Chapter One - Gaining a Cultivation Legacy
'Hey kid wake up' said a voice in my head that sounded like a tired old man. I struggle to wake up, but I'm cold and wet and feel my legs are under water. As I push my forearms into the soft sand to lift my head up to peer around the dark cave. There are some strange crystals imbedded randomly in the walls and cealing giving off a dim glow. There also seem to be some luminescent mushrooms and patches of moss helping to light this underground cave. I pull my legs out of the cold stream with effort, I'm shivering from soaking in cold water and sore as I realize I have a lot of bruises. But most of all I struggle with my thoughts, trying to make sense of my situation and clear my head for survivial thoughts. I don't know where I am and wonder how I came to this underground cave.
'Who are you senior?' I asked with my mind and wonder if it was my imagination since I don't see anyone around.
'Do you see the mushroom patch to your right? Come here!' replied the tired voice, again the voice invades my head as he words faintly echoes to the back of my mind.
Interesting I thought and counter with "perhaps this is telepathy?'
'A form of telepathy, I use a qi technique so we can converse' came the voice.
Great I thought, I haven't lost my mind. As I glance over to the right and see a large patch of mushrooms that provide the largest source of light in the cave. I'm too tried to stand so I crawl my way over with my forearms as I drag my numb legs. I wonder how many hours my legs were soaking in that cold underground stream. As I crawl my way over, the warmer it becomes and I feel warm air brush against my face. By the time I reached the patch, my skin feels like sunbathing under the summer sun and nice breeze coming from the center of the mushroomm patch.
Bathing in this wonderful heat, my legs start to awaken and I feel the ache of pins and needles beginning to sting though out my legs. The flow of warm blood into my legs causing an nearly unbareable ache as I grit my teeth and crawl a little bit further. The inner mushrooms look a little scary because they have glowing red blood vessels that can be seen pulsating on the stems and caps. The heat is coming from those blood vessels as they radiate heat with each pulse of life.
They looked like they mutated compared to the mushrooms growing at the edge of the patch. As they form a oval ring of a single row of strange mushrooms with those heated blood veins. They have grown much larger than the rest of the mushroom patch, towering over the rest by five to six times their height.
As I reach the mutated mushrooms, I warm my hands a few inches away from closest stem. As the blood pulse on the mushroom, I feel warmth radiate from it as the bulge of liquid moves up the blood veins. I quickly learn to follow bulge with my hand to keep them warm as I wait for my legs to get under control. I grit my teeth until the pain and needles from the legs became bareable. I drag my body to the right until my left leg is close enough to feel like it's roasting. Despite the duo pain, I feel the pains and needles fading faster. Finally I sat up cross legged and peer over the top of the mushrooms to see why no mushrooms grow there.
As I peer over the mushrooms, a skull catches my attention that was a half buried at the other end of opening. The oval ring of mushrooms have grown around the skeleton, but seem to keep their distance. As I see decaying mushrooms all around the opening, who knows how many generations of mushrooms have decayed to half bury the corpse with their remains.
'Your in luck kid, I sense we came from Earth so I'll help you with the last of my strength. I don't have much time so listen to me. First dig out my dagger, you should be able to see the hilt near my feet' came the voice much weaker than before. I glance over to my left to see the hilt next to his still booted feet.
I reach over with my left hand and with a quick pull, a beautiful dagger comes out of the dirt. The foot long blade was pristine as no dirt or stains can be seen. With engraved patterns and scrollwork all along it's length on both sides and extremely thin blade. I can tell it's not any metal that I know of as it's handle pulsates as it has a life of it's own in my palm. I can see the energy passing though the hilt and into the blade. As it does it lights ups the laser-liked carvings on the blade. It looks light but in reality weighs about thirty pounds, in my weaken condition it's difficult to lift so I drag it over.
The senior's weakening voice whispers 'now uncover my chest armor and use the dagger to cut a finger and place that finger on the armor. Don't stop until you recieve my legacy. Hurry my soul is about in enter the reincarnation cycle.'
I mumble "legacy?"
Why is this kid still talking and the old voics goes 'yes my cultivation legacy, I can help you learn the first part while I'm still conscious, but if I enter the reincarnation cycle you won't be able to gain my legacy' his faint reply pushes me into action and with a quick swipe of my finger and press on his armor my mind falls into a deep abyss.
When I wake up, I realize I am wearing that armor of his, it's like a body suit, it's comfortable and warm under my now dried clothes. I can not believe there is even a daily cleansing restriction activating ensuring I have a clean body and battlesuit everyday. Because it activate the moment I wake up and my body feels clean and see the dirt covered battlegear get cleaned as well. With the amount of spiritual force I recover now, it's basically free to use anytime as I would recover qi usage the instant after.
My mind comes up with the answer from my legacy memories, it's essencewear, a type of alchemical material woven into a cloth like material. Depending on the essense of the prime material used, the essencewear can gain the durability of said material. Only alchemists that have reached tier seven mastery can make essencewear. Because of this heavy cloth like material, top powers of the world have coveted the light weight and more comfortable essencewear. Much perferred over the traditional heavier and bulkier metal and magical hide armors. Essencewear can even be enchanted with the same restrictions that the prime material has.
Now battlegears made up entirely of layered essencewear has taken over the top market in personal armor. These new battlegears have become the desired equipment for stage seven experts. Even the chosen young masters of various power are given one for their protection. Most cultivators dream of wearing it under their normal clothes. Especially if you want to travel in a low profile, mortals tend to gawk at seeing people wearing the older metal battlegears these days.
Essencewear became popular because famous sects and alchemist guilds would field their battle teams in the annual battle tournament to find who has the best team of the year among the younger generation. Their teams would wear their sect or guild uniforms made from essencewear. Many of the rich and power have many children to protect and went to their favorite stage seven alchemist. Creating a new industry as nobles also took to wearing uniforms made of essencewear as their daily wear. There are nearly a hundred tier seven great masters of alchemy in the world.
For the first times in their lives, these stage seven alchemists were ask to craft something other than pills and potions. All of them have switch this branch of alchemy for its this lucrative business. The most talented of them, the youngest female alchemist at two hundred and sixteen years old, Ventrea the Silverlark gets the best customers. First alchemist to promote her half a dozen styles of dairly wear battlegears attracting the civilian market. The shocking three times the price tag as she gobbled up the civilian market allow her stop her school uniforms sales and go freelance. Shutting down her store early each day made the rest of the alchemists even grumpier. As they stare at the ever shrinking list of teams to do and glare at Ventrea and final get their own asses moving to follow their new leader of funds.
Ventrea laugh heartily each day, selling out in an within an hour and having the rest of the day off was is a nice change of pace for her. She even did a few girly skips, knowing she be promoted to leader of funds for a good long time. She then gives her benefactor a repectful cup hands with respectful bow for giving her the idea take the civilian route. As the new trailblazer, she automatically earn the role of leader of funds once the majority of alchemists begin following her example. Which means Ventrea will control the Alchemist League's treasure vault. Which of course mean control of research funds, it is this last point that has all her senior brothers and sisters of the sect can be heard constantly sighing.
The quick witted among them jump forward and vote their approval of Ventrea. It quickly skyrocket, but then slowed to a crawl until it stop short one vote for majority. The slow witted ones curse the faster ones for getting away clean. Now the rest knew none of them can afford a change of office just yet. Now it a race to complete their research first! While those who sided with Ventrea made schemes to gain her favor to earn research funds. For those unfortuneately treated their youngest sister poorly, they face a grim future as they realize they are going to have to earn their own funds.
Seeing the proformance in academy battles, the adults in the world can now own essencewear for their daily protection. The rich and powerful mortals came in droves to her store, the common folk staying well clear of the crazy bands of bodyguards surrounding the store. Since the guards are not allow to enter the store, they have no choice but guard the building until their boss comes out. Unless they have armed bodyguards too, and then they just consider them new reinforcements once the newbies reach the door and are told what to do.
The next youngest alchemist is twice Ventrea's age, so all these old men and women didn't know a lick about the mortal world. They long since been stricten by the cultivation virus and no longer thought about the mortals. Besides, it common tradition not get too envolved with the mortals. So cultivators their age have long since followed this tradition for hundreds of years already. So their fashion sense tend to be copy what the teams wanted, and not a lick of creatativity added by them. They could only hire skilled seamtresses to add some flavor from their militarish team designs and began added their own daily wear outfits to take their share of what the rich people in the world had to offer, money, and lots of it.
The alchemists milked the rich folks most vigourously and watch the Alchemist League's posting on essencewear market pricing with unbashful glee. The ancient powers behind these alchemist laughed at the unwholesome amount of income their their stage seven alchemists were making. Running a sect in the modern world is quite expensive. Providing medical care and retirement for all the mortals working for the strongest powers is staggering. Considering many sects have millions of followers to take care off.
The top thirty six sects in the world are treated as independant nations and are called supersects. One thing about sects is that they are all extremely self relient and never relies on anyone to maintain their foundations. Because of this, the lands around the sect are fully cultivate to provide enough food for their mortal servants. These supersects guarded by the best equipment money can buy. Then let the array masters tinker with the equipment. For instance, added barriers to all air, land and sea units.
Restriction protected tanks and aircraft will be the first hint for invading troops to start running. If that does not catch their attention, long range sword intent techniques slicing though troops and vehicles like hot laser fire. Troops to rear watching entire companies before them sliced apart in an instant usually starts the running. Three idiot tyrants in history died the day they invaded, follow by the destruction of all military and government officials. The leaderless nations were told to form a new government as their previous form of government was stupid enough to get itself killed.
Before the sect envoy left, with one leg though a portal he turns slightly to peer back into the room and goes "one more thing, best to put aside your difference and work together as a team. Today you will make history as founders of a new nation. Consider your reputations going forward now. The activities many of you enjoy will not be recieved well by the population your now responsible for. I hate to return to wipe your government from the face of reality again if you put another idiot in charge."
Then he goes "tell you what, next time you mortals force me to come back. I will kill the families of all the government and military officials. If these families can produce such idiots a second time, then best get rid of them so they won't produce another!" Then finish stepping though his portal and it vanishes.
The three foolish led nations over time have develop into powerful capitalist members of Nato. Their bad rap erase with the passage of two or more centuries and now safely placed into the history books. Three nations with one common trait, of being 'enlightened' by a supersect. They choose capitalism to be the nation's main focus. Then a democratic government, after all, every rich person wants to be heard.
All the powers that didn't have a stage seven alchemist in their ranks paid enormously for the busy alchemists for make essensewear uniforms for them. I suppose it's an acceptable reason to change gears and make a ton of money. It did not take long for tier seven pills to skyrocket in price as the alchemists were too busy on essenceweaving getting filthy rich. Beside, they know the longer they wait to fullfill orders. The Alchemist Grand council may raise the price worldwide on essensewear again due to the shortage in supply and demand. After the inital burst of effort, the alchemist calmed down seeing their inbox stuffed crammed full of paid in full orders. Sure their inbox for pill orders is stuff even higher, but none of them bothered to take a single order from there.
The price for essensewear is still soaring and already ten times more than any tier seven pill they ever sold. The best part, it's not as gut wretching as making pills can give them. For most alchemist it is a struggle to make a pill of their own level. As it gets easier for each tier lower for making pills, so of course the top alchemist rarely make pill of their level. It just too much of a pain for them to do it, and they just be in tears at the waste of such very expensive precious spiritual herbs if they tried knowing their success rate is anywhere from twenty to forty percent. Did I mention very expensive? Yes, very in like once in a life time acquirement type deal. Of course, if they ascend, then that would be an whole different story. As all know, spiritual plants become more plentiful in higher dimensions. So it is a good chance they be able acquire another such rare plant.
His last memory sudden awakens in me 'good luck kid, I gift you my treasures and hope someday we can meet again.' I quickly do the dutitful prayer 'good luck senior, I hope I can call you master one day.' I dug around a bit and uncover his void ring and long sword. His skeleton had vanished while I was mediating to getting a handle on his legacy. My new memories inform me his skeleton had turn into qi fallout and absorb by the world and turned into the world qi.
From seniors memories, this void ring is like a self contained subspace for holding his entire inventory of void tools. I search though his void tools collection to find his most prized void ring called Gaia. This is a rare one, it allows living beings to survive in a small water world with two continents. My master used the larger land mass for his own medical gardens. It's has tier eight subspace qi that has been enhance with an endowment restriction to provide twice the density. With this much subspace qi, it's a haven for spiritual beasts and spiritual plants to reach peak stage eight. The spiritual beasts are kept contained on the smaller continent sealed with a spherical barrier to stop any spiritual beast from leaving the island.
From master's memories, He discover the ring on a dead cultivator he looted while in an ancient renmant. The ring was crafted by Indus Acoma who was the only stage nine Spiritual Cook of the first age. He had his era on the palm of his hands as all of experts wanted to be invited for his spiritual dinners. The purpose of the barrier was to stop immortal qi from entering the spiritual beast island.
Deprived of immortal qi, the spiritual beasts can only cultivate to peak stage eight. The spiritual beasts are then at perfect stage when treating his guest with his spiritual cooking. Since the spiritual beasts in this subspace have existed since the era of Aristars Fall, many extinct dishes can now be made. So I can't wait to grow strong enough eat those spiritual beast in my new ring. First thing is finding how to be a spiritual cook. But it's is not important until I improve my cultivation, but something on my list to do first chance at an auction house and buy their jade recordings on spiritual cooking.
Aristar was a comet that was prophised to hit the planet by the famous diviner of the first age Lusharinareous. He is famous for having all his prophecies become true. He had prophecized that Aristar will end the first age. Though none of peers believed him and thought he was a lunatic. He was known thoughout the first age as the prophet who told of events that happens in future ages.
There is only one end of an age prophecy remaining. However he died before could finishing telling of his last prophecy. As he would sudden go in a trance and become an orator speaking for royalty and in a loud voice anonouce all to hear a fragment of the current prophecy he was working on. As if he was suddenly inspired and began his rant anew. Many consider him being a split personality lunatic but listened intently so they can tell all they know what the famous lunatic lastest words. He even has a small cult of followers who record his prophocies with divine sense recordings. Thousands of copies are spread though out the world and even has spread among the mortals as common knowledge. Plenty of original recording jades have survived, and highly prized as trophies for collectors of wealth. The mortals now know the horrifying invaders that plague the countryside, the Voidslayers.
Six of his prophecies were about how an era would end because of invaders coming through the Moongate which he called Voidslayers. Their elite younger generation treats our world as their danger zone for stage seven training. They invade our world by passing though void between worlds. We surmise they are using some kind of treasure that's locked on to our world. Thus creating somekind of connection where their innate ability to travel though the void is enhance greatly. Thus allowing their stage seven experts to reach our world in a reasonable time to use as a training ground. They invade where our stage eight experts are too far away to help quickly. By the time they arrive at the scene of the massacres, the invaders have long since returned to the void looking for another place to raid.
I go ahead and put Gaia on my right index finger since I don't like the feel of rings clicking against each other. Also if I put void rings on the same finger, the stronger tier void ring would interfere with commands given to the weaker ring. Then I tap into master's legacy for the remaining knowledge on spiritual plants pour into my mind as I refine the knowledge stored in my divine sense and forever burn it into my perfect cultivation memory. I had only learn the spiritual plants that I could use up to my current abilities. But now putting on Gaia, I needed learn all spiritual plants so I know what I would be dealing with once I decide to visit inside Gaia's subspace. It stings like hell that quickly evolves into a deep throbbing migraine, but I am just glad to have a little more divine sense to work with when it's over.
I appraise the long sword and it is a match to the dagger with the same elegant patterns scrolling along it's length. I know it weighs about two hundred pounds, but the sword has accepted me as it's master and in my hands it weighs next to nothing. I picked up the dagger and it's now light as a feather. There is even a few techiques become available when both are held in battle. Both are close combat techniques, and best used against multiple opponents. Once is a forward facing cone attack that gives me three instant moves. Thus allowing me to attack up to three oppenents as I instantly lunge forward ten meters in Lance and Knife technique. With Three is a Charm, I divide into three avatars and all three basically do Lance and Knife and clear a bigger area. Unfortuneatley my cultivation is too low to use the late tier eight weapons to their full potential and forced to stow them away in master's ring.
As I about to put the knife away, my divine sense something glowing inside the groves of the fine scrollwork. So I spend some qi to focus on my eye and zoom where I settle my view hovering on the bottom of one the grooves that was carved to make the scrollwork. I see the fine groove has been perfectly square cut away. The walls and floor are flawlessly glass smooth, cut by a restriction. A mono filiment gate carves through surface of the blade. Because of mono filiment extistance, the cutting gate makes ultra smooth curves and corners. But what catches my eye is a continuous elegant scrollwork a horizonal vines growing towards the tip of the blade on both walls of the etching. The end of each extravagant branch is power array circle, while the leaves of the vine are made up smaller arrays that fills the walls.
As the energy pulse moves up the blade, the hiddin restriction releases qi that forms into a qi barrier along the surface of the blade. The qi barrier not only protects the bladed from damage, it make the surface slick and frictionless. With the qi protected mono edge blade, it can cut though unprotected durable materials under tier eight. Considering Titanium is only a lowly mortal tier three durable material, I can't wait to see what these blades can cut.
I pull back from my microscoping divine sense vision and stop qi use on my eyes to stop my iris from sleightly glowing. I was impressed, I never imagine tier eight restrictions can be hidden in such a manner. My divine sense focus back to primary threat detection mode. Constantly scanning all around me looking for threats and the more insidious illusionary techniques and of course any thing of intrerest.
Like a child, I play with master's ring on my right ring finger, with just a thought I willed the sword and dagger to enter and leave the ring continuously. With constant effort it should take a few years to reach mastery to cause them to blink into existense which would normally take a moment of time to materialize. Most people would never bother with such trivial skill, but pulling things out instantly in battle can be a life saver. I also pull out items in the ring to examine to become aware of what is valuable in this new life that I became apart of. After that I sat for who knows how long in that dark timeless cave as I burn into my mind my master's legacy called Etherial Foundation Technique to make it my own.
I stayed in that cave for years, the first reason was to avoid my step brothers who tried to kill me by pushing me into a sink hole. The second was to learn my master's legacy and his various hobbies he acquired. At first I was skeptical about the whole thing, but the more legacy memories I refined, the more I wanted to cultivate and learn. I soon forgot about revenge, and began thinking them my benefactors, lolololol.
One of the first things I did when I mastered tier five alchemy was too enhance my bloodline to see if anything would happen. I had awoken my bloodline spirit who was shocked to see my divine sense large enough to hold my ancestor's entire artificing legacy. I had nearly freed sixty percent of my divine sense, my bloodline spirit happily dumped a new lagacy and suddenly filled back up to ninty eight percent. So I spent the next eleven years majoring in alchemy and artificing techniques. Then minoring in body crafting and cultivating when there was a need. Just to free up as much divine sense storage as fast as possible.
My master didn't store low level cultivation resources, as he out lived all his friends and family. He no longer had any desire to save them up as gifts. Fortunately, his loot bag was full of unlooted void tools. Sweeping through them was a chore and a half, but they got me to peak tier five. Then a nirvana pill to put me to early stage six. Followed by a foundation pill to solify my cultivation, something I must do every time I leveled up to a new stage. It was real slow going as I was forced to master two legacies at once. So I only raised my cultivation when I ready to master a new batch of techniques.
The second thing I did was start body crafting. Basically turning my body equal to that of a durable material. So anything of a weaker material cannot harm me. The spiritual plants needed for tier six and higher body crafting have gone extinct through the passing of ages. Looking through master ring, I see I have enough to get to mid stage five. I relax, stage five body crafting is required if I wanted to survive my cultivate technique when I become a stage eight expert.
On finally reaching stage six, I did what my master did and began turned my stomach into a cultivation furnace. That way I can just chew down resource and let my new stomach subspace ability to refine cultivation resources. I don't have to waste most of the day cultivating, just have to crunch down a handful of resources when ever my stomach subspace get near empty. My dantian automatically aborbs the stream of refine qi like candy.
Of course I was possessed with a pulsating migrain most of the time as I burn those legacies into my mind. As such, I did not leave the cave as I fear becoming a mass murder of mortals due to my surly disposition. I had to scrounge around master's loot bag for sustenance pills and spiritual eats to be a shut in for nearly four years in real time.
When I chewed though my pile of stage six resources and only saw a slight rise in cultivation I was stunned. I was sure I would advance to mid stage six and possibly late stage. I stared in disbelief as my unfazed dantian, like a spoiled pet leering back at me saying feed me something better. I sigh and pulled out a tier seven resource and took a tiny bit off it and swallowed it down. My divine sense watch this blazing ball of destructive energy go down my throat and drop into my stomach.
I blink as that ball of death just disappears in an instant. Oh nice, I chow down the rest of the resource to see what would happen. It went down in a blazing glory, but only got a slight rise from my cultivation. I only have a tier one stomach furnace right now, I can try to level it up if I can find the materials needed. As for now I chow down ten tier seven resources to fill my stomach. I watch the crushed crystals enter my stomach furnace subspace. Which is then refined into a pure energy that gets pull in by my dantian without effort.
I sense my two legacies now controls forty one percent of my divine sense. So I went ahead and tied off another bundle of divine sense and begin refining all knowledge of crafting materials for my other hobbies. There should be materials in Gaia for my other hobbies. I watch a three percent chunk of divine sense begin refining and ignore the pain as my brain starts burning the new memories in. Looks like I'm going to have another headache for awhile. But I am so used to burning memories into my brain for the past twelve years. That my will power towards pain had deepened considerably.
I did a quick check on my permanent four divine sense partitions. The first two are faithfully practicing alchemy and artificing techniques. While the last two partitions are duking it out in mock mental battles as they continue to refine my master's battle knowledge. As I slowly refine and understand master's battle experience, I sense my own battle power slowly rising. When I broke through to stage six, my battle power drop to one full stage. I lost the extra advance I had at stage five, probably due to stage six requiring a lot more battle power to advance.
A month later the refining of material knowledge is done and I see the legacies now take up thirty eight percent of my divine sense. My four mental contructs take up forty percent so that leaves me with only twenty two percent of my divine sense to work with for my daily life. However that amount of divine sense is usually what the average early tier seven alchemist would have. I can put the four mental constructs on hold and recover another twenty four percent of my divine sense if I am in a pinch.
The Etherial Foundation Technique has raise my foundations far beyond normal. Not only does it increase the amount of qi I can hold, but increase my foundation. A stronger foundation mean I recover qi faster and of higher purity. With each breakthough in cultivation, my foundations expanded to the point that a ton of resources were just a drop in filling my dantian's two expansions.
The foundation pills would improve my spiritual veins as well, except my spiritual veins are already tier early tier nine. So the incremental improvment for the low level pills only aiding in slight purity increasing I would miss if I did not look closely. I doubt the tier seven foundation pill would make much a difference, but I am looking forward to the tier eight foundation pill doing something at least.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
I was finally running low on sustence pills and few tier seven cultivation resources that was available from the loot bag. When I left the cave I had only age four years due to a temporal shift formation that extend time by three times in master's cave. So I put on a dark outfit I found in my master's wardrobe and with a formation shrunk it down to fit me. Then I followed the slight constant breeze out. It didn't take long to find a vent to the surface. With a thought I send my divine sense to fill the vent and add in some qi to force it to widen enough for me to fly though.
I was a completely different person than the bullied boy I was. Those memories simply became my childhood memories I was a shamed of being not able to stand up for myself. With no real connection to my family, I felt at ease as I was about to step into my new life as a cultivator.
I was eager to practice with my qi and spiritual force techniques in a place other than the cave. It was amazing as long as I have divine sense lock on a target, I can't miss. I use qi slash technique that allows me to form qi blades to materialize any where my divine sense is at. From my ancient memories I practiced until I cut up a leaf several times before it starts breaking apart. Then the practice really gets ugly, I then cut up all the little pieces and see if I survived for the next exchange. I focus some qi to lock down on all the tiny bits of leaf. My next exchange I hit the bits with everything my mind can throw and see at least a dozen survivors after my last move.
Looks like I can't break under dozen after my third attempt, so this must be my current limit. So I reach into my ancient memories and pull out qi blast technique. It's a directional cone area effect attack. Blowing up things was kind of fun practice. It easy to blow up things, but infinitely more difficult to stun them. I got pretty good at knocking a couple dozen hornets out of air without killing a single one. More importantly it's amazing good training for spiritual force users. After all extreme fine control is something most cultivators don't bother with since it's difficult to master.
After that I practice qi grip, which just grabbing items and then moving them. I also would grab random spiritual beasts to see how long I can hold them in place. Though at first I ended up crushing quite a few to death before I gain enough mastery to keep a low tier spiritual beasts subdued. These three are also the basic techniques of spiritualist. So I also practice fusing my spiritual force with my qi, as both have the same three basic techinques. Fusing spiritual force with qi takes a bit a will power since the purity of my spiritual force is higher than purity my qi. If I can raise my qi mastery, it would be alot easier to fuse the two together.
Of course after all that mental training, I then study various palm techniques. Because they offer a variety of offensive and defensive qi techniques. I quickly found the qi slap to be a versatile palm technique, it's fast and easy to use. After I getting a decent handle on my qi and spiritual techniques affects the real world, I decide to take a break and enjoy some flying.
It's amazing what you can do when you have a develop a disciplined mind of a spiritual cultivator. My spiritual techniques are my strongest attacks at early tier nine. If I use battle intent, I can pump it up all the way to early tier ten. As such, it is my ace card, but keep it mask and only used it equal to my cultivation level.
My weakness is I only have early stage seven qi defense with battle power added. Which means, I should still keep a low profile to keep the slavers off my back for the time being. But from master's memories, I already knew what to do, hook up with the largest auction house in the world.
In a blink I flew up above the trees, then a my list of who I am intrudes into my conscious. I died on earth and reincarnated into a minor clan, my mother was a new favorite wife of an elder. She had died while traveling to visit her parents when I was old enough to start cultivating. With out my mother, my step brothers decide to get rid of me since resources were limited. At first I was vengeful, but during the first year of seclusion, that thought just slid into oblivion. Let them eek out a meager life as country bumpkins in their private world. With no real ties for home, I can pursue cultivation without the need to ever return home.
The reason I no longer hold a grudge? Well the legacy of my master taught me about the vast cultivation multiverse. The small world I used to live just does compare what master had given me. I no longer think of my past, as it's just my background story. With my eyes now opened wide, yeah yeah, I know it's cliche, but it's simply the best way to describe how I felt. I sought to start my life with the aid of my master's memories of the life he had. My adventurous spirit peaked as my desire to explore the multiverse fills me with anticipation.
I have to admit flying is fun and spent a few hours enjoying the feeling and practice flying skills as an excuse to play. Hovering in different poses, climbling up and down and doing it backwards too, diving at different angles while never loosing sight of a particular leaf. Sliding around trees trucks without moving your body and never stop facing the tree, then start moving though the branches at high speed but never exceeding an arms length away from the giant tree trunk.
That was my favorite one to practice, but didn't realize it would turn my combat flying style like an insect that darts all over the place. As well as all the standard stuff that I could think of for an aerial combat. My master's basic combat moves were all about counter attacks, all moves ended up facing the opponent ready to act if there is an opening for a counter attack. So I practice circling trees hacking off tips of branches with my sword. Being gawked at by farmers and travelers didnt bother me, the only thing on my mind was having fun flying with the excuse of training.
My altitude was just under the first cloud layer as I explored the land below me. My clothes were getting damp going through clouds, so I created a qi barrier set to stop the water vapor and added in poison gas for safety. Then my divine sense warns me of a danger from above. I instantly went into a nose dive to buy me some time. As I glance over my shoulder, I see a grey feather mid stage six birdbeast burst from a cloud and diving for me. There is a patch of scales protecting it's chest and had a long beak to stab prey with and it's much faster than me.
I turn around to face it and just as it was about to come into melee range, I use a vertical circle strike to get above the beast. It snaps it beak at my feet so I raised them at the knees and beak snaps at air for a clean miss. I give it a love tap with my left knee to it's forehead telling it was a good try and push off his head and give it a chuckle. Then I took a swing at it's left wing as it passes by and heard a sudden screech of pain as my sword shear through the wing bone. I watch the one winged birdbeast screech towards it's death.
Remembering the spirtual beast may have a core above stage three, I follow the birdbeast down. I avoided the droplets of blood for practice as I twist through my dive. The birdbeast last breaths of life began sending sonic shockwaves at me in vengeful fury. I immediately send qi to modify my qi barrier to stop sound and then push the barrier out to the my standard six meter wide battle bubble. Three meters is plenty of time to act if some get though the barrier. Six meters give me some room to play.
I avoided the brunt of the shockwaves allowing the edge of the qi barrier take some of the heat. Not bad, the qi barrier is not even weaken at all, so I take next shockwave head on. The qi barrier fluctuated a little, but that's about it. It would appear mid rank stage six demonbeasts will have great deal of trouble breaking though my qi barrier. I'm quite happy with the result, I didn't have to spend any battle power to boost the next barrier.
As the birdbeast slams into the ground and bounces up from the rebound, my right foot hammers it's neck back into the ground. A quick slash of my sword removes it's head to end it's misery of a shattered body. My divine sense seeps into it's body, but as it's life fades there is no core appearing. With a sigh, I fly back up and look for more birdbeasts, but they are too far away to bother with. So I fly north toward a city I spotted from the clouds.
As I close on the city, I can see the massive beastwave walls and other flying cultivators. The walls are about a hundred meter tall and just as thick. I can see array circles on wall fortifying them to extreme levels. They practically glow in broad daylight. As I pass over the wall I see various seige engines, single and multi shot ballista and giant cauldrons along the battlements. Behind them are two rows of catapults that has been staggered to provide maximum coverage. Then a new battlement rise after the catapults. My old memories tell me the seige weapons are maintained by an ancient restriction that is part of the beastwave wall. So long as the ancient restriction remain undamage, the ancient seige weapons will continue repair or generate new seige engines to replace destroyed ones.
The cascading battlement rise every twenty meters for a total of four extra battlements on top of the first wall. On the last battlement, they even use the back of the wall to mount heavy seige catapults with a throwing arms made from a trunks of Ironwood trees. There are command towers and stairs leading down into the wall, no doubt leading to barracks and storerooms. My divine tells me the wall is a honeycombs of internal rooms and those rooms next to the outer wall are provided with arrow and ballista slits. As my divine sense enter the corridors leading to these fire support outer rooms I can see that huge cealing blocks can lowered to block entrance into the inner areas of the massive defense block that formed the outer wall.
The salients are have no battlements as they completely rely on the multitude of window slits for archers and ballistae to shoot out of. The thin rows horizon windows which are impossible for the most demonbeast to get in. The roof is a solid mass as the walls above the windows rise ten meters up and slowly turn into a peak. Since demon beasts can't use these windows they are force to climb up and run along the peak towards the first wall.
Checking the arrays on the walls and understand it is a spike trap killing array. It causes ten meter long tier eight spikes to shoot from the ground to impale demonbeasts. By following the array links, I see they are using an artifact spike to generate exact copies. A quick scan of the array allows me to understand that it sends out a waves of spikes in a ten meters area. But the farther it travels from the wall it slowly break apart and turns in to a random field of floating death traps that disperse one thousand meters from the walls and salients. I see the same arrays inscribed on the roofs of the salients to make sure all invaders get the same welcome treatment. I send my divine sense to probe behind the array and see it supported by eight layers. Which is not bad since I am still working on the seventh.
I quickly break off a wisp of divine sense and send if over to appraise the artifact the killing array is cloning. When the wisp arrives I appraise it and see it's a high quality mid tier eight artifact. This ten meter needle thin spike with a three inch thick base. With closer inspection I see it's refined from a dragon whisker making the toughness of the spike remarkable. The tip is treated with the standard sharpen to a single molecular point restriction. Because the whisker was from a poisonous dragon, the crafter manage to refine it's essense so the spike also poisons on contact.
Since it's only a wisp, I send my it into the artiface to probe the insides. As soon as it went inside it was destroyed. As it turns into qi fallout I recieve a fleeting image of the defense layer's spiritual killing array. It had blast my wisp and the area around it with spiritual lightning. It basically refined my wisp of divine sense into qi fallout in an instant with it's mid stage eight battle power.
I shrug at my loss as I fly over the first wall I see two more of these walls on this giant rocky hill. The poor and homeless are at their usually pandering play, but I ignore them as I see most of them well fed. I frown as I was about to unload all the unwanted foodstuff from looted void tools. But seeing the pudgy children laughing in the streets. Better not make them too fat and restash the unwanted food stuff for day I actually meet the poor and hungry. I have plenty of looted void tools, in those twelve years in master's cave, I had eventually organized master's inventory into the best void tools available.
I fly over the next wall to look for the merchant quarter. The first area was filled with the ramshackled wooden buildings of the poor. The second wall protected the skilled citizens and had clean cobble streets and brick buildings. I fly over the third wall as I see many areas are filled with small walled mansions near the next palace wall. But more importantly I see many massive stores scatter about.
I quick glance up I see the inner city was built on large rocky plateau that has a castle built on top. The palaces surrounding the castle are all unique and stunning in appearance. There is a ramp carved into the plateau leading up from the far left rising to the right. The ramp is only noticable due to the many windows cut rising up. My divine sense wonders over and I see a small fort protecting the entrance of the ramp and as I travel up the windowed ramp I see two open gates built on the ramp itself for last ditch defense to the palace. A trick of the light allows me to see the flickering edges of a barrier protecting the inner city. There is a restriction blocking it's aura so I can't tell what tier the barrier is, but is lot more powerful than what I can make earns my respect.
Enough of tourism, I glance down to examine the merchant quarter. It is a huge area filled with open tents to keep the sun from baking the merchants all day. Surrounding the tents are various size buildings, two even been constructed by materials created with alchemy with the goal for durability.
Each of the top powers in the world have creative their own alchemy recipe, let's say a late stage eight Throsencant Ore as an example, it's essence is used to mass produce a durable material equal to late stage eight battle power. This means it can't be damage by any attacks with a weaker battle power. I was surprise to see not one but two such buildings in this city a medical gardens and the auction house.
This tells me this city has great influence and most likely a major trade hub. I feel lucky to have two branches rather than dealing with a local power house. Organizations with this kind of unique look should have many branches to search for things I need in the future. Nice, I don't have waste time traveling to a city that does, got lucky right off the bat and with my first city.
The bigger stores has guards protecting their expansive store fronts and most likely keeping undesirables away too as my divine sense watch their qi enhanced eyes watch for any vagrants heading their way. I watch one step into the street leading to their stores and sense the tiny qi bolts slam into that poor unfortuneate vagabond. Tiny welts appear on his exposed skin as the old man beats a hasty retreat followed by chuckles from various high minded individuals present vent their scorn at the retreating old man.
I sigh and flew down to the old man and gave him a junk pill. It takes no effort to make as it uses any plant with touch of spiritualism to make. Useless to cultivators, but does wonders for mortals with small injuries. I old man is so grateful but does not take the pill. I raise an eyebrow.
Seeing my look he goes "I'm used to pain, but my granddaughter does not. I will save this for her."
I looked at the old man and he has this mischevious smile thinking about his granddaughter so I go "well in that case, have the rest of the bottle and save her from crying ten times!"
Of course the old has seen the alchemist tournament that happens every decade. In his youth, he manage get a job street cleaning and was able to watch first hand how hard to make pills and goes "I know pills take a great deal of effort to make, and the rare spiritual herbs are precious. I can not accept this bottle young master."
I roll my eye and retort "that because they are making cultivation pills. But pills for mortals..."
I glance around and pick one of the many plants the developed a bit of spiritualism. With a gentle qi grip I pull a bunch of moss clinging to the under a roof of a building and ask "do you know what the alchemist call this plant?"
He looks at me strangely before saying "umm, they call it spiritual junk. Because it useless for cultivation pills."
I cup my hand about a foot around the floating moss and slightly turn away from the old man and began refining the plant. I created electric arcs between my hands for show that cause the old man to be awed. Then toss some qi to create a constant breeze flowing from my hands to gently force the old man to take a few steps back. Gave it a light show so it made it difficult to see me refine the moss into a liquid and then form exactly ten pills. With a final thought made them sweet to taste. I pull out a empty bottle and new junk pills flew into the bottle. I turn to look at the old man and said "these mortal pills uses spiritual junk old man. It takes no effort to make and comes from something you can pick up anywhere. Take this bottle too, since you want to help your granddaughter, I made these sweet. They are only strong enough to heal scraps and bruises. After all I only use a moss with a tiny bit of spiritualism." I look around then pointed at an especially glowing moss and go "if I use something like that, I could make a mortal pill capable of reattaching a severed limb." I took to the air and was soon follow by many thanks from the old man while ignoring the strange glares from everyone else.
On my way to the medical gardens I flew by a store selling cultivation resources. What caught my attention was a young female crier calling "new tier seven in stock, come while it last!" So stopped in and stocked up on tier sevens and sustence pills. Inside my master's ring made me kind of rich, I don't feel guilty because I promise to restock it before master revives. I got a little over five hundred years to wait so plenty of time stock up. So I splurge a little and don't bother about the marked up prices and bought enough to last a month.
As I left the private room that I made my purchase, I notice a young nobleman with a pair of goons watching his back brush past me as he entered the room I vacated. He gives me the usually upper class looking down on common trash glare. Then I notice the two cultivators that was waiting in line behind me look somewhat scared. That idiot must have some background in this city to cut in front of the line, so I whispered "who was the guy who cut in line?" as I past them by.
The reply I heard was "young master Gibbons, a branch of the royal family." So I toss him a random treasure from the pile of unwanted loot as thanks. My curiosity takes a glance in my divine sense and see him catch a protective item in the shape of a fish.
Gibbons looked at the youth that exited the barrier of the purchasing booth. First thing his divine sense tells him was the youth is a early stage six cultivator. He frowns seeing someone younger than him with the same stage of cultivation and gives the twerp a glare of distaining envy. While waiting for his order to be packaged, he replays his divine sense recording of the brief encounter for a proper appraisal.
His dark outfit is good quality but has that old school traditional look. He took the twerp as minor nobility, but then while inspecting the youth's outfit, he discovered what he thought was his underclothes was actually a form of armor called essencewear. He seen this on core disciples and powerful experts, as essencewear can only be crafted by tier seven alchemists. Despite his irritation at the youth his royal training forces him to toss the youth out of his mind. The royal family has a rule never bother the sects in public, in exchange the local sects won't cause trouble in the royal controlled cities.
Gibbons had been forced to serve in clan's shadow branch for the past two months as punishment for causing a minor scandal. So he is not keen on being sent back to the shadow branch any time soon and just wants to savor his newly earned freedom. Raiding rival clans at night has earn him a few new battle scars. Every noble clan has a shadow branch who actively raid enemy clans for battle experience for their younger generation. Every young master is expected to command their own warband, especially those who wish to be the next clan lord. Only the young master with strongest warband can take the title of clan lord. With battle victories and battlefield merits earned being recorded in the clans younger generation battle ranking. The noble clan members are filled with fortune seekers and those who plot the downfall of family members with a higher rank.
Ahh I thought, no wonder he's so stuck up, he is a damn noble of the arrogant kind. Especially since I see a grey karma line connecting us. I glare at the faint connection and frown, since I can not sense if it good and bad karma. Our chance meeting today is obvious not enough to guess what the future may hold. But an arrogant young noble is never a good thing and sigh at what fate will make of him of our future encounters.
As soon as I leave the shop I shoot into the sky and pivot until I spot my first target and take off for a meeting. What a delightful building, it's made from a dark green material without any seams. It's appearance of a giant tree stump for a building with roots included. So I flew down for a landing I see this extremely large building with plots of medical gardens on the roof growing rare spiritual herbs. The meter thick bark extends five meters above the gardens which includes four meter tall spirtual plants. The entire roof opening and building is shimmering with a powerful and extremely thick transparent green barrier. I can not actually sense what tier it is with my divine sense, it has a sense of immortality so it's way pass my pay scale. I quickly refine from master's legacy about any knowledge on a touch of immortality and found out it is the call sign of a tier ninth craft.
As I fly down the side of the building, I see that the top three floors are nothing but windows and these rooms are filled with potted spiritual plants. The restrictions on the windows dimming to each rooms private settings to protect the type of spiritual plants within. This is followed by a couple of floors without any windows which is probably for spiritual plants that grow in the dark. Then two floors with normal windows before landing on the ground and enter from one of many entrances of the building. All the big roots are have been cut off to provide entrances into this giant stump shaped building.
The giant root entrances are simply portals to enter their subspace. The subspace is under a canopy of a giant tree. Sun light is filter down by the leaves above making it a perfect shade to be under. The subspace smells wonderful, rich earthly aromas filled with the spicy tang of flowers. I ignore the stairs to my right that lead up to a thick walkable branch. I head over to tree trunk that is surrounded by hundreds of opened air booths that are half buried in the ground. When a customer enters a booths a dark green privacy barrier encloses the business deal. Scores of runners dash between the booths and the trunk to delivering purchased goods.
Most of these people around me are alchemists, their pupils or servants and scattering around to look for an open booth. The ones that stick out like me are cultivators who found some rare spiritual herbs to sell. I let my divine sense guide my walking to the nearest open booth. As I walk I appraise the aura of cultivators around me and see them lacking. Their auras are shallow, almost transparent when I view against their bodies. Then I look at an aura that catches my eye the most and see that it's from a alchemist.
This alchemist has a much stronger foundation, his aura is not as transparent as the cultivators around us. An Alchemist's cultivation will advance naturally over time came from master's memories. So they spend all their time trying to produce better pills and stop culivating after reaching stage six. As I appraise the alchemist I realize he is as strong as me and would make a good sparing partner. Because my divine sense fills the space under the tree, I catch a hostess in her favorite garden outfit that passed him by greet him as master Rosethorn. Maybe I'll look for him another day for a friendly match. The rest of the chatter is about alchemy and plants as apprentices and servants whisper about their daily lives. The cultivators are more than happy to be directed to an open booth by the garden loving hostesses.
A better dressed hostess is walking around greeting guests that she passes, she is obvious management as I see girls greet her warmly. When it's mine turn, I see her eyes widen a fraction as she finish appraising me and bows deeply and comes up with a smile and chimes "young master, welcome to Spiritual Gardens! How can we help you?"
I return a smile and hand her a message jade and provide "just came to buy some spiritual plants." I watch her eyes widen as she scans the jade containing a list of thousands of tier six spiritual herbs and a much smaller list of tier sevens.
Then her sweet girly voice adds "come this way young master, no need for you to wait at a normal booth." She leads me to large mushroom and fly up to reach the furnished top. As I come in for a landing, I fly though the tingle of a invisible privacy barrier to land on a well furnished top with a polite man in a bee suit. I know what your thinking, but no, don't go that way. The bee suit I am referring is the one you wear when you want to open a bee hive to collect honey.
I watch my hostess hand my message jade over and informs "the list of materials elder." After reading the list with his divine sense he promptly hands a new message jade to a boy in suspenders who used a movement technique to dash away in a blink. "The items we have available will be brought here as soon as possible. How would you like to pay for them young master?" asked the polite young man as he steps in front of me. Glancing over his shoulders I notice his bee hat flatten on the back rest of his chair.
From my master's ring I willed out ten tier seven nirvana pills to come out and appear on the table and replied "I believe these will serve as credit for now, let see how much my order you can fill." Then walked over to the couch to sit down then ask "do you have something better" as I pick up the tier five bottle of complimentary wine. "Yes! Yes of course" and draws out a bottle from his void ring. "Please enjoy young master" and hands the bottle to me then left the room with the ten vials. Now I can enjoy a much better cultivation wine as I view this comfortable shady garden.
It's a late tier six cultivation wine called Walk in the Park. It's a semi sweet wine with a taste of Summer Citris. This late stage six spiritual plant has elemental lightning affinity and it's soul attack is Spiritual Lightning. For physical protection, Summer Citris has a lightning aura that extends five meters from it's trunk. Anyone who wish to engage in melee combat will suffer a lightning base attack with each move they make inside.
The wine is ok, nothing special since my spiritual force and stamina rose a smidgen after two glasses. From my master legacy, I know I can make something better. One of the reasons I'm here is to buy the ingrediants for four recipes I recently learn after breaking though to stage six.
After finishing a third glass there was a soft chime and my divine sense see the young man flying back for a soft landing before me state "young master! The items you requested" he presents a void pouch with a bow with arms raised up. I take the pouch and scanned it with my divine sense and see the contents worth the pills I gave and toss it and wine bottle into my master's ring and call out "nice place you got here, may I ask how many branches do you have?"
I young man rise with a smile and voice "we have sixteen Spiritual Gardens like this one and forty two Essence Gardens branches young master!"
I pull out a new message jade containing tier seven and eight materials and hand it over with "my master is interested in these materials. I'll be staying here for a month in an auction house workshop. Please make a list of materials you can deliver by the end of the month. I can wait longer if your can bring in exceptionally rare materials."
The young man gives out "all our Essence Gardens have teleportation gates to a Spiritual Garden. Since all our Spiritual Gardens are connected as well, if we have the material you requested in stock. It can be delivered tomarrow if you wish young master!"
I smile back and return "I'll be crafting at the auction house for about a month, so let your connections do their work and maybe I can cross out a few more things from my master's list." He nods in understanding and I immediately take to the air and head for the closest exit portal. Leaving that subspace was disappointing as I breath in the stink of city life and head towards the direction of the other building that caught my eye earlier. I smile remember his stunned face when I toss him tier six nirvana pill as his tip. I was fairly happy with what I got, so I gave every hostess I passed an unwanted treasure.
What is a unwanted treasure you ask? Well, a treasure that in my appraisal is consider poorly made or something I can make better.
