《A Mediocre Supreme Cultivator》 Introduction Our story begins with an ordinary young man, fucking something up. While loading the dishwasher, he fumbles a plate and slips. "Oh shitnizzle!" With his final words uttered, our young hero leaves this earthy plane behind, having hit his head on the ground. As his soul leaves his body he perceives a golden voice talking to him. How is a voice gold? Fuck you, that''s how. "It is not your fate to perish here today, but you cannot stay here. What type of world would you like to be transmigrated to?" Naturally, our hero responded in an entirely refined way. Having spent many years reading webnovels had prepared him for this moment, besides, can a soul even panic without a brai- "WHAT THE FUCK!? DID I JUST DIE!!? WHAT A STUPID WAY-- No¡­ what about my family, I CAN''T LEAVE WITHOUT HAVING SAID GOODBYE, I HAVEN''T TALKED TO MY PARENTS IN MONTHS!! I SPENT SO MUCH TIME CULTIVATING MY LIFE, I¡­" Huh, I guess souls don''t work like that. As our hero continued to rant at the world, the automated system, for that is the identity of the golden voice, picked up on a keyword our hero proclaimed. "You have chosen a ''cultivating'' world, World ID #13678091 has been selected. Indigenous world designation "Pangea"." "Huh? I didn''t pick anyth-" Undaunted by our hero the system continued. "You will be compensated for your lost fate and potential on this world. Fate: Public servant Potential: Low-Mid The system will now present "John Doe" with the following compensations. Fate: Cultivator No matter what you do, you are now more than likely to become a cultivator of some sort. Potential: Low-High On a scale of 1-9, you are now a 3. Identity Change: Fang Hu Any time you now think of or say your name, it is now Fang Hu. There is no "Fang" Clan in Pangea, but you can rest assured that no one will care if you simply tell them that you do not know why you are named as you are and there is no "Fang" Clan. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Power: Status Check You can now check various conditions and parameters of people and objects. Note that this is only information and in no way influences the world of "Pangea". Power: Glossary This provides various information about what you''ve encountered. Included is a Map, Character Roster, Bestiary, Location Index, and Technique catalog. Power: Understanding You are now able to feel the intent of what someone wrote, said, or did. Power: Theoretical Test You are now able to tell what a cultivation method would do if cultivated as understood. We hope that these boons will help you in your new life. Remember, there are plenty of people who have reincarnated in every world, they are just not allowed to talk about it." Without much ado, Hu materialized in an open field in who knows where. *New location discovered: Wonton Fields" Without much ado, Hu Materialized in Wonton Fields. Caught in the emotions of a man who just lost his entire life, it takes Hu a few seconds before he is able to say anything. It takes him noticing that he is now some form of Asian to snap out of his funk. What form he doesn''t know, as there are none of the countries he grew up with around on Pangea. All he knows is that his hair is now black, his skin is paler, and his dick is the same size. Which is a shame, he wouldn''t mind that growing. "My name is Fang Hu." !!! "MY NAME IS FANG HU!" "Sigh, I guess they wouldn''t want me to be able to say tha-" "Can''t say that either, huh? Guess that''s fair." "Geeze, why couldn''t they focus on the ''fuck''? I wouldn''t mind being in a ''fuck'' world." "Status" New Beginnings ~~~ Fang Hu 15 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 4.53% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: N/A Powers: Understanding Theoretical Test *Note: Powers that indicate system help are hidden. All evidence of system interference is hidden, even from system users, which you barely qualify as. Background: N/A Choose your background. Memories will be altered as measures to protect your identity. Your body will be changed to better back your story. Your background will be altered if you go over your allotted resources. Potential: Low-High ~~~ Our hero ignored the snarkiness of the supposedly automated system as he was magically compelled to fill in his background. He knew that making himself a chosen one wouldn''t do, he needed something believable and something his powers could support. "Ahhhhh... Fuck. Open information about ''Wonton Fields''." ~~~ Wonton Fields An area of intense Qi Starvation. Sparsely populated with mortal villages, this region gains its namesake from its inability to sustain spiritual herb farming. Humans are unable to naturally cultivate in this environment. The strongest cultivators in this area are rejects from better areas and the clans controlling the area. While small in the comparison of the rest of Pangea, Wonton Field''s surface area is larger than Earth''s. ~~~ "Hmmm... when considering my age and powers, I have too much information at my disposal. I don''t have a family, and I doubt that I could claim myself as some sort of savant and go with that. My actual cultivation ability no doubt would be totally eclipsed by my knowledge. I''ve also never seriously fought in my whole life. Ughhhh..." Our hero stressed over a great life choice. Maybe it was the fact that he was emotionally unsound after being brought back to 15 years old in his mid-twenties that caused this distress. Maybe he was an indecisive little bitch, we may never know. Anyway... after much deliberation, our hero decided on a cover story for his sudden appearance. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story."I was an orphan that showed promise in gathering information and reading, as such, I was adopted into a scholarly sect. Due to elitism coupled with my poor background and sub-par cultivating talent I was kicked out of the sect and sent into the Wonton Fields in exile." "... Accepted" ~~~ Spiral Snake Scholar Sect has been marked on your map Your reputation in Spiral Snake Scholar Sect has fallen! Your relation with Spiral Snake Scholar Sect has been set to hostile! You have learned ''Basic Snake Breath Cultivation Technique'' Your Cultivation Level has risen to peak Qi Gathering stage 3! You have learned ''Spiral Snake Striking Fist'' You have gained knowledge of the Wei Dynasty You have gained knowledge of Sparkling Spring City You have gained knowledge of Outer Solar Merchant Sect You have gained knowledge of Solar Steel City You have gained knowledge of the geography of Wonton Fields You have gai... ~~~ Fang Hu immediately began coughing up several black specks out of his mouth while his entire body began to change. His fat didn''t go away, nor did he gain any muscle on his tall, rather lanky body. He felt several toxins flow out of his blood, his skin cleared of grease and blemishes at a visible rate, his asthma, which he had from birth, left him, along with tar he had from most of his family smoking around him. "Ha¡­ haa... HA HA, haa... HAHAHAHA!" Having energy flow into him, Hu felt better than he did ever in his last life. With a bright smile on his face, he took a stance and began pushing Qi into his fist and deflecting imaginary attacks. With fancy footwork Fang Hu avoided and parried shadow strikes like he practiced for years. Which, he supposed, he should say he did now. When he was finally finished, he noticed that he no longer had any spare Qi left in his body. "Hah... hah... well shit, I guess I''m defenseless until my internal cultivation refills my reserves. Just like that though, I got that much strength. I wonder if I can milk the system for more shit like that. I doubt many people from Earth could beat me now. Maybe a martial arts master, or an MMA champion could. ... I need to find some people. I''m already starting to talk to myself. Bad habit." With that, our hero set off on a journey. His destination? The closest probable source of water, a basin some 3 days away. After that? The closest village possible, of course! Oasis Basin Our hero was surprised that his two destinations were one and the same. He was not happy at this fact however, as after not doing anything but using his ability to separate wild onions from death camas and walking for 3 days, Fang Hu would rather satiate his thirst than negotiate with some rag-tag group of cultivators. Alas, our hero was surrounded by 5 rough looking guards, not large amounts of water. ''Hmm¡­ I could probably take them, but just barely, and you don''t put your best fighters on guard duty. Judging from their statuses, their group would definitely have plenty of backup.'' ~~~ Wang 32 yrs old Roots: Earth 14.53% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 3/13 13% Body Cultivation: 0/13 Techniques: Basic Saber Reinforcement Ritualistic Earth Cultivation Powers: N/A Background: A hunter/enforcer of the Pheasant''s Tail Nomad Tribe. Experienced many fights in his years protecting the tribe. Potential: Low-Low ~~~ ''That''s the strongest guy in this group. The rest of them are 1st or 2nd stage qi gathering. Nomad tribe indeed, even with me in my burlap robes with wooden sandals and 3 days of no bathing, I look like a gentleman being attacked by savages.'' Our hero, hoping for a peaceful resolution, tried to drop out of his fighting stance, grin, put up his hands, and say something along the lines of, ''Hey, you guys have anything for a really fucking thirsty dude?'' What really happened was- A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. /// The pampered looking youth slowly rose out of his stance and stopped circulating his qi to his fists. Putting his hands together in greeting he smiled serenely and said, "Apologies, but would you brothers mayhaps spare a gourd of water? I have had naught to drink for quite some time." The young lad had to be only 16 or so, but was a whole two heads above our tallest. Not knowing what to make of the lad, I decided to take him to Chief Wo-Kong, this cultivator being much too strong to deny out of hand. "Che- Wait here." "Gladly." /// ''Oh Shit.'' ... ... ... ''WHY IS THIS GUY TALLER THAN ME AND BUILT LIKE A MICHELANGELO STATUE!? I FEEL LIKE HE IS GONNA TRAVEL TO EGYPT AND KICK THE ASS OF AN ENGLISH VAMPIRE!! I''M LIKE 6''8'' AND HE''S TOWERING OVER ME!'' ~~~ Wo-Kong 68 yrs old Roots: N/A Cultivation: Qi Gathering 2/13 56% Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 7/13 26% Techniques: Bodily Qi Enhancement Giants Body Cultivation Art War Path of the Spear Focused Breath Powers: Focused Rage Background: Courageous leader of the Pheasant''s Tail Nomad Tribe. While an ant compared to the old monsters, he''s certainly strong enough to kick your ass. Potential: Mid-Low ~~~ ''Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...'' Oasis Basin Proper Fang Hu was currently sitting in a tepee of sorts on the shore of the lake in Oasis Basin. The chieftain was apparently impressed by how Hu was able to appraise his strength in a glance and understand that fighting was a lost cause. Well, maybe Wo-Kong was just tickled at how fast and dramatically Fang Hu bowed to him. It was quite a spectacle. Something one would not expect from a strong cultivator with clear training in at least one martial art. Most youth his age would not back down from even the slightest of disgraces. This calmed the chief considerably, as this young lad wasn''t likely to kill for little to no reason. After assuring the youth that he and his tribe meant no harm to his person, they exchanged greetings properly. Much to his surprise, this wasn''t some young master of a rival clan, or a prodigy, seeking to test his mettle against his warriors. This cultivator seemed to be as strong as his strongest warriors, yet claimed himself as an ex low-level member of a scholarly sect, sent out into exile for angering the wrong young master. Stating himself as being lucky to survive, believing having been sent into the ''Wonton Fields'' as punishment a miracle. That, was all the proof Wo-Kong needed to ascertain the truth of Hu''s statements. Only outsiders would ever call Verdant Plains with such a dreary name. Deciding not to correct him, Wo-Kong invited Fang Hu into his quarters, for a proposition. This was all well and good for Fang Hu. He finally quenched his thirst, found people to talk to, and wouldn''t have to rely on reading the glossary for entertainment, he swore to find more to do after spending hours staring at everything he could think of to unlock more glossary entries. One thing was bothering him though... "I hope you find our humble camp towards your liking. We don''t get many guests ''round these parts." *Oh, it''s not a fucking problem at all, fam.* The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "No, please, I find your abode most enjoyable." In Fang Hu''s mind, It had to be the system influencing him. It never told him it would do this specifically, but having his ''body changed to back your story'' sounded like a prime suspect for this to happen. It served as a persistent reminder to not trifle with the system. This was a correct sentiment, for what if Hu had chosen to explain away his presence in this place as him making a stupid mistake, and the system made him even *more* of an idiot? ''I feel like someone insulted me, even though no one said anything. ... Odd.'' "Now, I hope you don''t mind me asking ye of a favor. I think you could help me in an endeavor to brighten the mood ''round here." *Of course, I wouldn''t mind helping out, old man. Mind you, I''d only do it if it''s not too troubling. I like repaying my debts, but hate people trying to take advantage of me.* "It is only right for me to grant you a boon in return for allowing me to persist alongside your tribe, but allow me to warn you, Chieftain Wo-Kong, if you ask for too great a favor, you may not receive one at all." "Please, yer a guest here. It''d be unbecoming of our tribe to put you under strain. If anything, you don''t have to talk so formally. It might put some of us off." *They''ll just have to get fucking used to it, I literally can''t control it. Anyway... What do you want me to do, exactly?* "I hope they do not become too ''put off''. This is just how I speak. But enough of me, what is this boon you seek? "Oh, it''s nothing much. I''d imagine you''d even get some fun outta it all. I''d like ya to host a little tourney to show the clan whatcha got." And here is where we leave our hero, at least for now, yelling in his mind about mindless violence in cultivation worlds. What will our hero do? Will he chicken out, like the pacifistic little bitch he is? Our will he kick some cultivation world hillbilly ass? Next time, on A Mediocre Supreme Cultivator! Needless Tournament Arc After mentally calming himself, our hero agreed to the offer. As it turned out, the tournament would take place during the night and would consist of Fang Hu welcoming all challengers. Wo-Kong had even offered to give Fang Hu a map and a cultivation method if our hero won enough rounds. Wo-Kong was confused, why a man who had cultivated so well, so young, would want to change their cultivation method was beyond him, but he was happy to oblige. As Fang Hu was waiting, he busied himself by reading the statuses of the people most likely to be joining in to fight against himself. Chieftain Wo-Kong had told him that almost anyone under the age of 30 would be willing to fight against him. Anyone older than that would most likely be saving themselves for guard duty and hunting tomorrow. Though for the life of him, Fang Hu couldn''t tell what game they would be hunting in this desolate place. He had walked for days without seeing hide nor hair of an animal in this temperate hellhole. He was also sure these people weren''t bandits or demonic cultivators or something like that. They certainly didn''t look the part, besides there would certainly be something about that in their statuses. ''Shit, I really feel anxious about this. I know I compared myself to a martial arts master and whatnot, but even they can die if some dude stabbed them with a sword right? I have to hope this system granted technique is somewhat good. I can feel it in my mind and body, it is as if I had practiced these moves for years on end. Focus Hu, continue to scan their statuses.'' As Fang Hu continued to read statuses, he noted the average statuses for each age group and set that to his new normal for this area. They each went something like this. ~~~ Xue Ping 18 yrs old Roots: Fire 7.12% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 2/13 68.14% Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Ritualistic Fire Cultivation Powers: N/A Background: A young disciple of the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe. Shows much potential. Potential: Mid-Low Cheng 20 yrs old Roots: N/A Cultivation: 0/13 Body Cultivation: Qi gathering 3/13 12.00% Techniques: Inner Body Cultivation Way of the Smashing Fist Powers: N/A Background: A young disciple of the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe. Very Eager. Potential: Low-High Long Dong Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.27 yrs old Roots: Wind 35.56% Cultivation: 3/13 99.99% Body Cultivation: 1/13 15.65% Techniques: Shamanistic Wind Cultivation [Spell] Wind Slicer [Spell] Wind Buffer [Spell] Wind Boost [Spell] Wind Augment Weapons [Spell] Wind Illusion Basic Staff Reinforcement Powers: N/A Background: An accomplished shaman of the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe. He has been stuck at a cultivation bottleneck for several years, and has been able to gain some body cultivation using basic pill concoctions. He also ha- Hey! Stop laughing! They''re gonna think your weird if you keep giggling to yourself while staring at their shaman! Sigh, whatever... Potential: Mid-Mid ~~~ After Fang Hu stopped laughing to himself, he started to sort through the information he had obtained. After scanning over half the tribe, he had learned quite a bit. Only around 10% of the tribe were cultivators at all. Which means that it takes much of the tribes resources to raise any type of cultivator at all. Also, people like Wang over there are rare, in this tribe, if you don''t have at least low-high potential, you probably won''t become a cultivator. ''I guess it was true to call this place the ''Wonton Fields'' after all. They didn''t seem to like it when I called the place that, but I guess I''ll keep calling it that after all. Anyway, that decided it. They obviously don''t have anything to do around here. I want to go to a city, they''ll probably have all sorts of entertainment there. I miss going to the library... to be entirely honest, I''d like to go gambling and drinking too... they''d only have that in a city.'' So as our hero deliberated his life choices, the time for the tourney had finally arrived. Emboldened by the fact that he should be able to fight well enough to secure more than a few victories, Fang Hu stepped into a large ring of sand next the wall of the basin. The ring was illuminated by torchlight and surrounded by stone bleachers, like a primitive amphitheater. As Hu walked into the ring, he heard the booming voice of the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe''s chieftain. "Brothers and sisters, tonight we have a challenger for our great tribe! The wandering scholar, Fang Hu has agreed to face all comers! Will he be able to hold off against our warriors!? I assure you, despite his youthful appearance, he has reached the first bottleneck of the Qi Gathering stage!" As Hu watched his first opponent bask in the cheers of the crowd, he thought to himself, ''Tournament? This sounds more like a WWE match!'' Fighting Begins As the rather short, muscular man walked towards our hero, Fang Hu scanned him, and wasn''t impressed. The man, while being much more jacked than he was, was only in the 2nd stage of Qi Gathering. His only technique was the war club version of the basic qi reinforcement that the entire tribe seemed to know. It seemed like they were playing with him. Normally, he would be afraid of them playing with him, but there are limits to everything. No, that was what Fang Hu believed was happening, but he was wrong. What was happening was the system''s interference. No, the system didn''t interfere with his emotions or anything super clich¨¦. This was a result of both the systems powers and techniques. You see, Hu had the impression that he would instantly gain the ability to sense things like ''fighting spirit'' or ''killing intent''. He was wrong on that account, or rather he was right for the wrong reasons. Although there are people with abilities such as those, you do not get them ''automatically''. Rather, Fang Hu severely underestimated one of his system gifted powers. He thought the power ''understanding'' would be helpful in understanding the intent behind the flowery words that were always in cultivation techniques. While that is true, it is SO much more helpful than that. The description, "You are now able to tell the intent of what someone wrote, said, or did." is much too vague. What it means is, as long as Fang Hu is aware of it, and it was caused by a sentient, Fang Hu can tell why they did it. This power is, although limited, a form of omniscience, as long as one doesn''t have the power to resist the system that is. Fang Hu didn''t ''feel'' like most of the crowd was looking down on him, he ''felt'' them doing it. He felt mocked, while he was feeling mocked, his opponent finally arrived in front of him. He was radiating a pompous air. That didn''t bother him as much as it was supposed to, because under it all Fang Hu could tell this mob character was acting with killing intent. ''Well, that doesn''t matter, Wo-Kong said he would stop the matches if they were to get deadly. I need to calm do-'' If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Here''s hopin'' ya don''t get to hurt here huh? Ya giant pansy-ass kid!" *... I''m going to end you, ya two-bit punk.* "Of course, I need to be able to send your family my condolences." What followed next was what always happens when two parties insult one another in a cultivation world... /// "Seeing as how the contestants have properly greeted each other, let the match... BEGIN!" On my mark, Ho Fan charged towards Fang Hu, the latter simply dropping into a defensive stance. Seeing how Fang Hu fights should be interesting. Depending on what techniques he uses I''ll know if he''s lying about being from outside Verdant Plains. Our tribe has seen fighting styles from leagues ''round. Oh, interesting was an understatement, even when Fan swung his club at Hu''s head, Hu barely dodged at all. Despite that, his club didn''t even graze Fang Hu. The adolescent then used his large reach advantage to land a solid blow towards Ho Fan''s chest. Before Fan was even able to register the sounds of his ribs cracking, Fang Hu had shifted into a kneeling stance and delivered an open palm strike on Ho Fan''s chin. The fact that Fan''s head vibrated much more than it should have, and that neither strike knocked Fan back even an inch, where clear signs that qi was used in the attacks. Seeing as how Ho Fan dropped like a sack of potatoes, Wo-Kong spoke to the stunned audience. "It seems Ho Fan was unable to challenge the challenger! Is there anyone else stronger willing to Face Fang Hu? We will take people stubraver than Ho Fan as well!" Wo-Kong''s strong voice stirred the audience. Cries for challengers to face the young cultivator competed with cheers for the battle completed. Fang Hu was not able to differentiate much from the cheers that separated them from before. He was, however, able to tell that the tribe, as a whole, took him a lot more seriously. Revelations Fang Hu entered the second bout much more confidently than the first. His newfound training made it so Ho Fan couldn''t even stand against him. To Fang Hu, his opponent was as easy to read as a book, and about as easy to beat in a fight as well. Of course, our hero thought this was all due towards his new combat technique. This was, in fact, untrue. It was due to his power that he was able to tell the trajectory of the attack, the fact that he knew what to do with that information was due to the technique. Our hero''s second opponent was much more agreeable than the last, he seemed to be stronger than the last and portrayed eagerness, instead of the snarky attitude of the first fighter. As much as Fang Hu liked the change in attitude, he decided against going any easier on his opponent, only because he felt his opponent wanted that way. Emboldened by his first win, Fang Hu wasted no time rushing towards adversary. One side-stepped spear strike and a blow towards the midsection later, and Xue Ping contrasted Ho Fan beautifully as he flew out of the ring. It wasn''t until much later that Fang Hu started to question why he was so much more capable than the Pheasant''s Tail cultivators. The final straw was when he saw a deviation in a saber cultivator''s qi reinforcement technique and was able to use it to shatter the saber in question. The crowd was just as silent as the first time that night. They had just witnessed a cultivator shatter a heavy saber with one hand while using the other to jab his opponent in the face. While the crowd was cheering after another announcement by the chief, Fang Hu was questioning himself. ''Why was I able to do that? While the second stage cultivators I could believe. But including that guy, my last two opponents have been in the third stage, just like me. Sure they aren''t at their bottleneck yet, but I can barely tell the difference between the two. Wait... what was those xianxia novels always talking about? Dao pillars? Are those a thing? If they are, why can''t I see them?'' And then, through the sheer force of willknowing they should be there changed his status pages to reflect the dao pillars existence. ''So, what will that tell me about chuckle-fuck over here?'' ~~~ Cheng 20 yrs old Roots: N/A Cultivation: 0/13 Body Cultivation: Qi gathering 3/13 12.00% Trash Techniques: Inner Body Cultivation Way of the Smashing Fist Powers: N/A Background: A young disciple of the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe. Very Eager. Potential: Low-High ~~~ ''Trash?! What is the ranking system for dao pillars?! What even IS a dao pillar'' ~~~ Dao Pillar: A measurement of how well one''s cultivation follows a greater dao truth. The stronger the dao pillar the more stable one cultivation is and the denser one''s qi becomes. Some daos are greater than others, but all daos can be mastered to perfection. Note: the more dense your qi is, the more powerful it becomes, but having denser qi does nothing to slow qi flow. Meaning having dense qi does nothing to stop the gathering of qi. Dao Measurements: Trash- You barely know your Dao. If you have it, it is likely you have never practiced with it. Very Poor Poor Average Good Very Good Great Perfect- You cannot perfect your dao any further. If you were to try, it is likely you will just unlock a different dao. ~~~ ''Huh!? Can I ask questions to the system, or was that put into my glossary by the backstory? I still need to read all of my glossary, there were literal thousands of updates.'' Our hero did then what was only reasonable. He checked his own status. ~~~ Fang Hu 15 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 12.83% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 3/13 99.99% Very Poor Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Basic Snake Breath Cultivation Technique Spiral Snake Striking Fist Powers: Understanding Theoretical Test Background: An exiled disciple of the Spiral Snake Scholar Sect. Despite his low potential, was able to use his powers to succeed in the sect. Thirsts for knowledge... and sex. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.Potential: Low-High ~~~ ''Hey! My background makes me sound like a horny teenager! Which... I suppose I am now. *sigh* No, focus, Hu. You only have so much time before Cheng over there stops playing up the audience. Think, Hu, Think. Think system, think status pages. What is different between us. ... ... Techniques! My powers had descriptions, why shouldn''t techniques have them to?'' And through a sheer stroke of brill- *Wheeze* Haha, who am I kidding, that''s common sense, it''s more like he''s stupid for not thinking of it before. Well, I suppose dying and being put in a teenagers body would put anyone off their A game. It took a qi high, which is more like an adrenaline high than a meth high, two days worth of moping, and the prospect of immortality to make himself feel better. Even then, what made him carry on with his life was more thirst and hunger than anything else. ... Anyway, he scanned the techniques of himself and his newest opponent. ~~~ Inner Body Cultivation A primitive way to force qi to strengthen your body, damaging towards your inner qi pathways. Would take a miracle to reach foundation establishment. Way of the Smashing Fist Unleashes qi towards your fists, making each punch release shockwaves on impact. Overuse can damage hands. Basic Snake Breath Cultivation Technique A basic, yet powerful cultivation technique that follows the snake dao, a lesser dao of the dao of beasts. Can reach core formation early stage if cultivated perfectly. Spiral Snake Striking Fist A martial art, focusing on evading and parrying then counter-attacking. Pieced together by a talented Spiral Snake Scholar Sect Member, recently exiled. Several low-level and mid-level disciples still use it. Uses qi in a variety of ways to attack while also fortifying the hands to use as weapons. Has a movement based sub-technique that can only be used when facing a single opponent on wide, open ground. Strengthens the snake dao when practiced, and boasts a low qi consumption rate compared to similar techniques. ~~~ ''Well, you can certainly tell which technique the system favors. Maybe it''s because the system made it, I think. It could have just yoinked credit away from someone else. ...Moreso than the dao pillars, this is probably the cause of the disparity of strength. I wonder if it really is impossible for me to take on the ch-'' "Is contestant Fang Hu Ready to take on challenger Cheng?" *S-sorry, I lost track of time.* "Apologies, my mind wanders when I''m idle for too long." *I''m ready to win!* "Is it time for me to win yet?" This statement gave the audience a laugh, and gave Cheng a slap to the face. Cheng ran into battle to avenge his honor, and did about as well as one can do when he''s been outgunned to this extent... not a single scratch. "Does anyone else within the 3rd stage of qi gathering care to take on Fang Hu!" There was silence, almost no one would dare to take on the man who breezed through most of the top talents of the clan without breaking a sweat. But, out of the 3rd stage qi gathering cultivators, there is one man. The man could have easily done the same thing as the youth had done tonight. The man has more techniques than the chief himself. Having reached the same level of cultivation as the challenger himself, he would not allow this challenge stand. "The next challenger has approached! This might be a closun'' folks! Tonight, we will see if Fang Hu can handle. Our. Long. Dong!" ''Pft... HAHAHhahAHAhhhAaaaaa... HAH... hahahahahahahahahahah.'' "You seem amused. Do you think anyone here can take the majestic Long Dong!?" ''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!'' *Y-y-you''re chief could, right?* "Of course! Surely Wo-Kong can take Long Dong, right?" "I am sure even our great chieftain would struggle taking Long Dong!" ''OH GOD, PLEASE STOP, I CAN''T TAKE IT!'' *HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH* "Heheheh." For some odd reason, Long Dong took offense towards Fang Hu chuckling in response towards his statement. Spectators Seat ''HAHA...Haha...haaaa... ha shit, he''s mad. That''s a lot of killing intent.'' "Will Fang Hu be able to overcome Long Dong. Both of these young''uns are at the peak of early stage Qi Gather cultivation. Both of them have the skills. To. Pay. The. Bills! None of our other early stage cultivators would be able to touch these two young men! Fang Hu has proven that time and time again, BUT CAN HE GO ALL THE WAY!?" ''Again, is he a chief or an announcer?'' ''... He does make a point, that Long Dong is harder than anything I''ve ever faced. *snort* Seriously though, can I face him?'' The sheer amount of confidence and bloodlust radiating off of Long Dong shook Fang Hu. He knew that, in the books, people slaughtered others for the most minor besmirchment, but this was his first time experiencing it. Would Wo-Kong do this if the system wasn''t monitoring his speech? Our hero was out of his wits, Hu was in major culture shock, he just came from a world with violence being so low that a majority of people fooled themselves into thinking that people would never kill, unless they''re a psychopath or under extreme circumstances. Here, thousands of people had died for getting dirt on the wrong person''s robe. If not for the sudden burst of emotions from the crowd and the boiling over of Dong''s rage, Hu would have missed the starting signal. As it was, his martial arts instinct took over twisted his entire body and leaped back. It seemed like this would be hard-fought battle either way. In Fang Hu''s heart of hearts, this settled the matter again, he was going to head straight to a city and hide out in a place with a lot of books. /// The crowd had gone crazy watching the battle take place. It is not every day that the tribe could see it''s cultivators go all out. The two had gone at it for over a minute now, but were not slowing in the slightest. Ever since the scholar had dramatically twisted his entire body like a snake to avoid the two savage blades of wind sent forth by the shaman, the scholar had been on the defensive. Everyone here knew of the shaman''s strength, a shaman''s cultivation and techniques were said to only be second to the elder''s. Every time Dong swiped and jabbed with his staff, a gale of wind accompanied it. The wind was enough to shred a man if connected. The protective formation around the stands shook with each blow. Yet it was not enough to bring Hu down. Every time Long Dong struck out, his movements blurred, becoming much faster. Phantom strikes had been trying to distract Fang Hu in the beginning, but stopped shortly as they seemed to have no effect. Indeed, none of Long Dong''s attacks had been successful. Every time he brought his staff down, he would feel the presence of a snake and almost everyone present would see Fang Hu''s arms transform into snakes and curl around his opponent''s staff and arms and either divert the blow away from himself or bite down upon him. They however, could not penetrate the shaman''s shield of wind. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Everyone in the crowd seemed to think this was an even match, however this was not the case in the elder''s circle. The circle was hidden from the outsider and the crowds. It would take a foundation establishment elder to see through the privacy formation, and for all that Fang Hu was, he wasn''t that. Five people sat in the elder''s circle, with each of them in the foundation establishment stage, the force assembled here could level mortal cities. These people are part of the Northern Tribal Union, which the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe was a part of. As the Tribe only had around 16,000 mortals and several hundred cultivators, it was certainly a smaller tribe, but it lacked much pull with the union, as they had to split into a main camp and several smaller camps, due to the harsh landscape. The Elders were here due to investigating supposed core formation activity in the area. This whole tourney was organized to give the elders a chance to verify Fang Hu''s statements. If he was truly an exile from a remote scholarly sect, then the case would be solved, and they could leave. If they determined he was lying, they would simply kill him for wasting their time. "I say, that young man has done well with his dao, for his age." ? "Bah! He isn''t anything special, my disciple would be able to take him with one arm!" ?? "Quiet down, ya old geezer, you''re gonna make my ear bleed. Besides, he isn''t supposed to be anything special, he was apparently a low level disciple before he was kicked out of the sect. You know, the kind you get to do basic chores." ??? "You should be more respectful of your elders! Your karma will come back to bite you. May you forever be cursed with disrespectful juniors!" ?? "Oh~ if only he were a few years older, then I''d eat him up." ???? "You say that about every talented young man that crops up. You should stick more within your age range, ya hag." ??? *SMACK - CRASH* "Anyway, I say his story checks out, he''s good with that martial art of his, but his skill is much too low to be anything but a low-level disciple. This fight says more about that Long Dong''s inadequacy, than any type of skill on Fang Hu''s part. Just look at him, he''s about to give in to his bloodlust, they''re going to have to stop the fight." ? "Yeah, Long Dong is inadequate. Hahaha~" ??? "I''ll never understand your humor." ? Long Dongs Lament Our hero was experiencing something he had been told about several times, but had never felt first-hand. He had always written it off as crazy-talk of an adrenaline junky. Maybe it was the fact that every time our hero blocked a strike, Long Dong would look more frustrated, or that Hu was saving much more energy than his opponent, but Fang Hu had found that the hundreds of fighting anime were right. Fighting to the death was fun. As the fight dragged on, Long Dong seemed more and more tired. He had spent more qi in his first salvo of attacks than Fang Hu had during the entire fight. It was a testament towards his talent that he was able to continue his onslaught by this point. Chieftain Wo-Kong had begun to expect little Dong''s loss at this point, but he, and the rest of the crowd, were surprised when Fang Hu disengaged and put a large amount of distance between themselves. "Hahh... haaa... what''s wrong, huh? Surely, you can''t be scared now right? Get... hah hah... back here and fight." For once, Fang Hu ignored Long Dong''s rather desperate sounding taunt. The polite young man dropped his serene smile for the first time since he entered Oasis Basin. A wicked grin donned on Hu''s face, his slim frame stopped making him look frail and started to give him a sinister air. Gone was the noble scholar with a thirst for knowledge, in his place was the embodiment of a serpent. The Long Dong was starting to regret his recent life choices when Fang Hu started to perform a movement technique he had apparently been keeping in reserve. Chieftain Wo-Kong, as well as most of the other elites of his tribe, had noticed what was happening immediately. Fang Hu, unable to bear the mental strain of fighting under pressure, had given into his dao. This impressed the Pheasant''s tail elite, as it takes a significant amount of effort to take one''s dao far enough to influence one''s own thoughts. All Wo-Kong thought however, was that he would probably have to step in the fight before the final blow. The elders, had already left, having seen enough of the battle to predict this matter. They had no time to spare, for they needed to report the purpose of the core formation elder in the area. They truly were fortuitous in this endeavor. None of the clans had to fear destruction, compared to that, the fate of a single cultivator seemed minor. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. /// ''Damn, this kid is insane! I can''t follow him at all! If not for my wind buffer spell I''d be dead 20 times over.'' Long Dong stood in the center of Fang Hu''s circling afterimages. Even in his addled mind, Fang Hu made good use of his knowledge, every strike targeted a vital area, triggering Long Dong''s wind buffer spell. If Long Dong''s spell faltered even once, he would likely die. "Yo...u ... can''t keep... keep this up forever!" Indeed, Fang Hu was burning through his qi much faster than before, but it didn''t seem to bother him at all. It shouldn''t have bothered him, because Long Dong was *still* burning through his qi faster. That, however, wasn''t the reason Hu didn''t care. All Hu seemed to care about was continuing to attack Dong. He attacked Dong relentlessly, like he hadn''t sex in ages. He did this all while moving to a foreign tune he was humming. It all... spooked Long Dong. He was regretting being so aggressive earlier. With the power of hindsight, Hu''s insult against him didn''t seem so bad. He knew he didn''t stand a chance against Wo-Kong, was it so wrong to laugh at his claim? There was a strike next to his head. Near his groin. Eye. Heel. Kidney. Small of his back. "ENOUGH!" Long Dong sent a series of wind blades in all directions, hoping to hit Fang Hu, who was too fast for his staff. The next thing Long Dong felt was a presence behind his back, freezing him in place. When he felt the presence retract, he managed to turn around. Looking beyond Fang Hu, who was still frozen in place, Long Dong spotted his chieftain reeling his qi in. "Long Dong has lost! The mighty Dong can stand no more! Fang Hu has expelled too much qi to continue! He will pull out of the tourney with 9 opponents beaten!" The crowd lost it. between 3 and 150 characters long. Our hero could be seen crossing the Wonton Fields. He actually could be seen from miles away. The Wonton Fields earned their namesake for this very reason, unless an auspicious event occurred, then the plains would be occupied with short grasses, wild vegetables and herbs. The nomad tribes ruled these areas, scavenging any meat from the small animals that call this forsaken place home. Places like Oasis basin, a viable source of water, are protected fiercely. Oasis Basin was formed hundreds of years ago, when a piece of star metal fell from the heavens and infused the crater with large amounts of metal and water qi. Our hero was traveling towards a small city that was formed on a dragon vein. It was the closest free city, a place where he would be more likely to find cultivation techniques. He was much more likely to find techniques in a free city, because the powers behind sovereign cities hold a much tighter grip on their secrets. As far as Fang Hu could gather from the system and the tribal people, he would have far more opportunities to get his mitts on techniques, and perhaps more importantly, people there are far less likely to kill him for looking for techniques. "Haaa... I get why I have to go to a free city, but why does it have to be so damn far away!" *Giggle* "At least I don''t have to pull that ''respectful young cultivator'' act when I''m by myself. Being censored is a fucking pain... but what''s the point in talking when you''re by yourself. That actually brings up a problem, does that shit go off whenever someone can hear me, or do I have to be aware of it?" ... "I''ll bet it''s the first option, after all, it''s not my problem if people find out I''m-" ... Our hero tried to talk again, but to no avail, apparently the system won''t let him say something so stupid. After all, if he had to, Fang Hu would bet his left nut that there''s divination in this world. For one, his power can be used as divination if one fulfills all the requirements. Dejected that he has no one to connect with, our hero did what he always does when he needs to pass the time, planing ahead and gathering information! Fang Hu kept switching between reading the system glossary and listing techniques he needs to acquire. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Fang Hu''s list for success: 1. Healing technique. He would need a way to heal himself and others if he were to have to. It would fuck him up if he let someone die just because he didn''t prepare enough. Especially if that person was himself. On the lighter side of things, he would never have to want for food again if he could just offer some healing to mortals. 2. Body cultivation technique. He can''t just cultivate his dantians. That''s a missed opportunity and a half. According to the system, body cultivation takes much less time than normal cultivation. Body cultivation seems to be taking a resource and using it to reinforce your body. That resource can be qi, but as long as you have the right technique, you can cultivate with more exotic, and more importantly, more plentiful resources. 3. Auto cultivation technique. Fang Hu ain''t no bitch boy. He can''t stay locked up in no cave for years to cultivate. He had a hard enough time during quarantine. 4. As many cultivation techniques as possible. Fang Hu had already studied ''General Ritualistic Cultivation'' to completion in the few days since he left Oasis Basin. It wasn''t much, but it was a start. His master plan was to gather plenty of different techniques and use his powers ''Understanding'' and ''Theoretical Test'' to combine techniques till he has the best cultivation method possible and skip years of cultivation. It was a simple plan, one he had seen many times in different novels. "That''s enough for what I need to succeed, now what do I actually want? With great philosophical questions on his mind, our hero continued on his long journey. Stopping Point Fang Hu was getting tired of walking. He had been walking for two solid weeks now. Water was beginning run low, even if he could survive on half the amount of water as a mortal. He had been moving for 15 out of the 24 hours in the day, and if he had to reread the glossary one more time he''d puke. "Haaaaa...." Our hero could only sigh, spending much time alone in this place tended to have that effect on people. The Pheasant''s Tail Tribe had assured him that there was a resupply point somewhere around here. ''Around here" being the most descriptive they could be on the rather primitive map they had given him. The thought that they had tricked him and left him out here to dehydrate to death had crossed his mind more than once, but for some odd reason he wouldn''t believe they would do that. Not because he trusts them, mind you, but he felt like he would know if they tried to trick him. He didn''t know where this feeling came from, he had only known them for less than a day, after all. That said, what we know and what he knows are different things, hmm? Fang Hu still vastly undervalues the ''understanding'' power. It might feel strange that after almost 3 weeks on this planet, he still doesn''t grasp the fundamentals of his power. You might be like, "Oh WTF, is he still on that? Is this an OP protagonist? story or a dense protagonist? story?", and I might agree with you, but I hope you could give the, person who is now a, boy a chance. He has had only a single day of use to get a grasp on his power, and a pretty stressful one at that. "... That must be it. I found the bitch." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The ''bitch'' being a tall stone tower contrasting the nothing as far as the eye can see. It was ancient and made of stone. As Fang Hu got closer he noticed something off about the tower. "Of course it''s a pagoda, I should start getting used to seeing more asian stuff around. I''ll be fine if it''s traditional asian stuff, but if I ever hear a guy say, "Of course, as a Japanese, I need rice." I''ll kick his ass. Never liked that line, for all it''s used. Why suddenly start talking about rice in a story about a man fighting the strongest people in the world / saving the world / getting all the girls / being lazy. ..." ... "Okay, I''ll give you that last one, but it always pisses me off to hear it. Like, I know they eat a ton of rice in Japan, but there *have* to be other things, right? Why can''t they miss junk food or a home cooked meal? I swear, it has to be some translator just swapping what they actually say, right?" Our hero left the question unanswered, as he was still alone, and not quite crazy enough to expect an answer yet. As Hu approached the dilapidated pagoda, he felt something off was about the building. When he asked himself what, he was surprised to find out he could somehow tell, not what was wrong, but why it was wrong. It was as if he felt the intent of the people who caused it to happen. All this kinda freaked Fang Hu out, so he checked if anyone was there the best way he knew how. "BAN SWOLO SHOT FIRST!!!!!" ... "Guess that means no one''s here. ... Neat!" And so, after exploiting a loophole in the system, our hero entered the pagoda. Stepping Lightly "phaaaaaaaaa... that''s much better." Our hero had just drunk his fill for the first time in weeks. He was able to because of the reservoir on the bottom floor of the pagoda. When he saw it he became overjoyed and drank straight from the reservoir. There were markings on the walls of the pagoda, shaped like an x with a simple diamond in the middle. That was the Pheasant''s Tail Tribe''s mark. Indeed, if Fang Hu''s senses are correct, there is a stash of supplies hidden under one of these piles of rubble. "Where did all this rubble even come from, this pagoda is perfectly intact, albeit old." ... "Did they place it here to hide their supplies? ... No, Wo-Kong told me he ordered this resupply point set up himself. He didn''t say when he did it, but these debris look to be old-old. Much more than 68 years at least. Something odd happened here..." The thought that the tribe didn''t mention the pagoda was odd. When combined with the thought of how distinct the tower was against the landscape, it became weirder that they didn''t mention it. It wasn''t like Hu had passed by many other towers in this place. Creeped out, Fang Hu tried to put his mind off of it. He said aloud the first thing that came to mind. "It''s great that this rubble didn''t contaminate the water. It''d be awful if I got sick after all this, but that''s unlikely, the tribe uses this as a water source, after all." ... "Shit, what if they distill it?" Our hero thought back to words he had heard time and time again in his childhood. These words were of great warning, they carried the message of what would happen if one drunk unsafe water. The hero of all our generations took these honored words and applied them towards himself, with this he finally realized the greatness of his folly. With horror, he let the words slither out of his mouth. "Fang Hu has died of dysentery." With much gusto, Fang Hu checked the supply cache, and was horrified when he found water. After panicking for several seconds, Fang Hu had the idea to scan the water. Using approximately the same amount of energy as when he looks for weaknesses in opponent''s status'', Fang Hu read the water''s status. ~~~ Qi-Infused Water: Water either generated from or infused with qi. When drunk by mortals, it is deadly, but when a cultivator meeting requirements drinks it, they find it extra refreshing. Stays fresh and clean forever, or when it''s qi gets removed, whichever comes first. Grade: Qi Gathering 1/13 ~~~ ''You know, that water did feel extra refreshing. Shame I almost died though. That would have sucked." Our hero was using the age-old method of coping, denialism. In his mind, it didn''t matter that he almost died, it''s not important that he almost killed himself. He''s sure he has some form of plot armor or something. What''s it matter if he does something stupid? !!! A sharp feeling broke Fang Hu out of his ruminations. It was the same feeling as when he first found the tower, only much stronger. This time, he could feel what it wanted. It was a feeling of challenge, of danger, and of great reward. Our hero, as eloquent as he is, had no trouble at all in expressing his feelings about the foreign feeling. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "What in sweet baby Jesus''s bedazzled butt was that?" Indeed. ... Fang Hu felt that the building wanted him to enter the next floor by the set of stairs on his left and felt like he would die if he tried to enter through the stairs on his right. Fang Hu was always a person who trusted his gut, for better or worse. ~~Some time later~~ "Sheeeeeiiiit." Our hero had passed countless death traps. Even if he could tell what would try to kill him and what wouldn''t, that last trap that would have placed him into bindings and brought down a pendulum axe was enough to unnerve him. That''s not even considering the hundreds of straight up cultivator-style landmines he had tiptoed around. Over time, the intent that Fang Hu could feel had become increasingly hostile. Hu thinks the tipping point was when the intent smugly presented a series of acrobatic death traps built over pits filled with snakes. Our hero just walked through the snakes, surely this was not something the old Fang Hu could do, but he had gained an affinity with snakes. To him the average snake looked no more menacing than the average dog. When coupled with his ''understanding'' power, Fang Hu has nothing to fear. Though, he still handles them with care, he''d seen C*jo. After that, our hero has had to navigate based off of what the presence wanted to kill him, not off of what it thought would. While that may sound like a small difference, but it made a huge impact. He had almost died twice to traps that the presence didn''t even want to kill him with. Fang Hu had long wanted to turn back, but ran into a problem every time he tried. Whatever was behind that intent, it didn''t care if he turned back. Indeed, it would let him go back, but in that lies the problem. If Fang Hu couldn''t use the intent to judge where the traps are, he couldn''t go back. Our hero had long lost count of the traps he had passed, and, even if his life depended on it, he couldn''t remember them all. It is unfortunate that, in this situation, his life does depend on it. ~~Some more time later~~ "I know there has to be some cultivator hoodoo voodoo shit going on. That was the 30th floor I just passed. I''d bet my nut that there weren''t many more than 10 floors on this damn tower." Just as our hero finished bitching about how big this tower was, he reached the end of the staircase and entered the topmost layer of the pagoda. Unlike the other floors, there were no walls on this level of the pagoda. Fang Hu felt remorse. Not remorse over trying to kill him or anything, no, that''d be sane. He felt as if the originator of the intent used to love watching this field. The feeling was strong enough that he could imagine himself standing on this pagoda and looking over a field so lush that anyone calling it "wonton fields" would be laughed out of town. Just as Fang Hu thought he might be seeing something important, he heard a large boom behind himself. Turning around he witnessed a rather large tail poking out of the ceiling. Instinctively, he scanned it. ~~~ Razorwind Great Spirit Ape Grade: Foundation Establishment 4/13 Description: A large spirit ape that has embraced the wind element. Has been trapped for years, crazed and will attack on sight. Beware it''s mighty wind attacks and great strength. ~~~ "Oh fer- GIVE ME A BREAK!" Face Off The 12-foot tall ape crashed to the floor. Our hero was surprised the old stone managed to hold out. While Fang Hu was marveling over the integrity of the stone like the ADHD fuck he is, his training kicked in, and he moved into a defensive posture. A single swing of that thing''s fist would turn him into a paste, but he would be trying his best to survive while it does it, dammit. The blue-white giant monkey howled to the heavens, wind blurring its frame as it did so. The beast bared its fangs and charged forwards. Fang Hu had a great view of is monkey ass as it charged off the top of the pagoda. It landed with a thump that made the whole tower shake and charged off into the horizon. It seemed that the spirit beast had lost all reason and given into rage. Fang Hu could only guess why that had happened, there could be any reason why, really. Once the Ape''s qi pressure had dissipated, Fang Hu started to laugh. "...ha, haha Ha, HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH" He apparently found it quite funny. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH" Or maybe it''s just relief from escaping death again. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH" To be completely honest, it''s probably both. "HAHAHAHHA- HEEHAW snort heheheh" Did that motherfucker just bray? ~~Some time later~~ "hoo~ Okay, that was fun, but I think now''s the time when I get something for my troubles, right?" *There is a feeling of confusion.* "Don''t give me that, when we started you said this was a test, a challenge. Challenges usually are rewarded, correct?" *There is a feeling of denial and anger.* "What?! You think I didn''t pass! Bullshit, you tried your hardest to kill me, yet here I am, aren''t I?" *There is a feeling of mocking.* "A FLUKE!? You sonuvabitch, I''LL SHOW YOU A FLUKE!!" *There is a feeling of confusion.* Fang Hu began moving in random directions. He kept it up until he found out the presence was worried about him getting to close to something on his right. Fang Hu moved towards his right. *There is a feeling of concern.* "That''s right, bastard, you could end this right now! Just give me what I want, and I''ll be on my way." Our hero strode forth, only stopping when he felt relief from the presence. After Hu backed up a few steps, the presence was really sweating. After seeing nothing of importance, our hero acted on a hunch, and started sending out his qi sense. *There is a feeling of massive panic.* "OH, SO IT WILL KILL US BOTH IF I CONTINUE?! SO WHAT?! I''VE ALREADY DIED ONCE! I''LL DIE AGAIN BEFORE I LET YOU GET AWAY WITH TORMENTING ME!!" Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Fang Hu was being completely serious. Dying does a lot to change a man, and he didn''t spend the better part of a day almost getting offed by traps for nothing. He would rather ''try for afterlife'' a second time than pussy out now. Every man has a certain point before they don''t care if they die anymore and just try to take a stand. While Fang Hu was still a candy-ass little bitch in most of his mannerisms, that point had been moved up quite a bit. Just as Fang Hu was about to do whatever would kill them both, suddenly, *There is a feeling of acceptance.* Fang Hu stopped doing whatever he was about to do, and walls materialized around himself forming the last layer of the pagoda. The majestic room that Fang Hu had found himself in, was a little disappointing. All the furniture and cookware in the living areas were decimated. The safe room was basically stripped bare. Hu imagined that this once held many a cultivation treasure, now though, all Hu could find was a few big bags of golden coins that, according to his system, could only be used to trade with mortals, or very poor cultivators. The only thing that our hero found that would interest a cultivator are 5 spirit stones, strewn about in little hidey-hole. Their placement, much like other things in this tower, indicated that whoever lived here left in a hurry. They also suggested that there was once many more such stones in this place, and whoever looted this place couldn''t be bothered with chump change. The presence was pleasantly surprised when the Fang Hu only gave a hidden manuscript a once over. According to it, its entire existence is to pass down that technique to people it deems worthy. Unbeknownst to it, it only takes a moment for Fang Hu to commit a technique to his catalog. The presence was so pleased that it even offered to let Fang Hu use its lift formation to get to the bottom of the pagoda. When our hero saw the reservoir again, he almost cried. He hadn''t been able to take his spirit water with him. He really would have died this time if he hadn''t remembered to scan the water. ~~~ Qi-Infused Water: Water either generated from or infused with qi. When drunk by mortals, it is deadly, but when a cultivator meeting requirements drinks it, they find it extra refreshing. Stays fresh and clean forever, or when it''s qi gets removed, whichever comes first. Grade: Qi Gathering 4/13 ~~~ Because he was tired, and because he couldn''t feel the presence anymore, Fang Hu decided to not give it a piece of his mind. Okay, mostly the second thing, but the first thing was still a contributing factor. Deciding to be opportunistic instead of spiteful, Hu took two jugs of normal water in the rubble with the exact appearance as the massive jug he had carried across his journey, filled them with spiritual water, and left. Our hero made for a strange sight overloaded as he was, but Fang Hu was feeling like a bandit king, so he didn''t care much. As the tower behind Fang Hu faded into nonexistence, the entity inside it decided that it would be more selective with its next challenger. Chance Meeting, Fated Encounter Fang Hu had been using his powers ''Theoretical Test'' and ''Understanding'' to learn the technique for the last week. It had turned out to be a body cultivation technique. It actually almost satisfied two of our hero''s needs. It was a body cultivation technique, and an automatic cultivation technique. The problem, was that it happened to require qi-rich air to cultivate. In the Wonton Fields, that was enough to disqualify a cultivation method altogether. Twas'' a shame, as to young Fang Hu, it was an ingenious cultivation method. The process involved using your internal qi to form a spiritual amulet, and the better you understood the ritual, the more efficient the amulet became. What was most impressive about the technique, however, was that, due to the fact that it utilizes your own qi, you could reform the amulet when you progress your cultivation, ensuring that your body cultivation would never lag too far behind your dantian cultivation. It even ensures that the dao pillar you form is complementary towards your cultivation dao pillars, such was the profoundness of this technique. It was perfect for Fang Hu''s purposes, so perfect in fact, that he wasn''t going to allow something so trifling as ''impossible'' stop him from cultivating it, or some form of it. On the lighter side of things, Fang Hu had discovered that he could use the spirit stones he found to raise his cultivation level! As it stood now, all it would take is one spirit stone to cause a breakthrough. According to his research, spirit stones were most useful when trying to cause a breakthrough, as cultivating with one can force your cultivation to rise. Logic dictates that they would be much more useful in breaking a bottleneck than skipping regular cultivation. Fang Hu was comforted however to the fact that if he ever found cultivation too tedious, he could just money his way out. Our hero was feeling indecisive, and what''s new right? It had been more than a month into his, estimated, 4 month long journey. According to his map, he should be reaching the smaller villages aligned with the Wei dynasty. Should he take the two days off of travel to better prepare himself, or should he wait until he reaches the village, and do closed-doors cultivation there? While Fang Hu was busy weighing the pros and cons of his choices, he had suddenly found himself having chosen option two. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Well damn, is that a village in the horizon? sigh I guess I should vent whatever I can now." "*ahem* mi-mi-mi-miii" "Hey now, brown cow." "~Hey now, you''re an all star~" After our hero finished warming up his vocals, he moved to the village. /// There was a commotion in the village. The village didn''t have an official name, it was much too small for that. Little Yi was doing her morning chores when the goons from the Heavenly Fan Sect started harassing Old Man Jiahao. "Heyy, old timer hic have you paid your, heheh, protection money?" "Ahh, Ssir, I paid it in f-full.'' There was nothing new about this happening, and little Yi''s mommy told her to never talk to those people from the sect, so she just kept cleaning the mat her family usually kept on their floor. Old man Jiahao''s begging fell on deaf ears, Heavenly Fan Sect disciples have been known to kill when they get too drunk. Jiahao would have hoped that they just took his money and left him alone, but that was it, he didn''t have any money left. He had lost it all the last time this happened. Old man Jiahao was starting to wish he had started a family, that way he wouldn''t have to deal with these youngun''s anymore. "Hah?! You''re not trying to skimp out on me areya! HUH!" With one hand the trashmob disciple sent Jiahao''s vegetable cart cartwheeling away. "AH, MY CABBAGES!" "You''ll die if you don''t co-c-cough up the money old man!" With one fluid motion, Jiahao showed the experience of a man who had been a mortal in this world for decades. In an instant, Jiahao was groveling in form reminiscent to dogeza. "I have no money, please young sirs, spare my life." That was apparently the wrong answer, as often as that response had saved his life in the past, it did nothing to calm the anger of the cultivators. The young cultivator raised his fist with killing intent. BAM "Would the big frog in a small well care to apologize for its actions?" "What did you say you bast-" The drunken man didn''t even see the fist flying to his face, no one in the village did, not even little Yi. Recruitment *Anything else to say before you get your ass kicked?* "Would the big frog in a small well care to apologize for its actions?" Fang Hu was slightly confused, what he tried to say had a slightly different meaning than what he intended. Fang Hu didn''t particularly care if he was apologetic, it was just courteous to ask that before you knock someone out. It did however, and even he was getting tired of thinking of things this way, get his intent across just fine. While Fang Hu was distracted with his inner thoughts, the trash mob that Hu had blocked was busy sprouting some nonsense, almost lackadaisically, Fang Hu punched the lights out of the little shit. ''Hmm, guess I shouldn''t call them little shits, huh. Some of them might be older than me now.'' While the other cultivators were speechless, Fang Hu idly scanned the assorted group. ~~~ Jiang Kang 17 yrs old Roots: Fire 7.00% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 2/13 1.03% Trash Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Basic Fire Gathering Cultivation Powers: N/A Background: Young master of the Heavenly Fan Sect, a sect that suppresses several villages on the edge of the Wei Dynasty, then use the funds gathered to cultivate their disciples. Potential: Low-Low ~~~ ''Shit, they are older than me, and it looks like they aren''t gonna let this go if the guy I hit was some young master.'' "What did you d-oo to ''ashter Jiang!?" "You bastard, l-let''s get him booyyys~ hic." While Fang Hu was planning on incapacitating all five of the young cultivators and telling the old man to skip town if he knew what was best for him, his plan was suddenly put on a 180 when our hero scanned the old man. ~~~ Jiahao 67 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 16.90% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: N/A Powers: Hardy Background: A peasant mortal that has never had any family. Some may consider his life a lonely one, but they''d have been wrong. Jiahao''s life had been a hard, but enjoyable experience until his close friend left him some years ago. Would be a good talent if he ever had the chance to cultivate. Potential: Mid-Mid ~~~ Our hero was stunned, this old codger had the same potential score as Long Dong! Long Dong was considered a top talent even if he didn''t have a power! What a waste of potential! ''Hmm, he doesn''t have any ties to this place either, but before I can do anything with him I''ll have to see what that power does.'' ~~~ Power: Hardy He is more hardy than others. Some people might not consider this a power, but as it makes him tougher when hit, immune to most diseases, harder to poison, less prone to cultivation deviations, slower to age, and much, much more, ''some people'' would be wrong. ~~~ Fang Hu was even more impressed, this man has talent. If he was given the other three things that matter in a cultivation world our hero was sure Jiahao could make it to foundation establishment. Those three things being, according to Fang Hu''s knowledge of cultivation novels, time, resources, knowledge. All the MC''s have one or all of those four things. It was as the 4 idiots were still trying to hype themselves up, Fang Hu decided to recruit Jiahao. ''Heh. I''ve wanted to try this since I read about it.'' Before the opposition could do anything, our hero released a staggering amount of killing intent. This killing intent was enough to make Long Dong, a top talent among a group of people constantly training for and engaging in life and death battles, reconsider his life choices. The barely cultivators and the mortals stood no chance. Everyone within sight of our hero had bowed to him, including Jiang Kong, who had stayed on the ground more for being drunk than the blow. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After seeing the little girl and the old man shivering, Fang Hu quickly focused his killing intent on the five cultivators. This made it better for the mortals, but much worse for the cultivators. Now, at this point you might be wondering why this confrontation is so one-sided, but that just shows how little you know about cultivation. At 1st stage qi gathering, you gain the strength of a healthy young man. At 2nd stage you gain the strength of an amateur athlete, and at 3rd stage you gain the strength rivaling the strongest athletes on Earth. When you break through the first bottleneck of 4th stage, every part of your body rivals that of the super humans of Earth. You have strength and speed of world record holders, eyes faster than trained fighter jet pilots, and are more flexible than contortionists, all at once. If you could follow that wall of text, then you''d know that even if their techniques, potential, and dao pillars where the same, ha not even close, a bunch of high first and low second stage cultivators would not stand a chance against a peak third stage. So it was with the five twinkle-dicks shaking under the pressure of Fang Hu''s killing intent. They were feeling like a mouse staring at a snake''s maw. *I''m feeling generous, I won''t kill you.* "Bless your ancestors for the luck they''ve brought you, for you have angered an opponent that won''t kill you." The young master type tried to say something, but was silenced by a wave of a hand. *You''ll have two options, I take your manhood and cultivation, or you swear an oath by the heavenly dao.* "Fate has given you two options, forsake your manhood and strength, or swear by the heavenly dao itself that you will not make a mention of the incident that has happened today, myself, this farmer, or take vengeance on this village." It may have sounded like Fang Hu was bluffing, but he wasn''t. He wouldn''t do something as crass as cripple someone or hurt a man''s private parts, but he doesn''t need to. All it takes is a little manipulation of a man''s dantian, and he will never be able to cultivate again. Likewise, it is easy to make a man suffer from E.D. with a little inner qi manipulation. Jiang Kang spoke for his people. "Please, w-we''ll do anything. Just don''t hurt us." It may seem like Fang Hu was doing a cruel thing, but Kang was already plotting to make his father make this strange cultivator pay, and Fang Hu could tell. Instead of becoming angry, Fang Hu just smiled. He had watched a lot of lawyer shows with his parents, and it was time he made use of his talent. *Well then, repeat after me.* "Follow my words, or we will be forced to follow the first path." "I, Jiang Kang of the Heavenly Fan Sect, swear by the dao of heaven, that I¡­" As much Kang was surprised by Hu knowing his background, he was more surprised by the oath. He had heard of the ritual before, many cultivators used it to hold others responsible for their promises. No, what surprised him was the oath itself, it had over 300 conditions that all enforced what the cultivator wanted from him. There were so many conditions that he''ll have trouble remembering them all, let alone circumvent them. It really threw him for a loop when Hu also knew his followers names and made them repeat the oath verbatim. Now that Fang Hu had dealt with the rabble, he could get what he really wanted, a way to cultivate and move at the same time! Contemporary Masterhood An old man could be seen pushing a young man in cart across an endless field. Despite the field seeming not to get much rain, it was full of short grasses and, every so often, a herb or vegetable. The pair drew odd glances from the odd forager. They''d pass by without so much as a peep, with the old man focusing of pushing his master forward, while the young master cultivated. They didn''t see any crests on the young man''s clothes, but no one is that clean and well-fed around here without being prestigious. Just look at him, clean, neat burlap robe, not a blemish on his skin, long hair tied in a traditional ponytail, and light skin. He must be some noble son! Compared to his master, the servant had clearly seen many years of hard labor. His hair had a bald patch on top and has wispy hair everywhere else. The relationship of their skin was alike that of paper and leather, both in texture and complexion. The man had a slight hunch in his back and callouses on his hands. With all of that said, no one present, save Fang Hu, would be able to correctly guess Jiahao''s age and occupation. Farming as a peasant would normally kill most people by the age of 40, and even if they survived, would end up looking as if Igor hate-fucked a raisin and had an illicit child. Normally, one wouldn''t have much of a will left after farming for 60 years, either, so the determined glint in his eyes would have put off any guesses as well. Fang Hu was having a great day, he had beat some sense into some uppity cultivators, found a way to move and cultivate at the same time, found out that his gold coins were still widely circulated, and got someone to talk to, all at the same time! It was all wonderful, he didn''t have to carry three oversized jugs and got to rest his legs for a while. The shade was appreciated as well, it wasn''t sunny enough to warrant it, if he had to deal with the sun this whole journey he would have died, but it was a luxury he could enjoy. That, after his journey, was almost enough to make him cry. He hadn''t had any luxury since he died. Jiahao was having a bad day, he lost his cabbages, almost died, was put into a life debt, and found out he now has to push this cart for the next few months, all at the same time! He would have to push his new master for most of the day without break, only getting to take drinks of lukewarm water his master had traded what was left of his cabbages for. He was pissed that he got gypped for his profit, but supposed he was happy that he provided a windfall for Little Yi''s family. He had known that family since its current head was but a child. The only good thing he got out of this deal was a gold coin, he could usually get a gold coin with around three years of farming, so even if the conditions were a bit rough, this was quite a hefty sum for Jiahao. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. *I''m going to cultivate for the next few days, if you steal anything I''ll... well I''m sure whatever I do won''t be pretty, capiche?* "I will be following the way of the dao for the foreseeable future, if you try to steal from your master... then your fate will be in the heavens hands." "I... this lowly one would never... You need not worry of this, Master!" Fang Hu could tell that Jiahao wasn''t scared. His acting may have been perfect, but ''this lowly one'' could hide nothing from his new master. He may have acted meek for countless cultivators, but Jiahao had the ambition for the man of his talent. Fang Hu had let him not taking the life debt seriously slide, but couldn''t let him keep this act up, after all, it wouldn''t do for a conversation partner to keep thinking such negative thoughts! *Keep the act to yourself old timer, it isn''t proper for an ambitious man of almost seven decades to act so humble. You may have cultivated something different from me, but it takes the same mindset to cultivate. Those who betray me will get their due, whether they speak nice or not, besides, I''m an intellectual, I enjoy earnest conversation, not fancy speak.* "Your dual nature does you more harm than good, if you keep pretending to be humble in your ambition, you will never realize your destiny. You have cultivated vegetables for more than seven decades, that should give you an edge in cultivating against the heavens. Having a silver tongue will get you nowhere with a scholar, but sharing your earnest opinions will. If you try to use your silver tongue against me, you will find it severed." Fang Hu considered the matter settled, but Jiahao was sweating, and it had nothing to do with the manual labor. No one had seen Jiahao''s true nature with a mere glance before. Is this what a scholar is? He even knew the background and names of all the people he had seen, was his very mind being read like a scroll? ''No, calm down, he may be able to tell my intentions, but there''s no way he can tell what I''m thinking. He may be strong, but he''s just as arrogant as all the other cultivators you''ve seen before.'' As soon as Jiahao mentally berated his new master, Fang Hu turned his serene smile his way. Jiahao froze. *Ha, try what you want. I need to cultivate some, so i''mma head out, mentally of course.* "If you truly think so little of me, then you can try to do as you wish. The dao is calling me, my presence in this world may diminish for the foreseeable future." Sighing, Jiahao was just happy that his master truly wasn''t the type of person to take petty revenge. However, as he continued to push the cart, he wished his ''master'' would tell him his name already. He only just learned that he is some sort of scholar. Incident Jiahao had been pushing his new master for 4 days now, and had entered a rhythm. They had stopped seeing foragers and the rare hunter awhile ago. Every day, he would eat breakfast, push the scholar for hours, foraging food, eat dinner, and fall asleep. While it was a rather dull affair, he had farmed for decades, so this was nothing new. Neither was foraging, almost everyone in Verdant Fields had foraged at on point or another, there is plenty of wild herbs and vegetables around, and with nary a predator in the fields, the only beings that could hurt humans were other humans. So you had to watch out for the occasional bandit, but Jiahao was an old hand at this point, so he knew how to telltale signs of bandits in the area. Pushing a cart was a dull job, but Jiahao had done it for years. At least watching his new ''master'' cultivate was interesting, with every breath the scholar released Jiahao felt like he had inhaled aerial coffee. Of course, Jiahao had no fucking clue what ''coffee'' was, he just knew that he felt better than he had in years. Even if being near the cultivator reminded him of a sleeping snake, Jiahao would have traded his entire farm for this experience. Which is quite good, as he did trade his farm for this experience. That didn''t matter to old man Jiahao in the slightest, as two gold coins could buy his farm back and still have a nice sum of silvers left over, and the scholar had promised another coin upon arrival. Now, I know what you want to say, "DiDn''t yOu JUst saY tHAt thEre WeRe No PredAtOrs in ThE FiEldS?! How WouLd JiAHao KnoW ThE FuCk AbOUt SNakeS?" I want to reply with, "Woah, don''t blow a gasket there Einstein. There are predators in Wonton Fields, just only in the auspicious event areas. Since entire empires can be in auspicious areas, knowledge of predators is pretty common." Though Jiahao did know of snakes, he didn''t know what was actually happening. What was actually happening was Jiahao''s first experience cultivating! Well, second hand cultivation, the natural kind that happens all the time in qi-rich areas. Fang Hu would be pressed to answer if someone were to ask if he would want to have been ''born'' in one of those areas. It was a classic rich-in-poor area vs. poor-in-rich area quandary. In most qi-rich areas, people wouldn''t be considered to be cultivators until they''ve broken through their first bottleneck, and even then they''d still be piss-poor cultivators. Uh~~~ where was I, I went on a bit of a tangent. Oh yeah! If Jiahao pushed Fang Hu around for the entire two months, then he''d most likely break through to the first level of Qi Gathering. It would have been an incredibly rewarding experience for Jiahao. 2 gold coins, a level in qi gathering, and a forgiven life debt, Jiahao''s luck would have been golden. Alas, fate has a way of twisting paths, for the better or worse. It was the afternoon of the 4th day since Jiahao had started his new job. He had watched Fang Hu for days on end, and he had noticed something. Fang Hu''s ''presence in the world'' really was lessened. Meaning, Fang Hu had no fuckin'' clue what was happening around him. Even if that was so, he noticed that the cultivator still reacted whenever he cursed his new employer, as employees generally do. A slight frown here or a twitch here, but he never actually got as mad as one would expect one would when mentally called a cocksucker. It was more like he was annoyed that he was interrupted during his cultivation, so Jiahao did some experimenting. Eventually, Jiahao figured out that it was not what or how something was thought that Fang Hu reacted to, but why it was said. ''Ha! Silver Tongues don''t work on scholars my ass! He just has the ability to sense intent!'' Twitch Instantly, Jiahao calmed himself down, he wouldn''t try anything if his ''master'' was fully aware of his surroundings. The intensity of when he released his aura yesterday was enough to stop him from trying. But his ''master'' wasn''t fully aware right now, was he? Taking the time to mentally trick himself, he took his water jug and took a sip- Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Fang Hu caught the spiritual water before it could fall to the ground. The old man was starting to seize up, he would say he was having a seizure, but he didn''t know enough about medicine to confirm that. *I see you decided to steal from me, not the best decision if I must say.* "You must learn that stealing from me is akin to courting death." Even as he was telling off Jiahao, Fang Hu was moving to save the old man''s life. Fang Hu hadn''t sworn to never kill or anything, but he will always try to act according to the ideals he grew up with. Jiahao stealing from him had pissed him off, but in his world, petty theft wasn''t something to kill for. Sure some countries might do that, but that wasn''t ''his world'' per se. *Do you realize just how many people would kill you for doing that in this world?! I wouldn''t put it past a little girl to kill you for trying that shit!* "Your ancestors are smiling down upon you, for if you had tried to steal from anyone less magnanimous than me, then you would die." Fang Hu had a plan to save Jiahao''s life. He dipped his qi into Jiahao''s dantians, focusing, he could tell the qi that had entered through the spiritual water was beginning to rampage about. By his estimation, Jiahao would die in minutes without intervention. Fang Hu sent his qi into Jiahao''s body and drew it out again. By repeating this process many times over, Fang Hu conditioned Jiahao''s dantians until they could handle the increased spiritual load. Satisfied by the progress, Fang Hu quickly guided Jiahao''s breathing, showing how to use his breath to circulate his qi through his lower dantian. That was a vital part of the ''Basic Snake Breath'' cultivation technique, but was nowhere near all of it. After Jiahao''s heart had settled, Fang Hu made him fear for his life again. Fang Hu didn''t *try* to let out any killing intent, but that was the problem with cultivating the dao of snakes, one of the most aggressive of the lesser beast daos, a snake''s reaction to almost any problem was to try to kill. Meaning most snake daoists regularly release killing intent, even if they don''t *intend* to kill, if that makes any sense. As it was, Fang Hu''s killing intent was enough to make Jiahao kneel till his forehead scraped the ground. Seeing the old man like that was enough to alleviate some of Fang Hu''s anger. *Sigh, do you remember what I said as you were spazzing out on the ground?* "...Jiahao, do you know what was said as you were incapacitated?" "...yes, master." *So, you know you won''t be killed?* "You realize I have no intent to kill you, correct?" "...yes, master." *You won''t get off so easy next time.* "I still won''t kill you if you betray me again, but I''ll warn you, I can be very creative with my punishments." Fang Hu had mixed feelings as he felt Jiahao become both relieved and more scared. He had apparently released more killing intent when he threatened him. It was only a small relief that Jiahao apparently no longer considered the now two life debts a trifling matter. He wished he could just trust Jiahao, but the man had already proven most untrustworthy. He had already applied the stick, so he would have to think of a carrot to reward him if he does something good. Jiahao was silent as he pushed his master towards their destination, his heart was a mix of emotions. Not even his best friend had helped him as much as this cultivator, but he''d never seen so much killing intent before. He''d have to think hard on his future, luckily for him, he has plenty of time to think. Journeys End The duo of cultivators could be seen crossing the vast, monotonous plains. They''d been moving for well over a month at this point, and the dull nature of the plains were beginning to drive them mad, or it would have, if they were not cultivators. As it was, both Fang Hu and Jiahao had pushed their cultivation ahead by miles, or whatever the cultivation world uses. As weird as it would be for them to use imperial, it woulds still be weird for them to use metric. As far as Fang Hu knows, they only judge distance by how long it would take to walk there, which is... inconsistent. ~~~ Fang Hu 15 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 15.09% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 5/13 20.03% Poor Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Basic Snake Breath Cultivation Technique Spiral Snake Striking Fist Powers: Understanding Theoretical Test Background: An exiled disciple of the Spiral Snake Scholar Sect, now wanders as a loose cultivator. Scholar. Potential: Low-High ~~~ Fang Hu had never actually cultivated before this journey. He had the techniques drilled into him from his backstory, and understood them completely thanks to his two powers. Cultivating itself, however, turned out to be an eye-opening experience. The ''understanding'' power helped in his review of his methods, but the ''Theoretical Test'' proved itself to be invaluable. Fang Hu found himself using countless times, finding optimal ways to cycle his qi or to focus his breathing the best way possible. Hell, he definitely wouldn''t have been able to refine his dao pillar without it. He had used this method to rewrite large swaths of the method, and wouldn''t be surprised if the system defined his method as being entirely different from ''Basic Snake Breath Cultivation''. Besides all that was special about himself, he also had the spiritual water to help blast past the 4th stage of qi gathering. Although it stopped helping as much after breaking past the 4th stage, Fang Hu still drank it, partly because getting those .01 percentages up was addicting, but mostly because it was his drinking water, you want him to stop drinking or something? At this point, Fang Hu didn''t exactly know how to compare his strength to his old world, it was like comparing superheroes: there just isn''t any way to compare to real life. He was beginning to wonder if he could stop a speeding bullet, though he had no way of answering that, as he had no idea of how fast bullets went and no accurate way of measuring himself... As Fang Hu was musing to himself, people began surrounding the cart, at first Fang Hu was concerned it was the Heavenly Fan Sect, but he was told otherwise when he noticed that they were much too weak for that. Hell''s Bells, only one of them was a cultivator, and the mortals shoddy weaponry was not threatening at all towards the two. There were over twenty of them, but that confused Fang Hu even more, this was a cultivation world, and numbers rarely mattered. Even in giant wars, the victor was usually decided by a few elites battling it out. If it wasn''t for the cultivator, they wouldn''t be threatening to a well armed mortal. "HAND OVER ALL YER POSSESSIONS AND YER DEATHS WILL BE SWIFT." "Master Fang, allow me to handle this riffraff." *If you want to, man.* "Do as you please." Fang Hu didn''t find himself particularly caring about what happened to the cultivator, he knows enough about killing intent to recognize a murderer when he sees one, but he hoped his disciple spared the mortals. He didn''t bother telling him that though, Jiahao knows enough about his master to know he hates needless killing. That''s right, Jiahao had moved from being a thief to being a disciple in less than a month. It wasn''t that hard, after all, Fang Hu had been intending to train Jiahao from the start. It only took a few conversations for them to warm up to each other, Fang Hu because the old man could be pretty funny, and Jiahao because he realized Fang Hu was nothing like the murder happy cultivators he was used to dealing with. A lot can happen in a month''s time, Jiahao had even managed to redeem one of his life debts through a series of hijinks including a magic potato, paper tiger, and a firetrap. Shame they couldn''t have gotten the magic spud, that could''ve made their eyesight two times as strong. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ~~~ Jiahao 67 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 17.35% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 2/13 85.97% Trash Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Basic Lower Dantian Cultivation Basic Fist Reinforcement Powers: Hardy Background: A disciple of a loose cultivator, picked up because of his potential and circumstances. Potential: Mid-Mid ~~~ Jiahao was a different man than he was years ago. Master Fang''s techniques had revitalized him, well that''s what he thought anyway. It was really his ''Hardy'' power that infused him with life energy, Fang Hu would have corrected him, but he didn''t know he was being attributed with Jiahao''s amazing recovery. His bald patch was growing back, and Jiahao grew by an inch as his spinal column realigned itself. Normally, all that would happen is the expelling of toxins in Jiahao''s body and a rush of power and energy, like what happened to Fang Hu. Fang Hu had let Jiahao drink the 1st stage spiritual water when he agreed to become his disciple, that combined with natural cultivation and Jiahao''s natural skill allowed Jiahao to cultivate all the way to late 2nd stage. ''Basic Lower Dantian Cultivation'' also had the benefit of not needing meditation to cultivate, allowing Jiahao to cultivate-on-the-go!? His opponent on the other hand... ~~~ Lin 34 yrs old Roots: N/A Cultivation: Qi Gathering 1/13 68.24% Trash Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Demonic Life Draining Technique Powers: N/A Background: A man who found a demonic technique one day and started forming bandit clans to help his cultivation. Potential: Low-Low ~~~ Fang Hu quickly scanned the effects of the technique before Jiahao went into battle. ~~~ Demonic Life Draining Technique Allows one to use the life essence of a being to raise your cultivation level. Only works on recently killed targets. ~~~ Fang Hu was relieved, if that was an attack technique, then he''d have stepped in. As it was, the fight went exactly as one would expect just from looking at their respective statuses. One thing was different, however, Jiahao wasn''t raised in ''a more civilized'' society. Here, if a murderer tries to kill you, then you kill him back. Fang Hu wasn''t going to stop him either, trials were for people who operated under a functioning government. If they brought him to the free city, then he''d hang in the gallows. After the fight was over, Fang Hu stopped the mortals from running away, gathered their weapons, broke them, and sent them on their way. Before they left, Hu reminded them that the only end for bandits is death, judging from their reactions to his killing intent, they got the message. Fang Hu wasn''t trying to judge them for their life choices or anything, it was a simple statement of fact, almost all bandits get massacred at one point or another. After Fang Hu insisted they bury Lin, for he was now a firm believer of reincarnation, they headed back toward the road. If they were getting ambushed by bandits, then they must be closer to the city then they thought. Iron Dragon City Iron Dragon City could be seen in the distance. There were no dragons in the city, though there was plenty of iron around. This place was called Iron Dragon city because it sits on a dragon vein and is one of the largest sources for spirit iron in the Wonton Plains. Spirit iron, which is formed naturally in most places, can only be found in qi rich areas with iron ore which was exposed to qi over long periods of time. Therefore, quality spirit iron can only be found rarely in the Wonton plains, this city alone produces 40% of the spirit iron sourced from the fields. ''So they have iron and are on a dragon plain? Iron Dragon City it is then! Do they just not have much naming sense here? I asked both Wo-Kong and Jiahao about it, but they just looked at me like I was acting strange. Maybe it''s because the cities names are usually decided by one person in this world, and single people are a lot less creative than groups of people. ... Well, what the hell do I know about ancient city names anyway? Maybe those names were simple in their own languages.'' As our hero was musing about the inner workings of the world thinking about useless shit, Jiahao pushed his cart into veiw of the city. As the city got closer, Fang Hu started thinking about more prevalent topics. Fang Hu had stressed about how they were going to get into the city, but Jiahao had assured him that, as long as they are honest about their intent and background, then they''d be let in no problem. Fang Hu slipped into the line, seeing as there were higher ranked cultivators waiting patiently, they couldn''t act like hot shit and demand to be let into the city. While waiting in line, he scanned every cultivator he could, and was very happy seeing the large amount of variety in techniques he was seeing. He also saw a barker advertising a tournament with a grand prize of ten spirit stones, seeing the large amount of interest it was gaining combined with the cut off point of half-step foundation establishment, or 13/13 99.99% Qi gathering, he was fairly certain his 4 spirit stones could nab him a good cultivation technique. After waiting for a decent time, Fang Hu finally rolled up to the main gate. "Names." "Fang Hu." "Jiahao." "Intent?" *I need some good variety in mah cultivation, if yah know I mean.* "We seek a place to purchase a cultivation method." "Hah! Don''t take this the wrong way or anything, but I doubt you have enough to get a cultivation method. Hahaha." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Fang Hu doesn''t anger easily, and this wasn''t an exception. If he got angry at that, then he really would get angry easily, wouldn''t he? Instead, his curious nature reared its head. *Yeah, I was kinda worrying about that myself, tell me, what does a good cultivation method go for? I think I''ve got enough, but I really got no fuckin'' clue.* "Hmm, indeed, I was considering that myself, tell me, is 4 spirit stones, half a jug of 4th stage spirit water, and this sum of gold here get me anything adequate for a cultivator on my level?" The guard was speechless, he didn''t know why one would reveal their riches so voluntarily, but the guard understood when he sensed his qi, it was at least two stages above him, and that didn''t explain how dense and pure his qi was. The guard knew of dao pillars, but he didn''t know that they could be built to this point. What scared him the most was the almost sinister air of his qi. The robed cultivator was definitely not a demonic cultivator, those people have a certain stench to them, but the sheer amount of killing intent this man seemed capable of producing proved he wasn''t cultivating the dao of hugs and kisses. This wasn''t naivety, it was a challenge, an announcement of pride and arrogance. "U-uh... yeah, that should be more than enough to get a good cultivation technique, your best bet is to go to the auction house in the commerce section of town, it''s the compound next to the big red pagoda. It''s called ''Shining Pavilion Auction House'' if I remember correctly." *Thanks man, you''re a lifesaver.* "Greatly appreciated, you''ve done me a great service." Fang Hu smiled his serene grin and left the guard as he passed though the gates. The guard shivered, something about that smile wasn''t natural, it was as if a snake was contemplating whether or not to strike. He was so shaken that he forgot to ask about their origins. Shaking himself out of his funk, he reminded himself to not make that mistake again. If captain got word of people entering the city without following proper procedures, he''d be flayed alive. While the guard, Jiahao, and everyone else thought that Fang Hu''s display of wealth was a show of power, they were wrong. Fang Hu wasn''t arrogant, if anything he was much too naive. While the two weren''t mutually exclusive, it takes a special kind of person to be both, and that person, Fang Hu was not. Hu simply didn''t know how much his treasure was worth and didn''t see the danger in asking. Whether that makes him simply out of his element or a naive little child, it''s not my place to decide. Pleasant Trip to an Auction House Fang Hu crossed into the commercial district within minutes of entering the city. It was probably a good thing that Jiahao was pushing the cart, as Fang Hu was starting to wuss out. He wasn''t scared of the people at the auction house or anything, it just felt like he was being rash in his actions. He started to want to not go to the auction house, but he couldn''t think of a good reason not to, he was just nervous about new social experiences. That nervousness might''ve been foolish in his original world, but might be wise to have in Pangea. You could be killed by ''new social experiences'' in this cultivator''s world. Maybe a little social awkwardness could stop him from flaunting his wealth like a dumbass. Alas, Fang Hu couldn''t find a way to tactfully tell Jiahao he was a pussy. Tell Jiahao about himself being a pussy that is, if Fang Hu ever had cause to tell that to Jiahao, he''d say it straight to his face. Well, he would try to, it would probably come out as some fancy cultivator speak for ''grow a set of balls''. As it was, Jiahao wheeled his master into the Shining Pavilion Auction House. An attendant walked towards as they entered the compound. Fang Hu could tell that the woman walking up towards them wasn''t anything they couldn''t handle. Handle in the fighting sense that is, neither himself nor Jiahao had much experience in dealing with women, both of them having had different goals in life than relationships. In both of their old life''s that may have been viewed negatively, but it would end up serving them well in the eternal quest to cultivate. The attendant had a sneer on her face when she saw the old cart Fang Hu rode in on. That quickly changed into her usual business smile when she noticed Fang Hu''s cultivation. It wasn''t the fact that Fang Hu was in the 5th stage of qi gathering, no, attendants of the auction house would oftentimes interact with foundation establishment cultivators. It was the man''s qi that gave her pause, it reminded her of foundation establishment qi. She could tell that this man had extremely stable dao pillars, and probably cultivated an advanced technique. What he was doing in that cart, she couldn''t tell. "Greetings, welcome to Shining Pavilion Auction House. May I ask your purpose for coming here?" *Wassup, I came here to buy some cultivation techniques.* "Salutations, I have journeyed to this auction house to acquire a few cultivation techniques." "Cultivation techniques? Forgive me, but, if I might be so bold, I don''t think those gold coins would be enough to get a substantial technique." *Ah, those? Don''t worry about that, I know those wouldn''t get me anything. I mostly carry those to get people to do things for me. I would like to get something worth four spirit stones and maybe this water.* "No need to concern yourself with that. I only use these trinkets to get mortals to do my bidding. I am concerned with limited payment, however. For I only brought 4 spirit stones and, if it comes to it, my drinking water." "Your drinking water, sir?" "My 4th stage spirit water." She was speechless, a half jug full of spirit water that big would be worth 3 spirit stones at least, and he was using it as drinking water? From the looks of it, there used to be much more of it. "D-do you want to look at what we have in stock, or wait until there is an auction?" *Oh! Stock sounds fine. Don''t want to waste time.* "It would be preferential to choose from your stock, after all, our time is more precious than anything I''ll be spending today." Xinyi was even more concerned, if he considered the money he was spending now to be worth less than his time, then this young man had to be some kind of young master, but what kind of young master would be caught dead in a cart like this. She had seen worse clothes and much worse servants, but what type of cultivator allowed themselves to be carted around like so many cabbages? Usually they''d travel in a palanquin, or at least a rickshaw. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Fang Hu on the other hand was feeling really relived. After everything went much better than expected, he realized that he was stressing out more about his plans, and how uncertain they are. If he''d fucked this up somehow then he''d legitimately have no idea where else to go, and what else to do. He knows he could probably go make gold pretty easily, but if he doesn''t get much stronger than he doesn''t stand a chance whenever someone else decides to go all murder-hobo on him. Even now, his plan reads something like this. 1. Gather Techniques and combine them. 2. Use them to grow much stronger. 3. ??? 4. Profit. Fang Hu wasn''t a politician or a leader. He didn''t know how to lobby for change, or get large amounts of people to follow him. If he wants to live in a world were people aren''t trying to kill him all the time, his only option is to become as strong as possible and surround himself with trustworthy people. Fang Hu likes to believe the only reason for all this chaos is the nature of cultivation and massive socioeconomic discord. Meaning if he starts his own sect, he can change how cultivation works, also if he becomes powerful enough, he could demand socioeconomic change, and it would happen. That''s one of the perks of power. It would be like S****man demanding world peace, but with hopefully a lot less killing. The trip through the auction house''s stocks went very well. They got something that might normally go for 9 spirit stones for all the treasures they brought with them, On the way out they noticed a stand selling a cultivation method for gold. *Hmm~ what''s this?* "Xinyi, what is that display selling?" Xinyi wasn''t very happy right now, Scholar Fang Hu was a very good negotiator, it was like she couldn''t slip a thing past him. Overall, however, his visit was a profitable one, and if he turned out to be a big spender, she''d get a commission for his future spending. You see, there was a misunderstanding here, as there always are in cultivation worlds. Xinyi, and most of the Shining Pavilion Auction House, thought he was a big spender. While they weren''t necessarily wrong, they probably wouldn''t give a fuck about where he spent his money if they knew that was all he had. They''d incorrectly assumed that more spending equals more money. While they were busy assuming that, Fang Hu was busy not giving a flying shit about money. In his mind, it was very clear. He was in a cultivation world, why in FUCKS sake would he care about money. All this came to a head when he was gifted the cultivation method he was interested in. This commoner cultivation method, for some strange reason, seemed to excite the scholar more than the one worth nine spirit stones. This only served to deepen the misunderstanding that was formed that day. Xinyi thought that he was simply happy that he got two cultivation methods to read instead of one. Proving that he didn''t care about the quality of the method, and was only getting them to add to his collection, like some scholars were known to do. What Xinyi didn''t know was that Fang Hu had due reason to be happy. The cultivation method he bought was only purchased because it shared the dao of snakes and was different enough to significantly improve his cultivation method. This was progress and Fang Hu was happy about it, what really was making him want to go skipping down the streets like an idiot was the viability of his dream increasing. ~~~ Solar Sculpting Body Cultivation A Body Cultivation technique used primarily by rich mortals to make themselves look younger. It gathers solar qi into the body to strengthen it, but suffers from a lack of a method to gather sufficient solar qi. Similarly, this technique lacks a decent way to infuse solar qi into a body. Cultivation rebound common. ~~~ He could work with this. Dao Fang Hu was talking to his disciple, Jiahao. He''d spent 5 days already trying to combine the four techniques he has into two separate techniques that would put him over the top in comparison to the standard of cultivators around here. It was, however, not going very well. The sheer inadequacy of ''Solar Sculpting Body Cultivation'' made itself readily apparent. Fang Hu would not be able to make it work without much more thorough understanding of the solar dao, but that didn''t mean there wasn''t work to be done. ''Gale Force Body Reinforcement'' was a masterpiece to Fang Hu, even without a decent understanding of the solar dao, it wasn''t impossible for him to model the ''body reinforcement'' part of the techniques to go together. The problem here is the ''amulet'' part of whole deal. Without the qi gathering array produced by the cultivation ritual, all Fang Hu would have is a much improved version of solar sculpting body, and while that''s cool and all, that''s neither auto-cultivation nor a groundbreaking technique. He might have gotten both techniques for free, but that''s no reason to settle for less. Without a better understanding of the sun dao, it would take nearly 40~50 spirit stones to make, and with that much on the line, it would likely be better to just force his regular cultivation up. That''s not even mentioning the fact that the amulet would be better if he was more knowledgeable. He would just have to get another solar cultivation technique. While working on his grand project, Fang Hu would take breaks from time to time to work on his side project, the embetterment of ''Basic Snake Breath''. When working on such a difficult project made him feel like he was a wage slave whose job was slowly turning his brain into mush, he would stop working on that, and start working on his side project! Yeah. What a nerd. Who rewards work with more work? Fang Hu was born to be an academic, well that''s called being a scholar in this world. Actually, he was born to be a public servant and now a cultivator, but that''s just me nitpicking because it''s not like those are mutually exclusive or anything. Anywaaaayyy~ after the nerd was done exploring the truths of the universe or whatever, he ran into a problem. He was getting ready to show Jiahao how to preform the new-and-improved version of ''Basic Snake Breath Cultivation Technique'' when Jiahao dropped a bomb on him. "I won''t be following the dao of the snake, Master." Fang Hu was shocked, before he could even get off a cultivator-speak for ''WTF, why?'', Jiahao started explaining himself. "I''ve seen what that dao can do, Master. If you weren''t such a kind-hearted individual, you''d be one of the coldest cultivators on this side of the Wonton Plains." Fang Hu was insulted, but he wasn''t angry, because he didn''t anger easily. He was hurt, he would never admit it, because ''MeN DoNt ShOw tHeiR eMotIonS'' and all that noise. That, however didn''t fool Jiahao for a second, he was an old man, and even if they had only talked sparingly in between cultivation sessions, they had bonded enough to become friends. Fang Hu knew he shouldn''t be mad, the fact that he releases killing intent whenever something even startles him is a problem. He wasn''t a fool either, he knew he was more okay with death than he ever was, and it wasn''t because his entire atheist belief was shattered to pieces. The snake dao made sure he knew that if he ever needed to kill, he wouldn''t hesitate. His only consolation was that his dao made it so he could never enjoy it. That was a boon, as in his mind, even justified cruelty is cruelty, and people who enjoy killing are scum, whether they are saving the world or dooming it. In his mind, that satisfaction characters get all too often when killing some villain makes them bad people, unless that satisfaction is because the villain can''t hurt anyone anymore. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Even if he knew Jiahao was right, he couldn''t stop feeling insulted. A dao is more than your preferential element in some video game. It''s not some outside force manipulating your mind either, it''s a way of life. True dao''s only manipulate your mind when cultivated incorrectly. What they truly change is your disposition, your free will and thought are the same as they will always be. Jiahao had implied that if he was less kind, he would become crueler than the cultivators he had seen in the books. What he had heard of history confirmed that there had been true cultivators who had destroyed entire cities for mere convenience. What''s worse is that he suggested that if he wasn''t kind his lifestyle would turn him into a psychopath. Imagine, will you, if Jiahao had said Fang Hu''s sexuality, religion or nationality would turn him into a serial killer if he wasn''t so kind. For a dao is as important as all of those in a cultivation world. Maybe the system had chosen his dao, but he had chosen to cultivate it, to own it. ''No... Fuck it, I am angry'' Fang Hu would not threaten Jiahao this time, for that is not something you do to a friend or a disciple. That is what you do to a thief. If Jiahao was a child, or wasn''t from this world, then Fang Hu wouldn''t hold it against him. But Jiahao was from this world, and the old man was stuck in his ways. Their master-disciple relationship wasn''t normal, Fang Hu would never kill Jiahao unless something drastic happened, and Jiahao knew that. He could force Jiahao to follow the dao of the snake by saying he wouldn''t train Jiahao, but doing that could lead to all different sorts of problems, most of which wouldn''t even be intentional on Jiahao''s part. Think ''inner demon'' or ''cultivation backlash''. *Fine, have it your way. I won''t stop you from taking any of my good techniques, but I expect an apology when you have followed your dao and learned your lesson. Don''t say that shit to other people.* "If you wish to not follow the dao of your master, then it shall be so. You will face the consequences of your actions, you will not be able to follow in the footsteps of your master. For the time being, I will not be able to supply you with better techniques than what you have. However, once the opportunity has presented itself, and you have dedicated yourself towards your dao, I expect a proper apology for your misconduct. Do consider yourself warned before sprouting such nonsense towards others." Jiahao was concerned when he saw his master''s hurt serene smile shift into his angry one. When he heard Fang Hu''s words, he was distressed that he had somehow committed a deep disservice unto his master. He tried to apologize, but was interrupted before he could even form the words. *Don''t bother with the apology, I want it to matter when you say it.* "Halt your apology, if you do not know why you should apologize it will be hollow when you do." *Don''t be ashamed about your mistake, just be sincere when you eventually realize your mistake.* "Do not allow your mistake to make you lose heart, allow yourself to keep your heart steady as you remedy your folly." As it was, Fang Hu''s ''angry'' serene smile shifted to his ''kind'' serene smile, and Jiahao was left reflecting on his decision. Even now, Jiahao didn''t get what he had done to offend Fang Hu. Fang Hu might have been able to explain what was wrong with his actions, but he was too emotional to guarantee he doesn''t say or do something he will regret. If Jiahao is destined to walk the path of the cultivator, he will understand eventually. Plans, Progress Fang Hu had solved a problem while he was cultivating his new and improved snake technique. He could get plenty of food and gold by using some low-tier healing technique, but how would he get spirit stones and other cultivation resources? It''s not like immortal cultivators are lining up to be healed. Those fuckers almost never get injured, the qi in their bodies disallowing anything but combat and qi-related ailments. Even when they do, the people with real money keep healers in their sect/clan/nation or whatever. Fang Hu had raked his brain for any way that he could make money. His experiences in this world had failed him, which wasn''t that surprising if you considered his life to be around 3 months so far, with a good portion of that time being in a cultivation trance. So Fang Hu turned to his experience with xianxia novels to find his way out. He couldn''t rely on finding ancient ruins like that time before. The tower had been a heaven-defying occurrence, and Fang Hu didn''t have the skill set for that anyways. He couldn''t hunt spirit beasts in good conscience. Not because he really cared for animals or whatever, but because most spirit animals have, or will develop, sentience. Since killing sentients is the literal definition of murder, that was right out. When Fang Hu came to the answer, he smacked himself on the head. It was so simple that he didn''t know why it didn''t come to him sooner. What was Fang Hu? He was a scholar. What did scholars do in this world? They gathered, sold, and used knowledge. That might make them sound like walking encyclopedias or something, but Fang Hu''s world doesn''t have an equivalent of what they do. They say knowledge is power, but that phrase isn''t as direct as it is on a cultivation world. What they do might be comparable to arms dealers, but that''s not entirely correct. Not all scholars are arms dealers, and most techniques aren''t actually weapons. They are more akin to mad scientists in superhero worlds. Mad scientists go about using their knowledge however they please. They create a superhero here, a mutant there, sometimes they take over the world, and sometimes they just make bank. Knowledge in those worlds have a direct link with power, as they do here. In Fang Hu''s world, knowledge could lead to all sorts of power, but no matter how many degrees you get, you can''t smash a car with your bare hands. Now, it might go against Fang Hu''s morals to sell cultivation techniques to the highest bidder, but as much as Fang Hu was a pacifist, he was also a visionary. He believed that better cultivation methods being available would directly lead to a better life for the people. Especially when he gets to be powerful enough to control who gets that information. The German scientist might''ve mourned when his rockets landed on the wrong planet, but you can''t deny his contributions to rocket science, and, by a lesser extent, the human race as a whole. He wouldn''t go to some dictator and start selling him techniques, but, in Fang Hu''s mind, there wasn''t any trouble in releasing a new cultivation technique into the free market. There wasn''t any moral problems with selling the techniques. There were, however, many problems with regularly selling techniques. If it comes out that he is a genius who could make new techniques from old ones, then he''d either be recruited or eliminated. He could get away with doing it a few times by downplaying the difficulty of what he was doing, or just lying about where he got them. Eventually, however, they''d figure out that it was just pure talent. By the time that happened he''d need one of two things. Power or backing, it was power that had stopped him from being mugged at the front gate of the city, and it was backing that made him flee the weakling cultivators at Jiahao''s hometown. He still didn''t know when they''d find a way past the clauses he''d set and inform their sect of the incident. If it had already been broken, then they had done it after they had gotten far enough away that they couldn''t send pursuers. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Fang Hu had no faith that the oath would last forever, the oath forces people to remember its clauses, and they had an indefinite amount of time with plenty of motivation, after all. Fang Hu''s only consolation was that they probably wouldn''t go after the village. The Wei Dynasty hunts down anyone who torches their villages like dogs, no matter how remote the village is. They also couldn''t be much crueler than they already are without raising the ire of the Wei Dynasty. Fang Hu had discussed the problem with Jiahao at length after they had gotten to know each other. It was one more thing that convinced Jiahao that Fang Hu had a kind heart. Getting back on track, Fang Hu didn''t have enough power or backing to go against the city leader or any of its main factions. The city leader was at early stage core formation, and the powers that be, including the auction house, all had foundation establishment elders. Fang Hu knew he was stronger than other people his cultivation level, but he doubted he could go against anyone past their second bottleneck. But that wasn''t a problem until later, as long as he didn''t pull out something like ''Gale Force Body'' or his new ''Snake Breath'' than he''d be fine. Scholars improved and collected techniques all the time, that was their literal job. As long as they didn''t know that his powers made him a match for once-a-generation heaven defying talents, then no one would go after him. In the novels that he''d read, the protagonist would sell his most valuable techniques, get his hands on the top techniques the auction house. The MC would then deal with the problems that arouse from such actions using a combination of his big dick energy, charisma, cruelty, and plot armor. That, however, was for those protagonists. Fang Hu knew he didn''t have big dick energy, charisma, and wasn''t cruel. He also didn''t think he had any sort of plot armor, but hell, he was reincarnated into another world, who knew what the fuck was happening. With that, it was decided that they''d return to the auction house tomorrow. ''We''ve gained enough strength to play a good role.'' ~~~ Jiahao 67 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 18.26% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 3/13 20.83% Trash Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Basic Lower Dantian Cultivation Basic Fist Reinforcement Powers: Hardy Background: A disciple of a loose cultivator, picked up because of his potential and circumstances. Potential: Mid-Mid ~~~ ~~~ Fang Hu 15 yrs old Roots: Non-elemental 18.01% Cultivation: Qi Gathering 6/13 0.05% Average Body Cultivation: Qi Gathering 0/13 Techniques: Serpent''s Breath Cultivation Technique Spiral Snake Striking Fist Powers: Understanding Theoretical Test Background: An exiled disciple of the Spiral Snake Scholar Sect, now wanders as a loose cultivator. Scholar. Potential: Low-High ~~~ The duo''s progress in ten days time was astonishing for where they were at. Though, in some areas, the cultivators would laugh at the mortals for considering that cultivation at all. Fang Hu and Jiahao didn''t know of anything like that. Besides the black sludge/burst of energy combo that is cultivating a significantly better technique, their ten days was normal. To Fang Hu, blazing past the qi gathering stage was normal. It was the next three stages that would normally take centuries to cultivate. They may think nothing of it, but Xinyi was in for a surprise. Implications ''Aghhh, it''s so boring.'' Xinyi had just finished with her shift of greeting new customers and showing them the showrooms and stock. There hadn''t been any big fish coming into town for a while, not since that scholar had come through ten days ago. She wished he would come back, he was the only big spender that was assigned to her. Her sale had provided her with enough tier 2 spirit water for a month, which was about what she made in 6 months. It was a competitive scene in the Shining Pavilion Auction House, any people who were willing to spend large amounts of money were quickly snapped up by the other guides. Scholars are one of their biggest moneymakers, alongside alchemists, artisans, and young master types. Young masters where the richest people who frequented here, and they were handled directly by the foundation establishment elders. They were the richest people here because the people in real power didn''t bother with this auction house. While the spirit water had pushed her to the peak of second stage, she would need a more reliable cultivation method to reliably enter into the 3rd stage of qi gathering. "Sigh, if only I could get more commissions." "Xinyi! Xiiiiiinyiiii!" Xinyi''s supervisor, the woman who kept tabs on all the people in the women''s dorm, rushed towards her room. "Xinyi, I hope you''re decent in there, your scholar just rolled into shop, and it won''t do keep him waiting!" "!!! Yeah! I''ll be right out!" Xinyi had stopped her evening cultivation session in record time and quickly donned her Shining Pavilion robes. She was just about to start gloating about her big catch coming back when she noticed the concerned look on Madam Supervisor''s face. This woman was just as tired of Xinyi''s gloating as anyone else, and had told her off about it just yesterday. She should be annoyed about Fang Hu coming back, what had made her so worried? She was about to ask, but her supervisor pushed her forwards without any regard towards her intent. It would have been futile to ask anyway. What the problem was quickly apparent as Xinyi laid eyes on Fang Hu. The scholar was much stronger than before! His dao pillar had stopped reminding her of the elders, and made her think of the city leader! That old monster was a core formation cultivator! What kind of insane technique would allow a qi gathering scholar''s dao pillar be comparable to a core formation warrior!? Not to mention that he had jumped from 5th to 6th stage in 10 days! When she sent out her qi sense she was rooted to the spot. Instead of seeing a man''s qi, it was like she was looking at a sleeping snake! Fang Hu was silently filling the entire pavilion with quiet killing intent, you wouldn''t be able to sense it if you weren''t looking for it! It was at this point that Xinyi knew that the 6th stage guards would be a joke in front of this scholar. This changes things, if it weren''t for the high possibility of this Fang Hu having a deep backing, then the auction house would torture him for his techniques. As things stand now, Xinyi would be the first one of the chopping block if things went south.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. /// When Xinyi came out to greet Fang Hu, she quickly froze. This concerned Fang Hu, as they shouldn''t have done anything to arouse shock. He had even learned to control the killing intent his body now produced naturally. He would need to act like nothing was large was going on, and only sell them some subpar cultivation techniques, so they have no reason to try to harm him. When Fang Hu greeted Xinyi, she quickly dropped into her ''sales'' personality and politely inquired the nature of Fang Hu''s visit. *Getting more spirit stones are a pain, so I decided to sell some of my less important techniques.* "Going to acquire more spirit stones would be inconvenient, so I am willing to part with a few minor methods." Xinyi was both amazed and excited. She was amazed that someone would part with cultivation techniques, of all things, just to spend less time on retrieving spirit stones. Also, ''sub-par'' techniques from a cultivator of his grade were bound to be great. Just look at that mortal who he got to cart him around. His skin went from aged leather to finely aged leather in ten days, and he has a healthy glow now from his tanned skin! Getting that from just reaching peak 3rd stage from high 2nd stage is incredible! There are a few misunderstandings here, but it would be irritating to explain them. You''re not an idiot, just think of: Cultivation