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 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 sa clothing and equipnt 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 . I got up and quickly went to the bathroom. Thankfully he didnt follow . 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 in full. I had alive and had broken through. I had done it. My cultivation was a ss, 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 ti to understand all the changes. I left the bathroom and followed the Head Servant back to Qiang Yous 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 imnse, and I didnt 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 to approach, and I did. Junior Yuan Zhou greets Vice Leader Qiang You, I said with a deep bow.
Sit, we have so things to discuss, he said, and I quickly sat. Any pain or imdiate 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 wasnt a lie, but he wasnt 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 sothing 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 ti was not simple.
What this ans 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 Firmant that is unprotected, it will co to devour you. Ask your questions, Qiang You said.
Isnt 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 consud 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 to work at repaying your debt, Qiang You said. I wanted to discuss this monster that was after 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 Firmant 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 a mont 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 taphor. 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 sothing I hadnt really known.
While there is correlation between the two aspects, they should be considered separate. The Firmant exists in the middle. Where both are equally in flux. So even claim that it was a minor layer like the others, until many beings ca to inhabit it over ti as their preferred environnt, 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 wasnt 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 Firmant, 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 sa ti. 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 sa. But that energy is the fuel for ones progression. Instead you will have to find another way while running errands for . As you go up, devices and equipnt are more common. While our arrays and formations struggle. That is why the layer above us is called the chanical Divide. Ask your question.
And this monster wont be able to get there? I asked.
Monsters from Chaos rarely go beyond the Astral Plane. You could cut off your connection and live in the Firmant without much worry. But if you did that, it is no different than if you went to the chanical 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 so 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 mont there I wasnt sure if he was talking about himself or , but then realized that was foolish. Qiang You stood above in terms of power and standing and clearly enjoyed putting in my place.
I understand Vice Leader Qiang You. What errands would you have of ? I asked with a bowed head. He flicked his hand, and I caught a folded piece of paper he threw at .
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 paynt.
Type 5 Energetic Calculator Core 2 Favors
Your efforts in business convinced you arent hopeless, so I will let you figure out the rest yourself. You have access to the factions information. While it isnt much, make of it what you will. Your departure is scheduled five cycles from now. Until that ti, 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 didnt mind. I would find a way. I closed my eyes and a couple of tears escaped as my success truly hit .
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I fell asleep, ntally 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 a al, while I lounged in the sitting room. A far cry from the dark stairwells of countless towers I had lived in for a long ti.
As I slowly ate, I focused on my body and soul. My breakthrough had managed to succeed quite well. The extra ti I had been given to manage each step by Leader Han had made it possible. It made 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 wasnt 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 so 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 wasnt that hard to ntally cut off the connection and not draw in energy. The world seed dimr 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 didnt 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 accomplishnt was how solid I felt. Before, I could only feel my soul by moving energy through it. Carving it out was painful and ti consuming, but the sense ca 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 dimd. Like dimming a lightbulb, there was less visualization and power within .
My external senses were much finer as well. It wasnt just my sight, but I could sense forces acting on everything around . That nature of my cultivation carried through. A Dao or path was sothing 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 wasnt 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 beco stronger over ti, the second breakthrough was no longer simple. I had stepped off of the standard path. If I had stayed on it sohow and made it that far with the cultivation I had, then it would have been easy.
All my accumulation wasnt spent on making the second breakthrough easy but stepping into the unknown with a stable cultivation structure. It was a massive achievent, 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 imnse, 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 wasnt a comparison.
I had a servant bring several tal 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 imnse 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 co 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 wouldnt have made it this far without his support and help. My first master Yi Rong had taken in out of pity. I had nothing to offer. My second master, Jiang Fengge had taken 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 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 wouldnt 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 mont of weakness, since I had managed to make it this far. I did it, I muttered quietly to myself. It felt like a major accomplishnt, 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 couldnt 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 so 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. Lets 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 .
The Firmant may be infinite along with the other planes of existence, but that didnt an 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 chanical Divide.
What goods would be valuable and that I could bring over? Would my equipnt work? And what thods did I have for maintaining my cultivation while traveling? Qiang You hadnt 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 ant that Qiang You had managed to gather enough value from my breakthrough he was willing to give a longer leash. Or that the danger around 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 didnt plan on complaining. I was done with the Forever City and cultivation society. It was as toxic as the air. That wasnt 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 didnt matter.
With my expanded senses, I could understand why you would want a large environnt, so you could relax ones senses over a larger area to not be constantly stressed. But Qiang You seed 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 chanical Layer, there wasnt much. Just like with other layers of the Firmant, there was a trendous amount of variation. Just like with cake types, now that taphor 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 equipnt were not rated for the chanical Layer. They would malfunction or just not work if I brought them with .
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 well over my life and I was glad I would be able to find a use. The energy was imbued into the tal itself, which was what made the blade resistant to the changes in the environnt.
Everything else I had used arrays, formations, or the ambient energy in so 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 seed content to just toss off into the wilderness and see what would happen, hoping I would co back alive.
The biggest issue was that there was a lot of degradation in the chanical 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 Firmant, 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 ss. Bones had been right, that the full Firmant was a place that was incredibly dangerous. The chanical Layer was far more chaotic. Which was why it was considered a lesser layer like the Astral Plane. There were very few long-term settlents. 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 arrangents for my survival in terms of environnt and traveling to wherever I needed to go.
Like the Astral Plane, there was too much that was in flux on the chanical Layer. It made 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 didnt 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 to despair, but instead I relished the challenge. The Forever City would be behind 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 away. He had gotten whatever value he could from , 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 so 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 ant 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 so 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 didnt want to work on my combat abilities, but I needed to get used to the improvents 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.
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