Calculating Cultivation

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.