. Often times this falling of material breaks through multiple layers disintegrating apart. Fun fact, there is something called a star, a dense combination of gases. But after falling through the Mechanical Layer and into the Firmament and then the Astral Plane, there is nothing left but wisps of gas,” Xi said. I blinked a couple of times and took a moment to process what he had just told me.

“Things just fall through?” I asked. Wondering for the first time in a long time if Earth was still out there. My memories of my first life were quite distant, since it had only been a fraction of my total life.

“You would need to consult an expert, but once things start getting pulled through, everything in the Material bubble tends to get pulled along as well. And you get a Cascade where the denser objects just fall right on through. Some say that instead of layers existence is a circle as on the other side of chaos new bubbles in the Material form, continuing the cycle for all eternity,” Xi said.

“I was told reality was a cake from one of my seniors,” I said in a joking tone.

“That is another common interpretation. But no one can go through Chaos and survive,” Xi said.

“Not even powerful immortals?” I asked out of curiosity, to see what my personal guide would say.

“There are always exceptions that prove the rule. Unfortunately, I am not qualified to understand such things. I am merely a personal guide.” Another chime went out. “And that is it.”

“Already, that was smooth,” I replied and got up and then felt a bit dizzy. My entire body suddenly hurt and I collapsed back in my chair.

“Please take this moment to recover. Focus on breathing,” it was hard to focus. I felt like my body was being ripped in two. My soul was trying to pull away from me. The cultivation organ that linked by physical body and soul felt like it was going to rip out of my body.

“What…what is this?” I gasped out. I felt like my body was trying to pull itself apart. Each breath was a struggle.

“That is the pain from the lack of energy,” I glared up at Xi, but he merely splayed his hands to the side indicating that he had nothing to do with what was happening. “The link between your soul and the Astral Plane has been greatly stretched. The process to draw energy to reinforce your body is that much harder.” I knew that would happen, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

I tried raising up an arm or speaking, but it was a struggle. Before I could feel every movement of my body. I could feel each and every breath. The pulse of my heart. I felt super human. Now, all that was out of my reach. I felt like I just needed to stretch some more to be able to reconnect and it would be fine, but it wasn’t.

Slowly, I got my breathing under control. “That was worse than I had read about,” I muttered. My entire body hurt, but there was no constant tearing feeling beneath my skin. I focused on my cultivation, and it was like looking at it through a foggy glass.

“Take your time. We will be remaining here for quite a while, and the adjustment process can take time to get used to,” Xi said.

“That was terrible, and everyone has to go through this?” I asked.

“For cultivators who draw energy and use their soul as a cultivation medium, then yes. The connection to the Astral Plane is much farther away. Your body doesn’t have as much energy as before. There is a small trickle. The feeling should pass,” Xi said and I mustered a glare in his direction. I tried to lift myself up, but I felt so weak. My vision was beginning to go blurry.

I collapsed back into my chair. “You are handling the process quite well. Higher level cultivators struggle much more than you,” Xi said. I ignored him and focused on my breathing. One breath, two breaths. Minutes went by as I continued to struggle to adjust, but it was slowly getting better.

At least I was no longer stuck with a child’s body. I would have felt even more helpless then. I slowly pushed myself onto my unsteady feet. “Well done,” Xi said and I couldn’t muster the strength to send a glare their way.

“Whenever you are ready to depart, please let me know.” I walked about the room I had been seated in. Occasionally my muscles would tremble, but I was slowly regaining control. I felt tired in a way that I hadn’t for a long time.

I went over and had some of the finger woods that were laid out. A leaf wrapped piece of meat was quite delicious. After eating a couple and having some water, I felt much more grounded, even if I still felt incredibly weak.

“I am ready,” I replied. Xi nodded and we left the cylinder ship. Exiting onto the walkway, we were in another structure, but it looked a lot more worn down compared to the super tower we had departed from and the massive cylinder ship.

“Drop Off Point Number Five is divided into three sections. The lowest section here is the docking station and external entry point. There are several shops around the outer edge of the docking ring,” Xi pointed out. Most of the shops were shuttered and closed. The few that were open had trash littered on the outside and there was graffiti with random symbols.

“This place seems…quite messy?” I tried to find the right word. Xi nodded at this.

“Well, it isn’t a very popular destination for cultivators. It isn’t often a connection is made. The above the docking area is the habitation and environmental level. Your fee there has been paid for one cycle. Above that is the defense level of this Drop Off Point.” I followed Xi as he led me to an elevator. I only saw a couple of other people lingering about. I got some stares, but everyone kept to themselves.

“Crime isn’t a problem here?” I asked as the elevator began to ascend.

“Criminals are cast out. A fate worse than death for many.” That brought up the most important question.

“What is outside?” I asked.

“That changes on a daily basis. The outpost is untethered, like all outposts.” The elevator shook slightly and then let out a ding. The lighting flickered slightly. The difference between this place and the inner portions of the Forever City was like night and day. It didn’t escape my notice that there was no one else getting off the cylinder ship.

The elevator opened. The habitation level was a circular design, where there was a vertical structure in the middle. There was trash littered about. “And you are room 238.” We made our way up a set of stairs and then to the room. Xi opened the door and there was a smell.

“You have bed, a water allotment. Beyond that everything requires that you make purchases. Your return trip is already paid for, you just need to show up just before departure to return to the Forever City. Good luck,” Xi said. Before I could ask anything else they had quickly run off. I was too tired to go after them and ask more questions.

The moment I was off the cylinder ship and had seen what a trash heap this place was, I was rushed along. “Fresh blood?” I turned to look at a run down older looking man. Half his beard was burnt off and he was missing one eyebrow. Instead of an eyebrow he had a horizontal scar in its place. His nose was slightly twisted as well.

It was a bit of a shock to see someone in such a state. In the Forever City, the ugly beings hid under cloaks for the most part. “I am new, my name is Yuan Zhou,” I replied.

“Well, I am your neighbor, 237.” He pointed at the room next to mine and then shuffled towards me with a limp. “Not often we get someone fancy coming out here from the Forever City. You can call me Hans. Used to be longer and more pretentious, but after a while here, you tend to let useless things go.”

“I wasn’t expecting a warm reception,” I replied. It was honestly surprising. From my time in the Forever City, only Rhiza came to mind as a person who went out of their way to talk to others.

“Mostly quiet around here. And if you die, I will be cleaning out your room. I handle cleaning around this place,” Hans said.

“I will try not to die,” I replied, and he chuckled like that was a joke.

“Grab the key card out of the door, that the guy left. That is your access pass around this place. Don’t lose it. You can’t afford a replacement,” Hans said. I took the key card out of the door that Xi had left and it slid shut with a click. “Now follow me. I will show you where you can get the slop.” I followed Hans as he limped away.

“I am surprised the Forever City has let this place fall apart,” I replied.

“No one comes here. Cultivators don’t know how things work and are weak. But occasionally a group passes through. And there is always the chance that something valuable falls our way,” Hans replied. We went back to the first level of the residential area and then into the center structure.

“Swipe your key card as well. You will get yelled at if you follow others around,” Hans said, and I swiped the key card through a reader on the side. The entire structure shook slightly.

“Should I be worried about that?” I asked as we entered a dining area.

“That happens all the time. We don’t have fancy arrays and formations like they do in the Firmament. All the protection is mechanical here, none of that fancy smancy energy. Grab a bowl, and get some goo. We have orange and green. The orange tastes better, but you can switch if you want variety,” Hans explained. I followed him and picked up a bowl from a rack and a spoon and followed him, getting some goo from a dispenser.

We then sat down. I tried a mouthful of the orange goo. It tasted terrible. “Keeps you alive,” Hans said when he saw my face. “Nothing else here.”

“There aren’t imports from the Forever City?” I asked.

“We do get supplies, but not much. This place is only hoping if word is sent back amount nearby material that can be grabbed. For the most part it is empty around here. Only me and a couple other long-term staff. So, who did you piss off?” Hans asked.

“No one,” I replied, and he gave me a weird look. “I came here for other reasons and to go out there and find useful things,” I waved my hand off to one side. Hans just shook his head.

“Well good luck with that. No one likes to come out here.”

“But aren’t there shops?” I asked.

“When this place is busy, but that only happens once every couple thousand of cycles, if something of interest comes up nearby. How’s the goop?” Hans asked.

“Like an orange mixed with old cheese,” I said, and he laughed.

“Well eat up.” I forced myself to eat. “No more of your fancy food here. Leave your bowl in the recycler, over there. It will get cleaned eventually.” Hans got up and I followed him. I would not turn away a person who was willing to explain things to me.

This place was much different than how I imagined. “Factions don’t send anyone here?” I asked.

“Better to send people out into the Firmament or other tasks. This place is only maintained to protect the Forever City from surprises. The outposts are supposedly arranged in such a way to detect anything headed towards the Forever City from this layer. Not that anything like that has ever happened.”

I followed Hans to the elevator which we took back down. “Credits aren’t used here? Energy bars?” I asked.

“Depends. Your stay is paid up, but you can do tasks to stay longer. The walls can always use a scrub. Most of the people here, are escaping justice from the Forever City. A great hiding place, if you can get here in the first place,” Hans explained. The elevator let out a ding and opened.

“What about you?” I asked.

“Long term contract. Also my mechanical parts would struggle if I headed down. But you don’t need to hear my backstory. Let’s take a look at the outside. Got to see what is happening,” Hans said.

“No body modifications?” I asked in surprise. They were quite common among the working and lower classes in the Forever City.

“Again, no arrays or formations. Ah here, the exit portal.” We stopped in front of two large metal doors. Hans slid his key card into a slot, and it opened up. I followed after him through the airlock to the far door. The one behind us slid closed and I heard locks click into place. I was slightly worried right now.

“See the display to the side. All green, except temperature. Its yellow, which means a bit too hot or cold, but survivable.” There were different lines labeled monsters, atmosphere, ground, gravity, and so on.

“Are they often green?” I asked.

“Attempts are made to keep things green.” Hans slid his keycard into a slot near the door and it slid open. I was hit by a blast of hot air. There was a lot of sand outside and floating balls of flame in the distance.

“What is all that?” I asked.

“Just a sand biome. Pretty common with how often things get shredded. Probably a star Cascading through, hence the balls of fire. You can stick your head out, but don’t step out,” Hans said. I did so. The outpost was made of reflective metal on the outside. Looking up at the sky, I felt a sense of vertigo and stumbled back.

“What is that!?” I asked in surprise and Hans took a look out.

“Oh a water biome is moving through. Going to get wet for a while. Hope we don’t get any leaks, but at least we can refresh our reserves,” he said after taking a look out himself at the ocean high up in the sky. “The worst are the high pressure gas biomes that occasionally come through. Void is fine, but high pressure toxic gas is the worst when there is a breach in the defenses.”

I shakily stepped back and Hans removed his keycard. The doors shut. It didn’t escape my notice that there was no card reader on the outside. “How do you get back in?” I asked and Hans chuckled.

“You don’t. Once you leave, you are on your own. Well, there are basic communicators you can get, but they struggle to get through the armor. And finding your way around can be a nightmare. That’s why most people explore the Firmament instead and live in their bubbles,” Hans explained. The outer door shut, and we made our way back to the inner one.

I brushed sand off my clothes. “But aren’t there people or beings to trade out there with?” I asked.

“Sure, if you can make it to them. Cylinder Ships can go through the Astral Plane to travel about faster, but up here, well you have to travel across that hellscape, and good luck not dying,” Hans replied as he led me towards a store.

“Smith,” he shouted.

“What?” a younger looking man with a huge bushy beard stepped out. “Oh we have someone new around this place,” Smith said.

“Hello, I am Yuan Zhou,” I introduced myself and gave a bow.

“Smith. General outfitter. So, fortune hunter, exile, or something else?”

“Fortune hunter would be the closest,” I said, and he nodded.

“Well, if you need anything, you can talk to me. Going to go check the filtration systems,” Hans said and walked away. The entire place suddenly shook and there was a loud horn that went off.

“The Cylinder Ship is leaving, come on in,” Smith said, and I followed him into his shop as the structure shook some more. I noticed a lot of equipment in various states of repair.

“Welcome, if you are looking to head out from the outpost, well I will make sure you survive for a bit,” Smith said. “Got vac suits, personal shields, material processor for food and water.”

“I don’t plan on leaving any time soon. I am still adapting,” I replied as the shaking got worse. “Should I be worried?” I asked.

“The shaking, is fine.” There was a loud bang and then no more shaking. “And the cylinder ship is gone. You came during a quiet time.”

“Are there other places out there?” I asked. There should be, but it seemed to be quite chaotic.

“Of course. But the real treasures come from civilizations that Cascade on down. That’s where we get a surge of people coming here to try and scavenge what they can. As for other places, good luck. Things shift about. While this outpost is anchored to an area with more material, there is a lot of void out there. But I have a material compass to track where there is a lot of density. Here let me show you,” Smith said while he began to show me the various items he had for sale.

Chapter 82 – Leaving Into The Unknown

I double checked my one spatial ring I had that worked. It had been downgraded to a small room in terms of size, but it was more than enough to store the solid energy bars that had been packed away for trade and a variety of equipment that wasn’t based on arrays or formations.

Speaking to the man named Smith I had spent the last cycle learning about the equipment I would needed to survive. The two main things were keeping an atmosphere to breathe and the right temperature.

While material science might not be the strongest point of cultivation society, they were still incredibly far ahead of what I vaguely remembered about Earth. Supposedly the suit was rated up to one standard star. No idea what a standard star equated to, but that was what the suit was rated for. And it was a complete environmental enclosure. The power for everything came from battery packs, where the life span was measured in cycles, so quite a long time.

The most expensive piece of equipment I had purchased was a small hover craft. It was big enough to have the cockpit, a storage area that could be accessed from outside in the back, and multiple power reactors. While I could address the basic technical issues, any serious problems, I would be completely out of my depth. Like a car, I knew how to replace the fluids, but had no chance at rebuilding the engine or drive train.

Besides learning how to use the equipment, the rest of my time was spent working on my cultivation and getting used to being weak once again. I never felt strong, but now, I felt weaker than ever. I had gotten used to the feeling over time, but it was rough. Like there was something missing.

I had eventually felt a small trickle of energy. Calling it a trickle would have been too much, but a drop every once and a while, fueling my cultivation, and my body so it all didn’t completely collapse. It was like trying to suck up an ocean through a pump, but there was only a small dried out pond. My capacity was much larger for energy compared to what was available.

No internal structures had been built to process the non-existent energy. I could barely see force acting upon the world. It was a struggle to progress in my cultivation. The longer I stayed here the more I realized that I was abandoned by Qiang You. Well, more like an investment he had gotten what he wanted and didn’t expect anything more from me.

The list he had given me was a statement saying that I wasn’t to come back unless I was ready to pay back my debts. I couldn’t stay at this outpost. It was a place to die, not a place to thrive. The threat of a Temporal Hunter could be real, or it might not be. The outcome was the same, banishing me from cultivation society so I wouldn’t be his headache anymore. That was why I focused a lot of time on the equipment I would need to survive and travel.

“Smith,” I greeted the man. He gave me a nod. It didn’t escape my notice that the people’s names here weren’t in the style of the rest of the Forever City and their cultivation society. I had asked and he had traveled here from another society he didn’t want to talk about and was hired to do various tasks in the outpost. I didn’t blame him for not sharing. We all had a past, and I could see him wanting to leave his behind.

“Zhou, another lesson?” he asked, and I shook my head. I had enough understanding of the basics of how my equipment worked that I wouldn’t be completely helpless if something broke down. I didn’t learn the fundamentals but knew the general purpose of the parts and how to replace them. Like knowing how to replace a fuse, but not understanding how electricity works.

While I had learned how cultivation technology worked from Bones over the years we were togeather, that was completely separate from the principals that all this equipment worked on. There was no direct background energy to power source conversion.

“I am planning on leaving tomorrow. I have all the equipment I need, and know enough about how to repair it,” I replied, and he set down the small force projector he was repairing and looked at me. I knew he was thinking about how this was it. Once I left the doors would close behind me and wouldn’t be opened unless there was something major to recover outside the outpost.

“Well, I will miss a paying customer, but I understand.” I waited since Smith knew what I wanted. He let out a sigh and slowly got up from where he was sitting. “You know I am not going to trade it.”

“And you aren’t going to get a better offer,” I replied. It felt good to stretch my bartering instincts once again. I pulled out five energy bars from my spatial ring and set them on a table to the side. I knew he wanted them.

They weren’t regular energy bars that were common down in the Forever City. They were specifically made to last up here in the Mechanical Layer and not break apart. Each of them was worth around 10,000 credits. It was a large portion of the wealth I had brought along with me, but I needed the item Smith had.

“Seven,” he finally said, and I shook my head. That was way too much. What he had was incredibly valuable, but I would be crippled financially if I traded anymore. I had already reached my bottom line.

“Five is my limit like I said before. You have been here a long time and no one has made an offer. And you aren’t going to get another one in a long time if ever,” I countered.

“I have gotten offers, but not enough,” he said. I inclined my head slightly at that, not wanting to argue with him. There was a silence between us, and he was looking at the energy bars I had laid out. That much would see his personal wealth increase quite a bit.

“Well I have clearly offered the most out of the people who have passed through. If you aren’t going to take my deal, then I will be off,” I said and lifted up one of the energy bars to put it back away in my spatial ring.

“Fine! You drive a hard bargain, five it is,” Steve said. I paused and set the energy bar back down on the table next to me. “Give me a moment.” Steve went into a back room while I patiently waited. I didn’t trust in his good nature, but violence in the outpost was something that was heavily punished.

Any crime was basically a death sentence. Since everyone here had to live togeather long term and depended on the Forever City for supplies and support, it was in all their interests to not create trouble. If there was a mess, this placed would be cleaned up without hesitation, and the beings here replaced.

There were ancient stories of such things happening that had become myth, but no one doubted them. While the Forever City might seem distant, these outposts exists under its protection.

Steve came back with a hand sized box and held it out towards me. “A compact energy wave compass.” It was made out of stylized blue and gold metal, like nothing else in the outpost. It was not technology from the Forever City or made by any cultivator. It was made by another super organization. Steve had no idea which one, but it was designed to work on the Mechanical Layer.

If it was taken into the Firmament it would explode due to how sensitive it was. Steve had showed me the device after I had taken to learning repair work and listed out its value for someone like me. It detected waste energy.

While it was called a compass, it was really an astrolabe. Three rings connected on axis points, each one getting smaller than the next. This allowed the rings to spin. Inside each ring were incredibly tiny components and there was a hologram in the middle of the rings that gave a better visual display.

The actual function of the compact wave compass was a detector. It would lock onto waste energy that rippled outwards. It could also be adjusted to ignore certain sources of energy to a limited extent. It was a way to find other things out there. The biggest downside was that it locked onto waste energy, nothing else.

I took the device from Steve and watched as the rings spun around and the display in the center indicated a direction down and off to my right. It was the downwards angle that was interesting. There was even a small bar in the display indicating relative strength, with the amount being used for comparison adjustable.

With this I wouldn’t just be running around hopelessly in the utter expanse of nothingness. I closed the case up. “Good luck out there,” Steve said as he pocketed the energy bars.

“Thanks. With this, I should hopefully find something,” I said.

“Well the hover car you have has the best deflectors and spatial compressors that could be managed. I shudder to think about walking anywhere. Better to just kill yourself,” Steve said with a shudder. I winced at the thought.

It was easy to think of the Mechanical Layer as a bubble of existence like the Forever City or the continent I grew up on. But it was a layer of reality. It extended infinitely in all spatial directions. Even with all the time I had spent running around the Forever City, there were multiple ways to get around and it ultimately wasn’t that large, even if the area was larger than the surfaces of several Earths.

It could still be transversed in time periods measuring years by just running around. But a layer was infinite. The outpost existed in a bubble of reality, but it was less defined unlike the bubble that held the Forever City.

What this meant was that stuff outside came in and fell out. The biggest issue was the space between things. The distance between the Forever City and the continent was massive, hence the cylinder ships that were used and going through the Astral Plane to avoid traveling through the Firmament.

Due to the various conflicts, balance between solid matter and energy, anything outside the bubbles of reality and civilization was a nightmare throughout the Firmament. That was why cylinder ships traveled through the astral plane. The vast majority of it was empty. What matter there was tended to break down. Almost nothing lived there due to the threats coming from Chaos. Finally, there was a lot of ambient energy.

It made it the perfect layer for travel, while protected bubbles in the Firmament balanced the need for safety and energy. And with an infinite timeframe, the successful civilizations apparently had a similar scheme as well with variations. But the core premise still existed of what layers were used for.

The Mechanical Layer was the great filter for all the trash getting sucked down to the lower layers. No one knew how stuff naturally moved between layers, or at least the people I had talked to. The underlying physics was kept secret or wasn’t common language. Regardless, the Firmament was a much more intense place in terms of competition between super-organizations.

It was viewed as the best environment to be in. While the further one went from that layer, the bigger a trash heap it was viewed as. Chaos was too wild and dangerous. With rules governing reality, only being suggestions. In the opposite direction, the Material was viewed as poor, since there was no energy. That basis for all super-organizations.

“Thanks Steve, for everything,” I said with a smile. It had been nice to interact with an actual person who wasn’t completely crazy.

“Good luck, Yuan Zhou. Hope you find valuable items and make it back,” he said. It was amusing in a way that I still had a route back to the continent. My return trips had been paid for. But once I left the outpost, I would be completely cut off unless I found a way back on my own. This was a brand new start.

I reached the airlock and got in the hover craft. The outer doors opened and there was a swirl of sand. I set off through them and they closed behind me. There was no way back now. The doors could only be opened from the inside. I was truly on my own, flying off into the unknown.

Picking a direction away from the outpost, I began to put distance between us. The hovercraft shook occasionally, but the intense winds and sand did nothing. After an hour of traveling, the sand disappeared and there was a big area of nothing, the view was amazing.

In the distance I could see burning light, water, dirt, ground, gases, everything was swirling about. I took a moment to appreciate the view. Out of everything I had seen so far, this was the most impressive. The Forever City while impressive had left a sour note in mind. It was a place of death and overpowered cultivators. Where everything was claimed by the super rich and powerful immortals.

Looking out in the far distance, it truly made me appreciate how vast everything was. Also the pretty colors were mesmerizing. The empty space was clearly shifting. I had been warned that gravity was in flux as well. The physical laws were breaking down on this layer, which was why things were such a mess.

There were clumps of matter, gases, but no stars or planets. Just a continual area of stuff all jumbled up togeather. I pulled out the astrolabe, searching for other sources of energy. It easily pinpointed the outpost. The outpost stabilized itself on a patch of hard ground, to provide an area to work off of, if there was ever something valuable that landed nearby. Like a tiny net in a large ocean hoping to catch a fish, but not a shark.

There was nothing else that I could pick up. I set off, staying in the empty areas. While there weren’t many things that survived here, some creatures did live in the Mechanical Layer. Having a visual was important in my mind. Also, the hover craft I was in wasn’t super durable. If went through clouds of matter, I could run into something.

It was freeing in a way that I hadn’t realized to be truly gone from the Forever City. While my path back was cut, I had no complaints. It might have been the dream retirement home for immortal cultivators, but I had found it quite stifling. There was almost no room for upward mobility. The immortals had no qualms about exploiting those weaker than them.

The worst part was, that the immortals themselves were being exploited by stronger immortals. A chain of exploitation all the way up. It made me wonder what was at the very top of the power pyramid. There were super organizations, but were there ultra powerful mega organizations after that? I chuckled to myself as I sailed through the amazing Mechanical Layer. For such a rigid name, it was a lot more interesting than the Astral Plane.

That had been a constant rainbow vomit, but here I could make out actual objects. Like there was a shattered planet in the distance. Now it was covered by a wave of gas. A chunk of rock flew by and the hover craft moved itself out of the way. The more I looked, I also noted that light itself curved in weird ways occasionally, or that there was the occasional burst of light, possibly an explosion.

Was matter itself breaking down? That could be the case. I knew my hover craft was secure for traveling. Just like the outpost, it was designed in such a way that it wouldn’t just break apart. There was nothing living outside the hover craft as far as I could tell. This type of chaotic environment would not be conducive to life.

I checked the astrolabe again for any energy readings. Only the outpost showed up. That was frustrating, but not surprising. This place was infinite after all. While there was a number that showed my speed, distance was not a set thing, only relative position to an object.

That was why there was no map. And since cultivators were dependent on energy, techniques would be limited as well. That meant depending on technology like this hover craft and the compass I had. While there were probably a few cultivators that were interested in technology, it was probably viewed as a dead end for the most part, since technology had to be redesigned for the lower layers, and working out the use of energy would be superior in a fight and for survival.

One wouldn’t be a cultivator if they focused on machines to increase their strength. That would be one of the other super-organizations that existed out here. The fact that the Forever City had a path to the different layers was a testament to its strength. Most other super organizations did not have such a convenient and well protected path.

I had to give the Forever City that much credit. While it was a horrible place, its level of development was impressive, especially if you were part of the ruling caste. I guess that was why the rulers set the city up the way they had. The purpose was to create a stable environment, maximize returns, and slowly accumulate strength.

That was the way of an immortal cultivator, to wait for stuff to come to them by creating an environment where resources would flow back to them. The idea was like a gold rush. Only a few people would find gold and get rich, but the people who sold the shovels would have an enduring source of wealth they could rely on. That worked out great if you were the one selling the shovels. Not so great if you were the person trying to dig out gold like me.

A day passed, and then another, but nothing showed up. I could still see the outpost on the astrolabe’s display. After ten days of traveling, the energy signature from the outpost finally disappeared. The food was horrible processed recycled goop. But I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Twenty days since I had left, no sign of any energy signatures. I spent my time looking out the front and side windows of the hovercraft, trying to spot anything as I stuck to the clear areas. The view never got old. After the endless yellow toxic gas of the Forever City and its gray buildings, this was a breath of fresh air that I had desperately needed.

Thirty days after I had departed the outpost, things continued to be the same. While the view constantly changed, it was getting slightly old. But still I kept watch for anything that might not have energy, but be interesting to stop and take a look at. I had started focusing back on my cultivation since there was nothing much else to do. At least it was better than being stuck in a box for years and years at a time trying to get stronger.

I could feel the slight trickle of energy coming into my body. I had less to work with, but that didn’t mean I needed to be inefficient with it. I slowly saved up the energy my body drew through the layers. My body was like a dry sponge, desperately starved for energy. I felt weak and tired from the lack of energy, but that was to be expected.

Forty days went by, and I had become a statue, only moving to handle my physical needs occasionally. The hover craft was quite small. Only a cockpit, back living area, and a tiny airlock out the back. One person could fit alright, two people would be cramped but possible.

With the recycling systems on board, my mind and body would wear out before the hover craft did. The power source fueling it, would keep going for a long time. Cultivators preferred things that lasted a very long time. Unlike my distant life on Earth where things had a planned end use date. Cultivators wanted things that would work forever, otherwise what was the point of building them in the first place?

I suspected that was a reason why guns were so unpopular. It was seen as a one-time expense. Sure, you would have a powerful attack, but there was probably a deep routed cultural stigma that I had pissed over the years. Having something last a year, let alone thousands was not something that was considered unless you lived for that long. No immortal would want to go shopping every couple of millennia.

Too bad warranty sales or insurance weren’t a thing. But no one would want that kind of long-term risk and no one would pay out an ongoing fee. If stuff was destroyed it was really destroyed, but paying out a fee of some kind was seen as a waste of money. It was a shame, since that would have been a great way to make money, but it just wasn’t possible for insurance to work without some kind of regulatory framework.

And the only thing that cultivators hated more than free loaders were taxes or fees. For such a controlled and structured society, they really valued independence. My mind kept going on tangents as I sat in the cockpit looking out at different colored gases and chunks of matter. The lighting would change as well, which would produce dazzling effects, when a source of light was obscured.

I felt like I was exploring a vast cavern at times that went on forever. “Anyone out there?” I asked out loud. At least with Bones, I had company while traveling about. I wondered if we would ever meet in the future, probably not.

While the hovercraft could plot a course half a day out, things were constantly shifting. A passage that might have existed before, would be gone if I tried to return. This entire layer was moving, and the varying spatial and physical rules governing various portions kept the different areas defined, producing weird visual effects.

On the 57th day, I spotted a large chunk water bubbling away on one side of a large chunk of rock, the steam being blasted around and freezing on the other side in a continuous cycle. Or on the 73rd day I saw a line of fire trailing through several clouds of gas, empty space, and melting anything solid it ran into. I gave that stream of fire a wide berth.

Perhaps it was just a star compressed and elongated in a weird way. Or another time there was a storm of glass shards flying about, with some flying off into the empty space I was passing through, bouncing off the hover craft.

These weird things were everywhere, and I stayed clear of the most dangerous. The hovercraft would detect them and go around as well, but something there was a manual correction needed. I kept checking for energy readings but kept getting absolutely nothing. It was the only way to detect any kind of civilization out here.

The more I traveled the more I realized the true scope of what a layer actually was. It was infinite. I knew that intellectually, but to actually see large spaces over and over impacted my mentality. The speed I was traveling at was immense as well. The hover craft only gave relational speed.

I would occasionally check with a passing chunk of rock or ice. I was going trillions of kilometers every day. Which meant I was traveling faster than the speed of light, but it didn’t feel like it, and there were no weird temporal effects. There was no explanation or anyone to ask either. I knew I would be traveling quickly, but not this quickly when I had first set out.

For all that I knew how to repair and troubleshoot problems, I was a mechanic at best. I wouldn’t be able to say how everything worked. I had some ideas that formations and arrays were being used to break the rules that governed this place. Similar to how the vehicles in the Forever City were able to travel so quickly. They told physics to go cry in the corner and there was nothing physics could do about it.

The only reason places like the continent I had grown up on and the Forever City existed, was to make the environment suitable for weak humans and comfortable for the ruling immortals. While they could survive a higher level of gravity, it wasn’t worth it. When you live your life in standard gravity, you aren’t going to want to suddenly change.

That’s also why the hover craft was comfortable for myself. Well maybe not comfortable with how small it was, but at least livable. It was designed that way to suit the human form. While there were non-human cultivators out there, the Forever City was dominated by humans, which was why human standards were used. It was a weird form of standardization that was just a natural part of cultivation society.

After a hundred and thirty-nine days, I finally picked up on an energy signature in the distance. I looked at the reading again, and there was something off to one side in the direction I was currently heading. I altered course. Finally, there was something out here besides colorful gases and rocks. The view still hadn’t gotten hold, but I was really hoping to find something, anything.

Living the rest of my life in the hover craft was not something I wanted to happen. There was a slight fear that I would be traveling forever, never running into anything. There was no edge. I could just keep going forever and not run into anything besides raw materials.

Chapter 83 – Trade Deal

I looked out of the hovercraft at thousands of crystalline spiders. Their webs were impossibly black, drawing in light and my guess, providing the creatures sustenance. Also trapping unwary idiots who passed through their habitat.

The area they inhabited was immense. They clearly had no natural predators but were only constrained by the number of resources available to them. It was hard to make out their pitch-black bodies. It was like I was looking at shadows and not actual creatures. Most of the background light was fairly dim in this area as well, which made me wonder if they were somehow influencing the terrain around their massive nest.

Each of these black crystal spiders had to be at least the size of a large house, possibly larger. Where a cloud of gas was touching their nest in the distance there was a lot of activity there, allowing me to get a better view of the creatures.

They were far too alien and dangerous for me to interact with in any meaningful way. It wasn’t even clear if they had a language or were able to communicate to begin with. I was exceptionally glad that I had taken my time approaching the energy source I had detected from an open direction where I had visibility.

I spent an hour watching the black crystal spiders move about. They were unsettling and amazing at the same time. While the risk of this trip was immense, I was glad to be able to see such a scene. It didn’t grant me any major insights, knowledge, or useful materials, but it was something new, that wasn’t the horror of the Forever City. It was a brand-new horror instead.

Calling the creatures spiders probably wasn’t accurate either, but I had no better description for the hard to see multi-limbed creatures. Once I was done observing them, I set a course away from their nest. Well, the first location had been a complete bust, but hopefully I would find some others.

Twenty seven days after I had reached the next, I detected another energy source and changed directions. The second thing I ran into out here, was a giant twist in space. Gas and other matter was being pulled in and disappearing. Only when there was a large amount of emptiness, that I was on the outer edge of, I saw the gas and other material disappear.

There were some sharp lines as the direction of light was changed. But those lines were quite thin and were changing directions quite rapidly. A natural portal to a lower layer was my best guess at what I was observing. The energy content in the area was slightly higher as well.

I could only stay in the area for a few minutes, since the terrain was rapidly changing and I didn’t want to go through any gas cloud if I could help it. I turned around and began to leave. Seven days out from the twist in space, I picked up another energy source and began making my way in that direction.

A third point of interest, how exciting. Perhaps this was a more active part of the Mechanical Layer. It wasn’t like there was a map, but it did make sense that points of interest would congregate togeather for resource opportunities. Or it could all be a coincidence. The third possibility was that the Forever City cleared out anyone and anything nearby its outposts.

If there was a way to engage in long range detection and mapping, then I could easily see other super organizations marking the outposts of the Forever City as locations to avoid. While cultivators might be hindered by the lack of energy in the environment and from their soul, I didn’t doubt for a moment that the Forever City had a way to respond to any attack.

The fact they had this hover craft and other stuff treated mostly as junk clearly indicated they had much greater resources available to use if needed. Being able to transverse layers and defending those points was a key aspect for being a super organization was my suspicion.

The third energy source was moving about, since the reading fluctuated in strength and direction I had to go in. Since I had a reference point from that spatial twist, it was very easy to tell that it was changing directions and it wasn’t just space being twisty. Since I couldn’t head in a straight line to the spiders or the spatial twist working out what the readings actually was more than just picking a heading.

I turned a large orange gas cloud and then began to slow down. There was a large object in the center and lots of smaller objects moving around it. As I got closer, I saw they were giant metal ships. There was a beep and a blinking light on the control panel for the hover craft, which was labeled communications.

The hover craft couldn’t reach out, but it could be contacted if the other party was using similar equipment. I hit the button. “Klazglar umeti,” a nasally voice said.

“Hello. I am Yuan Zhou and this is my hovercraft,” I replied back. There was a stretch of silence that went on for over a minute. The fact that the communication light was still lit up, showed that we were in communication with each other. I kept watch and didn’t see anything approaching me.

“Do you understand?” a different sounding voice asked. This voice had a deeper tone to it.

“Yes, I understand,” I replied.

“Yuan Zhou of the hover craft, you are in the presence of Holy World Ship. You are to maintain your distance.” Not friendly, that was unfortunate.

“Would you be willing to trade?” I asked.

“At this time, the Holy World Ship will not be engaging with any cultivators. We will defend ourselves if necessary,” the voice replied. Cultivators of the past clearly did not make any friends or a good impression with these beings. That was a shame.

I had been hoping for some kind of trade to get more information at the very least. Since we could communicate, it would have been nice to try and accomplish something like that. “Understood, I will be departing. Watch out for the spatial twist nearby,” I said and turned the hover craft around. I watched the communication light.

“The Holy World Ship is interested in the spatial twist. We are willing to trade for its direction and distance,” they replied. I felt my heart begin to beat slightly faster at this. Clearly their technology was lacking compared to what I had. I had leverage, now the question was, what could I get.

“Is someone speaking, or are you using a translator device?” I asked.

“Translator device,” was the reply. I definitely wanted one of those. The biggest problem was that I had no knowledge of how valuable my information was, what they had available, and the relative value of everything. I was trading completely in the dark with no information.

“I want a translator device and communication device and instructions to how they work and operate in exchange for my information,” I replied. There was also the matter of trust, which would be a bit tricky.

“The translator device is small enough to be traded, with instructions in the language of cultivators. A communication device is much larger and tied in with other functions. Instead we offer, knowledge of the various powers nearby, as well as a waypoint beacon finder.”

“What is a waypoint beacon finder?” I asked.

“Various powers use them to indicate their claim for a region and to act as navigation points. The range is immense, since they operate on a unique spectrum of enemy, that is easily located, but consumed only a small amount of power,” the voice replied. Now that was a really interesting trade. I was probably being scammed, but I needed information so I wasn’t just flying around aimlessly.

The next group I ran into might not be willing to communicate and might be hostile instead. Also, without knowing about these waypoint beacons, then there was no way to know if I was trespassing. “Agreed, how is this trade going to work?” I asked.

“We will send a small vessel to your location. It will release the promised cargo. The main portion of the database will be locked by a code. Once you have provided your information, we will provide you with the code to unlock the database,” the voice replied. That was actually very reasonable. I half expected them to demand I give them the information first.

“I can accept that, agreed.”

“Agreed,” the voice replied.

“While I wait for your vessel to arrive, I am curious. How should I refer to you or your people?” I asked.

“You may refer to us as the Seekers of the Holy World Ship,” came the reply.

“If I may ask, what are you seeking?” I asked out of curiosity and to pass the time.

“Everything. Knowledge, resources, and all other facets that are needed to maintain our existence. Are you from the cultivator faction known as the Heavenly Alliance?” they asked.

“Yes, that was my departure point. Is that a problem?” I asked.

“Very rare to come across a cultivator traveling through the Sea of Collapse,” they replied.

“You mean the Mechanical Layer?” I asked.

“The meanings are similar, but the translation device interprets specific terms differently. It is a minor issue to be aware of. Out understanding of reality, is different than the one you cultivators follow. Do you know if the Heavenly Alliance is moving into an expansionist phase?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” I replied, not wanting to indicate how far down the power and decision making totem pole I was in relation to the Heavenly Alliance and the Forever City. These Seekers probably thought I was a scout or something and that I had the backing of the Heavenly Alliance.

I didn’t want to do anything to convince them otherwise. I wouldn’t lie, but if they made the wrong assumptions, I wouldn’t correct them. I guess that explained the long time of absolutely nothing after leaving the outpost. The Heavenly Alliance had swept through the surrounding areas, taking anything of interest or value.

It would create a large amount of boring buffer space. And for all I knew the outposts had super advanced technology that was hidden away. I could easily see energy being transferred to the outpost for some kind of weapon or scanning system as well. The one thing I absolutely knew for sure about the cultivators running the Heavenly Alliance was that they would exploit any situation to the fullest, with the only exception being personal effort.

Having a super scanning system and then only showing up in that area of the Mechanical Layer once things showed up was exactly what they would do. Those spiders, that spatial twist, and whatever else happened to roll on through would all be harvested. I had gotten clues about that already, but I just hadn’t put it all togeather.

Repeat the process enough times and your neighbors would figure out the borders to that area, or at least know that there was danger there. The person on the other side of the communicator didn’t say anything more as time passed by.

At least my eyesight was still quite sharp. All the changes my cultivation had wrought to my body hadn’t disappeared. Compared to a base human, I would be considered super human by a wide margin. That allowed me to look out the front window and keep an eye on things and spot movement even at great distances. It helped that there was a bright cloud of gas behind the seekers.

If the Astral Plane was a monotonous visual assault, the Mechanical Layer felt like caravans I was exploring. While some people might think space, the empty spaces between the clouds of gas created a cavern like effect. There were no stars or areas of complete darkness. That was why the black crystalline spiders had stood out so much before.

I watched as the Seeker’s metal box moved near me, put out a small crate out of an airlock and then returned to their fleet. There were no windows, lights, or other markings on the outside of their square metal box. The only discernable feature was the airlock, which was it. There weren’t even engines or a forward-facing shape, like the hover craft I was in, which had a clear front, back, bottom, and top.

It only took a little bit of time to move the hovercraft near the box, go outside and get it. I could survive a short period of time without any protective suit. I had one, but didn’t need it. I grabbed the box, closed, back up the hover craft, and was then able to breathe again normally. I had no doubt that these Seekers were watching me and showing weakness would not be a good idea.

The box was about the size of my torso, with a mechanical latch. I opened the box up. There was a pad and a bulky headset with a mask that didn’t fit properly. The headset and mask were the translator system. They ran on some kind of battery power and the Seekers had included replacement batteries as well as a connection device that the recharger could hook into my hovercrafts power supply. That last bit was very surprising.

The last device was a glass sphere with an astrolabe inside. That had to be their waypoint beacon finder. There was a button to turn it on and then colors formed inside the glass sphere. The colors probably tied in with the pad. I turned the waypoint beacon finder off.

Looking more closely the system had been reworked along with the connections. Apparently, they didn’t want to give me any reason to complain. The pad turned on but required a password to access its contents. I returned to the cockpit.

“I am satisfied with the trade. Using our positions as an axis, the spatial twist is about seven days of travel for me in the following direction.” I then listed off the angles using our positions as a reference point. They reoriented their ships, asked for clarification again, and I provided some minor corrections. Once they were happy with my explanations, they gave me the code to the pad.

“Goodbye Cultivator Yuan Zhou. May the Eternal Seeker shine light on your path of knowledge,” they said clearly completing the conversation.

“Thank you for the useful trade, Seekers of the Holy World Ship,” I said. The communication light blinked off. I picked a direction away from them and the spatial twist and left. That was surprisingly civil. But I suppose any long-term group out here that wasn’t power hungry would learn to be respectful and take things slow and carefully while trading. Or it could be my supposed backing and they had given me face by trading with me.

It was a weird interaction. A cultivator would have either been more demanding or more subservient. But the Seekers had been surprisingly passive and agreeable. They probably thought the same about me as well. I didn’t harvest them for resources, enslave them, or make outrageous demands. It was a nice first meeting with any group outside the Heavenly Alliance super organization.

I checked the pad and pulled up the waypoint finder location colors and compared it to the readings from the energy detection astrolabe. The first could be called a super long range sensor, but it was very poor in terms of long range detection. Only the surface of the glass was colored, so it didn’t provide a full three dimensional map.

The brighter the color the closer I was to that faction’s territory. There were patches of dull color, which meant an area that was unclaimed. Regions were more like shifting blobs with how much the terrain was changing out here.

While it wasn’t the most useful of devices, it was far better than nothing. The Seekers had notes about each group as well. If they were open for trade, traveling through their region, and general threat level. I found the Heavenly Alliance. Not open for trade, travel is dangerous, extreme threat level, which matched up with what I had worked out already, but it was good to see my guesses confirmed.

There were also notes about other things they had run across. Nothing on the black crystalline spiders I had seen. I was honestly surprised by how much knowledge they handed over. I looked up the Seekers on the pad. They had included themselves. Isolationist race that believed in their holy mission to spread and preserve knowledge. Willing to conduct low level trades. Extreme threat level when confronted. No set region but had multiple groups traveling about.

I wasn’t so sure about the last one. Just because they liked to seek and spread knowledge didn’t mean they would be above lying. They were a completely alien culture, even more so than the cultivators to my sensibilities. There were no notes on their society or culture either.

My personal guess was that they didn’t mind handing out some minor equipment like they did for me, for information on where to go. Also, they might have known where to go already, but they took sympathy on me and gave me the equivalent of a starter packet in order to create a favorable impression.

Friendly and knowledge seeking, but also very isolationist. For all I knew it could have been some kind of machine intelligence or hive mind. There was no way to tell. Sure, they traveled in metal boxes, but there were no markings on viewports I could see on the one that got close or the large ship in the distance.

I began looking at the other groups near me. The biggest problem was that the waypoint beacons gave out a specific type of energy and there were only so many options like a wavelength. There were only so many colors to display and there was overlap between different groups and their beacons. Some groups changed their beacon settings occasionally, so boarders didn’t overlap if they ran into a neighbor.

Reading between the lines, I realized that regions could be smashed togeather, since many groups were listed as missing. If a small region got sandwiched between two larger regions who wanted to crush them, that was just bad luck.

Only super organizations could hold massive amounts of territory, but even then the boarders were fuzzy or undefined. It also didn’t take me long to realize that almost every group was listed as extreme danger. Clearly the Seekers were telling me to be careful. I didn’t know if I should be touched or annoyed. Couldn’t they have used a numbering or lettering system instead for comparative purposes?

I wanted to find a group willing to trade. I had energy bars I wanted to sell and I had a list of useful items I was attempting to find out here. Unlike the rigid structure of the Forever City, the Mechanical Layer was wild. But the Forever City was a bubble that existed in the Firmament and outside a protected bubble it was much crazier.

Still, that meant there were opportunities to find and trade things. Looking at the colors on the waypoint finder and very carefully comparing them to the pad I had been given, I believed I found a super organization that was open to trade. The Ek, were creatures that hosted a trading and mining platform. They would move about, taking in raw materials, processing them into trade goods, and reselling them. Their main export was large sources of processed metal, and they would consider taking other goods in trade. They also allowed groups to trade between each other as well.

I reoriented the hover craft and began heading in the direction the waypoint finder indicated. Three days of travel and then I came into view of the structure listed on the pad. There was no reading from my energy detector either, which was incredibly surprising.

The station itself was a giant cylinder, with one end sticking into a cloud of gas, sucking it up. The other end had a few super large metal and organic ships. They would dock with the end of the station and then depart. I stayed at a distance, but no one contacted me, and I couldn’t reach out, which was frustrating.

That was why I took the time to observe how operations were being conducted. A smaller craft showed up after a couple of days and went to a side area that opened up and then closed back up. I did the same thing, approaching slowly.

The communicator beeped. I had the clunky head set and mask on. There were a series of clicks coming from the communicator. “Vessel. State. Identity. Purpose.” The translator was monotone and clearly lacked stronger translation functions. Or it could just be how these things spoke.

I came to a stop and then checked the headset to make sure it was in reply mode. It would translate back into the last language that was picked up. “I am Cultivator Yuan Zhou from the Heavenly Alliance, looking to trade.”

After a couple of seconds my headset began to emit a series of clicking sounds. “Agree to rules. No fighting. Trade with no lies. No stealing.”

“I agree with those rules and will abide by them,” I replied.

“You may enter. Opening. Now.” A section of the cylinder ship opened. Geometric shapes were popular for some reason. Perhaps a convergent design philosophy. I carefully brought my hover ship inside and had to turn it to reorient. The wall behind me closed up and I set the hover ship down on a blinking square.

Once that was done, I made sure to suit up, since I had no clue about the environment. The translator headset could fit over my breathing mask. I guess that was why the Seekers gave me a larger version, or did they just guess? I then left the hover ship and the gravity present was twice that of what I was used to.

Looking around there was no one here. There were signs I couldn’t read and other markings. I was wondering if anyone would show up to greet me or talk to me, but no one came. It was a weird situation. There would normally be a customs agent, or someone from the government to ask questions. Like a gate guard.

These Ek just didn’t care, which was incredibly unnerving. This behavior far more than the seekers was completely unnerving. It showed that I was dealing with things that didn’t have human thought processes.

There was circular airlock, I went over to. There was a slowly blinking panel to the side. I tapped the panel and the airlock opened. I then entered and had to hit more panels to close the door behind me and open up the next one.

I was greeted by a large multi-level open area inside the station. There were some creatures moving about in protective suits, but no dark cloaks. There were a lot of very weird body shapes. I noticed a small rat like creature accompanying each of them. A small rat creature that was half my height came over to me. It wasn’t wearing any mask, but had a protective suit on.

It began uttering a series of clicks at me. “Welcome. Ek greets you. Cultivator. I am Ek.”

“Greetings, I am Cultivator Yuan Zhou. Are you Ek or is that your group’s name?” I asked, which was translated back into a series of clicks.

“Knowledge costs. Everything costs. Trade?” Very mercenary, got it.

“I need to know the value of various goods. I have things to trade, but I need to know what they are worth and what you have,” I said.

“Ek can build. Tell us good. We tell you worth. Currency is refined super steel ingots.”

“I need a better translator device. Communications device. I also want to know the price and abilities of any ships you might sell. I have energy bars,” I said. If I was going to trade, I needed more room.

“Cultivator energy bars?” The rodent Ek seemed a bit more animated at the mention of such a trade good. Clearly they were valuable.

“Yes,” I replied. I could sense the greed rolling off the creature. I had one small spatial ring that worked to store goods in and had put in all the valuable items from the hovercraft into it before I left. While I could lock the vehicle up, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Size of bars?” the Rodent asked. I pulled one out of my spatial ring and it stumbled back in surprise. It looked at the bar and then at me. Its body was shaking a bit. How much had cultivators traumatized all their neighbors to get that kind of reaction to a spatial ring?

“This size,” I answered. After half a minute I put the bar away. “Your goods, how much are they?” I saw the greed slowly replace the fear in the creature’s gaze. It was close enough to human that I felt like I could approximate some the tells its body gave off.

“Cultivator energy bars. Five hundred super steel ingots,” Ek said. That felt low. I narrowed my gazed and focused on releasing a small bit of energy into the air around me. “Thousand super steel ingots.”

“A better starting point. But your goods. How much are they? Do you have a list?” I asked and my translator got to work. The Ek began to recite them from memory and I paid attention to what he was saying. Cultivator energy bars were the best source of condensed wealth out here and in high demand. Time to see how much value I could get out of them.

Chapter 84 – Alien Sensibilities

Ek or one of the Ek, I still wasn’t sure led me to a large warehouse. “Prince. Super steel ingots listed.”

“I can’t read any of this,” I replied. The rodent like creature let out what appeared to be a grumble and then began to point out the items on the shelves and descriptions one at a time. I was able to pick up their numerical system after a bit of observation. It operated on a base eleven, which raised the question of why offer 500 super steel bars?

Maybe they knew cultivators operated on a base ten counting system. Or were they offering that much based on their counting system. At least they had a large room of displayed trade goods with descriptions and amounts. Ek, who was escorting me spent hours going through the entire room and I carefully paid attention. The place was one massive warehouse. We finally came to the end.

Anything more complicated than raw metals had a very clear markup. Their items appeared to run on basic electricity, but appeared to be compatible with my hover craft’s power source. Less hard connections like plugs and more pressing one surface to another surface. I guess when you have a range of technology, certain standards develop if you want to trade or use another civilization’s goods.

I also noticed that most prices were listed as fractions of a super steel ingot. Clearly these creatures used the special steel ingots has low volume, high value trading goods. Also, the demand was probably pretty consistent if they used them as the benchmark of their trading.

There had also been a six limbed figure in a suit walking about, being escorted by another Ek. Apparently customer service was very important, or they preferred to keep an eye on their guests.

“Is this all of the goods?” I asked.

“Small goods, yes. Display single of bulk, yes. Composite goods, no. Information, no,” Ek said, and I nodded.

“Can I get a preview of the composite goods and information?” I asked.

“Composite goods. Expensive. Custom ordered.”

“You mean vessels or ships?” I asked.

“Yes. Very difficult to make. Time consuming. Not cheap. Custom ordered. Pay ahead. Other build own.” Ek said. If I wasn’t willing to make a down payment, clearly, they weren’t going to spend their time discussing the matter with me. That was annoying, since I wanted a better idea on what things were worth.

“Information?” I asked. Ek shook his head.

“No trade information. Only raw materials. Information can be wrong. Can change. Very valuable.” That made me wonder if those Seekers had scammed me.

I considered the trade goods again. I had enough cultivator energy bars, I was going to spend one and get an array of stuff from this place. “Need anything specific out here, that you are looking for?” I asked the Ek and the creature shook his head. I thought Ek was a he, but for all I knew these creatures could have ten sexes or reproduce from clone vats. The Forever City produced humans as products so who knows what crazy things other cultures did out here in the Mechanical Layer.

“Many things. New things. Cultivator energy bars. All goods have price,” the Ek said. I really wish they just had a list they were willing to hand out. But apparently they didn’t like writing down that much information. Only on tiny cards in a warehouse. It was a really weird way to do business. If I were them, I would give a list to each customer that visited in multiple languages.

I also noted they didn’t sell anything organic. It would have been nice to try the cuisine out here, or at least look at it. But apparently they only dealt with metals and products made from those metals. I noted there were no plastics in any of the items they offered. There was glass which they used for their displays.

Update the prices based on supply and demand, and then go from there. But this group appeared to want to handle things personally and explain things. “I would like to trade for the following with one cultivator energy bar. A hundred super steel ingots, a portable gas extractor, a portable solids separator, a way finder beacon locator, two of your portable power units, and a compact short range communications device.” I picked their more expensive items they offered.

The total came to over 700 super steel ingots. I could see Ek taking his time after I had made the offer to think it over carefully. Or it could be secretly communicating with others of its kind to get approval for the transaction. “Agreed. Items will be brought. Half loaded on vessel, then you give bar, then other half loaded on vessel.”

“Agreed I replied. Is there anything else to do here?” I asked.

“Small area. Traders set up. But Ek offers best service. Take one tenth if trade here,” Ek explained. I nodded at this answer. We left the warehouse area and made our way back through the trade area. There were very few shops open that I could tell.

“You just let people stay here?” I asked.

“No trade food. No trade water. Others come to trade with Ek, few stay. Most leave. Very dangerous to travel,” Ek said.

“So once our trade is done, I can walk around?” I asked.

“Only in trade area. Rest of area for Ek. Clearly marked. Clearly labeled. Very upset if you leave area. Can leave by ship whenever you want,” Ek said. This was a surprisingly lax standard for trade. There were no tariffs or anything else on their goods. I considered the fee on others goods to be quite small. The lack of trade was surprising by how they treated their giant cylinder ship as a free trade port.

“Why so little trade? Seems very quiet,” I asked.

“Dangerous to travel. Many die. Quiet area. Many reasons. Ek travel slowly. Large groups don’t like Ek,” the creature explained. I guess they might be the bottom feeders of the Mechanical Layer, maybe. It was hard to say. They clearly welcomed trade but had strict limits of interactions with others just like the Seekers.

“You wouldn’t be interested in selling your knowledge of your history or language?” I asked. This question Ek took longer to respond to.

“Information no sell. Information is power. Trade information with others. Not Ek,” the creature replied. Well that was unfortunate, but I clearly wasn’t going to get more answers on why their culture was like this. We reached the hanger with my hover craft and the metal crate with the goods were already next to it.

“Why sell metal refineries, isn’t that what you do?” I asked.

“Small device. Ek build much bigger. Wish you luck if you want to build. Not simple. We make finished goods. We trade for raw materials,” Ek said.

That was kind of clever. They were creating a system that allowed others to earn money and trade for their goods. I loaded up the crate, I would unpack it later, and handed over the cultivator energy bar to Ek. Another crate was brought out from the airlock by another Ek on a floating platform.

“This has 100 super steel bars,” Ek said. It was much heavier. I still was able to pick it up and load it on my hover craft. “Any more trades?” Ek asked me.

“Instructions included?” I asked.

“Visual instructions. Pictures for each button. Very simple. New life can figure out easily,” Ek said.

“I want to take a look at the other stores, but unless you want to discuss ships, then there isn’t anything else,” I replied.

“If you need Ek, there is button over there close to airlock under panel. Push it, Ek will come. Any time,” Ek said.

“Thank you, for showing me around and trading,” I said.

“Ek will leave now,” the creature went to the airlock and went through. Weird, very weird. Hopefully I could find someone who could give me a better understanding of this place. I left through the airlock as well and then there was another human on the other side. That was quick.

“Cultivator?” they asked in a language I actually knew.

“Yes,” I replied, and they let out a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed.

“I am Cultivator Yang Heng from the Heavenly Alliance,” the middle aged man said with a smile.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou also from the Heavenly Alliance,” I replied.

“I am guessing you didn’t come to rescue me?” he asked and I shook my head.

“Um, no. I was out here trading,” I replied.

“Trading? Why bother with this trash?” he asked.

“Um, I left the Heavenly Alliance to seek fortune. I am still figuring things out,” I replied.

“Wait. Are you part of the super-organization itself or one of its feeder factions?” he asked.

“Feeder factions, the TripleX faction under Master Qiang You,” I explained. The man seemed to collapse inwards.

“Forgotten, completely forgotten. Left in the trash heap,” he muttered.

“What is the problem?” I asked.

“Come with me. We can go rest in my home,” he said tiredly. I followed him to a nearby store on the multi-story promenade. He opened up a door for his shop, which was actually a home and then closed the door behind him. He waved his hand a couple of times and then took off his mask.

“You can breathe here now,” he replied, and I took off my mask as well. The place was tidy, but it appeared he had been living here for quite a while.

“It is nice to meet you senior,” I said politely. He began making some tea.

“I wish I could say the same. Has the Forever City finally crumbled into the abyss?” he asked.

“Um, no. It was still there when I left,” I replied.

“A shame, but not surprising. Now I am stuck here. With these creatures,” the last part he said with utter disgust.

“While different, they don’t appear to be unfriendly,” I replied.

“They are not cultivators. At best they are rats, scourging about. I was lost after a clearing expedition. Took a bad hit and went into a trace to survive. Picked up later, by these things, who knows when, and I have been stuck here ever since,” Yang Heng said.

“You can’t get a lift off of this place?” I asked.

“And who would return me? Even if I did reach one of the outposts, they are closed until the next clearing expedition. It was too much to hope you were a rescue party,” he replied.

“Your cultivation seems to be keeping up as well as your implants,” I said.

“Weak. I am weak and pathetic. If I could I would have killed these rats and commandeered this garbage barge to make my return. But these rats aren’t weak or stupid unfortunately. I know they know how dangerous I am. Without my equipment, without my team, without reserves of energy built up, I can do nothing but wait and persist.”

He then laid out two cups of tea. I pretended to drink. He took a long sip of his tea. “It isn’t poisoned. If I was going to steal your way off this place, I would have already killed you and taken it,” he said.

“Why not try and trade or offer your services to build up some money?” I asked and he looked at me like I was saying something incredibly stupid before he let out a sigh.

“What would I offer? What could I do? What little I have managed to keep is what you see around me.”

“And you can survive without food or water?” I asked.

“I need only a small amount. Enough that I can scourge some up myself. And even if I did get enough money, where would I go?” he asked.

“Travel about, see other cultures, trade with them?” I suggested.

“And die horribly. The Mechanical Layer is a slow death to us cultivators. The lack of energy. The drain on one’s cultivation. If there weren’t useful resources here to take, there would be no point in this trash heap. This is the fate of exiles. Those who have done a crime, but can’t be killed,” he muttered, clearly upset. My guess was that his anger came from being abandoned for having done nothing wrong.

“So now you just wait here?” I ask.

“Yes. You are the first cultivator that I have sensed in forever. No one ever travels. The Forever City is the bastion of enlightenment and cultivation across the Firmament. While there are other places, none can compare to its grandeur. What, your face clearly shows you think otherwise?”

“It is a toxic dump. That is bland. It is stagnation made manifest,” I replied.

“Ah, I am not surprised. You come from a lower faction. It is no surprise you don’t understand the grandeur of the Forever City,” he replied.

“Well, they did forget about you out here,” I countered.

“Ha, true. Very true.”

“I am interested information, if you have any,” I replied.

“Like what? I can’t give you directions, if that is what you want.”

“I am looking for specific items and would like your understanding about cultivation in this layer and the lack of energy,” I replied and brought out the list I had been given. Yang Heng looked over the list and let out several scoffs before handing it back to me.

“Whomever made that list is funny. Those are all super rare items, even I would be tempted by, at least those I know. No one in their right mind would ever trade for any of those. As for cultivating it is impossible. That is why this place is hell and a place for exiles and forgotten cultivators,” Yang Heng said heavily and shook his head before sipping his tea.

I pretended to sip mine and Yang Heng just gave me a rueful smile. “It is surprising the Ek allow you to stay here,” I said.

“Trying to fight me would be risky for the rats. They could win in a fight, but giving me a room to stay in is nothing for them. They let me stay in case other cultivators come through. So, you have left to seek your fortune, foolishness. There is no energy in this layer of reality,” he said.

“I saw a twist in space with some energy coming from it,” I countered.

“A paltry amount at best. This place is the worst. Even if you find a treasure, the link forged to the Astral Plane from your soul is too weak.”

“Couldn’t you cultivate a stronger link?” I asked.

“And then explode when you return to the Firmament,” Yang Heng shook his head. “But making a stronger link is what cultivation is at its route. To empower yourself with more and more energy in a systematic manner. You clearly have questions, I propose a trade,” Yang Heng said and set down his tea cup.

“What kind of trade?” I asked curiously.

“I want to leave and try to find my own way back to the Forever City. Staying here any longer is pointless. While I might be an immortal, I do not wish to spend my time living with rats,” he said.

“And what is to stop you from killing me once we leave and take all my stuff?” I asked calmly and directly. There was silence at that. Here the rules of the Ek were in force. No fighting or stealing. But once we left, Yang Heng could easily kill me and take everything I owned.

“I suppose my word of honor as a cultivator of the Heavenly Alliance won’t be enough?” Yang Heng asked me. I shook my head.

“Unfortunately, no. If I ever return to the Forever City I can pass on word about you to the Heavenly Alliance, but beyond that, taking you with me is too risky,” I countered. I didn’t want to be under another cultivator’s authority if I could help it. I had left that kind of stuff behind me in the Forever City. I was not about to be roped in again.

“Would there be any way you would reconsider?” Yang Heng asked. I could tell he was desperate, but there was no basis for trust between us. He might have a lot of knowledge, but that wasn’t worth my life.

“I can’t think of how. I can tell, that I am weaker than you,” I countered.

“Not that much. Your cultivation base is weird, but it is hard to tell with so little energy. I would be willing to be restrained. But I refuse to wait the rest of my life here, now that a cultivator has showed up.”

“And where would you even want to go?” I asked.

“Anywhere other than this place. They travel slowly, never go near other factions, and this place is desolate. Isn’t whatever craft you have tied to you?” Yang Heng asked.

“It is, but with some work, there are workarounds,” I replied.

“You know about engineering and the arrays used?” he asked me.

“I know enough to know that no system is perfect. There are worse things than death.”

“I am experiencing that right now, trapped here, on this garbage hauler.”

“My hover craft is quite small. Two people would make it cramped,” I replied.

“I can trance myself for periods of time until you run into something. Which is what I have been doing here. Only the sense of your energy, woke me up, thankfully before you left,” Yang Heng countered. I considered the issue of taking on a passenger.

“I would swear upon my ancestors, the Heavenly Alliance, and my immortal soul, I just want to leave this place. Drop me off at the next friendly place I can survive, but I would rather die than remain trapped here with the rats any longer,” he said and set down his teacup. He clearly was desperate, and the last line indicated he was willing to drag me down with him. I hated being forced into a corner like this.

“Very well, but I have questions I want to ask,” I said. If he was going to force himself on as a passenger then I would get every scrap of useful knowledge out of him.

“And I will try to give you any answers I have.”

“I need to progress my cultivation. Do you have any advice?” I asked. He frowned and then stared intently at me.

“Give me your hand,” he said and I held it out. I felt a pulse of energy go through me. Yang Heng’s eyes went wide. I felt a second pulse and then a third before he let go. “You have passed the first bottleneck, somehow. But your cultivation is immense. I had thought you were one step away from immortality.”

“Any suggestions?” I asked.

“If we were in the Forever City I would be able to consult the Lore Master on our histories and the Cultivation Sage for guidance on such a unique issue.” Yang Heng clearly came from a very privileged background. If it wasn’t for his dire position, we would never come in contact with each other. “I would only need to wait for your natural death, not kill you. But I shall honor my word. You engaged and completed all three cultivation methods.”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Rare for one not of the Heavenly Alliance to accomplish such a feat. The resources needed for such an undertaking are no simple matter. Soul, body, and mind with a focus on the application of force. Your body needs energy, a tremendous amount.” I listened closely, since this was an opportunity to actually get some real guidance. The elite of cultivation society clearly had more knowledge, wider perspective, and a greater heritage to draw upon.

“This isn’t a new cultivation method?” I asked.

“It is a secret cultivation method that you have stumbled upon. One that was built upon eons of hard work from our ancestors. While you might have stumbled upon this path, without our society, and the Forever City which you deride, being in place, it would not be possible.” I inclined my head towards him.

“That is true. I did have to work hard to get the resources and opportunities to get this far,” I said.

“Beyond impressive. That was why I thought you were originally from the Heavenly Alliance. It is a secret technique. The faction that supported you will no doubt be wiped out once the Heavenly Alliance realizes.”

“What?! Why?!” I asked in surprise. Yang Heng gave me a look implying I was stupid.

“Because it is the central pillar and core of our cultivation system that the Forever City uses. Eons of work to create a pathway to even greater power, while not losing one’s mind. But also, difficult enough that no one could easily accomplish it, or would be willing to take that risk.”

“I heard rumors about other people trying three-part cultivation,” I said.

“But none succeeded, right?” he asked, and I nodded. “Anyone who does is taken in by the Heavenly Alliance, and those with the knowledge are killed or sent on dangerous errands to prove their loyalty. It is a good thing you ran into me, since if you talked about this with another cultivator you would be killed.”

“Maybe that’s why I was sent away?” I muttered.

“Doubtful, but it is possible. To hide you away from the Heavenly Alliance. Still the knowledge is kept secret. I am willing to guide you, but you must swear to never divulge the steps beyond your current point.”

“That is surprisingly helpful,” I replied.

“To have someone outside the Heavenly Alliance get as far as you have is a once an eon type of event. For the entire time the Forever City has existed, only three other cultivators are known to have accomplished what you have. You make the fourth.”

“Factions don’t try on their own?” I wondered.

“They do. But three part cultivation is not simple as you clearly have experienced. Getting the basic structure right, spending the time and resources, it is a large investment. Why take the risk, when it is easy to use implants to grant immortality, or easily help someone progress on another path.”

“The Heavenly Alliance made the single paths easier,” I said.

“Indeed, and it makes us all the stronger for it. The Forever City is named as such, since the top powers are qualified to create and defend a super organization against the many threats of the Firmament and adjacent layers. Not just the Forever City but the countless feeder continents that constantly bring in resources. They are all under our aegis of protection. Even here, the fear of retaliation of the Heavenly Alliance is real enough that the rats would not dare to offend me,” Yang Heng said. There was the domineering and entitled attitude I had been expecting from a scion of the Heavenly Alliance.

“You used a similar cultivation method?” I asked.

“Indeed. That is also why you are still able to draw in energy in the Mechanical Layer. The suction vortex created inside your soul, is powerful enough to draw up energy, as far as we are. But advancing further is even more difficult.”

“Shouldn’t it be easier?” I asked.

“If you were in the Heavenly Alliance, then yes. If we could return, your advancement would be guaranteed, but that is impossible. You would not survive until the next clearing and our chances of being rescued are miniscule. But here in the Mechanical Layer, you are struggling to get enough energy,” he said, and I nodded. “I am curious to hear what you think the next step should be. It is rare to get someone in your position with no knowledge of what is to come. So I am curious what you think the next step in your cultivation path should be.”

“To construct some kind of internal filter mechanism to draw in more energy and alter it to what I need, using the suction conduit from my physical body to my soul and pillars I would use that energy to construct astral cores attuned to my Dao. The problem is building all of that,” I replied.

Yang Heng smiled. “That is well thought out. Since you made it this far it is not surprising. That is close to the next step. But your soul needs to be strengthened first. Without that step, there is too much of a risk, that is damaged as you draw energy.”

“And how would I strengthen my soul,” I replied.

“Through various alchemical potions. Then you would need an immense amount of energy to fuel the following steps of your ascension.”

“And do you know how to make these items?” I asked.

“No. They are a secret of the Heavenly Alliance. While some people have made it as far as you in our history, it is impossible to go further on your own or even with a faction backing you.”

“Then why wipe out factions that have reached this far?” I asked.

“While such potions are secret, that doesn’t mean recreating them or finding another method is impossible. Keeping a monopoly on the strongest cultivation method is a core tenant of your strength.”

“You sound like I am already part of the Heavenly Alliance?” I asked hesitantly.

“You are. While not officially confirmed, your cultivation is enough to induct you as an Inner Member. While lesser cultivators can join as Outer Members, they can go no further. And you have used our cultivation method, no other group would accept you with open arms.”

“So that’s it. I just need to strengthen my soul and find a way to draw in lots of energy,” I replied.

“Simple to say, much harder to put into practice. Once your soul strengthens, you can draw more energy through while also hiding it.”

“It is on the Astral Plane, how does that even work?” I asked. I never really understood how my soul could be separated by layers of reality.

“It isn’t your soul exactly, but the point at which you draw energy into yourself. The purpose of cultivation is to strengthen that connection. Your soul is the portion of your body that exists as energy. This can be sensed when you draw energy from the astral plane. Too strong and you will be detected by the things that lurk there,” Yang Heng explained.

“That connection is all important and a key weak point of cultivators. That is why soul cultivation is the most popular method, to strengthen the soul and hide this weakness. The other methods such as body and mind, struggle much more in this regard, since hiding that connection is much harder. The first bottleneck is creating that connection.” I listened intently. This was a completely new perspective on everything I had already learned about cultivation.

“Changing the connection after it has been created is nearly impossible. That is what immortals struggle with, increasing amount of energy they can draw and use. The second bottleneck, is moving your consciousness from your physical body to your soul, or the energy that makes up your body. You fail, and you are dead.”

“But succeed and you are immortal,” I replied.

“As long as you have energy. Other cultivators would slowly die here in the Mechanical Layer. That was why whomever sent you here was sending you to die. Well maybe not, since you aren’t an immortal yet. But your physical body would quickly break down from the lack of energy to maintain its youthfulness.” I had a lot to think about as my perspective on cultivation shifted once again.

“And karma?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Is a higher-level concept we immortals use. Energy can be affected by thoughts. Negative thoughts directed at an individual would bring them bad luck and the reverse is true as well. It is subtle, but important. Increasing one’s connection to draw more energy after you have gone that far, is quite risky. Low karma will often lead to failures, while high karma increases the chance of success.”

“That seems simple enough,” I replied.

“In theory. In practice it is far more complicated. Immortals constantly study such things, but the nuances are complex the deeper you study the interactions that come from energy.”

“And Dao?” I asked.

“Specialization. It is always better to specialize. Force is a very good choice and has a wide range of applications. I use foresight, myself.” That raised even more questions.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – A Young Master And An Old Man
Chapter 2 – A Business
Chapter 3 – Making Money
Chapter 4 – Long-Term Investments
Chapter 5 – Family Dinner
Chapter 6 – Risky Venture
Chapter 7 – Cloudy Moon Sect
Chapter 8 – Gathering Resources
Chapter 9 – Zhou Holding Company Limited
Chapter 10 – A Model
Chapter 11 – A Death
Chapter 12 – Hunting Up Profits
Chapter 13 – I Am Your Father
Chapter 14 – Sabotage
Chapter 15–Qi Gathering Complete?
Chapter 16 – Sect Intake
Chapter 17 – Cultivation Plan
Chapter 18 – Force
Chapter 19 – A Wedding
Chapter 20 – The Demonic Blood Sect
Chapter 21 – The Astral Plane
Chapter 22 – Where Am I?
Chapter 23 – Three Years Traveling
Chapter 24 – New Status
Chapter 25 – Elements And Wealth
Chapter 26 – The Extractor
Chapter 27 – Hunting Beasts
Chapter 28 – Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks
Chapter 29 – A Trap
Chapter 30 – Body Cultivation

Chapter 31 – Imperial City And Market Research

Chapter 32 – Going Multi-National

Chapter 33 – The Crashing Wave Sect

Chapter 34 – Escaping The Depths, Ensnared By The Heights

Chapter 35 – Demonic Blood Sect
Chapter 36 – Super Charged Influx
Chapter 37 – A Lesson In Trust
Chapter 38 – Life Marches On
Chapter 39 – Research Into Daos
Chapter 40 – Reaching The Third Stage
Chapter 41 – Helping Hand

Chapter 42 – Getting To The Floating Island Of Death

Chapter 43 – Zombies, Curses, And Traps
Chapter 44 – The Greed Of Mortal Men
Chapter 45 – A Dark Book
Chapter 46 – Interception
Chapter 47 – A Moment Of Peace
Chapter 48 – Cultivating The Third Stage
Chapter 49 – A Surprise Visit
Chapter 50 – Hostages
Chapter 51 – Beast Tide
Chapter 52 – Demonic Blood Sect Outpost
Chapter 53 – Water Running Over The Rocks
Chapter 54 – Cost Of Treatment
Chapter 55 – Relaxing In Imperial City
Chapter 56 – Cultivating To The Fourth Stage
Chapter 57 – Climb Of Mount Vortex
Chapter 58 – The Wandering Immortal
Chapter 59 – Beyond The Continent, A Scam
Chapter 60 – The Forever City
Chapter 61 – Supplies And Technique
Chapter 62 – Spiders, Spiders Everywhere
Chapter 63 – A Life Free Of Fear
Chapter 64 – Chaos Is A Tower?
Chapter 65 – The Pit Stop Of Hell
Chapter 66 – Just A Minor Shockwave
Chapter 67 – The Central Levels
Chapter 68 – Cultivation Complications
Chapter 69 – A Millenia Weighs Heavily
Chapter 70 – The Broker
Chapter 71 – Life Is What You Make Of It
Chapter 72 – The Organ Dealer
Chapter 73 – Negotiating A Deal
Chapter 74 – Faction Mates
Chapter 75 – Specialty Crafter
Chapter 76 – Creating A Market
Chapter 77 – A Slave Obeys, A Man Chooses
Chapter 78 – Battle Of The Rocky Platform
Chapter 79 – A Higher Stage
Chapter 80 – An Old Friend
Chapter 81 – Going Up
Chapter 82 – Leaving Into The Unknown
Chapter 83 – Trade Deal
Chapter 84 – Alien Sensibilities