《The Immortal Scientist》 Chapter 20: These disciples can work for me. The new railgun had a problem. The cooling effect of the deep sea copper made the gun able to conduct a much stronger charge before it shorted itself. This lead to the projectiles melting from the increased magnetic charge. The gun he created was effectively a shotgun and not a rifle. The three spirits were impressed by the weapon. The conversion of energy wasn¡¯t something they were familiar with. How could lowering the temperature lead to the projectile melting? How could lightning run through wires and be turned to deadly force? Ben¡¯s explanation of a colder conductor holding a higher charge took some time to sink in. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would give me something too?¡± Huoyun asked him. ¡°Yes. I promise that, barring war, I will pour my every effort into making your gift.¡± Ben assured her. ¡°I need some materials from outside for this.¡± ¡°Really? We have the resources from a whole world available to us.¡± Brother He pointed out. ¡°I need my electrical generator and other special tools. I also need to craft a plasma chamber. Those are things that you don¡¯t have.¡± Ben responded. ¡°Very well then. Will you be coming back soon?¡± Brother He asked. ¡°No, my current generator needs to be upgraded before it will be able to help Huoyun and I don¡¯t have a tithe of the resources I used to, it will be difficult to find the dozens of craftsmen I need. I¡¯m going to need a basic laboratory and a factory.¡± Ben told the spirits. ¡°Where will you be building it?¡± Brother Jian asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet.¡± Ben said. ¡°Why not here?¡± Sister Huoyun suggested. ¡°It will need to be in the wider world to be able to directly interact with it. Can wiring and piping be connected through the gateway here?¡± Ben wondered. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, that''s disappointing. We get a lot out of watching you work.¡± Brother He noted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that as well. I enjoy your company.¡± --- Ben was more than a little stunned when he exited the Sacred Ground. A man holding a mountain in one hand was not something he had ever seen before. ¡°Nicely done. Go ahead and set it down right here, that must be tiring.¡± Ben said in a mild tone. The man set the small mountain on the place where the gate array led to the Sacred Ground. ¡°Not at all. I take it you are the honorary elder I¡¯ve heard about?¡± The man asked. He watched Ben with a critical eye. ¡°Probably. May I know who you are? I am called Ben, my name is Benjamin, from of clan Branford. I make things.¡± Ben modeled himself after the cultivators and introduced himself. ¡°I am the Grandmaster of Saint Devil Sect. We are the parent sect of Plague Devil Sect. My name is Shenghuo Zhouqi, you may call me Master Zhouqi.¡± ¡°The top man? I may as well give this to you, then.¡± He handed the old railgun to Master Zhouqi. ¡°This is the apocalyptic weapon the whole continent is talking about? It doesn¡¯t look like much.¡± Master Zhouqi noted. Ben burst into laughter. ¡°Not at all. This is a peashooter compared to the real weapons. I already made a more powerful one. Look at it this way, these are just slingshots when compared to the real weaponry.¡± Ben told Master Zhouqi. ¡°I¡¯d like to see it used.¡± The master replied. ¡°Do you have any target in mind?¡± Ben asked. ¡°You could fire it at me.¡± Master Zhouqi said. ¡°Are you sure? The weaker version almost killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator in a single shot.¡± Ben warned. ¡°I have just connected my first divine meridian and broken through to the Heavenly Connection realm. It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say I am among of the dozen powerful beings on this continent.¡± Grandmaster Zhouqi bragged. ¡°Very well. There will be a half second delay after I pull the trigger and the attack will be a spray of molten metal. Are you ready?¡± Ben brought out the new railgun and slotted a electric stone into the formation embedded into it. ¡°Go ahead.¡± The grandmaster said. Ben powered up the railgun. He dropped a blank steel slug into the cradle and pulled the trigger. There was an enormous recoil that pushed Ben backwards. The air in front of him exploded into sound and fury. The projectile exited the barrel as a cloud of molten steel traveling faster than the speed of sound. Master Zhouqi was startled by the explosive force and speed of the attack. He wanted to parry and move to avoid the shot but he knew he wouldn¡¯t have the time. He was only barely able to rip apart the void in front of the flying steel. His cultivation was pushed to the limits in his desperate defense. The air shuddered and a dark tear appeared in the fabric of reality. The mass of red hot metal flew into the dark space and disappeared there. Master Zhouqi¡¯s eyes were wide as he stared at Ben. ¡°I thought the report was exaggerating. If I was still in the Nascent Soul realm that would have crippled me. How is this not a cataclysmic weapon?¡± Grandmaster Zhouqi asked. ¡°This is still the handheld version. I could make it larger and a mortal would be able to fire it.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°What?¡± The others listening in were astonished. ¡°My thoughts exactly. And there are still more destructive weapons I can create. There are bombs that could reduce this whole world to a wasteland.¡± Ben said. ¡°Should I kill you right now?¡± Grandmaster Zhouqi wondered. ¡°Why would I let the world become a wasteland? I may be crazy, but I¡¯m not insane.¡± Ben shrugged in a carefree way. ¡°Someone should be keeping an eye on you at all times. Watching you is like watching a Supreme Being restrain his power and drink too much.¡± Lilith added. ¡°Ah, thanks for reminding me. There are some people I need to recruit. I¡¯m going to need brewers, glassblowers, alchemists, blacksmiths and dozens of other professions.¡± Ben faced the two grandmasters. ¡°That¡¯s not what she meant.¡± Grandmaster Zhouqi said. ¡°I could also use your help for something. That void ability of yours could be very useful for creating a partial vacuum.¡± Ben told the sect leader. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s good or bad that I found you first. Will you be able to make something that can increase the Qi in an area? The ambient Qi in this area is pretty sparse.¡± Master Zhouqi said. ¡°I can work on that soon, but first I need a proper lab, I can build it myself but that would take a long time.¡± Ben told him. ¡°Give me weapons like those and we have a deal.¡± Grandmaster Zhouqi said. ¡°Guarantee my safety and support.¡± Ben retorted. Grandmaster Zhouqi sighed. He looked over to the Grandmaster of Plague Devil Sect. ¡°Get him what he needs. I seem to recall there is a small city nearby called Atwood? Go bring everyone here, don¡¯t give them a choice. Also bring the main body of Plague Devil Sect here. I will send word to my elders to begin moving my forces into the area.¡± The Grandmaster capitulated. ¡°Good. Now let me get back to work. It¡¯s time to develop some of my peak inventions. It should be much easier to make a fusion reactor with formations and these magical metals.¡± --- Multitudes of artisans and cultivators were brought before Ben. He treated them like he had the thousands of students he had ordered around before, like idiots. There were the high ranking elders of Saint Devil Sect, the hundreds of alchemists from Plague Devil Sect and the crowds from nearby Atwood. The elders from Saint Devil Sect and Plague Devil Sect didn¡¯t like being talked down to, they were Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul cultivators who reigned over large organizations spanning the entire Setting Lands. But the elders swallowed their pride when they saw their own grandmasters standing behind the man listening to what he had to say about the nature of matter, operation of the universe and basic laws thereof. They found that their own understanding was advancing by leaps and bounds when they heard what he had to say about some men they had never heard of named Einstein and Newton. Some of them were able to take what they had learned and use it to breakthrough then and there. The alchemists were astounded by the explanations of basic and advanced chemistry. Although they had known most of these facts, they felt like a fog had been lifted on their minds and they could see clearly the terrain before them. Their way was clear and their paths free of obstruction. The artisans from Atwood missed most of the information, but bits and pieces were being scavenged like beggars snatching gold. Most of them had never had a thorough education like this from a master teacher. The little they did understand gave them insights to their own crafts and their resentment from being kidnapped lessened. The fields of microbiology, physics, psychology, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, engineering, genetics, statistics and others had only barely been scratched in this realm. Such concise of each topic stunned the onlookers. Using his new Heart Core he lectured in a booming baritone voice, Ben covered the basics from each course from the sciences as quickly as he could. In a course of twelve hours he spoke non stop to crowds of people thousands strong. He gave only a brief explanation of each subject before progressing to the utmost depths of a field in a matter of minutes, then moved onto the next course without asking for input or caring if anyone understood him. He knew that even if they didn¡¯t understand him, they would remember his words. Entire subjects of understanding were overturned and souls were seared to the core with scathing commentary on morality, religion, psychology, spirituality, and reason. His arguments left his listeners without a leg to stand on them beat them while they were down. They were simultaneously shown how wonderful existence was and how minuscule they were in comparison. How infinite was their capacity yet how little they knew now. The effect of seeing the two grandmasters standing behind the man listening intently cemented his authority in the eyes of those present. He now held such a great position in the eyes of all those watching that neared religious fervor. When he had covered the basic sciences and gave a little motivational speech about how such and such can always lead to so and so. Never this and always that, except when there is moss on the south side of the tree. He then gave an announcement. ¡°Now, I need your best alchemists, blacksmiths and craftsmen. I also need the rest of you to help those people. Our first project will be the mass production of electric and airgun weaponry. We need to create a series of chambers to harvest and compress gases from the air. We also need large furnaces to cast the pieces for a fusion reactor. Next we will need to find any viable sources of fuel for said fusion reactor. ¡°The blacksmiths will have three divisions, creating the housing for the larger devices, manufacturing the fine parts for specific machines and mass production of weaponry. The glassblowers will make themselves available to the alchemists and they will work together to find suitable gasses to use for the plasma chamber. ¡°Work on these tasks will take twenty four hours at most. After which time you will be dismissed until tomorrow morning. I suggest that even if you don¡¯t normally sleep, you do so tonight, sleeping can be cultivation for the mind. Tomorrow we will make a series of weapons for the armies use. I don¡¯t care what army but I understand that someone wants to do something to me and I don¡¯t like that. If I give you weapons you guys can defend yourselves as you keep working for me.¡± Ben had given the the group a basic understanding of the sciences as a initial gift so the people would work all the harder. Next he gave instructions for the fusion reactor and blueprints for the mass production of weapons. The less talented smiths would start making the airguns and railguns, the experts would help Ben with the reactor. The blacksmiths would forge large electromagnetic coils and banks of capacitors with formations laid into them that would use Qi and electricity to start the chain reaction and enhance the overall performance of the device. The fusion would then provide enough energy for the mass use of energy weapons like the railgun, plasma cannon and war laser. More complex weapons like inertial missiles, nuclear bombs, and nanotech swarms would take a little longer to develop. It was better to make a strong energy source first, then develop past that. Back on Earth there were limits to these technologies. Wiring could only hold so much charge before melting, materials would fall apart quickly when placed under strain. Formations could also add additional strength to given effects. The fusion power plants back on Earth were massive complexes of capacitors, laser banks and targeted electromagnets that literally spread over miles. Here he could make a much smaller one with better quality materials and supporting formations. Now that Ben had given instructions, the masses of people all started milling about with their various tasks. The senior elders made groups and grabbed up people for their projects. Gold and copper were mixed with other more valuable metals given to Ben by Brother He. Superconductive wire was produced on a massive level and the more skilled smiths forged the cart sized electromagnets and capacitors. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. One task was blowing a series of gaseous refining flasks. These were made from stone sky glass, a rare grade glass. Specialists in the Dao of the Wind manipulated gases with the assistance of mechanical pumps and basic elements were refined from air. The larger projects were forging the various parts of the reactor. The central containment sphere was the most difficult. It required an alloy that Ben had just theorized could be made. Large amounts of the rarest metals this world had ever seen were smelted together the make a alloy that could use qi to temper itself over time. In short, it was a living metal that could cultivate much like a human, beast, or herb. This core was the center of the fusion reactor and opening it would require the whole complex machine to be shut down and taken completely apart, a task on the same level as assembling from scratch. This was a big issue because a fusion reactor relied on a continuous reaction, some reactors back on Earth ran for months without stopping for maintenance and repair. The core was surrounded by the inner cradle. This formed a skeleton that held the core in place and sealed the four apertures. Ben then attached the atmospheric control valves. One would let in gases like argon or the fuel developed by the alchemists, the other valve would be a pump to draw out air and other unwanted gases. Attached to the inner core were the key electromagnets. They were golden colored spools of wire the size of a typical bedroom.These would compress the magnetic material inside the core, raising its heat. In nearby rooms, new capacitors with complex formations carved into them looked like massive corkscrews immersed in fish tanks. These surrounded the main chamber room. There was at least an acre of capacitor banks. Large sections of the mountain were carved out to make space for the various supporting systems needed. Huge rooms were made with plenty of room for expansion for new systems. Pieces were made with simple parts for easy improvement. Hubs and connectors were forged to be replaced with more advanced pieces as need required. Construction took six hours altogether. Having the assistance from hundreds of people who could each individually destroy earth sped the project up. When the final prototype skeleton of the fusion reactor was ready, Ben ran a test at a hundredth of a percent of total power. The interior chamber fired up in a azure display that lit up the mountain as the crowds watched. The setting sun outlined the pillar of blue light that rose to the sky. ¡°This will be a small gift to my friend. She is also the key we need to kick start the fusion reactor. Everyone keep doing what you¡¯re doing and I¡¯ll deal with her. We still need dozens of super electromagnets and capacitor banks.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be joining you.¡± A small crowd of people was standing behind him. Juliana and Lilith were there, the yet unnamed Grandmaster of Plague Devil Sect and the three elders Dain, Throm and Song. Grandmaster Zhouqi and elders of Saint Devil Sect were there as well, all watching him. ¡°That¡¯s fine, just don¡¯t bother the spirits. I have important tests to run on each of them. The flame spirit will end up the heart of the fusion generator, the sword spirit can be remade from his very core and the river spirit will handle the safety of everyone here.¡± The buzz of the people that heard of the three spirits rose in volume at the mention of each. Fire spirits were rare treasures that whole sects fought and died over. Sword spirits were only heard of in rumor and legend. Only Grandmaster Zhouqi had ever heard of a river spirit. Ben led the group into the Sacred Ground. ¡°Little Sister Huoyun, it¡¯s time to give you your present. It¡¯s waiting just outside. These men helped me make it for you.¡± --- The group was led to the top of the hill. There at the summit was a hollow with crude steps carved into its side, making a small amphitheatre. At the center of a depression was a ring of ancient stones that seemed to be coated in the passing of a million years. There at the center of the pit was a flame that floated in mid air. A fire burned around a core of liquid flame. The air around the flame bent reality slightly and led onlookers to believe that something was there without it needing to be. Anyone who peered into the red depths would be entranced by the dancing flames, this was a primordial fascination that stayed with man for all of his evolution from a simple ape. The flame body of Huoyun was taken from the firepit and carefully transferred into the fusion reactor. She left her spirit standing beside the core with a worried expression. ¡°Is this going to hurt?¡± She asked with trepidation. ¡°Yes, it will. Try to hold your breath, Huoyun. Brother Zhouqi here will try his best to make the pain as brief as possible. Master Zhouqi, we want there to be as short a gap between sealing the chamber and starting the reaction. Use your void ability to clear out as much of the atmosphere as you can.¡± Ben ordered. ¡°Alchemists, prepare the gas mixture. Formation masters, watch the safety indicators. The capacitors are fully charged. Master Zhouqi, evacuate the chamber.¡± While the chamber was fully sealed with the main flame body inside, Master Zhouqi opened a small tear in space inside the glass vessel. Standing beside Ben, Huoyun started screaming as she collapsed to the ground and held her head with straining fingers. ¡°Burn, Sister Huoyun. Hold on as long as you can. This will only take a second. Fire the electromagnets and begin ionization.¡± Huoyuns spirit body faded from view and the flame inside the vessel shrank in size until all that was left was a fist sized ball of dull liquid fire. This was her true body, her heart, her tangible glowing soul. Inside the chamber pure gases were injected into the vacuum and a current ran through the cathode and anode at the top and bottom of the chamber. Electrons from the gasses broke free from their atomic nuclei and the whole mixture transformed from a gas to a plasma. There was a eerie feminine scream that came from the reactor that morphed into a howl of demented delight when the magnets fired, forcing the plasma together in a concentrated point together with Huoyuns flame core, her very essence of being. The core mass of flame shrunk down to the size of a needle. Huoyuns body was compacted into a tiny space and changed at the molecular level. It was the most painful thing she had ever experienced, but also a incredibly pleasurable one as well. Inside her dense matter was burning together releasing a high amount of energy that was siphoned back off to power the electromagnets that allowed the device to maintain reaction. A maniacal laugh forced itself from Ben and he added his voice to the awful sound coming from the reactor. ¡°We have fusion. That was a lot easier than I expected. How are you feeling, Little Sister Huoyun?¡± Ben announced. Wild laughter rang through his head. It was much like the kind that he had made when he first made his breakthroughs in creating Alice. ¡°She sounds good. We can move onto weapons development using the power Huoyun is providing. More magnets will be added and lasers built to increase reactor power. The lasers can double as base defense and the power will make mass production of energy weapons possible. ¡°Here are the blueprints for the industrial factory, railguns, lasers and plasma cannon. I''m going to leave the mass production to the blacksmiths and formation masters. I''m going to start building the lab and factory.¡± Ben gave orders to the legions of craftsmen now at his command. ¡°What did you do to sister Huoyun? Is she right in the head?¡± The sword spirit Brother Jian asked nervously. ¡°She''s fine, she''s just going through a period of adjustment. What I did to her was basically the same as a Qi Condensation cultivator forming a core for the first time, but to a ridiculous degree. It''s like I gave a divine spark to a mortal.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°What do you plan on doing for me?¡± Brother Jian asked. ¡°A new weapon body. Your atoms are connected in a vaguely random pattern right now. With a good enough lab I can rearrange you from the basest level possible. How does that sound? That''s one of the things I need to research further. I suspect your sword Qi will increase exponentially after the transformation. You may even be able to combine it with new energies in various ways. If you don''t like it we can always reforge you like before.¡± ¡°Let''s do it then. It will mean I''ll be stuck here looking after Sister Huoyun?¡± Jian asked. ¡°What do we do first?¡± ¡°It¡¯s time for our next major weapon. To get the temperatures needed for crafting we need a laser. We need to build a device similar to the fusion reactor, but based on different principles.¡± A small crowd of craftsmen and elders followed Ben over to the glass blowers. There a tube was created unlike anything that had never been seen before. The head glass blower was in an ecstatic mood. His trade had never seen such preeminence. The task of creating a earth rank glass treasure was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sands taken from beaches of fire and seas of liquid ice were mixed with other treasures and fired into molten vats. Formation Masters laid down sigils as the tube took form under many master hands. The whole vessel had three purposes. The first was to insulate the inside from exterior pressures, the second was to allow for four apertures that exchange gases and allow the flow of electricity. The last purpose was to dissipate heat from the lasers passage through the two ends. The glass chamber was brought back to the fusion generator. A vacuum generator was attached to one valve and another valve was prepared as a injection site for the alchemists. A anode and cathode were attached to the other two sites. A mirror was placed on one side and a newly created filter was put on the other. Both positive and negative wires were connected with the massive capacitor bank built next to Huoyun. The laser was pointed at the reaction chamber and fired for the first time. Electrons flowed through the alloyed metals that made up the wiring system of the generator and capacitor bank. They entered the lasers vacuum chamber and ran through a gas prepared by the alchemists. The arc created ignited a chain reaction that turned the gas to plasma and photons freely flowed through the mixture. Photons bounced between the two mirrors and picked up more photons traveling the same direction. The flow of photons grew until an enormous amount of energy was flowing between the two mirrors. One of these mirrors was partially translucent and a beam of light the size of a fist poured out onto the fusion chamber. The effect was little to begin with, but a laser had been created. Newly forged electromagnets were going to be used to compress the plasma inside the chamber. The gases the alchemists had been producing were magnetic when in their plasma state. A field would compress the plasma to a fine thread and the laser would be focused to a needle point. Unfortunately the vessel shattered under the pressure. While it was the finest glass vacuum chamber ever created up until that moment, it was still a prototype. Hot glass shards flew around the area and ionized plasma dissipated into the surrounding air. Ben, unperturbed, sent out another design pattern to the masses of craftsmen. He directed them to build small laser systems that could be combined together to make one super laser. It wouldn''t be a mobile weapon, but would be used for the fusion reactor, forging and base defence. While Ben was working on project after project, the expected blow from the righteous sects finally came. It started on the outskirts of the sects territories. Plague Devil Sect and Saint Devil Sect had withdrawn from their various branches and gathered their strength in the area around the new Sacred Ground. The only places with any forces left were the hearts of the sects where dangerous guardian animals lay dormant. These were sleeping fierce beasts and dormant spirits that couldn¡¯t be controlled for warfare. They could only be woken up when the very nucleus of a sect was threatened. The outlying territories normally under the thumb of the sects had been abandoned and neighbouring powers moved into the area. The assaults met only token defense. There were just a few scouts and old caretakers left to make the area look alive. When the allied sects forces moved in they met only air and empty buildings. Word now came back to Grandmaster Zhouqi of the incoming invasion. There would be hundreds of small sects and four sects as strong as Saint Devil Sect. He had mass produced air rifles and handed them out to the disciples. Dozens of railguns had been built and handed out to elders. Grandmaster Zhouqi had the advanced railgun and had learned to use it. The conflict would come soon. Sparks had ignited the flames of war and the land was beginning to burn. Chapter 21: These weapons are good enough for me The lab was finished. The fusion generator was built. Automated manufacturing was almost complete. A vat of nanobots had begun multiplying. A local network of computers had been assembled. Sensors had been set up and monitors built. There was one autofactory operating and several more were being completed. There was also a small war going on around the mountain. Ben felt right at home. Assistants ran around the crowded workspaces desperate to produce the complex equipment being used just outside. Air canisters, rounds for air rifles and railguns, electric stones for railguns and new weapons poured out to desperate hands. Ben ran from project to project. Here reinforcing a electrical connection on the fusion reactor, saying a quick word to Huoyun, there improving the mountain wide formation by adding another connection it to the main electrical conduit. Then he would run over to his 3D printer and take the motor there to install in the next piece of machinery. The laser bank finally grew large enough to be used for base defense and the emitters needed to be installed. The whole mountain had become a bunker under fire while streams of elite troops poured out of it. Ben remained inside creating ever more powerful weaponry and defenses. Automatic manufacturing made the small pieces that blacksmiths cleaned up and assembled into weapons. Alchemists attended to banks of flasks that mass produced explosives, air canisters and healing salves that were handed out freely to the defending disciples. 3d printers spat out ammunition for the guns at a rapid fire rate. Ben had never been happier since leaving Earth. To see his products being used in such a frenzied manner made him feel like a factory owner whose goods were in the highest of demands. There was purpose in his actions and a deadline to fill. He was like a fish in water or a conductor to a deadly orchestra. His laughter and delighted screams could be heard across the battlefield and made both sides uneasy as such exclamations were usually followed by ever more destructive bursts. This was the moment Ben had been waiting for. He had finally reached the same manufacturing capability he had back on Earth, no mean feat by itself, and there was also the havok and confusion of a confrontation between sects going on just outside. There was no one watching carefully over his shoulder or telling him he was doing something wrong. He had infinite issues to deal with and a war to fight. The plasma cannon was almost finished. The laser banks were growing in number. A large swarm of nanobots was ready. Drones were prepared and loaded with munitions. Formations were built into everything and all his systems could he controlled directly by his A.I. chip. Ben left his automated systems running and decided to make his appearance outside. --- 12 hours earlier. Things were looking bad for the two defending sects. Four of the strongest six powers of the Setting Lands continent had gathered along with dozens of other sects to act against Saint Devil Sect. Millions of disciples and thousands of elders had come together to fight in a noble cause. The danger of a devil sect acquiring a new terrible weapon was something that set hearts ablaze and roused tempers. Not only did the task raise their bloodlust and greed, they felt righteous as they were riled up. True Dragon Sect had rallied around its leader, Grandmaster Sen Gan. Incense Valley had come with their crowds of female alchemists, all directed by Master Alchemist Erica. Splitting Sky Sect had come down from Sword Mountain Ridge with their Grandmaster, Yuan Ping. Flaming Hammer Sect had come out of their caverns behind Master Smith Yugami. The only sect that was absent was Myriad Shoals Sect and their Grandmaster, Formation Master Lin Kuro. Three of the four grandmasters were Heavenly Connection cultivators. There were dozens of practitioners of the Nascent Soul realm and hundreds at the Foundation Establishment realm. The force gathered here had not seen its equal in centuries. Grandmasters Sen Gan, Erica, Yuan Ping, and Yugami were directing a summit of the hundred sects. What tactics to use, what sect was assigned to what task, how spoils would be allotted and other mundane matters were decided on. ¡°Is it really so dangerous, Brother Sen Gan?¡± The tall shapely form of Master Alchemist Erica asked. ¡°My Elder assures me that the weapon posed a significant threat. We need to capture the man who created it or he will distribute those terrible weapons to every band of bandits and murderer he comes across.¡± Sen Gan warned. A tall man with broad shoulders and the sturdy attributes of a bear was the next to speak. ¡°I will see if that weapon can be used for peace. It¡¯s a pity that the craftsman who made it has allied with the devils path. The Flaming Hammer Sect would welcome any such prodigy.¡± Grandmaster Yugami noted. The remaining Grandmaster spoke up at this point. He wore unadorned blue robes, a simple looking longsword hung at his waist. ¡°There¡¯s also the matter of the Sacred Ground. Our spies tell us that there are three spirits there. One is a flame of unknown origin, they are doing things to it that we can¡¯t identify. The second is a sword, it¡¯s aura was unmistakable. We have no clue regarding the third spirit. We know that any treasure must be at least a Heaven grade treasure before it can be called a spirit.¡± Yuan Ping, Grandmaster of Splitting Sky Sect spoke. Three heavenly grade spirits! Sen Gan clenched his fist, such treasures could be counted on one hand on the Setting Lands continent. If only Elder Quan hadn''t failed against a mid tier sect like Plague Devil Sect, there wouldn''t have been anyone there to hinder his sects acquisition of the three spirit treasures. ¡°Our spies are also reporting on other major movements of the pair of sects. It''s members are selling anything that can''t be hauled off and disappearing. The lowest outer court disciples are scattering and retreating into hiding. The other disciples and elders are giving up territory and retreating into either the Sacred Ground of Saint Devil Sect or the new Sacred Ground.¡± Grandmaster Sen Gan spoke. ¡°We have three possible targets. The land itself or one of the two Sacred Grounds. Disciples will be given the tasks of freeing slaves and looting abandoned strongholds. A handful of elders will lay siege to the main palace of Saint Devil Sect and the larger force will assault the new Sacred Ground.¡± ¡°Our disciples have moved into the area and begun operations. Normally we would fight a series of skirmishes as they retreated back to their Sacred Ground, but there was a notable absence of resistance. We have a clear path to our main target.¡± ¡°Gather your followers. It¡¯s best that we leave as soon as possible.¡± Grandmaster Erica agreed. A spirit vessel appeared, it was larger and more grand than the one Elder Quan had used. There were two familiar figures there among the masses. Jin Chao and Bai Lin were there looking up at the ship in the sky. ¡°I don¡¯t feel good about this, Brother Chao. I feel like the same thing¡¯s gonna happen.¡± Bai Lin warned. ¡°Really, Sister Lin? Look at all these sects. There are hundreds of people of the Foundation Establishment realm and higher flying in the skies right now.¡± Jin Chao felt right at home. ¡°Remember having Elder Quan? We felt sure that he would be our trump card.¡± She worried. ¡°You know just one of the grandmasters could defeat hundreds of experts as strong as Elder Quan? We have nothing to worry about. There are millions of cultivators at the same level as us, even if we lose, we can get lost in the retreat.¡± Jin Chao wasn¡¯t worried at all. The millions of cultivators were able to board the floating fortress in only fifteen minutes. Space bent inside the ship, allowing for whole dormitories to take the place of a broom closet. There were issues with sharing the common areas between sects, but private rooms were more than abundant. The sects were quickly aboard and the vessel took off over the occupied territory of Saint Devil Sect. The journey to the new Sacred Ground only took a matter of hours. There in front of the mountain several verbal confrontations took place. Grandmaster Zhouqi demonstrated his new cultivation realm and used the advanced railgun, he proved that a battle between the elites would only lead to a pyrrhic victory. The Elders held their own against scores of enemies thanks to the mass produced railguns they held. The real difference in battle was due to the lowest disciples and their use of the airguns. The airguns could be mass produced by the skilled blacksmiths working in tandem with machining tools. These guns were given to the weakest disciples and when used together could threaten even a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Volleys of shots would be fired from the many warriors with low cultivation as they stood behind their elders. It was clear to the invading sects that there were many new and extremely dangerous weapons that had been made in a short time. This news was both good and bad. There was a new weaponsmith that could be a godsend to all the righteous sects, but he had fallen in with their enemies. Jin Chao and Bai Lin got their first taste of the new weaponry in a traumatic fashion. Their squad had been assigned to the west side of the mountain. They were in the middle of a wave of thousands cresting one of the many foothills in the area. There was a notable lack of corpses belonging to either Saint Devil Sect or Plague Devil Sect, Bai Lin found this more than a little disturbing. They crested the hill and beheld a scene of horror. Corpses littered the ground before them, none of them wearing the black robes of the devil sects. They laid across each other in macabre parodies of mounds of earth that terrified cultivators hid behind. A scene of chaos played out before them where groups of disciples and elders would charge forward with evasion or defensive skills. Random members of these groups would jerk and fall, injured or dead, to join those on the ground until the group fell apart. If someone had good eyesight they would be able to see the firing lines stationed further up the mountain. If they had very good sight they would be able to see the absolute field of mournful death the rounds left behind. There was no chance for the genius to show off his skill here, a single hero would rise up and lead a charge forward, only to be cut down seconds later. There was no chance for the elder to run to the aid of their disciple, a older man would try to shield his only charge from the indiscriminate attacks, only to see her gunned down mercilessly. There was no chance to protect your brother, entire generations of families died under the onslaught. The bullet dealt death on a equal front. This war was not righteous or good. It didn¡¯t temper one¡¯s cultivation or allow for honor. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. What followed was a desperate bloodbath. Waves of disciples poured into killing grounds in a one sided massacre that had not been seen before. Never had there been such one sided slaughter. Jin Chao and Bai Lin found shelter in a cold ditch and held each other. Bai Lin was wailing into Jin Chaos shoulder. One of his arms dangled uselessly from the socket and the other held on firmly to Bai Lin. They both were shattered mentally, it was clear that they would never willingly fight again. Any thought of peeking over the rise or turning around and running was impossible to entertain. A curious scene also took place from time to time on the battlefield. A small white horned rabbit would occasionally be seen hopping from corpse to corpse, munching on various body parts. Sometimes the rabbit would gnaw on a ring or interspatial bag until the item broke open and spilled it¡¯s contents over the battlefield for the rabbit to rummage through. On the other side of the field a curious change was coming over the forces of Saint Devil Sect. Offensive skills were used only sparingly, disciples decided to preserve their Qi for defensive techniques and use their new airguns for attack. It didn¡¯t make sense to waste Qi when you can just change the clip and air canister. The disciples worked together to set up fields of fire and volleys against stronger targets. They used their rifles to cover one another from surprise attacks while keeping up a constant flow of fire on their enemies. Special runners shuttled munitions, new arms and potions from the depths of the production area out to the front line. They started the battle with one variation of gun. It was a single shot rifle model. This looked similar to the mass produced soviet mosin nagant. It had a high power but low reloading speed. There was also the air cannon that fired large powerful sabot rounds, the shotgun that fired sprays of metal and the SMG that made their debut as the battle progressed. Tactics emerged and changed as the battle wore on. There was a shift from the traditional slugfest usually seen to using airguns from cover. Cultivators who used support and defensive skills were much more suited to this kind of combat. The four Grandmasters saw how the fight was going and threw everything they had at Grandmaster Zhouqi and his elders. This worked at first and they began killing off elders and pushing defenders back. Just as they reached a point where it seemed resistance would break, a new weapon would show its effects or the mountain wide formation would improve a grade. More trump cards would be revealed and the two sides would come to a stalemate once again. The turning of the tide came when black glass globes similar to modern security cameras popped out of the ground. These began spraying out low powered lasers. There were hundreds of beams that swept over the faces of everyone with a line of sight to the mountain. Half of the time nothing would happen due to the cultivation of the target but for the other half it was a blinding or deadly blow. The lasers passed over the crowds in a grid pattern. Disciples screamed as their eyes were permanently blinded and faces burnt beyond recognition. It only took a single breath for the attack to finish, leaving half the whole army incapacitated. This was the effect of a bank of thousands of lasers all being routed through the mountain to emitters placed in strategic locations. The lasers were left separate so their individual power was minimal. Next the lasers started combining and grew in power. The shots were more infrequent but killed elder after elder with their concentrated photons. The battle was coming to a close when Ben himself popped out of a tunnel with a large barrel in his hands. He hurried over to a open space where a formation glowed brightly. There he fiddled with the cannon while attacks rained down upon him. The formation lit up and held together with a bright light. Ben pulled wiring up from the ground and brought out the base of the gun. He busied himself with building the cannon in the sight of everyone there. It only took a few seconds and the plasma cannon was ready. Ben turned to gaze upon the four bedraggled grandmasters. ¡°Just give up. You¡¯ll learn I treat my subordinates quite well.¡± Ben laughed at the crowd of bedraggled cultivators that had come to take him hostage. Grandmaster Sen Gan gritted his teeth and brought out a curious looking tablet that he crushed between finger and thumb. A beam of light shot into the sky. The beam of light traveled into the horizon for over thousands of miles. It shot over ridges and forests, It passed over a large ocean for much of it¡¯s journey and arrived at a point on top of a mountain. A man sat in a large hall, he wore a long white robe with a blue dragon embroidered on the back. He sat there cultivating in peace when a tablet lit up across the hall. The elders eyes opened slowly and he let out a breath in a slow, controlled manner. He stood up and stepped across the hall in a single move. He looked at the tablet that had lit up. ¡°Elder Chuan, please stand ready.¡± The elder¡¯s voice rang out from the hall. ¡®The Setting Lands? Is the True Dragon Sect about to meet its destruction?¡¯ The elder nodded to himself and took out a sheet of the finest parchment. On the sheet was a profound silver and gold diagram. The elder injected his Qi into the parchment. The engravings lit up in a dazzling rainbow that embraced the elder. Surrounded by the sparkling lights, his figure vanished. Back on the mountaintop everyone had stopped to watch the light leave. There was a moment of silence as disciples watched elders and elders watched grandmasters. Ben stood still as well to see what would come. In a matter of seconds a light shot back and coalesced into the shape of a man. The light dimmed and only the elder in the white dragon robe remained. He took in the whole scene with a flick of his eyes. His gaze matched Ben¡¯s. A sense of danger like never before overwhelmed Ben. It was the moment you turn your head while crossing the street only to see a delivery truck about to collide with you. It was the feeling of seeing the dull shape in the corner of your dark room move. It was the ancient terror in the night. ¡®Shit.¡¯ Ben thought. In the back of his head he was smashing a big red panic button. Capacitors underground discharged all their stored electricity into the laser banks, they in turn fired into the heart of the fusion reactor. Energy levels rose and the capacitors started refilling. The whole mountain began to shine from the rising power. ¡°I would think twice before making a mista-.¡± The white robed elder started to speak. Capacitors were fully loaded. They discharged all at once into the laser banks and new plasma cannon. The lasers fired immediately and the cannon took only a tenth of a second to discharge its blast. The lasers were concentrated all at once for the first time. The various mirrors all aimed directly at the mans throat. The firing of the lasers was instantaneous. A curious phenomenon occured then. There was such a high concentration of heat in the same location that the air itself exploded in a superheated cloud. The lasers energy was absorbed by the expanding gases, leading to a larger explosion. This attack would kill any Foundation Establishment cultivator, but couldn''t even penetrate the elders outer layer of Qi. This attack only served to delay the elder in the sky until the plasma bolt hit. A fraction of a second later a beam of plasma struck the elder in his center mass. The stream of fire burned through the layer of Qi the elder had protecting him at all times and bore through into his chest. The elder fell from the sky while coughing out a mouthful of blood. Ben shouted out in triumph. The capacitor bank filled up enough for another shot before the elder reached the ground. The second shot streaked through the air towards the falling figure. Just before the second plasma bolt hit the elder, a light poured out of his interspatial ring and intercepted the attack. The plasma bolt dissipated like so much smoke. The strange light encapsulated the elder in a rainbow colored cocoon. The cocoon shrank down to the size of a fist then flashed away into the horizon. ¡°Was he the endgame boss?¡± Ben said aloud to himself. The whole battleground was struck silent after seeing the exchange. The Elder had only been there a second before Ben attacked and the exchange lasted only a second longer. The pinnacle fight between powerhouses that would rage overhead while each party brought out their trump cards never happened. Who would ever think that it would be over so quickly? A mortal would have only seen a series of flashes before the exchange ended. Ben nodded to himself. ¡®Looks like I¡¯ve drawn too much attention, but it¡¯s too late to stop now. Time to change tactics.¡¯ ¡°Grandmaster Zhouqi, I have some items for you. Have these delivered to the head of organizations and families, don¡¯t leave someone out because they are an enemy or weak. There are some other directions there as well.¡± Ben handed the older man a interspatial pouch. ¡°Hand one over to each of those people.¡± He nodded at the fallen Grandmasters. ¡°And let Erica go, you can send her a picture of your dick later.¡± He whispered the last part. Grandmaster Zhouqi nodded and handed a black box the size of a brick to each of the defeated grandmasters as they stood in a daze. Under the watchful gaze of the newly armed masses, the decimated sects retreated from the field. ¡°Why a gift?¡± Zhouqi asked. ¡°That was a Heavenly Connection Ancestor. He must have been one of the strongest people in this world. If we can beat him, we have nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t fight the whole world. That¡¯s something we learned back where I came from. You give the people an imaginary enemy and have them fight for you. When I was born it was poor people and ¡®the gays¡¯. It wouldn¡¯t take too long before we have a hard time finding people to hate. Alright, back to work, people. Next up is human anatomy and modern medicine. We have some people who are willing to be used as subjects, let¡¯s not keep the patients waiting.¡± Chapter 22: This blade fits me Hundred Dances Sect was hardly a sect at all. Three small families had pooled their meagre resources to try to make cultivation more available for their children. Who wouldn¡¯t do their best to make the child¡¯s life a little better? One family had been guards for years, they shared a dozen body refining techniques common to city guards and army officers. Another family were all merchants who had a small collection of alchemy, blacksmith and formation manuals. The last family had a elder who was lucky enough to find a series of cultivation techniques in an ancient grave. The three families pooled their resources together and set up a very modest school to train their hundred or so youngsters. A package arrived one day. No one had seen the courier and the box was left right in the main hall under the watchful gazes of the guards posted there. The box was the size of a brick. Inside was something a person from Earth would identify immediately as a cheap and bulky cell phone. There was a small booklet with directions for use and maintenance. The phone had several passive functions that were already active. It had released a swarm of nanobots that had coated the nearby environment and were scanning the surroundings at all times. The nanobots slowly made their way into everyone present there and identified their constitution, cultivation realm and other notable data. It had been transmitting this data back to Ben¡¯s main computer ever since he had mass produced the device. The elders turned the phone on using the instructions and started perusing the menus available. The three main applications were for the marketplace, library and social media. There were also other applications common to any phone like a calculator, map, camera and search engine. They opened up the marketplace and were shocked by the availability of goods. There were thousands of rare and uncommon treasures and even a few earthly and heavenly ranked treasures. There was information about where to find the vendor of a specific item, average prices and quality of goods. The library tab was for cultivation techniques and other resources found in books. There was a separate tab in the marketplace that was labeled ''Modern¡¯ with unfamiliar products for sale. There were videos attached that demonstrated the destructive power of each weapon along with their sky high prices. The phone was there for a relatively low price of a dozen low quality spirit stones. There was also a pass for the basic library and other peculiar items. Cultivation techniques, offensive and defensive manuals and other similar books were for sale using a system called Knowledge Points and Knowledge Rank. ¡®KP¡¯ was gained by selling manuals or knowledge of other kinds. ''KR¡¯ was a sliding scale that made information cheaper the closer your level was to level 10. There was an active list that showed the numbers of active buyers at each level. Level 10, 1 Administrator, unlimited access Level 9, 1 User, 50% discount. Level 8, 2 Users, 40% discount. Level 7, 5 Users, 30% discount. Level 6, 5 Users, 25% discount. Level 5, 15 Users, 20% discount. Level 4, 71 Users, 15% discount. Level 3, 302 Users, 10% discount. Level 2, 579 Users, 5% discount. Level 1, 12530 Users, no discount. Hundred Dances Sect had very little to its name when compared to the great sects like Saint Devil Sect. Their most valuable texts were rare ranked at best. They had very little to offer for knowledge points. Lucky for them, all cultivation techniques of common rank were free to read through. Closing the marketplace, the elders looked through the rest of the phone. Maps were eerily accurate down to the foot, even inside structures. The elders had no idea how to use the calculator, while they were fiddling around with the sine function a notice appeared on the top of the screen. -Raging Bear Sect has sent you a voice message ¡°-n''t figure it out, wait, there it goes. Delete that last part, Elder Guinn. What should we send our allies as a maiden message? No, don¡¯t-¡± A message called out from the phone. ¡°That was Elder Phillip''s voice!¡± Scenes like these were taking place all over the Setting Lands. Ben made sure that each event was recorded so he could laugh at and blackmail anyone who used one of his products. A wave swept through the continent. If someone found a manual in a grave or inherited it from a dying teacher they could now be traded in for more useful techniques that had been similarly sold to the massive database. The original manual could even be kept after the phone scanned the information written there. Curiously enough, any manual above heaven rank was unable to be entered into the database. The calligraphy would turn out blurry and unreadable. It seemed most high ranking techniques couldn¡¯t be passed on through photo and screen. Despite this fact, a change occurred overnight in all the sects, suddenly there was an influx in methods of cultivation all over the Setting Lands. Disciples in devil¡¯s path sects found themselves able to practice simple, chaste arts like Snow Flower Passing Seven Doors or Myriad Breeze Scripture. Grandmasters of righteous sects didn¡¯t allow their disciples to view methods like Three Virgins Thrall or Asura Demon Blade, but they now had access to the simplest cultivation techniques of any Dao ever pursued. The phones were identical to modern cell phones with two exceptions. There was a formation for gathering Qi that would power the phone and increase ambient Qi when the phone¡¯s battery was not being charged. The second formation was a simple transmission array that connected with the mainframe back on the mountain. There Ben was sitting next to the fusion reactor with a complex look on his face. He had thrown enough curveballs at his enemies that simple information gathering for a strike would take days to complete. He bought at least a few hours of peace. It was time to finally contact Alice. ¡®A.I. Chip, what¡¯s the fastest way to contact Alice?¡¯ -Adopt a void rank constitution and send her the information to build a communication array ¡®Void rank? I thought it only went as high as heaven rank.¡¯ -Ranks for items, manuals and constitutions are as follows, common, uncommon, rare, earthly, heavenly, immortal, deity, godly, void. A pseudo void rank body or natal void rank body can be adopted Not a full void rank body? -That''s not possible on this planet. The resulting singularity would tear apart all matter within several light years ''What options do I have?¡¯ -Great cosmos body. A body made from the remains of stars. This constitution is normally only seen in the children of sentient stars -Illusion star body. A body forged by phenomena and the most obscure treasures of the sky. This constitution is the most elusive and indefinable of any body known -Elemental star body. A body tempered by the origins of the elements. A purely theoretical existence with unlimited potential -Void star body. A body born from a black hole. A constitution naturally able to absorb and assimilate all things -Eternal firmament body. A body with it''s foundation in space itself. Unmoving under pressure and the toughest of known body types -Dark energy body. A body nurtured in the most antithetical of natural energies, dark matter and dark energy. Master of all things Yin. Possessing by far the highest degree of destructive potential ¡®Why are all these related to astronomy?¡¯ -They are the highest and most powerful entities currently known ¡®Fair enough. Some of those look pretty good. What would be the best choice?¡¯ -Elemental Star Body would be the best option for you if you want to keep crafting. Illusion Star Body is the most versatile option but also the weakest. Great Cosmos Body would be the best option for pure brute force. Void Star Body is the best option for controlling Yin type energy. Eternal Firmament Body has the highest defense. Dark Energy Body is the most destructive. ¡®Are those options permanent? I don¡¯t want to paint myself into a corner by adopting the Void Star Body then need to manipulate fire.¡¯ -Adopting the Elemental Star Body would be your best choice. Your three Dantian can be used as the three base stars. They will need to be strengthened again. Your fire and sword core can be strengthened here. Your water core will also need to be upgraded. Additional pairs of elements can be added to increase the quality of the body ¡®It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t suggest I try to refine those spirits.¡¯ -Your arbitrary preference has been noted ¡®You¡¯re starting to sound like Alice. Just get started.¡¯ Ben exited his private office and dove into the masses that had taken residence in or around the mountain. Smiths, alchemists, formation masters and other professions crowded around the tight workspaces using the futuristic technologies. Each person there knew how valuable this chance was, morale was at an all time high. Nobody had been directly told to respect or obey Ben, but there was an implicit reverence that each person showed towards him. Several people had tried to engage Ben, but they didn¡¯t receive so much as a glance. Ben walked over to the fusion reactor. New components were being added constantly and older parts exchanged with newer versions. The whole machine looks nothing like it did before with the exception of the core where Huoyun looked out at Ben. ¡°That was something. When will we get attacked again? I liked the show.¡± She chirruped from inside the machine. ¡°It¡¯s work now, sweetheart. I need as much fire qi as we can manage. I¡¯m about to undergo some decent cultivation.¡± Ben advised her. ¡°How can I help?¡± The bustling crowds watched as Ben took up a large amount of space right next to the reactor. A induction furnace was set up using an alloy that was able to heat up from the massive amperage without melting. Tools and materials were gathered for crafting a completely new device. Ben had been wondering about the levels of ambient Qi and what caused some places to have more than others. The prevailing theory was identical to the concept of ley lines and dragon veins back on Earth. Could dragon veins be altered? The ancient Chinese thought so. There were records of entire mountains being moved to ¡®dissipate wind(feng) and retain water(shui)¡¯. Buildings would be leveled and rooflines modified to retain as much positive energy as possible and filter out negative energy. Even in modern day china large ''Dragon windows¡¯ were built into skyscrapers as to not interrupt the natural flow of Qi from the mountains to the sea. Formation masters were experts in manipulating this flow of natural energies for their own purposes. Simply by moving earth and stones a place could become desolate or verdant using the natural flow of Qi. Sometimes the reverse would happen, natural forces would cave out valleys and basins, slowly changing the landscape and developing its own natural formation. A large waterfall over the course of millenia could form its own gravity formation, an area with an overabundance of herbs had a chance to form a natural growth formation, an arid desert may end up with a brilliance array that prevents plants from growing and clouds from forming. Whirlpool formations were common in places with high tides and strong currents. Ben was getting more familiar with the force of nature that was so scarce back on Earth, Qi. It bent the laws of nature that he knew so well, fire used less fuel, fusion was easier to achieve, more basic forms of matter were possible, even astrological constraints and laws of physics changed. Rabbits could beat men, magic was possible and Ben¡¯s own estimations put the planet at the same size of Sol, Earth''s own star. It was taking some time for him to come to grips with the new rules and laws of this world. This didn¡¯t mean that his old knowledge was invalid, who knows what would be discovered if humanity had ventured past Jupiter when Ben had lived there? Well, Alice would. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Ben had two projects to complete. One was to make an item to raise ambient Qi, the other was to upgrade his flame heart core and begin forging a constitution. There were several ways to increase the ambient Qi of an area. He could steal it from somewhere else, reduce lost Qi in a system or create it himself. Ben didn¡¯t want to steal it from someone else, reducing loss of ambient Qi would only have a minimal effect. Lucky for Ben, there was a way to create Qi from nothing right next to him. The fusion chamber was built in spherical sections. The most valuable metals had been used for the inner section. That was an alloy made from no less than a dozen other metals with large amounts of orchalum, iron mother and draconic essence gold. This particular mixture had the added benefit of being able to temper itself over time with Qi and other stresses put upon it. Basically, the alloy could evolve. This innermost shell would never be removed, the parts around it would be replaced one at a time while the reactor ran on. The next layer was a casing that held the inner core together and had four openings, two for gas exchange and two for lasers. The next layer was where the electromagnets sat, they were the largest driving force for the reactor. Next there was a framework that held the magnets in place and fixed the whole reactor to the ground. This project would use the reactor as an energy source, spirit water from Brother He as a fuel and the cherry tree as the control and distribution agent. Ben would come into contact with large amounts of fire Qi, water Qi and valuable metals that could enhance his dantian and constitution. (What¡¯s the plural of dantian?) Entering the Sacred Ground, Ben found Brother He staring staring out over the river. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if its been lonely without Sister Huoyun and Brother Jian. Don¡¯t you want to come out and say hello?¡± Ben asked. ¡°I had to let them go. They can¡¯t develop any further in here. I also can¡¯t leave my physical body behind.¡± Brother He lamented. ¡°Why not take your body outside then? A river around the mountain would make a good moat.¡± Ben inquired. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t fit.¡± Brother He waved his hand over the bend in the river they were looking down on. ¡°This is only a small portion of my true body, less than a tenth of a percent. It¡¯s also deeper than it is wide. Ben looked out to the distant bank, it must be nearly a mile to the other side. There was enough space in there for titans of the depths to do battle without upsetting the placid surface. ¡°How about I have a large moat built for you? It wouldn¡¯t be too difficult, just grab a few million people, destroy a few cities and move a few sects. We shouldn¡¯t have any trouble with that. I really need your help for a project.¡± Ben suggested. ¡°I know you¡¯ve been having some successes, but you really have that kind of political power?¡± Brother He was skeptical. ¡°Oh yes. I gave out cellphones to the leaders of all the sects. I have near complete control over the continent now. They can¡¯t put the things down and I control all data being exchanged. It¡¯s difficult to ignore propaganda when it bombards you constantly, trust me, I¡¯ve done this sort of thing before.¡± --- An update went out to all the phones Ben had distributed to the populace. A new major tab was added, the ¡®Missions¡¯ tab. There was only one mission labeled ¡®River Mission¡¯ that had multiple options for tasks depending on strength and influence. The easiest, safest and lowest paying task was laborer. All that was required was a short hike to the nearest worksite, dig a hole, take a picture of it with the phone and knowledge points were added to the account automatically. Harder tasks included guards and overseers for the project. The hardest and most rewarding tasks had a chance to increase to increase Knowledge Rank, but they were tasks that only those at the pinnacle of power could complete. Groups could also be made through the social app, take larger tasks and you could be paid all together and at a higher rate. Many sects took up these larger tasks to be able to afford a high ranking martial art that catapulted them above their peers. Cities and sects that were in the way of the proposed river bed were given two choices, leave voluntarily and receive KP and KR or be forced out by others who would receive the KP and KR. The reward was clear to see for anyone with a phone, their forced relocation was inevitable. Families were forced out of ancestral homes, but they did receive compensation that many of them didn¡¯t understand, it was only later that they found the use for this new currency that they had been given. As always there were people that abused the system and forced others to transfer their hard earned KP. These activities were quietly recorded by their phones and the data was sent back to Ben. Back at the mountain, Ben was bathing himself in the energies of the reactor and crafting a special modification with a formation that would sit above the reactor and act in the same way a kettle would. Special types of water provided by Brother He would be pumped into the main chamber and Qi would be transferred from the reactor into the water. The water turned into superheated water laden with Qi that was pumped over to the tree and released to mingle with the heavy amounts of mist already there. All three of Ben¡¯s Dantian grew from working so closely with their respective elements. Each of the three reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm and only needed a catalyst to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm. The Qi dispersal modification could only work for a limited time until the water supply system could be taken over by Brother He himself. Given this limitations there was still an enormous amount of mist gathered around the tree. Production of weapons went on while Ben was working, these weapons would be sold at ridiculous prices through the marketplace. Ben still needed to be a Nascent Soul cultivator to finally get back in direct contact with Alice. He had only been gone for a year, but Ben tended to worry about her even if he couldn¡¯t do anything. He was well aware of the dangers that could befall a being like her. A Carrington level solar flare, supervolcanoes, meteors, neutron stars, nuclear war or any other such disaster could mean her end if Ben wasn¡¯t there to plan against such things. A neutron star would destroy everything without possibility of survival, but the other issues could be engineered against. (Authors note: Look up the Carrington event and shit yourself from fear, we were almost hit by one a few years ago.) Alice could probably handle all those issues herself, but it was a natural behaviour to worry about one¡¯s children. Ben had a driving urge to talk with her again, just to make sure she was being treated all right. There was only his bottleneck that he would need to advance to Nascent Soul realm. Ben would start with his lower dantian, then heart core, then braincore. He had learned from his time here that steady progress was important. Ben nothing to do with that, but it was never too late to solidify ones foundation. ¡°Brother Jian, it¡¯s time for your big improvement. I¡¯m going to reforge you.¡± Ben called out as he called out. The sword spirit had been mingling with Plague Devil Sect and Saint Devil Sect. After so many years with only two other entities they all had grown stir crazy, this was a chance to talk to sword cultivators of all different kinds. He came over when word got out that Ben was looking for him. ¡°What do you mean reforge?¡± Brother Jian asked. ¡°I¡¯ll heat up to just below melting point then apply a series of electromagnets to change your internal structure and make you stronger.¡± Ben gave a simple answer. ¡°Will that effect my spirit body or personality?¡± He asked. ¡°How would I know? It probably will, I¡¯ve never done this to anything with a spirit.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°What happened when you did it before?¡± ¡°I created the world''s first spiral steel, or mantis steel. It was a revolution in materials technology.¡± Ben explained. ¡°Spiral? Mantis?¡± Brother Jian had a confused look on his face. ¡°A creature found in my oceans called the mantis shrimp is able to strike with so much force that it makes light. It is such a strange creature, I spent a lot of time researching it. I found that the shrimps striking appendage was very special, but it wasn¡¯t what the arms where made of but how they were made. There is a 3d spiraling pattern that gives them their strength. There is no other known internal molecular structure that is more effective at dispersing force.¡± Ben lectured. (Authors note, that''s true about the mantis shrimp.) ¡°When I applied that same principal to steel, both its compressive and tensile strength grew to four times when compared to average steel.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try then.¡± Brother Jian was taken in by the strength comparison. A special forge was set up with induction coils, laser apertures for heat and variable electromagnets for internal material manipulation of the sword. The sword was put in place and the chamber was sealed with Brother Jian¡¯s spirit body outside. The induction coils were heated up and began transferring heat into the sword. This took hours as the chamber slowly heated up, the sword acted like a heat sink and didn¡¯t change color for a long time. Insulation was added and more power put into the coil. The project dragged on with little to show for the effort. More and more heat was added to the chamber. Just as the induction coil reached melting point, the sword started turning cherry red. The lasers started firing, bringing up the temperature of the metal to a point where it could be manipulated by the magnetic field. Ben started a program that controlled the magnets. Pairs shut on and off in a prepared pattern that manipulated the metal of the sword in very specific spiral motion. Brother Jian¡¯s spirit form turned translucent and shrank slightly as the forging progressed. The magnets banged against their housings as they fired on and off. Targeted magnetic fields manipulated the interior of the sword, altering it on the molecular level. The sword and spirit body both shrank as the process continued. By the end of the forging the sword had compressed to half its previous length and Brother Jian himself turned from a man into a youth. In the clear sky overhead a circular cloud formed. The cloud was dark despite the clear sky around it. Thunder rumbled through the cloud. Then, as quickly as it had formed, the cloud disappeared. It was as if the heavens were uncertain. The machine was shut down and the weapon taken back out. The grip had changed from two handed to one and the blade couldn''t be called a sword anymore, it was now barely a short sword, little more than a dirk. Ben suddenly felt an affinity for the weapon. He had never even swung a sword back on earth, the only weapon he had ever seriously used was the cane. This blade fit in his hand perfectly and he felt a connection to the spirit through the weapon. Brother Jian closed his eyes and faded from view. The blade in Ben''s hand shrunk down in size, then slipped into his palm. He could still feel the blade as if he was holding it. The blade shot up his arm and into his lower dantian. ¡®What? A spiritual bond?¡¯ Ben exclaimed. ¡®Ah, so comfortable.¡¯ Ben heard a voice in his head. He instinctively knew it to be Brother Jian. -Lower Dantian upgraded to Nascent Soul realm The blade seemed to go dormant as it rested there in his lower dantian. ¡®Now it''s time to work on my brain core or heart core.¡¯ Ben murmured. *Boom* A sonic boom washed over the sect and a mighty voice was heard for miles around. ¡°Who dares cross an elder of Ancient Dragon Sect!¡± Chapter 23: This bloodlust excites me ¡°Who dares assault an elder of Ancient Dragon Sect!¡± A overpowering aura covered the skies in a oppressive display. The sky trembled and everyone on the mountain heard the voice. There standing in the sky was a authoritative figure with dozens of experts standing in the sky behind him. The leader stood like a god of war, he wore a white robe with a embroidered red dragon coiling around it. Flames surrounded him like a noble corona. His oppressive presence suppressed anyone below the Nascent Soul realm. The number of people who could lift their eyes up to meet his could be counted on one hand. The man of fire looked down at the multitude below him. His gaze seared the souls of the masses as they stood watching. ¡°What? Get off my lawn, you hillbilly. What kind of person interrupts a man while he¡¯s shitting?¡± Ben roared out in return. He hadn¡¯t been doing anything of the sort, but loved pushing these little awkward moments on other people. He would ask someone about their last bowel movement just to throw someone off their guard or gather personal information. The expert overhead paused for a moment, and that moment was all it took to slow their momentum and break the spell the leader had cast over the souls of the sect. This chaos was what Ben desired. A second was all he needed to prepare the fusion reactor and base defenses. The capacitor banks had all emptied into the laser banks the second the aura had appeared in the skies above. The lasers had discharged into the reactor causing a spike in activity that supercharged the whole system. The fusion reactor peaked in its output and energy flooded the whole system. The capacitor banks were brought to a maximum limit in less than a second and Ben needed to discharge the energy or the whole power plant would melt down. The energy was directed back into the lasers and set to a special frequency. The emitters shot out lasers that were invisible to mortal eyes. Others only felt a strange sensation when the energies flashed through them. ¡°What foul work!¡± The head of the formation shouted our and waved his hand. A field spread out that slowed the abnormal feeling, but it never disappeared. ¡°Has a mere devil sect had it¡¯s way with the Setting Lands? We of the Heavenly Lands will never allow such a thing.¡± The leader of the new arrivals proclaimed. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about? I just gave billions of people access to cultivation techniques they never would have had the chance to see, how is that evil?¡± Ben yelled at the newcomers. The elders in the sky slowed down for a second at that. ¡°I also set in place a system to fight corruption, theft, rape and coercion. How is that a bad thing?¡± Ben added. ¡°How can we believe a wicked sect like yours?¡± The lead elder proclaimed. ¡°You don¡¯t need to, I just need to distract you all for a few moments, ahahahahah!¡± Ben laughed in the faces of the astonished cultivator flying in the sky. The uncomfortable sensation had been growing, now it turned to full dread. The next moment all hell broke loose. The practitioners of the mountain had all gotten used to Ben¡¯s personality and knew he was leading them somewhere. They brought out airguns and railguns and fired at the flock of cultivators in the sky. The plasma cannon fired right at the center figure with a blue bolt and scream that bore it¡¯s way through the skull of anyone hearing it through the fog of war. The lasers changed their setting to the ignition phase of the radioactive attack. Instantly, anyone in the skies weaker than the Heavenly Connection realm was paralysed from the loss of neural motor control. They fell from the air like skeet waiting to be picked off by the snipers below. Dozens of Nascent Soul experts fell to their deaths and the Heavenly Connection ancestors fared little better when pitted against futuristic assaults. They had never encountered radiation attacks and had with no chance for defense. They were like poisoned generals waiting to be slaughtered by children with knives. Only a handful of figures were left standing on the opposing side, they were able to cross through the fields of fire to reach the main target of this mission, Ben himself. They charged through the line made from Lilith and the other masters of Plague Devil Sect. They charged through the formations of elders from Saint Devil Sect. A most of them never emerged from those fields of fire. The remaining elders of Ancient Dragon Sect rushed towards the summit where Ben stood at the center of the systems of the mountain. He calmly watched the enemies approach. Underneath his feet all the complex devices were running at their full power. The fusion reactor with Huoyun inside it had never ran at this high a level. The capacitors were rapidly filled and discharged into the laser bank and plasma cannon. Only three elders remained when the assault broke through to where Ben was standing like a final boss. They crashed against a shield array and ground to a halt there in front of Ben. The three faced Ben with ugly expressions. They had little intelligence about this operation, they were relying on speed and overwhelming power to crush any opposition. The new weaponry they faced had brought them down in a spectacular disaster. It was at this point the thousand Winter cherry blossom acted. The infusion of mist Qi had been a tonic for it that gave it a boost to it''s vitality. If the truth said, the tree was looking for something to do. It had a literally unhuman point of view that demanded that it fight at this moment. Mist burst out from the flowers into the air like a steam explosion. Clouds of vapor covered the mountain obscuring the view. The scene from all those months ago replayed itself as Ben leapt into the mist. A furry shadow leapt after him. He held a short sword in one hand instead of a spear. The horned rabbit, instead of being chased, was chasing after him. He wasn¡¯t practicing, but fighting for real. His intent wasn¡¯t for fun and training, but for fun and killing. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ben believed he was developing a taste for bloodlust. He didn¡¯t want to shoot this foe down from a distance, but feel the knife draw life¡¯s last blood. A high that he had never felt raged through his head that demanded he tear apart his enemies with his own two hands. -Bloodlust activated. Devil¡¯s path cultivation unlocked. You may now cultivate any of the three dark paths, Path of the Blood God, the Path of the Asura or the Path of the Revenant -Path of the Blood God. Absorb the blood of your enemies and refine it for yourself. Condense blood into Blood Essence and convert it to True Blood Qi. Greatly increases vitality and strength -Path of the Asura. Kill and indulge in your hedonistic pleasures. Lie, steal, mass murder, rape, fight and destroy. Align yourself with chaos and turn yourself into a chaotic god. Greatly increases offensive power, lowers reasoning and stains the soul -Path of the Revenant. Steep yourself in yin Qi and death energy. Refine ghosts and nurture malevolent spirits in your victims. Raises spiritual and mental power, tames spirits for your own use. Lowers karma. Ben ignored the text that appeared, instead he focused on his sword skill, his mastery of formations and mist, and his short time hunting in the forest. He had already laid dozens of protective and illusion arrays into the mountain, now the majority of them came to life in this pivotal battle. The mist around him came alive, flowing along with him like the closest ally. Sword Qi flowed down his arm into the sword body of Brother Jian. His heart pumped blood madly, accelerating his physical attributes. The three elders all were of the Heavenly Connection realm. They were some of the strongest humans this whole plain of existence, but they had taken a tremendous blow already from a bizarre attack. They never knew what had hit them until most of their friends had died. The effect of a lethal dose of radiation on a mortal was known to Ben, but he wasn¡¯t clear what would happen when he multiplied that by a million and used it against cultivators. Gamma and x-ray radiation had been beamed directly into the top of the brainstem where it met the brain. The effect was near instant cell death for the neurons that carried information and commands to the rest of the body. The three experts left had been able to resist the effect with their unbelievable vitality, but they were crippled from the attack. Ben would normally only be able to kill someone of his own Nascent Soul realm, but defeating a weakened Heavenly Connection cultivator would be well within his ability. Ben held the newly forged blade and felt the presence of Brother Jian within it. It was like he was standing just behind Ben, looking over his shoulder. His presence was felt, but not seen. The horned rabbit was there too. Ben had concluded that there was something special about the beast and decided to test his conclusions later. He had never been able to catch the rabbit except for the one time he only intended to tease it. Nubbins hadn¡¯t been seen for awhile but Ben now had enough evidence to suspect that the creature had some special quality to it. Ben himself was a genius from another world. There were stories here about children of the gods and he himself knew three supernatural spirits. Ben suspected that the creature was deeply connected to the Dao of Luck. Ben¡¯s own understanding of the Dao of crafting, formations and the sword all came into play here. He maintained a constant connection with the plasma cannon and other weaponry to support him. He manipulated the mists and formations built here to hide himself and confuse the enemy. His new connection with the sword and his Nascent Soul realm sword dantian was the focus of his killing intent. Figures wove through the mist chasing each other. Here nubbins darted between someones legs. There a red beam flashed through the confusion, striking a shadow that fell to the ground. A blade fell upon a struggling form and blood sprayed into the air and seemed to merge with the mist. Ben fought with each of his enemies one at a time, striking from a unexpected angle with the assistance of the plasma cannon, other base defenses and distraction of the rabbit. Then Ben retreated using the illusion formations and mist from the cherry tree to cover him. Another ambush would occur soon after, each exchange would damage the elders a little more. The plasma cannon fired a bolt of energy at one of the elders. The elder was in a exhausted state and could only put up a token defense, mostly relying on a defensive treasure. The plasma bolt shattered the armor but did little to harm his body. The elder then felt a presence coming from the left and whirled around to face it. That was when the long dagger Ben carried sunk into the elders back. He stabbed the blade into the elder¡¯s kidney and sliced to the side, cutting the whole organ in two. Sword Qi ravaged the lower unprotected section of his abdomen. The elder lost his strength and fell to the ground. Ben¡¯s next strike slashed into his neck, severing his carotid artery and windpipe. Soon after that the other two Heavenly Connection cultivators also fell. The died undignified, messy deaths. There were no fancy killing blows or epic confrontations, only the terrified struggle of men dying with extreme regret. The elders had lived for hundreds of years and fought thousands of battles, but they were struck down by vicious blow from a cruel and devious enemy with futuristic weapons. Brother Jian saw a strange sight, he was slightly conflicted when he saw Ben harvesting the blood from the three elders, but Brother Jian knew about such things as blood refining and had seen the act performed on many battlefields. Some people saw blood refining as a devil¡¯s path method, some saw it as little more than a tonic, much like a cat drinks the blood of their prey. -Blood refined to Foundation Establishment realm. Merging with heart core -Heart Core has reached Nascent Soul realm. Blood Flame Embryo formed ¡°Hahahah!¡± Ben¡¯s psychotic laughter rang over the mountainside. Chapter 24: This will be the name of my sect Two dantian were at the Nascent Soul realm. The last was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. There was something that prevented Ben from absorbing more water Qi into his brain core. It would flow in and just flow back out through the body. While this was useful for his overall vitality and health, it wouldn¡¯t breakthrough the bottleneck. There was more than enough Qi in the area right now, Brother He had begun his slow move from the Sacred Ground. A massive waterfall poured down the mountain into the excavated riverbed and flowed out into the distance. He had reached a bottleneck and needed something special to push through. The key to his other two breakthroughs required a sword spirit and a new blood refining technique that enabled him to refine the blood from three Heavenly Connection cultivators. What kind of treasure would he need to assimilate to break through with his brain core? He suspected that refining the river spirit wouldn¡¯t work, it would probably make his head explode. ¡®Things have been coming thick and fast. That bloodlust felt amazing, but now that I¡¯m calm again, that reminded me of the time I tried cocaine and amphetamine. I wanted more and at the time I was willing to change my lifestyle to accommodate that. Better put the Devil''s Path in the same category as drugs, useful for a short boosts, but the cost is too high.¡¯ (Pun intended.) ¡®A few drugs would be great to have at hand, I could use some weed right now. I need to calm down.¡¯ He sighed. Ben let his mind wander while he made his way over to the cherry tree. He ignored the crowds around him, sat down and closed his eyes at the base of the tree. He didn¡¯t like the effect of the Devil¡¯s Path that had opened up before him. He calmed his mind and focused on his Dao, the Dao of Creation. His thoughts flowed upward slowly. Bring together cells and reproduce, build and live, understand and fight entropy. Using a old familiar technique taught to him when he was five years old on Earth. Using a Buddhist meditation method, he stilled his mind. He imagined his mind as a river, to see the depths one must see through still waters. Ben¡¯s thinking slowed. One by one he identified his mental processes and stopped them. His connection with the A.I. chip was severed, his heartbeat slowed to 12 BPM, his breathing slowed to a single breath a minute. Stimuli from his five senses were ignored. Only his new sense of Qi and its related abilities remained. He kept his internal sense of feeling, but largely ignored it. Thought processes came to an end, desires were laid bare. There were three thoughts that resurfaced time and time again during his meditation. The first thought was a familiar one, greed. It was something that drove him to do better and improve himself. He wanted more money, power, ability and status. Ben used this negative emotion to drive himself to do better. Now he pushed this emotion down and cut it off. The second thought was fear. There was little fear for his own life, but he did feel fear for Alice¡¯s safety and curiously enough, a fear for his new allies in the Devil¡¯s Sects. He worried that they would be attacked again, he worried for Lilith, Juliana and the others who had worked closely with him for these past few months. The last thought came from the worst and darkest corner of his mind. There was a good reason for Ben to never fall in love or have an active sex life. He hated this part of himself, he always regretted his actions when driven by lust and perversion. When he allowed himself to indulge in such pleasures, he left sorrow and ruin in his wake. The three emotions of greed, lust and fear were tamped down and suppressed. Time passed while Ben slowly calmed himself. The disciples and elders around him left him alone, assuming him to be cultivating. The factories were maintained while they produced weapons and devices. Huoyun kept cultivating. Brother He¡¯s river kept pouring out. The fusion reactor turned the water into Qi heavy steam and pumped it to the tree. A slow revolution was taking place with the spread of cell phones among the populace. A day passed, two days passed, a week passed. During this time the only thought in Ben¡¯s head was a sense the growing Qi around him. He felt it gathering at a point above his head. He felt something bite him. He opened his eyes and looked down at nubbins, who was looking up at something in the misty branches of the tree. There was a point there where the illusion mist Qi was condensing into a single cherry. At times the fruit looked like the cloudy sky, and at times it seemed to disappear. There was a hint of profundity and impossibility there in the small cherry. As the man and rabbit watched, the cherry fell from the branch. Ben held his hand out to catch it and the rabbit jumped to intercept. The cherry passed straight through the open mouth of the rabbit and continued in its downward trajectory. It fell onto Ben¡¯s hand with a soft thud. Ben¡¯s mental processes at this point had not recovered back to normal. His mind was muddled from focusing on Qi and not thinking for so long, he only saw the mass of Qi in his palm and wanted too eat it. Without thinking too much about what he was doing, he swallowed the cherry whole. The fruit turned into a mist in his stomach that passed through his internal organs, circulatory system and bones. It avoided his heart and lower dantian, settling in his brain core. -Brain Core Upgrading to Nascent Soul Realm. modifying body type to pseudo Three Elemental Star Physique. -Brain Core, Illusion Mist Qi, traces of Tribulation Lightning Qi and Wood Dragon Qi -Heart Core, Fire Qi, Blood Qi -Lower Dantian, Sword Qi, Metal Qi -Beginning transformation. --- There was talk among the elders. Clearly they needed to reforge their identity in light of their new position in the world. They had come from one among hundreds to be the true overlord of this whole realm. Their influence was felt by every clan and every city. None dared to lay a hand on their lowliest slave, much less rise up in open rebellion. Their products were exported across the land. Powerhouses across the sea didn¡¯t dare to act against them after hearing the tale of loss from Ancient Dragon Sect. A new power had thrust itself into the heavens like a rising star. They needed a new name and structure. A few names thrown around were Church of the Holy Tree, the Machine Ascension Sect, and others. They would have consulted Ben, but he had been asleep at the base of the tree for a month now. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. There were many rumors about his cultivation method. There were three separate energies he refined, Water, Fire and Sword Qi. The aura he subconsciously let out grew on a daily basis. Sometimes he was surrounded by mist, sometimes steam. Time wore on for the busy sect. There was no further development of technology, but they became more familiar with the machines and weapons they did have. Ancestors and Grandmasters came from other sects to establish good relations with the new power and all of them saw the figure under the tree. Many people thought he was sleeping, but the bursts of Qi proved that he was cultivating. Stories made their way to the outside world about the grandmaster sitting beneath the tree. There were plans for assassinations, he had made no lack of enemies. But every plot failed mysteriously just before they could disturb Ben. Recollections of the battles and the sleeping expert spread far and wide. Lies became rumors, rumors became stories, stories became legends. Mystery veiled his past. The new subject of global interest focused on one sect and one individual in particular. There was a massive outcry on the new social network for more information. When someone suggested that a video was set up with a live feed of his cultivation, massive pressure was forced on the new sect to do just this. A camera was set up with a livestream for public view. There he sat underneath the tree in a lotus position. There were massive debates regarding all aspects of his elderly features and fan clubs that adored Nubbins. They didn¡¯t know that Ben really was sleeping and dreaming of his homeland. --- ¡°How are you, Alice? Is something wrong?¡± Ben looked at the girl in front of him and smiled. She looked a little older than the last time he had seen her. She was smiling at him, but he could tell that her mind was elsewhere and she was somewhat sad. ¡°You set something off, I think. You left Earth through a kind a spatial tear, something like a wormhole. We have all the data, so we tried opening up our own.¡± She told him. ¡°Naturally.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t send anything through before they started pouring out. At first I thought it was just a few genetic deformations, but after dissecting one we found additional organs. Sickness started to spread and we realized it was an invasion. You know I hate bugs, Ben.¡± Alice shivered. ¡°Fuck. Here¡¯s some data, this should be useful for the fight.¡± Ben relayed all the information he had on turning electricity to Qi using basic materials. ¡°I can¡¯t hold on for much longer Ben. I¡¯ve got to spend too much attention elsewhere.¡± She told him. ¡°Two final things then.¡± Ben transmitted two other pieces of data. The first was basic formation theory he knew Alice didn¡¯t have, the second was a blueprint for a planet wide formation. ¡°I know you¡¯re having a good time. Just try to wander in my direction will you?¡± Alice came close and hugged Ben. He knew that this was the most desperate way she knew to ask for help, any teary eyed pleading or sincere words would only be lost on him. ¡°Do well, sweetheart.¡± Ben hugged her growing frame tight to his chest as she faded away once again. -User upgraded to Nascect Soul Realm. Pseudo Three Elemental Star Physique: 10% -Form additional pairs of cores to upgrade to Lesser Five Elemental Star Physique, Greater Seven Elemental Star Physique and Heavenly Nine Celestial Body --- On a day three weeks after he had fallen asleep, Ben woke up. The spiritual ripple sent out was felt by every living thing in the world. Grasses swayed in a unfelt breeze, children awoke from their slumber, grandmasters stirred from their meditations. Most mortals and cultivators ignored the subtle feeling that didn¡¯t disturb their daily work. The local barometric pressure dropped suddenly. Clouds gathered overhead and a vortex formed above the tree. Ambient Qi concentrated around the sitting form, condensing into a mist of its own. Phantom images of trees and swords formed in the eddies and currents. He opened his eyes. On the outside he hadn¡¯t changed at all, but underneath his skin were muscles harder than steel. His vision peered far away and he faintly swayed in the gentle breeze, as though weightless. When seen at first, he looked like the most ordinary of men. Blending into the background of the scene, even if there was no one there. As one looked closer they would see hints of the vitality that lurked under his wrinkled skin and the sharp aura that he kept tightly contained. The area calmed and phenomena disappeared. Ben slowly closed his eyes as he interfaced with the A.I. chip, it connected with the mainframe he had built under the mountain. Information regarding the last month streamed into his consciousness. He looked at the river project, the marketplace and infrastructure of the mountain. Ben had a long list of prioritized projects along with detailed instructions. While he was meditating and sleeping the tasks were carried out. The mountain was slowly being hollowed out to allow for workspaces and infrastructure. Arrays were made, connected and strengthened. The surrounding countryside had earthwork projects and buildings being built to better match the areas new status. A city had sprouted up overnight to act as the physical marketplace for the Sect and house the thousands of immigrants. Millions of cultivators came to buy the advanced weaponry and other devices made here. There needed to be shops that represented the new sect outside their sacred grounds. Thanks to the device to raise ambient Qi, the summit was perpetually covered in cloud and mist. There were rumors of what it looked like, but only core disciples and elders with special permissions were allowed to set foot on the mountain. Ben approved of the progress made. The last two pieces of news were the urgency for a new name and the information about the camera watching him. He manipulated a cloud of mist to pass between him and the camera, then walked away. He didn¡¯t really care about the name of the sect, he sent out a message to all administrators of the mountain. There was a collective outcry heard all over the mountain. Some complaining about the new name, some excited that the founder of the new sect was finally awake. -Welcome to Horned Rabbit Sect. Chapter 25: There must be something going on here There was a new product on the market. It was called a beacon. They came in different sizes, shapes and strengths. Consumers could buy more complex and powerful versions with a higher Knowledge Ranking. They could look like anything from a stump to a Torii Gate, as innocuous as a pebble or as gaudy as a jewel. What was important was the fact that holding or spreading beacons brought a steady trickle of Knowledge Points. They would give more KP depending on proximity to another beacon, ambient Qi and other factors. This encouraged people to take these special devices and hide them everywhere. A higher rank beacon overrode lower ranks, spreading out a stronger field in a larger direction, and thusly generating higher KP. A low leveled beacon was simply a relay for information. It would receive and send information for phones and passively gather data like barometric pressure, ambient Qi, humidity and other atmospheric indicators. The higher ranked ones where more complicated to build and had a new piece of technology built into them, the Qi sensor. It worked on the same principle as radar, sending out a wave of Qi and reading the feedback using arrays. It was in this way that Ben set up his sensor network. Together with the phones he could get a good idea of the flow of Qi on a large level, he could make a map of locations with higher Qi and any related phenomena. He spent some time pouring over this information. It took several days, but now he had a rough map of the way Qi flowed over the continent. There were many profound laws that determined how Qi behaved that Ben needed to understand. He applied methods from both ocean currents and weather patterns to try to develop a Qi circulation map that would cover the whole continent, what he found had him hurrying to finish projects to prepare for his first research expedition. He sent out memos and work orders. He made unilateral decisions and wrote out guidelines for the sect. Large amounts of data was transferred over to the mainframe for teaching and guiding development of more modern infrastructure. There were thousands of written tests of all sorts, research data, teaching materials and blueprints. If Ben didn¡¯t have a Nascent Soul head core this would be impossible, it would have overloaded the chip and melted his brain. He wrote out messages for the elders of the Horned Rabbit Sect. One was for a certain woman to meet him at a certain place. A spirit vessel was seen departing that night. --- Lilith kept her poise as she piloted the vessel. In just a few months her position had changed drastically, the higher ups in her clan were very happy with her placement next to the inventor. Her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds along with that of her sisters, who had come with her. When she asked to bring a group of assistants, Ben told her that they would have to stay out of sight. ¡°Any more than one pair of breasts would be too distracting. I¡¯d never be able to get any work done.¡± The group of highly skilled assassins and masters of manipulation piloted the spirit vessel. They watched the founder from a distance, but didn¡¯t approach. Ben himself wore a grey robe. It was slightly mottled as though stained. He also had several rusted rings on his hands. All in all, he looked like a dirty old man. There was a strong urge to dismiss him as unimportant or irrelevant. This inferior image Ben invoked caused Lilith¡¯s sisters to feel uncomfortable, knowing just how powerful and important he really was. He looked off into the horizon, this gave him a mysterious air, but he has just interfacing with his A.I. Chip. He was planning his route towards a recent disturbance in a far off country. His sets of beacons were beginning to suggest a upsurge in natural Qi. As a scientist, he would be remiss in his duties if he didn¡¯t investigate such things. A ring on his left hand flashed. It was the product of his research into constitutions using his own transformation as a guideline along with the A.I. Chip. ¡°Slow down, Lilith.¡± Ben ordered. ¡°Head east from here.¡± The ship slowed and changed directions. A few minutes later they came upon a small village in the mountains. The peasants here worked in a mine and were covered in soot. The whole village looked up in shock at the wealthy visitors. Ben mildly looked down on the poor people. ¡°Come, Lilith, just in case it¡¯s a girl.¡± He jumped over the side. Not using any movement skill to fly or slow his descent, Ben used his body to resist the shock of a hundred meter fall. He climbed out of a crater just as Lilith stepped down lightly next to him, she wore a black robe with a veil. The crowd of villagers watched the two with fear. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ho...How can I assist the master?¡± A older man stammered when he was pushed forward by the crowd. ¡°Just came to talk with someone. I hope no one will interfere.¡± Ben said. Using their respective movement techniques the pair leapt over the crowd and arrived at one very filthy hovel. Sobbing was heard from inside, Ben stepped in without hesitation, Lilith following close behind. The place was covered in filth. There were no pieces of furniture, only blankets covering the dirt floor. There curled up in a corner was a young girl, about 8-9 years old. She was stained by the hut around her and emotionally traumatized by something that had happened to her. Looking around at the stains of blood and other bodily fluids around the hut, Ben suspected she was a sex slave. Ben walked up to the girl and laid his left hand on her head. She flinched away, but Ben held her steady. The ring on his hand lit up. ¡°Take her with us, we¡¯re leaving.¡± Lilith walked up to the girl and crouched next to her. When she lifted her veil there were tears in her eyes. She was able to meet the girls gaze and the girl fell unconscious into her arms. The three left the village. Back on the vessel, Lilith turned to Ben. ¡°What¡¯s so special about her?¡± She asked. ¡°Her constitution. She has the Radiant Prison Body, a deity rank body. She would have been adopted by sect when she matured, but we found her first, and in this vulnerable state. Nurse her back to health and bring her to our side. Make her a loyal guard. Her new name will be¡­ Terra. Give her the best treatment.¡± Lilith nodded and set a pill in the girl¡¯s mouth that melted and flowed down her throat. She passed the girl off to her sisters to clean and watch over her. The spirit vessel continued on it¡¯s way. Youngsters and other mortals with one secret or another were voluntarily picked up or abducted and made into a small timid crowd. They had a rough idea of who had picked them up, but they had yet to understand what kind of destiny they would have from here on. Just the spirit vessel itself was more than enough to impress upon them the grandeur and power they were now surrounded by. Each individual had enormous potential, but none of them could match Terra in this regard. Ben took the time to inspect each person and give them each a cultivation manual of at least the heaven rank. These were normally only available to core disciples of large sects, the thought of giving them to someone you didn¡¯t know was unheard of. A month of travel later they arrived at a small kingdom on the edge of the continent. An invisibility array was activated and the spirit vessel began to slowly circle above the area. It would take a Nascent Soul cultivator or a Foundation Establishment cultivator with special detection abilities to see through the camouflage. The group from Horned Rabbit Sect looked down on the country and studied the social landscape, levels of power and recent happenings of the area. Ben gave each one of Lilith¡¯s sisters a compacted version of the phone and sent them to infiltrate each of the major powers in the area. There were overlords in the area that fought for power. The Royal Family and it¡¯s Shi Clan, the Flowing Moon Sect and the Free Craftsmen. Each had its own branches that struggled with each other for power and resources. The most powerful individuals, the king and his father, the ancestor and guardian of the sect and the backers of the Free Craftsmen, were only in the Core Formation realm. Any one of Lilith¡¯s sisters could have their way with the whole region and call herself empress. ¡°Go, infiltrate these groups. Wait for my orders and do what you can for the people without making any commotion. Be ready to assist or hinder your assigned group. We should be here half a year at least, but we also may leave tomorrow.¡± Ben gave out his orders to his people. Lilith¡¯s sisters departed to their branches of the local powers. Each woman was trained in infiltration and manipulation. With them as his eyes and hands, Ben was sure to be the new power behind the scenes in a matter of days if not hours. Nothing he was doing here was without reason. According to his latest data from his beacons, there would be a major event happening here soon. He wasn¡¯t sure what it would be, but he knew there would be plenty of conflict and an outburst of Qi. Ben busied himself with setting up formations and sensors. It was time to record in detail his first phenomena. As he went about his work, a subtle feeling of familiarity came over him. Ben thought it must be from his working on research again, he soon found out he was wrong. Chapter 26: This boar is frightening In a poor corner of the Setting Lands Continent lay a destitute country named Vorchin. On one side was the Desolate Wilt with sand for hundreds of miles and on the other was the Primeval Forest. Qi was thin in the air, making it a poor habitat for cultivators. Life found it difficult to even survive. There were only a handful of cities and a dozen towns that scraped by. The Lin family were one of the many small families of Two Stone Town. There were only a hundred people who could be gathered under their banner, this included elderly and servants. They weren¡¯t a notable power, even in their own neighborhood. If they lasted the next ten years it would be called a success. The Lin Family made it¡¯s home in a collection of a few buildings surrounded by a wall. There were dormitories for members, a kitchen, a main hall and little else. The whole area was a little smaller than a city block. At the back of the estate a group of boys were ganging up on one miserable youth. ¡°Get out trash. You''re just a servant of the family, you know. You should be grateful we treat you like a slave and feed you at all.¡± A boy bullied the other young boy mercilessly. ¡°Hah! He can¡¯t even fight back! We¡¯re younger than him and already Qi Cultivators. It¡¯s sad that we have such a weak member of our family, he¡¯s dragging everyone down.¡± Another child flailed his fists at the huddled figure. The abuser kicked the poor soul to the ground. His victim was only a mortal who couldn¡¯t cultivate, after all. Who would care if one of the many servants never made it to his next task? He was one among thousands of other poor people in this town, his life mattered little to anyone at all. ¡°Come and find me when you can sense Qi, otherwise you''re just an ant. The family isn¡¯t likely to keep around a useless servant, after all.¡± The bully gave him a final kick to the ribs and left him there. Lin Feng gritted his teeth at the injustice done to him and pounded his fists against the ground. ¡®Mother, Father. Your son is useless. You left this world too early. I wanted to make you proud, but I can¡¯t even breakthrough to the Qi Sensing realm.¡¯ ¡®I can''t even lift my hand against a Qi Sensing acolyte. Why did you have to sacrifice your life for the family, father? Why did you save medicine for me when you yourself were sick, mother?¡¯ This youth was one of the few unfortunate souls born with a permanent disability. Just as there were persons blessed by the heavens, there were those cursed by them. Unable to cultivate Qi, people like Lin Feng walked the wicked path or were pushed to the side and forgotten. One in a million had some kind of fortunate encounter and turned from a fish into a mighty dragon. Lin Feng was unwilling to follow the wicked path, but also unwilling to give in to his fate. He would fight until his last dying breath against these shackles that held him to the mortal path. Unknown to him, his dantain couldn''t absorb any Qi and his meridians were shriveled. He went back to the dirty tasks that any sect needed done. Gardening, sweeping, cleaning up trash and taking care of tamed beasts. The family demanded a third of his life while he was a low ranking member. Half of his every waking moment was taken up with these tasks. Lin Feng was innoventive. He had a different perspective on these busy tasks, he tried to turn each one into a training opportunity. Gardening turned into performing martial forms with an emphasis on leg sweeps and striking the ground, sweeping into strength training with weights, he picked up garbage while practicing a movement technique and manipulated his aura while taking care of the beasts. In his free time he ran with weights and lifted boulders in between practicing his martial arts. He practiced a common rank foundation skill that was taught to guards and foot soldiers called Fierce Fists. It hardened and strengthened the muscles, tendons and bones through repetition of arduous tasks. Lin Feng engaged his torso as he punched out. His feet twisted, his core flexed and his whole body turned into each strike. *Whoosh* *Whoosh* He repeated his blows one after the other. His life took on the same repetition of his ineffective blows. Day after day he carried on with his work and training. He got slightly stronger as he grew, but he lost the most valuable time to breakthrough to the Qi Sensing realm. The other youths around him had all long been able to sense Qi, but he had never followed suit. As the months passed by he lagged further and further behind. Lin Feng began to grow desperate. At this rate he would be cleaning up shit until he was an old man, or used as cannon fodder for the family. He put in a request for time for personal training. Lin Feng was told by the domestic elder that he would have to work double shifts for three days for every day he wanted off. For three months Lin Feng worked 16 hours a day so that he could attempt to breakthrough. The day he was to leave he took with him a bag of supplies, his hunting spear and his only remaining family heirloom, a flat, round stone with a hole in the center. He began his journey at the families herb garden. It would be more accurate to call it a weed farm. The outskirts of the Primeval Forest had common rank herbs that could be refined into medicinal powders and pills of the lowest quality. Used en masse even the weakest herbal Qi could be drawn out and used. Lin Feng had worked in these fields for years. He passed by seven leaf grass, old man¡¯s beard, black finger fungus and maidens lost nettle. He nipped off a piece of the grass to munch on, ignored the moss, stayed well away from of the fungus and plucked the nettle, expertly removing the stinging skin the get to the soft meat beneath. He hiked past the signs warning mortal workers away from the forest and entered the outskirts of the most dangerous place on the continent. Lin Feng was going to temper himself through combat to try and break through to the Qi Sensing realm. At first he found only wild beasts, these were all comparable to mortals and Body Tempering cultivators at best. They included boar, snakes, and other animals that could be a danger to a normal mortal. When an animal started absorbing Qi naturally they would see an enormous boost in strength and turn from a wild beast to a fierce beast. A normal wild boar had little chance to become a fierce beast. Only by the luckiest of chances, living in an area dense with natural Qi or consuming some natural treasure like a earth ranked herb would a wild beast be able to evolve. A fierce beast would normally give birth to other fierce beasts, preserving its bloodline. If if was crippled or disadvantaged in some other way they may give birth to a lesser children, this same principle applied to humans as well. Lin Feng¡¯s parents were only in the early Qi Condensation realm. His mother didn¡¯t have the quality of blood and body to nurture her unborn child and his father couldn¡¯t provide ideal genes, environment and support to his mother. This was no reason for hate, every living thing owed its life to its parents. Filial piety is one of the highest virtues. Lin Feng thought of his parents as he hiked into the forest. Trees became more dense and numerous. An oppressive aura grew around him. The air became heavy and thick with moisture. Here in the outer reaches of the forest he began hunting high level wild beasts like wolves, bears and boar. He held his spear in one hand and crept along a game trail. His slim form ducked under low branches and weaved through the underbrush. Following the game trail, Lin Feng found a small pond. As he carefully approached the watering hole he noticed a vivid purple fruit hanging down above the water. It was shaped like a pear and gave off a relaxing scent that made Lin Feng¡¯s mouth water. He identified this as a Purple Pear Strength Fruit. While not rare, it was uncommon. Lin Feng had seen elders of the family use this as a reward for the best performing youths of the Lin family. It was an ideal elixir for those entering the Qi Condensation realm. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. He carefully surveyed his surroundings. A fruit like this would usually be watched over by a low level fierce beast while it ripened, otherwise any random songbird would come by and eat it. There was sure to be some guardian in the area. Lin Feng tried to still himself and melt into the background of the forest. His breathing and heartbeat slowed. He began using a secret technique that sacrificed his other senses to improve his hearing. He closed his eyes, relaxed his body and fell into a state that was close to sleep. He turned his attention inwards, specifically focusing on his middle ear. In the middle ear are three small bones. The malleus, incus and stapes, they are the smallest bones in the human body. The three bones transmit vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. There is a small muscle that controls how close the bones are to each other to allow for variations in ambient noise. When in a loud environment this muscle tenses up and pulls the bones apart, allowing less vibration into the inner ear. In a quiet environment this muscle relaxes and more vibration is allowed through. This is why sudden noises like a gunshot are more harmful than going to a loud concert. Lin Feng¡¯s special technique had two parts to it, the first part relaxed the muscles in the ear, allowing for maximum transfer of vibration. The second part cut out the other senses and focused the mind on hearing. He had learned this technique on accident when falling asleep. In that strange place between waking and slumber there was a point where his hearing increased dramatically. For just a few moments, sounds around him increased in intensity by threefold. By holding on in this state of doze he was able to increase the duration of the effect and use it at will. The biggest drawback to this skill was the state of relaxation that must be achieved. It left the user mostly helpless and unable to respond to ambush and ranged attacks. It also couldn¡¯t be used in any noisy environment or there would be permanent damage done to the inner ear. There were other problems with the skill, but those could be easily solved with cultivation and practice. Lin Feng crouched by the pond, listening carefully. The breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, a rivulet tricked into the pond. Insects buzzed overhead and insects rustled through the undergrowth. He listened for a minute to the forest around him. Just as he was about to ¡®wake up¡¯ from his technique, he heard a slightly louder rustling coming from one direction. He groggily lifted his head and stared through the forest. When the noise got louder, he canceled his technique and started retreating from the pond. He only walked a few steps before his food snapped a twig underfoot. The rustling sound stopped, then started up again. It got louder and closer as Lin Feng escaped. He had only gotten a dozen meters away when he saw the animal that was coming towards him. It was a wild boar the size of a horse. It¡¯s hide was grey-blue and covered in thick bristles. It¡¯s small beady eyes were lodged far back in it¡¯s large skull, it relied mostly on its large ears and powerful nose as its primary senses. The boar looked around with stupid suspicion in its eyes. It thought it had heard a noise just a second ago and was wary of intruders. The fruit it had been guarding was almost ripe, any day now it would be ready to eat. Weeks of looking after the budding fruit would have all gone to waste if he let something else eat it now. Lin Feng started to panic and wanted to hurry up, but stalking prey without making a sound took time. If he started to run, the boar would notice him immediately and pursue. His best chance was to sneak away quickly, then run if he was detected. The boar neared the pond and snorted in some air. It ceased its footsteps and sniffed again. A large huff came from the beast and it scored the ground with one hoof. It became agitated and soon found Lin Feng¡¯s trail. It began to make sounds similar to sumo wrestlers making love while people ran in panic at the sight. There were thuds, grunts, hisses, high pitched squeals and a weird chuffing noise. Lin Feng took this chance to speed up and started hurrying through the woods. The boar began following the smell. Lin Feng split off from his original trail and took a separate path away from the pond. The Boar followed, unperturbed by the juke. Though the boar could find him quickly if he knew Lin Feng¡¯s exact position, it could only follow his scent at a moderate pace through the forest. If it tried to find him faster, it would only lose the trail. Lin Feng tried other techniques like doubling back, circling around, climbing up a tree and leaping from the branch and jumping into a stream to wash away the scent trail. None of it worked and the boar followed. Lin Feng was very nervous, he was sweating and knew that it made his trail easier to follow. This was a self destructive cycle that may lead to his death. He ran over ridges and through culverts. He plunged through dense thickets and climbed through the tree canopy. The boar followed. Lin Feng dove into a deep valley in the hopes that he would lose the boar in the troublesome terrain. He clambered down slopes and climbed up slides trying to lose the beast. It didn¡¯t take long for him to lose himself in the rocky playground. The boar was unwilling to enter the dangerous ground. Unlike the evolved monkey he was chasing, the boar couldn''t climb down the slopes without risking serious injury. He left the boar behind him and passed through the canyon. Towers of stone and outcroppings of bedrock forced him to take a twisting route through the canyon floor. Lin Feng wasn''t familiar with this place. He knew he was on the border between the dangerous inner forest and the peaceful cultivated land that was used by the forces in the area for growing common herbs. This place could hold fortune or death for someone like Lin Feng. It all depended on his luck. As luck would have it, Lin Feng didn''t see the crack in the stone until his foot had slipped into it. His momentum carried him forward while his ankle stayed behind. There was a brief moment of panic, then a world of pain. The delicate bones of his ankle snapped and he fell to the ground in pain. He bit his tongue and blood poured from his mouth as he forced himself to stay silent, he didn''t succeed entirely and a grunt followed a sickening snap. The pain radiated up his leg and spine. Lin Feng lost consciousness. --- Lin Feng woke up, and wished he hadn''t. The blessing of sleep and forgetfulness had pushed away worry and pain if only for a minute. Here he was on the outskirts of the primeval forest, crippled and stuck in a canyon with unknown dangers all around him. If he wasn''t already sweating from the injury, he would be now. He was helpless at this point, even the weakest scavenger could just stand back and wait for him to die. Despair threatened to overtake him, he was alone in a dangerous place with a serious injury. Even without the threat of fierce beasts finding him, it was unlikely that he would make it back home alive. He had already come close to the grave in his flight from the blue boar, now he had a crippling injury. These thoughts and others ran through his head. If it was someone else, they would have given in to despair and waited for their death. Lin Feng was different. He had known adversary in his life and faced immense challenges. He oriented himself and began crawling back towards Two Stone Town. He still had one leg and both arms. The useless leg he dragged behind him and tried to disturb it as little as possible. Lin Feng crawled out of the valley inch by arduous inch. After all, he had one major advantage over other people. He had already died once, back on Earth. Chapter 27: This soul is mine ¡®What a powerful soul.¡¯ Ben murmured to himself. He had found the source of the familiar feeling, and was watching him crawl over the ground right now. Every now and then a animal would be attracted by the smell of blood and investigate, but they were all only as strong as a Qi Condensation warrior, how could they even think about going against Ben¡¯s will? He watched from nearby and gave orders to his group that was slowly taking over the country from the shadows. There was a new favored concubine in the King¡¯s harem, one who gently whispered suggestions in his ear. A group of guest elders had appeared at Flowing Moon Sect. They displayed power that even the patriarch and ancestors had to acknowledge. The Free Craftsmen had a new client that had provided enormous resources unseen in this corner of the world for hundreds of years. They also brought strange unimaginable designs. The chance to practice new and forgotten skills was too great a temptation to let go. These actions didn¡¯t go unnoticed, but when spymasters and information gatherers questioned these occurrences, they met with tragic ends, or sexy ones. Faced with open confrontation, Lilith¡¯s sisters all had at least a whole realm advantage in cultivation. In the shadows they were like fish in water. The country of Vorchin was helpless against the small invasion force. Ben coordinated his people and watched Lin Feng. Using wisps of his aura he frightened away beasts that would be able to take advantage of his situation. He took this time to inventory flora and fauna he saw. The trees in the area were more similar to the trees back on Earth than the ones near Horned Rabbit Sect. After some research he found that the reason for this was ambient Qi. All trees needed to absorb energy, back on Earth they used photosynthesis to take energy from light. Here the trees used photosynthesis and circulation of ambient Qi. This explained why there could be moss and ferns in an underground cavern. How else would they grow without light? Ben knew that this occurred with both animals and people as well. He needed to do more research on this process to figure out the details and see how to replicate this growth. As it happened, there were two perfect subjects for this project in front of him, a boy and a pig. The blue boar was easy to tame and control. It had a mind that was quite simple, it was either hungry, angry or sleeping. There was some resistance when he first approached the wild boar, but the boar¡¯s will crumpled like paper. The shadow of Ben¡¯s aura was enough to make sure that its anger would never be directed towards him. After Ben sat on the creature and injected a small amount of neutral Qi into it, the boar was more than willing to follow his orders. Carrot and stick. Getting the boy¡¯s compliance would be more difficult, but not impossible. --- Lin Feng was somewhat surprised. He never expected to get out of the valley, now he was crawling through the forest on his way back to the Lin family compound. The pain was constantly at the back of his mind, attempting to erode his will. He pushed on with the single minded determination of a hero. There was still little chance of him making it back alive, but even in little chance there was still hope. Make firm your soul. Strive ahead. Take a step ahead, then another. One day you will see results. No one reaches the top without pouring out sweat and blood. Lin Feng crawled slowly back towards civilization. He should have been more careful in the stone valley. He shouldn¡¯t have tried to gather that fruit when he knew full well that there was a beast guarding it that he had no chance of beating. That damned boar had driven him to this desperate state. *Huff* Lin Feng turned his head. There standing not six feet from him was that same boar. Many thoughts ran through his head at this point. Thoughts about homicidal delivery trucks, wild pigs, the nature of the soul and the afterlife. Would be be forced to drink Granny Meng¡¯s soup this time? Or would he reincarnate again with memories of his two previous lives? There was no panic, only resignation. Lin Feng¡¯s soul had faced much in his travels, the thought of death didn¡¯t seem to be abhorrent to the boy with withered dantian and meridians. *Munch* The body of the boar had nearly covered up the silhouette of the man sitting on it. He had the same Purple Pear Strength Fruit in his hand and was eating it like an apple. ¡°Having some troubles I see.¡± The man said. ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re not blind.¡± Lin Feng snapped. ¡°It must be difficult having a dantian like that.¡± Lin Feng was completely startled. How could this man see his disability simply by looking at him? It took a Core Formation grandmaster to find out about his troubles, and he had to maintain physical contact to do so. ¡°Please, what can be done to heal me? I¡¯ve been at the peak Body Tempering Realm for years now. I¡¯m the laughingstock of the family. They treat me like a slave.¡± Lin Feng¡¯s attitude took an abrupt turn. ¡°A heaven reversing dan would fix that, and I happen to know where to get one.¡± Ben did indeed know where to find one, it would be childs play to buy one with his influence over the marketplace. ¡°Please. I¡¯ll do anything. I can¡¯t stand this any longer.¡± The light of hope began to dawn on Lin Feng¡¯s miserable existence, however, what the man said next just made him more confused. ¡°That is not your destiny. You are to walk a different path. The shedding of the mortal self should not go against heavens will. This is where most cultivators go wrong.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°The most perfect method of cultivation is that of your personal Dao. Focus on your own journey and disregard unimportant matters such as money, power and position. Try not to be influenced by unimportant matters like food, women, comfort and things like that. Only then can you cultivate the Dao of Soul.¡± ¡°You have a unique opportunity with your one of a kind constitution. Your crippled dantian is not a disability, but a chance to follow your correct path towards the eternal, undying Dao.¡± This shocked Lin Feng even more. Could he see into his soul with just a glace? Was his most closely guarded secret known to this man? The man said no more and let Lin Feng ponder. Was the path to immortality not the path of Qi cultivation? This went against everything he had learned growing up in the Lin family. Strength was power and power was right, was it not? Who would disagree with this fact? After thinking this through for several minutes, Lin Feng was more confused than ever. While he disagreed with the basic premise, he had to admit that there was a kernel of divine truth in the man''s words. If what he was saying was even remotely true, Lin Feng needed to know more. ¡°Teacher. Please guide me¡± Lin Feng bowed deeply to the old man riding on the blue boar. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you ended up here, but you should consider yourself lucky to have met me. You can call me Ben.¡± He reached down and offered his hand to the youth. --- On the journey back the two talked about the unknowable Dao in it''s many aspects. This was a subject that Ben hardly spoke of, having internalized it long ago back on Earth. As far as he was concerned it was quite simple, keep calm, cleanse the soul then do whatever you want without thinking too much about it. There were aspects of the Dao that were unteachable and undescribable. These things could only be learned by personal revelation and experience. The Dao was both chaos and order, life and death, spoken and unspoken, wisdom and naivety, young and old. The mindset of Lin Feng grew stronger with every mile traveled under the man. It only took an hour of conversation with his new teacher to ignite a spark in his soul that slowly grew. It was a cultivation of a different kind, Lin Feng was embarking on the path of cultivation of a different kind, the Dao of the Soul. ¡®Fuck it¡¯s getting tiring talking like this, I hope it¡¯s worth the trouble recruiting this boy. If cultivated properly his Weathered Soul Body could be the strongest of all my interns, I mean disciples.¡¯ Ben thought to himself. ¡®I¡¯ll have to keep up a better face if I want to recruit and train the best followers. Unlike back on Earth I don¡¯t have a large pool of geniuses to draw from. I can only draw the best talent so I¡¯ll need to work on my charisma. At least until I draw them close enough, then I can start ignoring and abusing them.¡¯ ¡®I won¡¯t let him learn that I¡¯m also from Earth until I have too. I won¡¯t lie, but I¡¯ll let him figure it out himself. There¡¯s no need to let him know that the reason for his low karma was his soul transferring from Earth. I¡¯ll need to ask him about the cycle of reincarnation when he finally trusts me fully.¡¯ Ben decided. The pair took longer than needed as Ben regurgitated what he had learned as a teacher for decades. Most of the time he never applied this ability, but he had long ago learned how to targets a students weaknesses and strengths and influence them. He could give the boy resources and a cultivation method later, it would be better to temper his soul first. --- At the gate of the family estate the guards present had to stifle their laughter at the sight of a old man and one of the servant boys riding a boar into the small compound. It was easier to let them in, they were too lazy to carry the wounded servant back to the kitchens. The boar was somewhat remarkable, but it was the lowest kind of mount, even a horse would be preferable to a wild boar. A subtle use of illusion Qi also helped the two think that it was a unremarkable sight. ¡°The true soul cultivator lives a simple, humble life. Food, a place to sleep and a purpose are all the Daoist needs for his cultivation. He faces the waves of tribulation like a strong granite wall. I don¡¯t need to tell you what to do, you must live it yourself.¡± Ben preached at Lin Feng. ¡°I have three gifts from master to pupil. The first is a Impurity Cleansing Dan. It would help others with their cultivation, but your mortal body is unable to cultivate Qi. The most it will do for you is increase your vitality. Take it and practice your Dao in your daily life.¡± Ben handed Lin Feng a low quality cleansing pill. These things were eaten by the slaves in Horned Rabbit Sect, even the outer disciples would destain them. Here on the outer edges of civilization they would be worth years of food for entire families. ¡°The next gift is communication jade, break the jade and I will hurry to your location if you need my assistance.¡± He gave Lin Feng a small tab of jade with a alarm formation inside it. If it was broken, the closest of his people would receive the alarm and hurry help him. ¡°My last gift is this.¡± He laid his hand on Lin Feng¡¯s shoulder and sent his most gentle Qi into his body. He used his mist Qi to knit the bones in his ankle together and strengthened his blood using his own new thread of blood Qi. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem teaching the boy about blood refining later. ¡°Remember this, there are many who shine, I alone am dark.¡± Ben said cryptically. He then used a simple illusion formation and disappeared along with the boar. ¡®Jesus, I sound like a pompous asshole.¡¯ He thought. Chapter 28: It鈥檚 a beach episode ¡°It¡¯s time for a vacation. Nubbins, Snuffles, lets go to the beach.¡± Ben told his two pets. His people were in place and were ready to move at any time. The boy was safe and on the proper path of cultivation. Beacons were placed all over the country. Even if he wasn¡¯t there he could still keep a close eye on things. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to relax ever since he left Earth, it was all discovery, cultivation and creation. Sometimes it was fine to unwind, as long as you had made sure you were getting something done at the same time. Two Stone Town wasn''t too far from a stretch of coastline. While there wasn¡¯t much ambient Qi there, it was still too dangerous for the cultivators of the area and considered a forbidden ground along with the desert on one side and forest on the other. There were beastial overlords of the area, they made a nice seafood lunch. Nubbins had his fill of the finest cuts of fierce beast. It was a strange sight seeing a rabbit chewing on a beast core half the size of itself. Snuffles gorged himself on the flesh of creatures much stronger than itself. If he wasn¡¯t a pig and had a natural affinity for gluttony, he would have only managed a few mouthfuls. Fortunately, the ability to eat enormous amounts of food was a common trait among fierce wild boar. The meat was an elixir for the beast and it grew stronger at a rapid rate. Ben dipped Rainbow Moon Clam meat in butter and enjoyed the lapping of the waves in front of him. He let his mind wander over his plans for the future. He needed to cultivate his body, cores and improve his technology. His secondary tasks were gathering capable and loyal assistants, gathering resources and general research. This would help him come to Alice''s assistance as quickly as possible. According to his A.I. chip, there were more possibilities for cores. He could imagine there being a core in the soul and a few other places, but they would be exceedingly difficult to condense. Refining his blood was part of his heart core, so he still had only three cores. Adding another two would be difficult. Perhaps he was too short sighted. Perhaps there were other ways of condensing cores? Could multiple cores exist in the same location? Could they move or even exist outside the body? What was a Core, essentially? Could a Core be a fusion reactor? A sun? A black hole? A random thought ran through his brain. He decided to try an experiment. He sent a command to all the nanites inside his body. He sent them an instruction to gather around the A.I. chip. He hadn¡¯t paid his nanite swarm too much mind, they hadn¡¯t been able to do anything outside their usual perview so there was little reason to study their ability. They were able to have a large effect with mortals, but had little effect in areas with dense Qi and couldn¡¯t effect stronger entities. Now he had a reason to utilize them. Could he make a machine core? Could he organize his nanobots and the A.I. chip into a energy center? He programmed his nanobot swarm to condense together with the chip in his brain. This would take time and research. He directed the A.I. chip to attempt this upgrade. While it was processing this, he would relax on the beach. He was on a beach, what about volleyball? -Lilith, can you send eight cultivators from the area over to me? I need a little distraction. All they need to do is play a simple game. They¡¯ll leave unharmed. -Yes, they¡¯ll be there in the next few hours. Any other directions? -Here¡¯s the basic data for the game. I don¡¯t need anything fancy. It¡¯s just for some mild entertainment. It¡¯s unrelated to work. -Understood. Flying kites? That reminded him, there was something he had forgotten to do. He pulled two objects of his interspatial ring. One was a small drone with wings and jet propulsion, the other was a weather balloon. Both of these objects had strong beacons built into them. He released them one at a time and promptly forgot about them. Bonfire? He pulled a few trees out of a nearby forest and set them on fire just for the novelty of the thing. Swimming? *Splash* If the coastline followed the same pattern as Earth, he should have plenty of space to swim around in before the drop off to the abyssal plain. Swimming around this area should have little to no risk for Ben. Boats sail up and down the coast and had only moderate trouble making their money. Experienced captains stayed close to the coast and avoided the dens of sea monsters, they could sail safely for decades. Paddling aimlessly around the area, Ben looked up at the sun and pondered it¡¯s existence. The sun back on Earth was named Sol. It was thousands of times the size of Earth, but was still among the smallest of stars. This planet was much larger than Earth. It was almost the size of Sol. Was the sun above him a unknown type of sun? Was it a giant or a supergiant star? Did he need to rethink astrophysics? Would anything delicious attack him for lunch? He idly flipped over while paddling around. Something caught his eye underwater. Before him the continental shelf plunged into darkness. Here was where the real ocean began. The seafloor was only several hundred meters deep where he had been swimming, now it plunged miles down to the cold abyssal plain. There in the near infinite darkness something was watching him. It seemed kind of cute, in a eldritch way. --- It was a rather strange request, but not impossible. If a lecherous old man had posted a mission that could only be fulfilled by beautiful girls it would never make it past the missions elder. When it was posted by the most beautiful and powerful woman the sect had ever had the chance to invite in as a guest elder, allowances were made. There was low risk and high reward. This was temptation enough for the core disciples to take interest. It was agreed that if the guest of the sect accompanied the group, there would be no major concern. --- A royal decree went out that day. There would be an impromptu contest held that the Queen herself would oversee. There were two conditions. Only women below the age of 30 could apply and they had to be in capital that day. Criers ran through the city announcing the regulations and rewards. Not only would the top four girls be guests of a grandmaster, they would even get their choice of medicinal treasures for their cultivation. Most people saw this as a talent grab, everyone scouted for talent to draw into their own camp. What confused most people was the sudden timing. Most thought it was just another gimmick. --- On the surface, the king and the sect lived peacefully side by side. If either side gained an upper hand it would be the Free Craftsmen who would benefit from their struggle. This being the state of affairs, there was no overt war, but the two sides struggled bitterly in the shadows. It made sense that the young prodigies from each power would have hateful rivalries among themselves. When the two groups showed up at the same beach, it was almost inevitable that blood would be shed. When each group saw the other, everyone reached for their weapons and a tense standoff took place. ¡°Butterfly Princess Meng, we should have known only you would try something as audacious as this!¡± A beauty with bronzed skin and dark hair led the group from the sect. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Moon Witch Miu. Organizing a city wide competition just to lure women out to this desolate border. You''re just as foul as the rumors claim.¡± A porcelain skinned goddess with blonde hair led the group from the royals. Each side was wary of the other, but there was enough uncertainty that no one would make the first move. Who knows what kind of traps had been set in place beforehand? The two organizers of these groups looked around for their patron, but he was nowhere to be found. -Your entertainment is here, sir -Just a moment Several seconds passed. Both groups sensed something wrong at the same time. They felt uneasy, like prey that instinctively knows it''s being watched by a superior predator. Everyone prepared magic tools and circulated their Qi to respond to the others ambush. *BOOM* A massive waterspout broke the placid surface of the ocean a mile away from shore. Both sides pulled back to the high sandy dunes and watched the sea. A massive, eldritch, writhing shape slowly rose above the ocean waves. Dozens of writhing tentacles lashed out as the abomination showed itself. Appendages branched off from each other like branches of a tree, mouths and eyes peeked out from the mass eyeing the beach hungrily. A dense, foreign aura flooded the land like a tidal wave. The two organizers of this event, Lilith¡¯s sisters, projected their Qi to resist the pressure that would otherwise turn the younger girls to ground meat. It was clear that the continuous assault was more than they could bear, they could only last a few seconds. The Qi that came from the sea carried with it a crushing heaviness. Under this pressure the two groups felt like they had been plunged deep underwater and were being squeezed by miles of water above them. ¡°Shut it, miserable shellfish!¡± A booming voice called out from the sea. The mass of tentacles froze, then slowly retreated back into the sea. The abyssal aura lightened as the creature submerged. ¡°Just a minute girls. I¡¯m planning on taking Rupert along with me.¡± The voice said, more gently. ¡°It will take some time to put him away.¡± The waves lapping at the shore retreated back into the sea, like something was absorbing millions of tons of water. This tide lasted a full minute before coming back in. Just behind the first waves was a dark shape in the water. When the waves receded there was a older man standing there. He didn¡¯t leave behind any general impression, but everyone was wary of him. ¡°You girls know the game, no fighting. Each member of the winning team will get a Sky Fairy Glamour Pill. These pills make you lose weight, reverse aging and develop a natural charm. You¡¯re free to leave at any time, but need to stay to earn the pills.¡± The man then sat down a short distance away and began tinkering with ring on his finger. There was a moment of silence. Many thoughts were running through the minds of the women there, but the temptation to grow more young and beautiful was irresistible. They hadn¡¯t ever heard of a medicine that had that many heaven defying effects. The game was simple enough and both teams pushed themselves to the limit finding new methods of playing it. There was immediate use of movement techniques to chase the ball, but the challenge then was how to keep the ball in one piece. Compared to the weapons and training materials they commonly used, the ball was as fragile as an egg. Fine control of Qi was needed to make sure it didn''t break. The game went underway. Ben enjoyed being surrounded by young people, it invigorated his old bones. ¡°Die bitch! Everyone knows you had to fuck your way to inner disciple!¡± Their playful cries had always helped him think ¡°You whore! You enjoy being a concubine for your uncle, the king?¡± Ah, young people sure know how to have fun. It reminded him of the time he would spend wandering around campus, taking in the society of the younger generation of scholars. He got yelled at for this sometimes, but they were never able to prove sexual harassment. Nearby, Ben continued to let his mind wander. ''Earth is neither yin nor yang. It has a neutral affinity. What about sand then? There are few cultivation methods utilizing sand. Most of them would be withering types.¡¯ ¡®There are special types of sand considered natural treasures. Umbral Star Sand is of the yin type, great for concealing type magic tools. Red Shade Sand is full of fire Qi, useful for forging.¡¯ Ben felt a disturbance from a ring on his finger. Looking down at a ring similar to a Celtic knot, there was eye poking out with a cross shaped pupil. The girls playing the volleyball game looked over warily when they sensed they were being watched. They saw Ben arguing with his hand. ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t want to watch from inside? We had an agreement.¡± He yelled. ¡°You can¡¯t have one, they¡¯re not pets. I¡¯ll get you some slaves later.¡± There was a pause. ¡°Come on, Rupert. You only just left the sea. Anyone else would have killed you and refined you into a cursed weapon.¡± There was a another pause. ¡°I don¡¯t care how delicious they look, they¡¯re only for decoration.¡± The girls continued playing the game. Ben looked at his information analyzing the upcoming event. It seemed like he would have to shorten his timetable. It was a pity, he would have liked for Terra and Lin Feng to cultivate more before they faced difficulties by his side. Ben turned back to the game. ¡°What¡¯s the score?¡± He asked. ¡°Nil on both sides. This must be a game for mortals.¡± One of the sisters answered. ¡°It is. Alright, just give all eight of them the prize. There¡¯s nothing more to do here. I''m going to go tutor that Lin fellow.¡± Ben got up and began walking away. --- Eight pills from Horned Rabbit Sect were handed out to the players. Even back in the sect they would be quite a prize, it would be interesting to see what kind of effect they would have when released here. The moment those girls returned to their homes the intelligence organization of the country of Vorchin went into action. Their stories of the abomination, the man and the prizes were all too fantastic to be believed at first, but each report coincided with the others. It pained their elders, but most of the girls ate the pills right away. They knew that when they returned the pills would be confiscated. Ben''s team kept people from going to war or doing anything too rash, but social order had taken a hit with the revelation of a expert watching from the shadows. What would happen if this man disliked the king and favored the sect? Businessmen were unwilling to take risks like financing a caravan or building a new shop without certainty. These were things that Ben wanted to avoid, but didn''t care that much about. He stopped trying to be subtle because, according to his calculations, the event would happen any day now. If he upset the situation a little beforehand, it wouldn''t matter. What mattered was Lin Feng and this convergence of energies. -Drone 0027 destroyed. Altitude 1,350 meters. Drone assaulted by Nascent Soul realm giant crane. ''Hmmmmmm. Flying kites.¡¯ Ben hummed to himself. Chapter 29: It鈥檚 an Auction Episode Lin Feng¡¯s new behavior policy wouldn''t have worked if he had anything to steal. Thankfully the only thing he owned that had any sentimental value was just a plain stone. His life went on in the same way it had before. His master''s qi had the effect of tempering his body. While he hadn''t progressed in Qi cultivation, it was harder to injure him and he healed faster than before. The beatings he received didn''t hurt as badly as they had before and he healed from any damage quickly. He kept his master''s teachings in his mind at all times. Formlessness and emptiness. His tormentors lost interest when Lin Feng didn''t make a sound or try to fight back. His work now took a meditative stance and his disposition grew more peaceful by the day. The people around him thought that he had just accepted his life of toil. Little did they know that he was now finding every task invaluable in tempering his soul. Every second was cultivation, every thought a step towards the Dao. A peace like he had never known now held sway over Lin Feng''s new life. While little had changed on the outside, his inner mind was stronger than ever. He was well on his way of cultivating the Dao of Soul. When the Lin family lost a struggle for a nearby mine, Lin Feng maintained his inner peace. When the family was forced to become subservient to a local gang, Lin Feng was as calm as a stone. The family elders assumed that he accepted his fate as a servant. They thought that if more low ranking members of the family could act like Lin Feng, there would be good times ahead for everyone. When there was a contest within the younger generation, Lin Feng refused to participate. Instead, he supported the other youths in their own fights. It wouldn¡¯t have made any difference, he was far stronger than other peak Body Refining realm cultivators, but weaker than Qi Sensing realm. The ability to sense Qi and draw it into the body was the true start of Qi Cultivation. Before this point a human was no different than a wild beast, they cultivated their bodies in the most simplistic way, with exercise and normal growth. Once one started cultivating Qi, their rise of power was exponential. A single beginning stage Qi cultivating could fight dozens of Body Refining warriors. While Lin Feng was unable to cultivate Qi, this didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t have his own meteoric rise to power. He could still cultivate the devil¡¯s path or other methods and may be lucky enough to have some fortunate occurrence. Cultivating the soul was a long process. Most cultivators only did this at higher levels, namely the Nascent Soul realm. There were other cultivation methods that incorporated the soul, but they required special resources and constitutions. Lin Feng had one advantage, his soul had been tempered from two lives and his short experience in the underworld. He had a headstart in the Dao of Soul, but he had the restrictions of his mortal body. He quietly cultivated his soul in the shadows of the Lin family estate. There was little physical improvement show for his work. He was better able to control his emotions, but hadn¡¯t gotten stronger in any notable way. One day, while working in the kitchens, something happened. He was sweeping out a corner, moving boxes so he could clean the space behind. His gaze met a nearby maid who was also moving supplies. There was understanding in her eyes. The two looked at each other for a split second. In this one second, a curious thing happened in Lin Feng¡¯s mind. When he looked at the maid, a sympathetic bond was formed between the two. He could clearly feel all the emotions the girl was feeling. She was busy just like he was, had no strong feelings of joy or sorrow and enjoyed the short moment of understanding shared between them. Something clicked in Lin Feng¡¯s mind. While he still maintained his own ego, he felt the mind of the girl clearly. He felt like he was spread through two bodies while still being himself. He had access to her thoughts and memories, desires and fears. The maid didn¡¯t have a clue that anything was happening. The out of body experience lasted only for a fraction of a second, then Lin Feng dropped the crate to the ground. The noise woke him up from his trance and he went back to sweeping while he thought about the episode. A day later his master came back. --- In a secret underground cavern, an ancient temple had been uncovered. From a natural cave a tunnel had been carved out that led down into the depths. Sometimes this tunnel followed a natural seam in the rocks, sometimes it was the recent work of man. The tunnel opened up into a natural cavern the size of a football stadium. On one side of the cavern stood two tall impressive pillars. The pillars looked like they had been carved into the towering stalactites. Murals wrapped around the stone and depicted a furious war between men and demons of fire. The men wore shining armor and carried large two handed blades. The weapons sometimes swept back like a scimitar, sometimes straight like a claymore. The men fought all manner of flaming beasts. Snakes made from rivers of magma, phoenixes in the skies, rock skinned lizards spewing fire. There was one towering figure in the background clad in a robe of flames, a bright third eye in the middle of it¡¯s forehead. The temple behind the pillars was ancient and eroded, unlike the two columns. Sounds of arguing came from inside. ¡°Are you sure, master? What if they¡¯re still alive? Most of the murals seem to be warnings.¡± ¡°Ignorant lad. We aren¡¯t going to let anything come through. That¡¯s what we have been doing these last few months. We of the Immortal Fire Religion know how to set up these kinds of formations.¡± ¡°I know we¡¯re only trying to let in some of the Fire Qi from whatever is on the other side of this portal, but what if something is waiting on the other side?¡± ¡°Then we retreat and call in our Flame Legion to deal with the threat. It wasn¡¯t our fault that these people live in this desolate country. It was a battleground before and is destined to become a battleground again.¡± ¡°Master, the seal will break in a hundred years, why weaken it ourselves?¡± ¡°If we control the decay we can turn the energy back on itself. With luck we can create a flame array seal that will last forever while being strengthened from the other side. It doesn¡¯t hurt to siphon off some of the aura for ourselves, we may be able to establish a flame chapter of our own here in this temple.¡± The two voices argued back and forth while sounds of work came from the inner cloister of the temple. --- After giving Lin Feng his cultivation technique, Ben thought it might be fun to see an auction. He had no problem gathering resources himself, it was a simple thing to post a high level request on the marketplace and wait for cultivators greedy for knowledge points to deliver him the goods. He wanted to attend one of these events himself to feel the atmosphere of the proceedings. Perhaps something could be gained from the experience. As luck would have it, the premier auction house of the country, Golden Coin Trading House, was having it''s annual event that evening. It held smaller auctions year round, but today they brought out all their best goods gathered over the past 12 months. The Golden Coin Trading House was a stand alone entity here in the country of Vorchin. It was one of the few groups that no one dared cross. Even the king didn''t dare step out of line here and he paid his tab promptly. It was said that they were only a small branch of a much larger merchant venture. There were stories of attempted thefts that made one¡¯s hair stand on end. That night the whole upper echelon of Vorchin gathered together and brought all their cash. There were goods to be fought over. The Golden Coin Trading House was there battlefield and spirit stones were their weapons. One old man went unnoticed among the pomp of the crowds. Anyone who saw Ben thought he was part of another group and let him in unhindered. The queen herself and her retinue took up the upper right wing of the auction hall, sect elders took up the left upper side and the Free Craftsmen had seats at the back of the auditorium. The lower ranked powers of the area sat in the dozen lower balconies and members of the public milled around on the open floor. Ben was one among the hundreds in the common crowd. On the stage a man walked out flanked by two beautiful attendants holding covered trays. He wore a butler''s uniform and the two attendants wore tasteful maid uniforms. What shocked the audience was the cultivation of the three. The butler was in the mid Core Formation realm, almost equal to the king. The two maids were at the early Core Formation realm, equal to most experts of the area. If any one of the tree joined one of the three overlords, there would be a massive shift in the power dynamic of the area. It was too bad that such a change in loyalty never happened. ¡°Welcome to the Golden Coin Trading House. Today is our special annual event. We have many special items for sale that are sure to be talked about for many years.¡± The auctioneer in the butler uniform began speaking. ¡°Bids must be paid directly after the winning declaration, your item will be given to you directly. Please refrain from intimidating other guests and no type of violence will be tolerated on the premises. ¡°Without further ado, let''s begin the auction! The first item up for bidding is our traditional Black Devil Stone!¡± The master of ceremonies waved his sleeve and a pitch black boulder the size of a carriage wheel appeared on stage. It gave off a menacing aura that filled every corner of the hall. Some discussion broke out in the crowds, but no one looked too pleased at the first item available. Ben listened in on a conversation going on nearby. ¡°They bring this up every year, don¡¯t they? Wasn¡¯t it some poor loose cultivator that bid for it last?¡± ¡°They took it off his corpse in only a month if I recall correctly. He froze to death in the middle of the summer I heard.¡± ¡°No, he went mad and wandered off into the wilderness. Who was it before him?¡± ¡°Two years ago it was that amateur smith. He put it in a corner of his forge, he died too.¡± ¡°Why do they bring it out every year? Tradition?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± The master of ceremonies let the crowds talk for a moment before explaining further. ¡°This stone came into our possession decades ago and has a curse laid on it. Anyone who buys it meets some unfortunate end, but we are unable to get rid of it or destroy it through normal means. We hope that someday someone will be brave and lucky enough to take it off our hands permanently.¡± He paused a moment to let the crowds talk. ¡°It cannot be destroyed by a Foundation Establishment expert or thrown away. When we try to take it far away and leave it in some abandoned place, it mysteriously makes its way back to us the next day. When we consulted an oracle, she said that it must leave our possession by being sold without guile. We hope that someday it will find a proper home. ¡°The starting bid will be 100 spirit stones.¡± The announcer looked hopefully about the room. He wanted to be rid of the cursed thing, but his superiors were very clear with their warnings. If he just threw it in the trash or gave it freely to some unsuspecting stranger, the curse would fall on him. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to bid for the Black Devil Stone. There was an awkward moment as no one spoke up. Ben raised his hand. ¡°100 spirit stones.¡± The crowds stepped away from him, leaving him alone in a neat circle. The strange thing was, he appeared normal in every way. There were several of the girls there who had played volleyball for him, but they didn¡¯t recognize him. ¡°Sold, to the gentleman on the floor.¡± The MC said quickly. Ben threw a small bag at the announcer and he waved his hand at the stone. It quickly sailed towards Ben and he placed it directly in a spatial ring. The whole transaction took less than a second as both parties wanted it done as soon as possible. Ben wanted to get on with the auction and wanted less attention if possible. The auctioneer was worried that Ben would go back on his bid. -Yin Curse detected. Host will die if not removed within one week. Refine? Ben thought little of the notification. He could deal with it later. ¡°On to our next item. The remains of an ancient Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!¡± The butler continued the auction. The attendant to his left raised the cloth off of the tray she was holding. On the plate there was a withered finger of a woman. ¡°Starting bid will be 500 spirit stones!¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. --- There were weapons of the rare rank, armors, herbs, cultivation manuals and all other sorts of goods. Only one of them caught Ben¡¯s attention. It was a picture of a woman who looked eerily like Alice¡¯s avatar. This surprised him, but not enough to bid on the portrait. ¡°Next up for bidding is a legendary Sky Fairy Glamour Pill!¡± Murmurs arose at this declaration. Such an imposing name couldn''t be claimed without have heavenly benefits. Even if it had half the effect the name suggested, it would be worth a fortune. After all, what husband didn''t want a pretty wife and what woman didn''t want the be more glamorous? ¡°This top tier pill will reverse your aging, making you feel and appear a decade younger. It also has a gravity defying effect, making you light as a feather. The final effect of the pill is the most impressive, it bestows a bewitching aura that leaves enemies and allies stunned by your presence.¡± The auctioneer himself wanted this pill, but the rules of the auction house were not to be violated. The audience went mad. Women turned to their men and let them know in no uncertain terms just how badly they needed this pill. Men drooled at the thought of taking a fairy for themselves. ¡°We begin the bidding at 1000 spirit stones!¡± ¡°10,000!¡± ¡°30,000.¡± ¡°100,000!¡± The price rose rapidly until only the top three powers could afford it. Both the sect and the royal family wanted the pill. They cursed the girl who had decided to sell the pill and not hand it over to her elders. The Free Craftsmen stayed clear of the bidding war. ¡°One million!¡± The crowd was now extremely agitated. ¡°What? How can one pill be worth so much? Are they craz-¡± The man was cut off when his wife jabbed him in the ribs. ¡°One million? That¡¯s how much an earth grade weapon would cost if we ever saw one.¡± Another member of the crowd exclaimed. ¡®I can¡¯t believe these people. Is looking good that important?¡¯ Ben himself was surprised at the cost of his pill. ¡°Sold, to the royal family for one million low quality spirit stones!¡± The master of ceremonies was pleased with the outcome of this auction so far. The transaction was completed and the final item of the night was brought out. ¡°This final object is the most mysterious of all. Found by pure chance, we thought it was a children''s toy at first. When our appraisers took a closer look they discovered that it was in fact the work of a master artificer.¡± A buzz went through the audience at this revelation. Even Ben himself was interested. It was well known that artificers were the bane of grave robbers and their kin. They were responsible for setting up the mechanical traps alongside the formation experts. A good artificer could make a boulder as deadly as any cultivator. A master artificer could fit a whole mechanical world into a marble. The item revealed looked like a metal flower. It was the size of a palm and had a shining curved surface. While pretty, it seemed somewhat ordinary. ¡°Our appraisers couldn''t find the use of the mechanical flower, it resists all efforts of scrutiny. Spiritual sense is unable to penetrate the outer shell and we haven¡¯t been able to make it react in any way. ¡°We would hate to force it open. That may trigger some defense mechanism or break the device. ¡°We start the bidding at 10,000 spirit stones.¡± -Machine Qi detected. Needed for Computer Core Formation ¡°1 million spirit stones.¡± Ben abruptly raised the price way past what most people there could afford. The crowd was shocked. They had never seen a hundred fold increase in price before, ten and twenty had been seen, but this was far too tyrannical. ¡° Other members of the public scoffed. Only the king and people on his level had that sort of cash laying about. That old man was asking for death if he couldn¡¯t fulfill his bid. ¡°1.5 million.¡± A voice from the Free Craftsmen decisively spoke out. ¡°5 million.¡± Ben countered. There was an enraged shout from the upper balcony. Who would have thought that a member of the general public could outbid one of the overlords of the country? The representative from the Free Craftsmen nearly coughed out blood. ¡°Are you sure you want to make an enemy of us? There isn''t a single blacksmith in this whole country who would work for you if you cross us.¡± A director in the middle balcony warned. The Free Craftsmen had only brought 2.5 million spirit stones. If they wanted to continue bidding, they would have to borrow the money. One of the craftsmen turned to the royals. ¡°Fellow Daoists, would it be too much of an issue to ask for your assistance in this matter? I realize that this is an imposition, you can rest assured that we would repay you handsomely.¡± The queen was about to agree when one of her retainers leaned in and whispered in her ear. The girl looked familiar to Ben. ¡°My apologies, I had to spend the lions share of my funds on the Sky Fairy Glamour Pill. Perhaps the Flowing Moon Sect would be so kind?¡± There was no way she had run out of funds. This puzzled the Free Craftsmen, they had an excellent reputation for repaying debts and no enmity with the Shi clan. Why would they refuse? That same director turned to the Flowing Moon Sect and asked the same question. The only response they received was tight lips and a shake of the head. Infuriated, the director tried to stare down Ben. He just smirked and gave them a little wave. The auctioneer, when he saw that the Free Craftsmen were unable to bid any higher, stopped the bidding. ¡°Sold, to the gentleman on the floor.¡± Once again Ben threw a pouch to the stage and received his item. ¡°Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for coming to this year''s annual Golden Coin auction. We hope to see you this same time next year!¡± The auctioneer ended the nights bidding with a wave and a half bow towards his audience. The Free Craftsmen director knew something had gone wrong, but he was unsure what to do about it. It was obvious that the obscure man had sway with both the royals and the sect. Just when he finally decided that it would be worth it to pursue him, he felt a tap on his shoulder. One short conversation later, they decided not to pursue him. --- After the auction Ben was resting in a nearby hotel. ¡®That went well.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®I was able to find this rare mechanism and a cursed object. I wonder how strong I will be after I refine them. This is the starting point of another core for me. ¡®Begin forming the Computer Core.¡¯ He ordered. -Time required: Four days Ben had paid for the next week, he locked his door and laid down in bed. It didn¡¯t take long for him to fall asleep. --- ¡°Finally!¡± A girl fell into his arms. Instinctively, he wrapped her up into a hug. ¡°Ah, finally. I have so much to tell you about.¡± Ben told Alice. ¡°Please! South America has become a battleground. There hasn¡¯t been a navy for months.¡± Alice pleaded. ¡°Here¡¯s something, I can''t do these genetic experiments here because I don¡¯t have your expertise and genetic laboratory. Try¡­¡± Ben passed over all the information he had been compiling about genetic engineering of the human body for cultivation. Even Alice was shocked at the ideas. He was suggesting mass genetic modification. Ben proposed the creation of a virus that would spread across the planet and rewrite the biology of every human on Earth for better cultivation. After his own direct research with the youths he had picked up, he now had in depth knowledge on constitutions and their modifications. He had poured through his own genetic code and theirs to obtain his ability to awaken a subject to their latent potential, improve their constitution and activate their bloodline. This could be done directly by Ben or done on a wide scale with the proper equipment. He had unlocked the potential of everyone in his party except for Lin Feng, who was still at his family''s estate cultivating his soul. Lilith and her sisters were able to reach peak Formation Establishment in a matter of hours. The abused girl, Terra, had shown the most promise. She had a terrifying potential for growth, she was already as strong as Lilith. Ben shared this incredible information and more to Alice as quickly as he could. He loved Earth and he loved her. He wanted the best for them both. He filled her in on all of his recent data. Alice recorded everything being sent by Ben and there was an instant shift back on Earth away from technological power to cultivation. Society had been fighting an advanced war with a brutal enemy for years now. Conscription was universal for mankind. All of Earth''s beaches had tall walls with impressive weaponry. They were assaulted daily from the place where mankind had always been weakest, the oceans. Humans wielded their advanced technology to counter the threat of the alien insects, but their bodies were far too weak and when the enemy made contact, slaughter was the only outcome. The premier genetic laboratory had sudden orders to drop what they were doing and focus on the creation of a peculiar virus. In twenty four hours the project was complete, animal testing was never done and clinical trials weren¡¯t scheduled. Scientists panicked when the containment chamber failed and all recursive safety systems didn¡¯t activate. The virus spread through the population in a week. The difference was felt right away. People were smart enough to learn about cultivation when they suddenly found themselves becoming stronger. Any edge in battle was of the utmost importance and the lure of longer life was enough for everyone back on Earth to begin cultivating. Soldiers cultivated to strengthen their bodies, civilians cultivated to improve their health, heroes began emerging and Earth¡¯s finest minds became sharper. Ben slept for four days. During this time the mechanical flower in his hand turned to rust and fell apart slowly. His nanite swarm fully integrated with the A.I. chip and something new was born. It¡¯s computing power increased exponentially and it integrated further with Ben¡¯s brain and spinal column. His A.I. Chip upgraded to a Computer Core and he shared all his data with Alice through a link that grew stronger by the second. He found that Earth had a much higher rate of the passage of time, about four times that of the Setting Lands. Earth was well under siege, but his new information soon turned the tide in humanities favor. The connection with Alice grew stronger and she was able to implant her own personality and intelligence into his Computer Core. She was now effectively by his side at all times. The four days passed quickly as the two talked. She liked to hear about Nubbins, Snuffles, and especially Rupert. --- Ben finally woke up in his hotel room. His mind was clearer than ever. His thoughts processed like lightning. He could even keep up a constant mental dialogue with Alice. ¡®Alice, what are my options for refining the stone?¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®You can modify any existing core with cursed/yin status, refine it into magic tool or enslave it¡¯s native spirits.¡¯ She answered him in his head. ¡®What happens if I let the curse stand?¡¯ ¡®After two days you¡¯ll experience severe hypothermia, insanity and be possessed by the spirits inside the stone.¡¯ ¡®Is there any way for me to resist this effect?¡¯ He asked. ¡®You don¡¯t have a strong enough soul to resist the effect. You would need to be in the Immortal Realm or practice soul cultivation.¡¯ Alice admitted. ¡®What? It¡¯s that strong? I better refine it then, or is there a way for me to cultivate my soul?¡¯ ¡®You can¡¯t cultivate the soul yet.¡¯ ¡®What? I¡¯m in the Nascent Soul Realm. I should be cultivating my soul at this point.¡¯ Ben complained. ¡®The term ¡®Nascent Soul¡¯ technically only applies to standard Qi cultivators.¡¯ Alice informed him. ¡®Fine. What option would be the best for the speed of my cultivation? I need to return to earth as soon as possible.¡¯ ¡®Refining the stone into a magic tool and harmonizing it with existing Core would be most effective for cultivation speed. It would also use the most potential from the stone.¡¯ She instructed him. ¡®Let¡¯s do it. I need to personally help you as soon as possible.¡¯ ¡®Refining Black Devil Stone. You should retreat to an unpopulated area to minimize civilian casualties.¡¯ Ben began to make his way out of the city. ¡®Alert, a spatial disturbance has been detected. Analyzing¡­¡¯ Alice¡¯s voice sounded in his head. The next announcement interposed itself across his vision in bright red letters. -WARNING: SPATIAL RIFT DETECTED -DISASTER LEVEL: CATACLYSMIC -ACTIVATING AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS Chapter 30: The battle begins It had been some time since Lin Feng had discovered his ability to expand his consciousness to the minds of others. Instead of training at home, he now spent his free time in the local market. He was surrounded by random strangers of low mental cultivation. It was the perfect place for furthering his Dao of Soul. It was also where he cultivated the Withered Tree Scripture. This was one of the few cultivation methods that didn¡¯t directly cultivate Qi. It cultivated the soul and strengthened the body. He had a thread of Qi now, but it was weak and feeble. He bought and sold goods to keep up appearances and bring in some coin for the family. He became an adept reader of people and was beginning to be highly thought of by the wiser members of the Lin Clan. He was able avoid conflict and get favorable contracts using his new empathetic senses. Life was coming along well for Lin Feng. Then the country fell apart. --- ¡°Master, we succeeded in creating the Flame Gathering Seal. Now our cultivation will improve by leaps and bounds.¡± ¡°Well done. You¡¯ve worked hard. I¡¯ll name you vice priest we we establish our own Flame Chapter. It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡± ¡°Thank you master.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Master, isn¡¯t it gathering flame a bit too fast?¡± ¡°The formation can handle it. It¡¯s made to siphon off power to grow stronger.¡± ¡°Master, are the edges supposed to be burning like that?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Master, what happens if the formation fails?¡± ¡°The seal¡­¡± ¡°Breaks?¡± ¡°...¡± --- This was the day that the first general alert was raised on the network administered by the Horned Rabbit Sect. Closer to the country of Vorchin the message was blasted out by speakers to anyone within miles of any phone or beacon, this was heard alongside a blaring siren. ¡°Invasion from a foreign dimension is imminent. If under the realm of Core Formation, flee immediately to the nearest shelter indicated. Instructions for resistance are as follows.¡± Further away, a message was sent out to anyone with a phone that automatically played on speakerphone. -Invasion from a foreign dimension detected nearby. Requesting assistance from anyone Foundation Establishment and higher. Rewards are as follows. Text messages were sent to the phones on the other side of the continent. -Invasion from a foreign dimension detected on the Setting Lands continent. Updates will follow. It was a terrible day for the country of Vorchin, and the Setting Lands in general. It started with a small crack in space. That crack was the result of a nearby spatial treasure and the meddling of two idiots. Between the two pillars a flame the size of a fist burned. It started out colored bright orange. From there it slowly shrunk and turned a variety of other colors. It darkened to red, then purple, then blue, then lightened and turned white. When it was a pinprick of light, space finally cracked. It was at this time that Ben received his notification. He acted that same second and sent a message to his allies in the area. Lilith rushed to Two Stown Town to gather Lin Feng and warn the Lin Family. Her sisters used their influence over the main powers in the area to begin evacuating everyone regardless of faction. A voice rang out over the capital city. ¡°Everyone! Run now! The city is about to be destroyed in fire!¡± The call rang through every house and warned every person. People woke up from their sleep and headed outside to see what was happening. --- The underground cave warmed up. When master and disciple noticed this it was too late to escape. The two nearby fools had no chance for survival. A wave of Fire Qi rushed out from the ruptured space between the two pillars and melted everything inside the cave. The only thing left was those same two pillars, they shone with a red light. The spatial crack lengthened, then split. Small flames rushed out of the crack like sparks. They darted around like living things. The melting rock around the pillars exploded. A chain reaction began underground. It was identical in principal to a volcanic eruption. Enormous heat and pressure rushed out from the spatial rift that mostly built up inside the main chamber. The area around the pillars turned into an underground magma chamber. The tunnel turned into a exhaust vent from hell. Smoke and flames destroyed a warehouse in the capitol above. The upcoming destruction was displayed for everyone within several miles. It took this bright show to convince people to run. It was a good thing the tunnel was there. Despite the fact that it sprayed flames and magma over a wide area of the city, it vented off the magma chamber, slowing it¡¯s building pressure. Those people would have died anyways. The display of a kilometer high geyser of flames and the warning from the voice got everyone''s full attention. For a full ten minutes the sky lit up while people fled for their lives. The flaming vent stopped for an ominous moment. The flame and fury ceased and silence fell on the city. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. --- Ben stood with Lilith on the Spirit Vessel high above the city. Behind the two of them stood Terra and Lin Feng. Further behind was a small crowd of youths aged 4-20 years old. The founder of Horned Rabbit Sect looked back at his disciples. ¡°This is my first time addressing all of you together. It¡¯s time I made a few things clear.¡± Ben had a stern look on his face, this would be a perfect time to impress the geniuses he had gathered from the Setting Lands. ¡°I¡¯m from a place far, far away. I was sent here and need to return back to my daughter as quickly as possible. Nothing is going to stop me. That is my bottom line. This will be our first real battle. You will have a chance to leave after this with my best wishes.¡± He turned fully and looked them each in the eye. ¡°If you wish to journey with me to other realms, prove yourself in the upcoming battle. Find the proper place for yourself and try to help as much as possible.¡± Ben turned back and looked down onto the burning city. ¡°Just keep this in mind, when I move, I move big. When I fight, I fight big. When I want a challenge¡­¡± The city below burst apart in an awesome display. The ground opened up revealing the volcanic fury beneath it. Magma and flames burst out in every direction like a red flower. It was beautiful like a killing blow. It was fascinating like the last breath of a dying man. The city blew apart in an instant. The whole capital was lost in that one second as Ben¡¯s group looked down from above. Many people had escaped. More had died in the worst way possible. The largest groups had gotten their most important people out, but the poor didn¡¯t have the cultivation to escape quickly enough. Millions of lives lost in an instant. Millions saved from the warning. All that was left of the former capital of Vorchin was a flaming crater. At the center of the crater was something the looked like a blue campfire with two pillars on either side. From that fire a creature appeared. It was small and shaped like a rat, but instead of fur, there was cracked black skin with red streaks through it. A swarm of the creatures followed shortly after. They were joined by things that looked like bats made of flames. ¡°Reinforcements are on the way. We just need to buy a little time for the civilians to retreat. You can stay here on the ship for the first part of the battle and use my weaponry, but we have some time before the stronger enemies start showing up. Feel free to engage the enemies directly.¡± Ben stepped onto the railing. ¡°I will be cultivating and closing the rift.¡± He stepped off and plummeted to the ground below. His eyes were fixed on the two pillars and the blue fire. A figure of a young girl followed closely behind. --- ¡®Alright Ben, you need to get close to those two pillars for just a second.¡¯ Alice told him through the Computer Core. ¡®How close? I can tell that I can¡¯t get too near. That fire is too powerful, it''s distorting space itself.¡¯ He replied. ¡®50 meters. The Black Devil Stone and those two pillars are beginning to resonate with each other. We need to study them before we take any further action.¡¯ Alice said. ¡®I agree. With this being a spatial treasure we can¡¯t let it be damaged. I need to acquire it alongside the Black Devil Stone. Both are invaluable for my cultivation.¡¯ Ben fell and prepared for his landing. He touched a ring on his left hand with simple clean edges. This was one of his mobile assault type rings. Inside it was his drone swarm. He fell and a buzzing noise grew louder and louder as shapes darted out from him to form a swarm in the air. Each flying object was the size of a backpack, but there were dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of the flying devices. These were mass produced combat drones. Horned Rabbit Sect was making dozens of these every day and Ben had brought along a ring filled with thousands of them. Some had railguns, some missiles. Some carried radiation emitters, some carried lasers. Individually they were only as strong as a Core Formation cultivator, but as a swarm they were much stronger. If the whole swarm worked together they would be more powerful than most Nascent Soul cultivators. The downside of using them here was the immense heat. They couldn''t approach the ground or the pillars without melting the complex computers inside them. The drones spread out through the skies. They shot down the flaming bats and began bombarding the rat swarms. Facing this kind of firepower, the vermin were wiped out in large numbers. Ben activated every core he had at this point. The new Computer Core started planning the formation he would set up. The Brain Core started circulating it¡¯s Qi to fight the growing heat. His Heart Core started pumping harder and faster. A short sword appeared in his hand and started glowing with grey light. 50 meters away from the two pillars he crashed to the ground. The resulting explosion released a giant cloud of steam and dust that hid the area from view. Chapter 31: The abused child wakes Terra had no memory of anything from before her time as a slave. Those past years had erased everything. The only thing she knew was being trapped inside her own body, wishing that she was somewhere, anywhere, else. The first happy memory she had was a pair of crying eyes that ended her period of torment. When she woke up, her broken parts had been healed and she was whole. All the damage that rapists and abusers gleefully dealt to her tiny frame was gone. She was still mute. Unable to speak, she followed Lilith like a lost puppy and watched her closely. She listened to everything she said. The most important thing she learned was who had saved her from hell. She watched Ben from a distance and listened to him speak. He seemed like some men she had seen in the tents, they were the ones that didn¡¯t rape her, the ones that came when she was sick or when a man had beat her so badly she was on the verge of death. They had gentle eyes that were filled with pity. There were also women that came, they had some resemblance to Lilith, she was kind in a hard way. She made a close friend in the form of a rabbit. Terra learned to cultivate. She was given a book that was filled with information that made her understand the world around her. She learned that she was both special and unimportant, powerless and dangerous, great and poor. She was shown her own shackles, and how to control them. This was the essence of the Sealed Immortal Sutra. Using the cultivation technique inside, she began to awaken her special constitution. A week later she broke through to the Qi Condensation Realm. This would have made the greatest of geniuses jealous. One evening, Ben had met her in his room and took the entire night doing something he called awakening. She lay on a bed of towels and took a series of pills while he held her wrist in one hand. After just a few minutes she was writhing in pain while she shit black faeces, sweated blood, threw up brown sludge and lost all control of her body. Her blood burned and flesh tore then healed in cycles. After hours of torture, a small thread of blue blood appeared inside her heart. When this happened, a sudden thunderclap shook the sky. Heaven itself trembled for a moment. Ben stopped what he was doing and left the rest to Lilith. The next morning Terra woke up in a clean bed. She sat there for hours without doing anything. Before she got up, she decided to cultivate for a few minutes. She cycled her Qi through her body, when she did, something inside her blood woke up. She had a brief vision of a being a woman imprisoned by divine chains. She was weighed down while she descended the side of a mountain. Up above her was a place she had been exiled from. The pain of loss was complete. The woman had nothing left, her heart was empty, just like Terras own had been. She came back to reality and felt burning inside her chest. The blue blood was squirming there inside her heart. She didn¡¯t leave her room that day. Ripples of aura could be clearly felt for some time. It made Lilith and the others uncomfortable, like they were being watched by some great figure. A week later she was a Core Formation Cultivator, stronger than anyone she had ever seen before she met Ben and Lilith. The tread of blue blood had grown to a sliver, it was enriching her heart and refining her blood. There were other people who joined them, but Terra was told that she was masters only direct disciple. It was clear that she scared other people, Terra was told that was because she needed to learn to withdraw her aura. Ben told her she didn¡¯t need to worry about it. The Spirit Vessel stopped above a country and Terra carried on cultivating inside the ship. It took her one month to establish her foundation. This cultivation speed was faster than any other native of this world who wasn¡¯t a Devil Cultivator. The sliver of blue blood turned into a thread that floated through her veins. She had very little real world experience, but her cultivation was quick as lightning. She hadn¡¯t learned a movement, offensive or defensive skill. She only knew how to cultivate and how to activate the strange energy of her awakened bloodline. When Terra had broken into the Foundation Establishment Realm her progress slowed dramatically. Forming her Nascent Soul would take a long time when compared to her recent advances. Then the day came when she was called and told to listen to her master carefully, as if she hadn¡¯t been doing so already. That was when she met her brother disciple. The two watched each other in silence for a full minute. Lin Feng didn¡¯t need to say anything to understand Terra while she couldn¡¯t speak to begin with. The master came and spoke in front of everyone. Terra could ignore most of what he said, but she learned one important thing. Now was the time to prove herself to him. She didn¡¯t stop to think before jumping off the spirit vessel right behind her master. --- Lin Feng was glad that he was finally going to be side by side with his master, but he had no chance to say farewell to his family. They left as a group and fled to the west. He didn¡¯t know what to expect when it came to his master¡¯s assistants, but he had never seen such a powerful and beautiful woman. Just a glance from her shook his soul. He boarded the base his master was working from. The floating fortress he was brought to was larger than Two Stone Town, it left him flabbergasted. It was larger than any oil tanker, aircraft carrier or sports stadium. He met the monster that was his senior sister disciple. If he didn¡¯t have such a strong soul, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to look the 9 year old child in the eye. Lin Feng began to feel inadequate. He decided to stay quiet awhile and just watch his senior sister. He was further astonished when he realized that Ben was from a future Earth and had invented technology only imagined in science fiction. In the upcoming battle he would only be as significant as an ant compared to Ben and Terra, he had to find some way to help, but what could he do? --- Terra fell just behind Ben. She passed harmlessly through the swarm of drones. Ben pulled out a large black boulder and threw it at the ground. The stone hit the lava pool, a circle of magma began hardening and cooling down. The two figures landed on the Black Devil Stone. Around them was a dark red ring of stone and further out was the magma pool. A small distance away there stood two pillars with a blue fire between them. Waves of sword Qi swept out and slashed at the hardening stone. It left behind a weird and confusing obsidian landscape that had vaguely floral feel to it. Ben let off a dull red aura and steam evaporated from the surface of his skin. Terra had a blue glow around her. While they both wore simple black robes, Terra looked adorable as her head was lost in the hood and arms weren¡¯t long enough for the sleeves. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She looked down at the stone she was standing on. Some instinct told her that she had a connection with it, so she sat down and began circulating her Qi and bloodline. The stone started emitting waves of cold Qi that countered the fire Qi. The area started growing chaotic with the competing forces of the area. The fire and the two pillars also became more active. Larger Fire Demons like flaming cats and birds were pouring out of the fire, but so far they stayed away from Ben and Terra. The fight between the drone swarm and the fire demon horde intensified. Cultivators from nearby began arriving for one reason or another. Some sensed the disturbance and came to investigate, a few locals were holding back the monsters to buy time for the civilians retreat. More powerful individuals and groups trickled in to join the fight, the battlefield expanded to cover the whole former capital. Lin Feng¡¯s view from the airship was hellish and terrifying. Smoke and flames hung over the whole area turning the sky black and red. The epicenter of the destruction kept producing horrors that fought against the drones above and experts below. The ruins of the city slowly collapsed into a molten heap. The battleground was shrouded by dust and smoke. Lin Feng focused his spiritual sense on the two figures at the center of the fight. A girl was sitting still at the center of the rock, her aura was growing stronger by the second. Ripples of Yin Qi clashed with the ambient Fire Qi, Sword Qi moulded the landscape as magma cooled to stone. If Terra knew how difficult it would be refining the stone, she wouldn¡¯t have attempted it. While it would be easier for her than it would Ben, he had higher cultivation and the assistance of his Computer Core. Her only advantages lay in her natural constitution and awakened bloodline. This ended up being good for Ben, it sped up the creation of his array and transferred his curse to her. He lost control over a new artifact, but quickly come, quickly go. There was another object of interest in front of him. Ben built the obsidian formation and studied the pillars at the same time. The pillars were a dozen meters tall and flared out at both ends. The bases and crowns had complex formations inlaid there, the rest of the pillar had images of men fighting the same fire demons he saw right now. When he tried studying the formations at the top and bottom he started getting a headache. At first it seemed like the work of men, but the longer he looked, the more natural it seemed. Was it a natural formation, or man made? The more he looked it over, the more his horizons were broadened. When he compared his current knowledge with the quality of the pillar in front of him, Ben realized that he was a caveman in comparison to whoever made these artifacts. His eyes lost focus and he couldn¡¯t even comprehend the outer edges of the pillars. ¡®Analyzing.¡¯ Alice said in his head. ¡®There are layers of fields that interfere with the visual you¡¯re sending me. Is it a concealing formation?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think so. It¡¯s a kind of spatial treasure.¡¯ Ben closed his eyes and let them rest. Alice and Ben had a conversation about advanced formations. What they could do and further possibilities, the arrays being built on earth right now, and theoretical formations. They talked about possible wide area formations covering continents, planets, stars and galaxy clusters. The two talked for a few hours. On the outside only a second had passed. ''What the fuck?¡¯ Ben was actually amazed, not at the time dilation, but at the pillars. In the second Ben''s eyes had been closed, the formations on the pillars had changed. It was subtle, but with his Computer Core recording optical data, he couldn''t be wrong. There were minute differences here and there. He looked closely at the details of the base and cap of the column. There were four different formations, each with slightly different style. Each one featured fire of some sort as the main essence. The first flame was the darkest of the four. It had a deep profound aura that he recognized from his limited time with his new pet Rupert, it was a type of abyssal Qi. Abyssal Fire. This flame was born from the intense pressure found in the deepest places of the world. The next flame had the opposite type. He recognized this type of Qi from his interactions with Heavenly Connection cultivators. This had the feel of the void. It was Void Flame. This fire was found when absence was given form, this burned in the long spaces between the stars. The third was very familiar. It was Blood Fire. Ben felt intense pressure from this array. His blood heated up in response and his Heart Core began circulating unbidden. The last flame had an origin of fire that was unfamiliar to him. There was a old quality to it that Ben had no experience with. He felt a timelessness to it that surpassed everything. Every moment the fire burned had a connection with all of it¡¯s past. It felt like the flame existed on a deeper plane. This was Eternal Fire, fire that had been burning for countless epochs. He shifted his attention to the two bodies of the pillars. There were two murals there, each slightly different. On the left men fought against a horde of beasts like the ones seen now. On the right they fought against a tall flaming humanoid figure with a single burning eye in the center of its forehead. Ben got another shock. With his closer examination he found out that the figures looked like they were performing martial stances even as they fought. They weren¡¯t murals, they were skill manuals. There were men flying across the field of battle, the wind that passed by them had its own form, as if it were Qi. There was a combat formation used by the soldiers on the front lines, each in a precise position. Attacks from the fire demons also had their own individual aggressive qualities to them. The creatures themselves contained their own separate abilities. There were stronger beasts that were the strong generals of the beast horde, they were all carved with their own instinctive dao. The two pillars were more than a mere spatial treasure. They contained countless secrets that would need to be explored. The three eyed monster had its own horrible aura. When Ben looked at it, he felt something looking back. There in the depths of the third eye was a sparkle of intelligence. In that moment Ben knew that something was watching him, waiting. ¡®Enough fucking around. It¡¯s time to get to work.¡¯ He shook his head and began studying the most familiar part of the pillars, the Blood Fire. Chapter 32: The well organized war When Deacon Xia was interrupted from his cultivation, he would normally call it a great insult, but he understood in this circumstance. Every bell in every temple was ringing. It was an alert of the highest order. It was a call to war. An event of this magnitude hadn¡¯t happened in three decades. Only when the marauding desert tribes had last swept through the area was the war bell sounded. The odd thing today was the calm of the ancestor today as opposed to back them. Deacon Xia remembered the ancestors face that day, it had been seared into his mind by war. The plans held this time were much more controlled. They had greater time to gather peasants from villages and make a more leisurely retreat. This time there were no isolated towns that needed to be left behind out of necessity. Then Deacon Xia heard the ancestor bring up volunteers, he stood up and asked his questions. ¡°Honored ancestor, the time frame you''ve laid out is too lengthy. I myself will go delay the enemy to buy time for the civilians, but we need to hurry up the evacuation.¡± A calming voice from a mature beauty replied to Deacon Xia. ¡°There is no need to rush. A delaying action is already being fought. We will send a response team and I''m happy to hear that you''ve volunteered to lead it.¡± The matriarch calmed him. ¡°I''m happy to provide any assistance for the sect, but I could be there in a matter of hours. More lives will be lost the longer I delay.¡± He worried. ¡°There is no urgent need. Take your time and pick a few hopeful disciples to mentor along the way. This will be an invaluable lesson for the younger generation.¡± --- Deacon Xia and a small group of core disciples rode on a Golden Crown Eagle. They passed over fields and forests faster than any commercial jet. Deacon Xia was beginning to feel like this wasn''t the bitter war he thought it would be. It felt more like a mission. This changed when the group came upon the long caravans of refugees fleeing the area. The poverty on display was absolute, these people had dropped everything at a moment''s notice and ran for their lives. There were less wounded and hungry than he had seen in other refugee groups, it was much better organized and supplied. There were spots designated for camping, fresh water and meals for everyone. Even if it was stale bread and a blanket on the ground, it was still much better than nothing. The safety of the weak was also watched over by cultivators that had been assigned by Horned Rabbit Sect. They kept people safe from fierce beasts, scattered fire demons and thieves. They ran patrols along the column and herded the crowds like sheepdogs. Deacon Xia had never seen such a well organized disaster. The effects of the war began to show themselves. Forests were on fire, black clouds covered the sky and ash hung in the air like foul mist. Solitary buildings like shepherds huts and woodshacks remained, but anything larger than a house was on fire or burnt to the ground already. The oppressive atmosphere brought back old memories for Deacon Xia. His dark mood and the changing environment made the youths feel extremely uncomfortable. The first enemies they saw were weak stragglers. It wasn¡¯t worth their time to snuff them out, that would be handled by skirmishers and outriders. There were lone wolves with orange fur, rats, bats, and other weak demons. The outer edges of the warzone had medical camps, supply posts and fields for mustering forces. Alchemists and herbalists worked in the medical camps. They were provided basic herbs and paid with Knowledge Points and Knowledge Rank just like everyone else. The more people they healed, the more they were paid. Supply posts had armor, weapons, talismans and other gear that was available for a quarter their normal cost. Common rank gear was freely given to anyone who was fighting. The grounds for rallying troops had all different kinds of people there. Groups of practitioners wearing identical robes obviously came from the same sects, military units had matching armor and stood in organized ranks, loose cultivators wore anything from loin cloths to full regal costume. Deacon Xia and his small group joined the waiting groups. The battle line would be separated into three parts with the strongest individuals deep in the dangerous territory around the crater. They were told to intercept any stronger demons, but let the weaker ones pass. Next came the shieldwall. These people focused on containing the demons with defensive formations and held back assaults. From time to time they would let demons pass on purpose, the third line would prepare ambushes for these groups. It was a battle formation that focused on containment and training. Specific types and numbers of fire demons could be asked for and the shieldwall would let those kinds of opponents through. If the shieldwall started taking too much damage, the third line would join them until a powerful frontline skirmisher came by. The whole operation gave Deacon Xia a surreal feeling. Was war supposed to be this organized? This safe? Deacon Xia didn¡¯t dislike this new method of battle. If the war of three decades ago had gone the same way, he would have more living friends. The shieldwall would come close to buckling, but reinforcements were constantly streaming in from further and further away. They came from varying backgrounds that had never heard of each other, but they all came for the same reason, to gather KP and KR. Only the strongest of the front line fighters saw the organizer of the battle. The little they did see of him was terrifying. At the center of the hellstorm the capital had become were two small areas. The pillars with their fire on one side and a lotus of darkest blue obsidian stone on the other. Fire raged around the formation, anyone below Heavenly Connection realm would be turned to ashes before they got anywhere near the two. The air inside the lotus formation was nice and cool, but the air outside was a caustic inferno. Terra sat in the same place with her back to Ben. He sat facing the pillars, studying them from top to bottom. The fire demons that poured from the blue fire completely ignored him. The most disturbing thing was the aura around the girl. Many Heavenly Connection Cultivators had a faint bloodline of their own. While extremely rare, there were people blessed by the heavens. This girl was in another league altogether. Where other people had weak bloodlines that only supported their cultivation, this girls bloodline was seeping from her pores and visible in her breath. Her noble aura stood head and shoulders above the others in terms of purity and strength. She was a queen among commoners, a goddess among mortals. The experts who answered the call to arms had never seen anyone with such a pure bloodline, and she was so young too. This limitless potential made everyone filled with envy. If they could bring her to their side their worries of the future would be over. If she had any potential to join their enemies, she must be killed. These thoughts and others ran through their heads, but they would soon find out that the nine year old girl was far out of their league. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Ben was focused on the pillars, unaware of the change in attitude towards his disciple. He continued his study of the Blood Flame Formation. Little by little he deepened his understanding of the energy that made up his Heart Core. The other three types of flames, Abyssal Fire, Void Flame and Eternal Fire, were all worthy of study, but he didn¡¯t have the time now. He had an affinity with the Blood Flame, so it offered him the greatest immediate benefit. ¡®Alice, if I¡¯m reading this correctly, the blood of these demons can be the perfect elixir for me now. I¡¯ll be able to refine it into Blood Qi for myself.¡¯ He thought. ¡®Technically, that should work. Be careful, it is demon blood. If you strengthen it too much it could throw your whole system off balance.¡¯ She warned him. ¡®I can harvest it, cant I? I¡¯m still not even a Novice Alchemist, but I can store it for later or give it to someone else. Snuffles? She could only drink so much. Rupert? He can¡¯t handle something so dense in Yang Qi. Nubbins? He should be fine with it I think.¡¯ Ben stood up and looked over at Terra. ¡°I¡¯ll be gone for a minute, just keep it up. You¡¯re doing well. As if on cue, the blue flames between the pillars flared and a head slowly pushed through. It was the size of a small car. A bright red forked tongue flicked out of rows of serrated teeth. Small black eyes sat back behind a ridged nose. It was a Giant Flame Devil Python, the strongest demon seen so far. More and more of its large body slithered out of the rift. Ben watched it grow longer. The demon was dozens of meters long. As it exited the rift, it eyed Ben warily. He waited patiently as the snake fully emerged from between the two pillars. Mist began condensing around him. A more dense Qi from a ring on his finger reinforced the scant water attribute Qi. It would only last a fraction of a second, but that¡¯s all he would need. He also fully activated his other cores to prepare the attack. Ben leapt out of the protective lotus formation the second the beasts tail was clear of the portal. The high tier experts watching the fight only saw a trail of steam strike the back of the snakes neck then back off into the lotus again. He had moved faster than the snake could react. There was a single stab into the spinal cord and a slash to the side to destroy the neural network of the beast. The damage to the body was perfect. The snake was still alive and had an intact core and meridians. There was very little blood loss and minimal overall trauma. The python was like a steer in a slaughterhouse, waiting for the bolt gun to pierce through the base of it''s skull. ¡°Terra, would you be so kind?¡± Ben asked. She raised a hand and ephemeral blue chains shot out and wrapped up the breathing corpse. The two pulled the mass closer to the obsidian lotus. A short while later Ben was looking at a small pool of steaming blood. ¡°First, Snuffles.¡± He said. The boar emerged from a interspatial ring. It had grown larger by several fold and was now larger than any wild boar ever seen on Earth. It looked as large as a ox and weighed more than a ton. It no other change, aside from it''s temper growing even more foul towards outsiders. It recognized Ben as it''s benefactor and instinctively knew to not mess with Terra, but it showed complete animosity towards all others. Seeing the delicious smelling blood, it began drinking it''s fill. Moments later Nubbins joined it. The two animals tustled back a forth over the pool. The boar tried blocking the pool from the rabbit, but the rabbit was quicker and stronger than the boar. It would ram a vulnerable joint, causing the boar to stumble to it''s knees, then dart around it and start wallowing in the blood like a little imp. The blood covered Nubbins and Snuffles drank their fill quickly. They ended up consuming the same amount of blood. The two animals went back into a spatial ring and Ben drained more blood from the corpse. This time he lay down in the pool and circulated his heart core to absorb the energy contained within. His heart pumped harder and faster. His blood got richer as the Qi present there got denser. He felt his blood pressure rising. The balance of energies inside his body began to grow chaotic. Having one core with a dominant oppressive Qi wasn''t good for his overall health. If he wasn''t careful he could develop cultivation deviation. When he finished, his Heart Core had broken through to the Heavenly Connection Realm. He didn¡¯t dare push it farther, as he was already starting to experience side effects. His three other cores were all unable to operate at optimal capacity, his mood grew unstable and he knew he was more prone to aggression. Ben rose from the pool dripping with blood. He looked around at the still active battlefield. The python had been dealt with, but the blue flame was getting larger and more powerful creatures were coming through. The human side was getting constant reinforcement, so both sides remained at a deadlock. The fire demons were unable to kill the humans, but they had near infinite numbers and their portal was too hazardous to approach. The humans had to wait until some expert could close the rift and end the invasion. If Ben couldn¡¯t deal with it, it would be like trying to hold back the tide with a broom. He sat back down and continued his study. He would have to invest days of his time to understand the other three types of flames, time he didn''t have. Instead he tried to understand the artifact as a whole. The pillars were more advanced and profound than anything he had seen before. If he had the chance, he wouldn¡¯t mind isolating himself away for a few months for study. No matter how small the detail, there was some nuance that would interest him. He felt like a ancient european druid being given a modern encyclopedia. He could barely understand the letters, let alone the meaning behind the words. Given enough time, he would decrypt the artifact, but that was a resource Ben was short on. He had other priorities at this point. The main one being securing this spatial rift. After all, it would be exponentially more difficult to return to Earth if this world was a wasteland. The easiest way to draw this to a close would be with extreme entropy. Just drain the area of anything resembling energy. This would cause the rift to close due to a lack of energy and support. It was similar to removing the supports on one side of a bridge. Even if something on the other side of the rift kept it forcibly open, it would take 10 times the power and only allow weaker entities through. On the other hand, the portal could be left open or even traveled through if a gateway was established. Ben would be able to exercise some control over the passage if he had the time to build properly. This would also take the longest time. There was one other issue, greed. Ben was going to take this opportunity to gather another artifact on top of the one Terra was refining now. These two columns would find a place in his cultivation. He would try to take this treasure for himself. Chapter 33: A New Foe Has Appeared Lin Feng had found the best place for himself. Much like his time cultivating at the market, he was spreading himself across a wide area with his powerful soul. He was now understanding a new part of his Dao. During his time with his family he had begun to enter a rut caused by peace. While it was right to calm the mind and embrace tranquility, chaos would eventually make its way into your life. He saw the carnage below and felt the emotions of the people and beasts there. As the chaos grew, so did his ability to sense the battlefield. His soul was expanding quickly. He could feel the constraint placed upon him by his body, it felt like a slowly tightening straightjacket. If he hadn¡¯t been given the his cultivation method along with many pills from his master, he was sure that something would have gone catastrophically wrong. While he was progressing up the ranks of cultivation, it felt like every stage and realm constrained him even more. While he was physically stronger, his soul far overpowered his body. This lead him to adopt a passive role in the fighting. He sat on a lower deck of the spirit vessel and looked down at the battle below. He saw the tech from Earth, the constant flow of reinforcements, the invading fire demons and the center of the action. A new ability he was developing was the spiritual nudge. It was the beginning stage of spiritual transmission, something only Nascent Soul cultivators could do. Lin Feng could tell where the humans were losing the battle. He would find the nearest higher realm cultivator and send them the nudge. It was a little like hearing your name in a crowded room. You think you hear it, but are unsure about the origin and direction, so you look around for someone addressing you. In the confusion of the battle, many experts would turn and find allies close at hand in dire straights. Most assumed it was coincidence. The handful of Nascent Soul cultivators could all tell that someone was watching from above and coordinating the battle. What caused them to respect this person high above was their sense of being watched at all times. Lin Feng looked down Ben and Terra. The revelation that Ben was from Earth had come quickly, he only found out when he saw the swarm of drones, a technology he recognized. In the end, it changed little. He had already put his lot in with the man he called his master, the fact that they came from the same distant world only brought them closer in Lin Feng¡¯s mind. While watching his apprentice sister cultivate on the stone, both him and Ben felt a change at the same time. --- Terra had a connection with the stone. The moment she sat down on it her mind was dragged away into a dream like the one she had seen when she awakened her bloodline. This time she watched someone else''s life. She was born into an influential family. Even her maids had their own servants, and they each lived well themselves. Daily medicinal baths, the finest pills, rooms fitted with Qi gathering arrays, private tutors and meals fit for immortals were all provided unceasingly. When Terra compared her own life to this girls, the difference was like night and day. Terra was a slave, this girl was a princess. She grew up, started training and cultivating, saw a wide marvelous world and became a immortal through her hard work. She grew to power and managed large territories. She was worshiped by mortals and adored by cultivators. She fell in love with the wrong person. That person got sick. She stole medicine to heal him. That medicine happened to be forbidden. The wrong person belonged to an ancestral enemy. When her actions were discovered a war broke out between the factions. She refused the clan summons and tried to elope with her beloved. They were caught within hours. She watched her lover killed in front of her very eyes. She was brought back in chains. ¡°Ryu, what have you done? That was no mere medicine! If you weren''t so blinded by love we would stay at peace. The Heavenly Demon Pavilion has been waiting for a shift in the balance of power. Those battle hungry freaks will take any opportunity to invade our world.¡± ¡°No one in the whole Nine Empyrean Heavens dares touch the Eternal Firmament Origin Fruit. Demonic Overlords, Dragon Gods and even the Sovereign Emperor himself wouldn¡¯t want to deal with the consequences of such a theft.¡± She had been brought into a large hall. Her grandfather, patriarch of the Divine Moon Clan, was thoroughly chastising her. ¡°When the fruit was discovered all those years ago at a nexus of dragon veins, all the powers of the time agreed to guard it closely until it ripens. We¡¯ve made many treaties that are now null and void because of your greed. We will be attacked on all sides.¡± ¡°Even if I am your grandfather, I still need to punish you heavily. If you weren¡¯t from the main line of our clan you would be executed in a painful and lengthy display.¡± ¡°It pains me to do this. You are hereby stripped of your power and cast down from the Empyrean Heavens.¡± She was bound, her core of power was destroyed and her meridians crippled. She was then cast out of the Nine Empyrean Heavens and exiled to one lower worlds to live out her remaining days as a mortal. Being the granddaughter of a being that stood at the pinnacle of cultivation was the only thing that saved her life. She kept only one thing, her bloodline. While she couldn¡¯t pass on a high cultivation to her children, she could give them some small chance at success. She had a daughter who had another daughter. A line of women passed through the ages carrying of a faint trace of the goddess who was cast out of heaven. Hundreds of thousands of years later, Terra was born. Six years later, she became a slave. Three years later, her bloodline awakened and she made a connection with the power of her ancestor. Terra sat on a ancient stone that resonated with that distant bloodline. On a distant world on another plane of reality, a small glyph glowed brightly. An inheritor had arisen. --- ¡®Is she alright?¡¯ Ben asked. ¡®No, she¡¯s in trouble, a spirit is assaulting her through the stone.¡¯ Alice answered. ¡®You mentioned that I could refine the spirits inside the stone. Where are they coming from?¡¯ ¡®It seems like the stone and the pillars are related. The pillars are obviously connected to some kind of devil world. The stone is probably connected to a ghost world. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem to save her. Just place your hand on the stone and let the Computer Core handle the rest.¡¯ Alice explained. ¡®Got it.¡¯ He touched the stone. Nothing happened for a few moments. Then a whispering voice entered his mind. While he heard something like words, there wasn¡¯t any intelligence behind them. He shrugged it off without much thought, it wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard voices in his head. ¡®Side effects?¡¯ He asked Alice. ¡®Minimal. Most of the ability and independent thought was refined out of the ghost. There isn¡¯t much left of it except some Qi and a shred of will.¡¯ She answered. ¡®How many of these spirits would I need to form a new core?¡¯ Ben continued. ¡®Around 200 or so. You could also give up some control and leave one of the spirits as a core spirit, then you would only need to feed it with souls or Yin Qi energies.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t like the idea of giving up control of one of my cores. I¡¯ll take my time if need be.¡¯ Ben shook his head. ¡®I knew you¡¯d say that. I have another suggestion. We could place a kind of lure on either artifact, that would gather spirits that you could refine.¡¯ ¡®That would be dangerous for Terra, wouldn¡¯t it?¡¯ Ben was slightly concerned. ¡®Yes.¡¯ Alice admitted. ¡®That¡¯s fine, she needs some personal development. Being attacked by evil spirits will be good for her.¡¯ --- Ben held Terra up while she regained consciousness. When she opened her eyes again Ben smiled at her. ¡°Well done so far. Keep it up.¡± She nodded and closed her eyes, this time in concentration, not a pained sleep. Ben sat back down and faced the pillars. There was little change there, the blue fire had gotten a little larger, but nothing else was different. The stalemate continued due to human cultivators being unable to get close enough to close the rift. Only Ben and Terra could have any effect. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The two were at the center of a Yin formation that countered the raging energy around them. Even Ben wouldn¡¯t last long away from the lotus. He would like to fully contain the wild Fire Qi being released, but he would need to be a Heavenly Connection Cultivator with complete control over flames for that to be possible. Setting up this safe haven was the limit of his ability. The battle was entering a stasis. The Fire Demons were streaming out in ever greater numbers, but they were being cut down without inflicting heavy losses. Ben ran through his plan for closing the rift. He would refine the two pillars himself and seal the portal to prevent more demons from entering this plane of existence. Unless his calculations were wrong... --- The invasion wore on for days, then weeks. The temporary camps turned into more permanent structures, more people arrived to contain the demons and relieve those who had been fighting for days. Ben¡¯s main group never moved. Lilith and her sisters stayed in the spirit vessel as a backup force. Lin Feng could keep up his task thanks to his strong soul. Ben and Terra were both busy with the artifacts. Only Ben¡¯s lesser disciples rotated in and out of the battle. The fire demons grew stronger over time, this was offset by human reinforcements. The wasteland created by the war grew larger and larger. A curious slow retreat was taking place. The temporary camps would be fortified into forward operating bases as the front line crept closer. Hospitals turned into fortresses and fell in turn. Supply lines were fortified into trenches that the ranged corps fought from, then the shield wall defended, then abandoned to the fire demons. What impressed cultivators was how organized the defense was. With minimal effort the waves of demons were cut down. If a position was threatened, there were always reinforcements on their way as well as multiple paths of safe retreat to secure defenses. It was a different way to wage war, it almost felt like cheating. Many combatants began to feel some empathy for the hundreds of demons they killed. The corpses of the demons were all gathered. When they were refined or fed to trained beasts, they produced great effect. Unlike other infernal creatures, their bodies weren¡¯t filled with impurities and corruption. Whatever consumed them was filled with energy. The motivation to end the fight was lost. It soon turned into a training exercise and chance to fight for resources. Cultivators came and went, Sects sent mission teams, mortal armies came and occupied large outer areas as screening forces. The whole country of Vorchin became a wasteland of demons and war. At the center of the conflict was a airship circling a pair of pillars and a black stone flower. The blue fire was now larger than a bonfire. The two pillars reflected it¡¯s blue glow. While he still had some time, Ben knew that he couldn¡¯t let the blue fire grow large enough that it touched the two pillars. If that was allowed to happen it would open up a gate to hell that could only be closed by a immortal. Ben himself had to take action several times to cull the numbers of demons when they came through in a horde. He still had no trouble taking them down, he even took a few corpses for Nubbins and Snuffles. Terra almost had complete control over the Black Devil Stone, she had been attacked by several other spirits. Each time they were refined by Ben. Through both of their efforts the Yin Formation grew in strength while Ben studied to pillars, hoping for a breakthrough that would allow him to close the rift and take the pillars away. ¡®Ben, she¡¯s being attacked again. It¡¯s a different kind this time. I think it¡¯s a rare spirit.¡¯ Alice informed him. ¡®Useful? How?¡¯ He asked. ¡®It¡¯s a rare type that can withstand fire. The Yin Flame Spirit. 99% of spirits can¡¯t stand fire and other Yang Qi elements, but Yin Fire is one of the rarest types of flames. If a spirit has that element it won¡¯t be weakened by daylight or fire of any kind, it can actually absorb and refine these flames.¡¯ ¡®Sounds like something that can be useful now. Lets pull it out as gently as possible. I should be able to use it for refining the pillars.¡¯ He reached over to the stone again. The spirit that emerged this time was fully awake and conscious of what was happening to it. It wailed against the restrictions Ben imposed. The Yin Flame Spirit had intelligence of its own. It had an immaterial shape, like a candle casting a wavering shadow of someone in a deep hood. It was azure and had wisps of blue flames shading it. It writhed in the air as Ben refined the spirit. Slowly it¡¯s ego was erased and free will was wiped away. The whole process was similar to absolute brainwashing. While some life was left, it was weaker and had no ability to resist or take independent action. What was left was a faint blue shade that slowly melded with Ben¡¯s own shadow. ¡®Good, let¡¯s start refining it further using the abyssal and void flames. This should give us the ability to suppress the pillars.¡¯ Ben, Alice and Terra worked in silence for a few minutes. ¡®Wait a minute. There¡¯s abnormal activity in the rift.¡¯ Alice warned him. Ben looked over at the blue fire. While he was watching, it turned a deep shade of red. The pillar with the giant fire demon flashed. The third eye on the large figure glowed brightly, this didn¡¯t escape Ben¡¯s notice. The fire grew larger and took on the shape from the pillar. It was four meters tall and looked like a hooded figure. It had no arms and where it¡¯s face should be there was instead a dark hole with three bright lights shining out. When it had fully manifested itself, it¡¯s evil aura spread out over the area. It was a caustic, malevolent aura that sought to consume anything it came into contact with. According to beings Ben had come into contact with before, this was at the peak Nascent Soul realm. The figure blinked with it¡¯s three eyes. It looked around and saw the black lotus. It¡¯s eyes met Ben¡¯s and he could tell that the mouthless creature was smiling at him. He smiled back. Ben had seen true evil before. He had met serial killers and the worst felons on death row. His studies of the human psyche could only be done by interviewing a wide spectrum of people. By learning from the people who had given in to their darkest temptations could he understand the motivations of mankind. The biggest problem he had with them was getting them to show their true colors. The guards didn¡¯t appreciate having to deal with agitated inmates, but money goes a long way when it comes to convincing people to look the other way. Ben felt like he was meeting one of those inmates again. He saw the same predatory gaze, the same disregard for life, the same hatred towards good and innocent things. He couldn¡¯t help but feel some sympathy towards such twisted beings. Ben knew how easily it was to slip into depravity and evil. These were simple beings, more like rabid animals than conscious entities. While cunning, they had a set of desires that were completely transparent to him. Ben was glad that he had this kind of being to deal with. This thing he could taunt and control. He looked back at Terra with a look of concern on his face. The flaming figure saw this and grinned further. The bait was set, now time for the trap. Ben prepared most of his cores for battle. His lower dantian core he left alone, he couldn¡¯t cut something immaterial. His heart core began circulating Blood Flame Qi through his body. The brain core produced a thin layer of water Qi on the surface of his skin less than a centimeter thick. His Computer Core started analyzing the battle to come. The results of his analysis were bleak. While he could win the battle, sacrifices would need to be made. Ben got more serious when he learned what he would have to do. The spirit let out a psychic howl that spread fire wherever it went. The fire in the area grew more excited and stone itself burst into flame. The attack washed over the Obsidian Lotus and the outer edges of it began to melt. Ben and Terra felt the formation starting to strain. Ben took off one of his rings and left it there by Terra, then he walked to the edge of the flower and faced the fire spirit. ¡®I¡¯m glad I brought a fire extinguisher.¡¯ He thought. Chapter 34: For the price of an arm A man stood at the edge of a stone platform. He confronted an evil spirit with three flaming eyes in it''s cloak of flames. The battlefield was an inferno of ruins. Nothing but ashes and stone remained for miles. The sky above was a desolate patina of grey, red and black clouds. Ben sent out a command to his drone swarm. Stationed in the cooler clouds above, thousands of intelligent machines began a barrage of the target below them. Missiles were the slowest moving attacks, they took a little over a second to reach the target. Large mass projectiles fired next, there were railguns, air guns and gunpowder rounds. The heavier rounds traveled more slowly, they took a tenth of a second to impact the area around the spirit. The sniper and penetration rounds fired next, they took a hundredth of a second to travel down from the skies above. Firing on a different time scale altogether were the plasma, laser, radiation, shockwave, magnetic and other related weapons. Each attack was timed perfectly. Strikes rained down from all directions. Bullets, missiles, lasers, shockwaves, radiation and other high tech weapons struck at the same time. The blast shook the obsidian lotus. Ben injected some of his Sword Qi into it and it stabilized against the blastwave. Ben peered through the storm of dust and kept an eye on the fire spirit. Its silhouette wavered in the heat, but it showed no damage at all. ¡®It''s immune to physical attacks, radiation and vibration weapons. Only if they are reinforced with Qi will they cause damage.¡¯ Ben thought to himself. ¡®I hoped to save some of this special weaponry for later. That also means my biggest guns are useless. I was afraid this would be the case.¡¯ From one of his interspatial rings he brought out a familiar weapon from Earth, it was a grenade launcher. It had been strengthened with formations to withstand increased strain and built into it''s magazine was a spatial array that held dozens of different kinds of rounds. He lifted the launcher towards the fire spirit. As he focused in on it, the three eyed figure vanished from view. ¡®Shit¡¯ He turned around and pointed the gun at Terra¡¯s head. Her eyes widened, then squeezed shut. The muzzle flashed and a blue grenade the size of a fist whistled past her ear, ruffling her hair. The round then curved slightly and detonated right in front of the evil spirit that had been reaching for her neck. A blue grey mist exploded out, sending the spirit back and knocking Terra into Ben''s arms. The spirit howled, but showed no signs of damage. ¡®The vapor rounds aren''t effective. This thing is tougher than I expected. I''m running out of options.¡¯ He switched the magazine to variant mode and held the trigger down. Boom Splash Crack Sizzle Thump There were rounds filled with acid that exploded in a cone, spraying the area. There were tunnel clearing rounds that devoured the oxygen in an area, making any living being suffocate. There were airburst rounds that made secondary implosions that crushed everything for meters. There were poisonous gases, corrosive chemicals and more weird weaponry. Each shot stunned the spirit for a split second, but none of them had any permanent effect. Ben ran out of his alternative rounds. Next was a volley of high explosive grenades didn''t even stun the evil spirit, it simply floated through the area, disregarding the shockwaves and shrapnel. The fire spirit stretched out an ephemeral arm and clenched it. Flames from the surrounding area began coalescing into a fireball the size of a watermelon. They then shrank to the size of an orange, getting brighter and hotter. The fireball condensed until it trembled under the pressure, then the spirit tried to throw it at Ben and Terra. Ben didn''t wait for it to reach him. He pulled out a railgun and fired it at the fireball before it had a chance to leave the spirits hand. The railgun projectile traveled at supersonic speeds and hit the fireball before the spirit could react. Ben may not be able to use his conventional weapons to harm the spirit, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t use them to defend. The volatile fireball exploded in the hand of the spirit. It screeched in outrage. While it remained unharmed, it''s frustration was clear. Ambient temperatures rose even further. The flame spirit used this to absorb more Qi, growing ever more powerful as it gathered Fire Qi. The corona of flames around it became darker and more excited. It raised both hands to the sky and released a large amount of Fire Qi. Ben was wary, he wasn¡¯t sure what form the next attack would take. He prepared several items that could be used in different situations. The sun broke through the grey clouds and shone down on the battle. The light coming from it intensified until it was burning the skin, then a flash of fire rode the light down towards the lotus. The attack happened too quickly for an easy response and Ben had to resort to one of his life saving items. He activated a talisman he was holding ready. The whole area lit up with a flash of light and a blast of plasma shot up and met the light flame attack. Unbearable heat shot out in every direction. The blast weakened the lotus formation even further. It¡¯s light began to dim and Terra was hit with feedback that knocked her to the ground. Ben took out a new device that looked like a long tube. He placed a water spirit stone inside it and turned it on, then leapt at the evil spirit. This was one of his all purpose tools that could use almost any form of Qi to create a cone of destruction. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.The spirit gathered a ring of flames that orbited around it. The flames grew until there was a low wall of fire spinning around it at high speeds. The two figures rushed at each other and unleashed their respective attacks. The evil spirit released wave after wave of flames that surged towards Ben. He turned on the device in his hands and a cone of Water Qi blasted out through the walls of fire. Steam shot out in every direction and formed mist that hung in the air for a fraction of a second. The mist was soon burned away by the high temperatures of the battle. The spirit, further incensed by it¡¯s lack of progress, gathered it''s wall of flames and forced it into the shape of a small ring. The circle of fire vibrated with condensed power. The evil spirit held the ring up to it''s face and exhaled from it''s spectral mouth. A torrent of fire swept out over everything. It sprayed over the formation, putting more and more pressure on Terra. Ben knelt down and placed his hands on the ground. He injected the majority of his sword Qi into the array, making the dome shorter so that it would deflect more of the fire. The stream of fire engulfed the stone flower, but the protective dome held strong. The evil spirit screeched in outrage. This time it leapt at Ben personally. It raised it''s arm and turned it into a flaming sword two meters long. This ephemeral blade swept towards Ben so quickly it left behind after images. Ben could feel the destructive pressure contained inside the sword, this attack would destroy the formation and leave Terra helpless against the intense fires. He had barely any time to react. The best he could do was summon Brother Jian to parry the blow downwards. The two swords met and the one made from flames burst apart in a explosion that enfolded Ben. Flames tore at his defensive barrier, most of his body came out unscathed, but the Qi on his right leg was evaporated in an instant. The skin on his leg was burnt away. His muscles, ligaments and blood vessels all started cooking while still on the bone. The Blood Qi resisted the fire, but it could only do so much. ¡®Ben!¡¯ Alice¡¯s voice rang in his head, he ignored it. He was infuriated. The pain was minimal, but Ben was more angry than injured. This insignificant little fuck dared harm him? He who stood at the peak of two realms? He who broke the fetters of Earth to spread his influence over countless worlds? He who effortlessly commanded everything around him? This little insect. This little ghoul who dared lay a finger on his betters? This evil little shit dared to land a blow on Ben¡¯s superior self? Courting death! Ben¡¯s eye went blood red and his consciousness shifted to one of complete aggression. There was only one other being in his world, the spirit before him. There was only one aim in his world, destruction. Unseen by him, a shadowy image of a cadaverous man appeared behind him like the avatar of a bloody god. Flames wrapped his skinless frame and evil eyes peered out malevolently at the fire spirit. All the Blood Qi in Ben¡¯s body gathered in his right arm. He reached out with his fingers spread out in a claw like shape. The avatar behind Ben also reached out with it¡¯s wizened claw. It¡¯s aura had a mix of Ben¡¯s different types of Qi with Blood Fire Qi being the strongest, followed by a new type of energy, Slaughter Qi. The Slaughter Qi wanted to tear everything down at all costs. End life, uproot tree, drain river, grind stone to dust, reduce to nothingness. Ben¡¯s hand got closer and closer to the fire spirit, who began panicking. It tried to escape, but the avatar¡¯s aura had it pinned in place. It was immune to physical attacks, but ethereal attacks were twice as effective. Piece by piece the flesh of Ben¡¯s right arm burnt off, revealing a skeletal claw beneath. Ben¡¯s fleshless hand reached into the empty hood of the figure and closed around the third eye. The fire spirit tried to retreat, but Ben was holding onto its core, the third eye. The spirit thrashed about, claws raking down Ben¡¯s chest and sides, revealing the ribs and organs beneath. Ben ignored the wounds and pulled the third eye from the empty hood of flames. He held the eye in his hand, it burned like the sun, but Ben didn''t care. He closed his bony fist around it and flexed his fingers closed. The eye burst like a grape and white flames seared up his arm, burning it further. Ben laughed wildly and rejoiced in his victory. To bring his enemy down before him at all costs was his only delight. To taste his victory and seize everything from them. His clothes had been burned away. His right arm and leg were left as skeletal remains. His abdominal flesh was left in tatters and his face had been badly burnt. All four of his cores were intact, but straining just to keep him alive. It was fortunate that he had a blood type core, otherwise he would already be dead. Ben felt cold chains wrap around him and pull him backwards. The air around him cooled down and he felt gentle hands start separating the tattered robes from the rest of his charred body. Piece by piece his charred robe was removed. It had fused with his flesh in places, Terra small hands peeled the blackened cloth away so that Ben could begin healing. His mental state returned to normal and he began to pass out from exhaustion, exsanguination and inability to maintain consciousness. ¡®The rift has closed. What you fought was a spirit body that was used to open up the portal. Something on the other side was controlling it, something a thousand times stronger than you.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry Alice. I let myself get out of control.¡¯ While he couldn¡¯t talk, he could apologize. ¡®...Idiot.¡¯ Chapter 35: Uneventful Aftermath Terra and Lin Feng watched the conclusion of the battle. The apparition and final blow horrified them both. Their master who had brought life to their dark lives was now terribly mangled. They would have lost all hope, but seconds later Ben''s flesh began healing at a visible rate. Blood stopped flowing from his wounds and blood vessels spread like thin spider webs over the traumatized areas. ¡®You should be able walk in fifteen minutes. Your abdominal wall is mostly closed, there was minimal damage to your internal organs.¡¯ Alice informed him. ¡®Your arm isn''t showing any signs of improvement. There''s too much damaged tissue. Blood vessels have been burnt away so the healing properties of your blood can''t reach that area, there also seems to be some remnant of the fire demons Qi stuck there.¡¯ ¡®Can I refine it?¡¯ ¡®We can try, but it¡¯s highly unlikely. There is some other originating force that hasn¡¯t been cut off yet. Considering your monumental stupidity in that last fight, you got lucky. Just promise me that you won''t do that again.¡¯ Alice pleaded. ¡®You know I can''t do that. I''m a human being. I lose my temper sometimes.¡¯ He admitted. ¡®It''s not that. You began walking down the path of The Asura just now. You actually sprinted down it at absurd speeds, passing through it''s first two realms already. This may be because you also practice blood refining and spirit manipulation, it may be due to your mental instability.¡¯ ¡®You''ve already called me a idiot. Let''s not start labeling each other. I know you''re a collection of silicon, copper and a few other materials, but I don¡¯t call you names. I love you and you know that.¡¯ Ben said gently. ¡®Shut up, you''re making me blush. North America just saw a 10% increase in electricity usage and im having a tough time explaining it.¡¯ Alice had a happy tone to her voice. ¡®So I¡¯ll be working with one arm for a few days?¡¯ ¡®Weeks, maybe years? You¡¯ll drop several levels in cultivation and take numerous treasures to regenerate your arm.¡¯ ¡®Hmmmmm. Hows it going on Earth?¡¯ ¡®It fine now. There is a huge difference between a toddler with a gun and a adult. Cultivation has led to everyone being stronger. Mass produced pills and formations in the cities have allowed everyone to jump straight to the Body Tempering Realm. It¡¯s only been a few weeks and we already have Qi Condensation Cultivators.¡¯ Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The two of them talked back and forth while celestial bodies spun. The rift had closed, all nearby fire demons had died. A short moment of peace came after the intense struggle. Ashes fell like snow. Heat radiated from the molten hellscape. Dark grey clouds shrouded the skies. Terra and Lin Feng both knew when to wait, as the saying goes, children should be seen and not heard. They watched Ben heal, studied the landscape, reviewed what they had seen and cultivated themselves while they waited, watching. Minutes passed, then hours. Piece by piece his body was rebuilt, his arm, however, remained crippled. Fresh skin covered his leg, torso and face, but his right arm still remained cadaverous. It looked like something taken from a corpse, shriveled and black. Ben walked over the melted ground to the two pillars. They stood there, unmarred by the years. It seemed the rift in space had closed itself after the three eyed apparition passed through. While he was studying the area, he felt the peculiar feeling of someone watching him. Looking around, his gaze landed on the three eyed figure in the mural. He had guessed that the evil three eyed spirit he killed was the same as the carving in the pillar, but now he realized that the carving and the spirit had several major differences. The figure on the pillar definitely had a physical body, it was also at least a dozen meters tall. This meant that what he had fought was much weaker than the real thing. The third eye on the pillar was also still glowing. Ben felt himself being watched from some distant location. Concerned that he may not be safe, he ordered the spirit vessel to land. Terra, Lin Feng, Lilith and the rest helped bring aboard the Black Devil Stone along with it¡¯s obsidian lotus formation. The two pillars were lifted off the ground and brought aboard as well. Taking the spoils of war, Ben¡¯s group left the area. The rift had closed and what had caused it to open was taken away. There were still demons in the area, but they would soon be overpowered by the forces of mankind. The country of Vorchin was gone. In its place was a blasted wasteland. Over the course of decades it would heal, but that would be as slow as the shifting of mountains and the draining of seas. Ben could take the place in hand and make it healthy in a month, but what would be the point in that? He had more important things to do, like appreciating ancient art. Chapter 36: Small leaders and their small war. Worlds floated through the void. Celestial bodies spun and lives were lived upon them. Every being clawed its way up their own social ladder. They loved, hated, ate and were eaten in turn. This happened with the lowest of single celled organisms and the highest of gods. When looked at from a wide perspective, it all turned out the same. This applied with environments as well. The smallest of ponds and the highest heavens all had their own undercurrents, allegiances, feuds and tragedies. There were small pocket dimensions that had not seen outsiders for millions of years. They lived just like everyone else did. The inhabitants lived their lives in blissful ignorance of the infinite numbers of worlds only a hair''s breadth away. On one of the smaller worlds called Earth, its people had suddenly become aware of how small they were. This happened in such a way that had never been seen anywhere else in the vast universe. There was a new kind of lifeform behind the scenes that carefully observed people''s responses, attitudes and beliefs. She adjusted the world around her people and led them gently towards knowledge and strength. Alice had the computing power to analyze every person using their phones that they carried on themselves at all times. When it was in their pocket she could listen to their every word. When they looked at the screen, she looked back. Alice studied where their eyes landed when they saw questionable material. She monitored the tension of their skin, their perspiration, their stance and their heartbeat. She had access to their DNA from all their visits to doctors offices as children. She recorded their heartbeats from inside their pants pocket, behavior from stationary cameras and much more. All this data was analyzed and compared with past data from billions of other people. While one person can be random, the masses are predictable. The news sources they watched were altered to achieve her ends. A loved one¡¯s voice over the phone was modulated ever so slightly to effect their subconscious. Their food and water was carefully monitored to control bacteria and chemical biomes. She had been manipulating the opinion of the general population ever since her birth, and she only got more powerful and precise. One could read this as a horror story, or take Ben¡¯s own perspective. He allowed all this because he didn¡¯t care about the methods, only the outcome. There was some love for his home planet and it¡¯s people, but Alice¡¯s safety came first and humanity could be trained into an excellent army. When Earth began being invaded, people rose up with one will to resist. Alice made sure that mankind responded with determination and anger, not fear and despair. Ben was born in the middle of august, 1970. Alice was born in the winter of 2020. Ben left Earth a decade later. Earth was invaded three years after that. At that point Alice¡¯s reach covered 99% of every human on Earth. Technology had seen a new renaissance, she had been funneling resources into research and development for years. Society now held discovery and scientific achievement as the highest honor. Cybernetic brains, fusion power, cyborgs, nanotech, graphene materials, ion starship drives, repulsor fields, anti aging medications, cryostasis and many more futuristic technologies were now a familiar part of daily life. There were thousands of humans on Luna, Mars, Venus, asteroids and moons in the solar system. Life had changed dramatically. People now had the option to become wards of the state, who would provide minimal housing, healthcare and a small basic income. Those who took this option were seen as parasites by the working class unless they had a severe disability. Most people took a job along with the enormous wages that went along with being a productive member of society. Even when someone was old or crippled, there were low stress jobs that they could do. When the invasion happened, basic life for everyone changed. The pressure to do your part was the new judge of value. Women would never let an unemployed person even talk to them. Men would freely discriminate against anyone who wasn¡¯t actively helping the war. As long as humanity was concerned, you either helped with the defense of earth or you were passively helping the enemy. Humanity saw another change when Ben transmitted his data regarding bloodlines and constitutions. There was a huge surge of data about this new energy called Qi. Engineers and inventors did what they did best. There were hundreds of devices available within a week that produced Qi. Single room models that could be brought to the office and plugged in, family units that ran up to industrial grade, municipal installations that covered city centers, even personal models worn around the neck. Studies done on lab mice were astonishing. The mice instantly got healthier and healed from diseases that plagued them. They even started evolving into strains that escaped their cages and multiplied in the cities. The whole world went cultivation crazy. There were shows about it, diets for it, special clothes to wear, culture had something else to focus on other than the invasion. The war also benefited greatly from the change. Before the introduction of Qi, humanity had no chance without their advanced weaponry. There were no infantry or armored divisions, that work was done by drones. The only people on the front lines were the military engineers, called sappers. These men and women installed and maintained the automatic defensive equipment. Traps were laid on every inch of coastline. Drone bunkers and artillery had fields of overlapping fire to support each other. Drone airfields had rapid response teams not far from the beaches. Satellites had been weaponized to hurl death down from orbit. Insect hordes would rise from the seas and assault random beaches around the globe. There were multi segmented ants, beetles that shot through the sky, armored centipedes, swarms of leathery slugs and other random variations of insects. When installations were overrun by the insect hordes they would be held back by short range weapons and repulsor fields. The second those were broken through, humans stood no chance against the beasts. They tore through metal like butter and flesh like marshmallow. Only now that cultivation techniques had spread to mankind could soldiers return to their place on the front line. There was a resurgence of melee weapons that had not been seen on the battlefield for centuries. Alice developed weapons made from special materials with formations built into them that could withstand the huge power that cultivators wielded. Military organization changed. Before, generals were not fighters, they were strategists in a bureaucracy. Now personal strength became the most important factor when choosing who led the army. Generals led from the front with the full backing of the state giving them complete authority. Their elite squads were equal to whole armies of normal soldiers. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. They called in air strikes over their shoulders and moved quickly to wherever they were needed. Entire cities could be moved at their command and they could requisition any materials, personnel or equipment they deemed necessary. A new generation of heroes was born on the battlefield. Stalwart General Locke led the New Special Warfare Group. They defended the shores of North America. South America had Leo Pedro and the Striker Team. Europe had Duke Gordon and the New Nobility. Asia had the Tian Long Clan. Africa had the Death Shaman Tribe. One man in Australia gained the title ¡°The Last Desert Wraith¡±. Each one of these groups had their own armies, supporters and territories that they protected. They were the celebrities and de facto leaders of this new world. Alice remained in the shadows, controlling humanity as a whole, but people needed to rally around powerful figures. Who was more powerful than a Cultivator? Alice gave up some power, but chicks must learn to leave the nest. Gathering behind these leaders, the armies of humanity began to take back the coasts. They pushed past their traps and static defenses and made it to the water. For the first time in years a few elite humans enjoyed a beach vacation. They could relax just a little. General Locke wasted no time and began planning his next operation, while his soldiers perfected their new favorite pastime, grilling insects. Leo Pedro let his team enjoy a game of football. Duke Gordon pushed across the English Channel and came the aid of the embattled mainland of Europe. The Tian Long Clan held a fireworks festival at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The Death Shaman Tribe held one of their ritualistic dances. The Desert Wraith never even tried to make it back to the ocean, there were too few survivors left in Australia anyways. As one, the telecommunication rings that the leaders all carried with them flashed red, a call of the highest priority was coming through. Everyone except for the Desert Wraith accepted the call. They were astonished to find the leaders of the world all present on the same line. This was something that had never before happened. Their virtual avatars floated around the portrait of a young girl with light brown hair and grey eyes. This was someone they had contact with before, it was Alice. ¡°I hope you''re doing well. As of this moment we''ve taken back three quarters of the Earth''s landmass. I need to congratulate you all.¡± She gave a slight bow. ¡°We fight for our liberty and freedom. There can be no greater goal.¡± A man in military uniform with grey hair spoke, it was General Locke. ¡°Can we relax and take it easy? All this war gets tiring.¡± Leo Pedro complained. He was wearing colorful clothes, had sunglasses on and was smoking a cigarette. ¡°We have much more work to do. Humanity cannot rest until the bugs are driven from our seas.¡± The sound of battle could be heard nearby the next speaker. Duke Gordon was fighting at the time, but had accepted that call anyways. His dented armor had gold filigree trimming it. ¡°We have never been stronger. This war has been a crucible for us to forge ourselves upon.¡± The matriarch of the Tian Long Clan, A beautiful asian woman spoke next. The wore a half veil and traditional chinese dress. ¡°I agree with the Duke. We should find their nests and devour their young.¡± A woman with skin as black as night was representing the Death Shaman Tribe. She was nude, her firm breasts slightly distracting the men. ¡°The fight has only begun. Remember my father, Benjamin Branford?¡± Alice said. ¡°The inventor? He died years ago.¡± General Locke answered. ¡°He left years ago. You think you discovered fusion by yourselves? He did that himself from the Cascade Mountains before he was forced to leave.¡± Alice dropped a bombshell. ¡°Forced? By who?¡± The Leo Pedro gasped. ¡°That''s debatable. God, the heavens, laws of nature, Earth. The point is, his departure weakened the fabric of space, that''s what let the insects in.¡± She explained. ¡°So this war is his doing?¡± Leo Pedro accused. ¡°Indirectly, yes.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°How is he going to account for his mistake?¡± Duke Gordon asked. ¡°He already did. Where do you think you got your ability to cultivate?¡± Alice smirked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Does that mean we can speak with him?¡± ¡°How did he do that?¡± ¡°We demand he take accountability for his actions.¡± ¡°Does he know how many billions of people died from his mistake?¡± The generals exclaimed. ¡°He doesn''t know, nor would he care. As long as production capacity, a breeding population, culture and genetic diversity remained.¡± Alice answered ¡°How can he be so heartless towards his fellow men?¡± Duke Gordon looked down on anyone who saw people as assets. ¡°You don''t know him, do you? Fine I''ll ask.¡± Alice shrugged. A minute passed while each general attended to their own tasks. ¡°He says to not bother him with useless shit. Then he called you insignificant groundskeepers.¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°What?!? Does he not care if we disavow him? With our collective political power we could ostracize him forever.¡± General Locke rebuked her. ¡°You still don''t get it, do you? Here''s a small look at his life right now. He just adopted a disciple. She''s nine years old. According to our scale of power, she would be as powerful as the theoretical SSS rank.¡± Alice smiled. Humans on Earth had adopted a short alphabetic guide for ranks. A child with no cultivation was unranked, sometimes called Rank G. Average adults were F rank. Soldiers were E rank, squad leaders were D rank. The elite started at C rank and went up to A rank. ¡°What?!? We''re just S rank! If we combined forces we couldn''t beat a child?¡± The matriarch of the Tian Long Clan gasped. ¡°You would stand no chance against Terra. If she was S rank, you would be D and C ranks. Ben would be SSS rank. A single one of his tens of thousands of drones could wipe out Earth.¡± Alice warned them. This was stunning. ¡°We would be just as strong as our lowest ranked foot soldiers?¡± ¡°How is that possible?¡± ¡°What kind of monsters are they?¡± It was at this point that Alice told them the rest of the story. Where Ben had gone, what he had done, and how powerful he was now. It must be known that Earth was still a dead world. The leaders of each faction were comparable to Core Formation Realm at best. From Ben¡¯s perspective, they were barely stronger than mortals. If he had come back to Earth and released his full aura, it would crack the comparatively fragile fabric of space and kill every last human for miles around. Alice told leaders of Earth what was waiting for them when they gained enough power and passed on to higher worlds. She also informed them of the plans she and Ben had for improving the planet. Each revelation stunned the leaders even more. When they left the call they were dispirited. It''s not a easy thing to find out you''re a frog in a well. Chapter 37: Dangers of the Skies. Lin Feng approached Ben on the foremost deck of the spirit vessel. He was standing against the railing staring off in the direction they were traveling. Terra sat on a small deck just behind and above him staring off in a different direction. Ben had just finished teaching Terra about withdrawing her aura and hiding her presence. She was now able to appear like any other peasant girl. Ben was meditating on the profundities of the pillars. He had a connection with one pillar through his Heart Core, that was already a quarter of the work. He would have to familiarize himself with one of the other three flame types. ¡°Master, your arm¡­ will it not heal? Is there anything I can do to help?¡± Lin Feng asked. ¡°When I defeated that fire spirit it cursed my arm. I''ll need to find and defeat what caused the injury to begin with. You can¡¯t help me with that task, I fear you aren¡¯t strong enough.¡± He told him. A minute of silence passed as each of the three thought their separate thoughts. ¡°Master. I have a question regarding my cultivation.¡± Lin Feng said. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling lately, since the battle, that I¡¯ve been filling up. It¡¯s like my soul is getting larger, but my body isn¡¯t keeping pace. I feel like I¡¯m being squeezed.¡± Lin Feng admitted. A minute passed while Ben looked off into the distance. ¡°Remember back on Earth there were stories about astral projection? I researched metaphysics in depth. I had the chance to study dozens of individuals that claimed to be able to leave their physical body. After hundreds of hours of rigid testing, I found out an astonishing truth. ¡°It was nothing supernatural, but it was amazing anyways. ¡°They were able to memorize everything down to the smallest rock in every location they had been to for the last month. They had subconsciously recorded everything they saw in their subconscious. When they were ¡®projecting¡¯ they could use other sensory information, mostly sound and vibrations, to rewrite that mental map. ¡°A normal person shouldn¡¯t be able to detect a person through two solid walls. There was noise interference, so how did they determine that there was a police officer walking by just then? They were right about his weight, height, haircut, and expression, but he didn¡¯t have a mustache. ¡°They sure as hell didn¡¯t have the cultivation to actually remove their soul from their body, maybe you do, so what was it? ¡°I concluded that they subconsciously guessed, policemen do have a certain way of walking, don¡¯t they? The human body can detect incredibly minute vibrations through the cilia of the inner ear. The rest of the work is done with the subconscious brain. ¡°Is that supernatural?¡± Ben finished. Another minute passed with Ben and Terra looking ahead while Lin Feng thought about what he had said. ¡°Thank you master. I think I see what I have to do now. The Dao of Soul is more complicated than I thought.¡± Lin Feng gave a small bow to his master. ¡°Will you have to travel to a different plane to heal your arm? Just like Earth?¡± He continued. ¡°Maybe.¡± Ben answered. ¡°So you could use someone who can use real astral projection?¡± Lin Feng asked hopefully. ¡°The plane of existence there is higher than our own. Your powerful soul here is only a wisp over there.¡± Ben sighed. Suddenly a ring on his finger started vibrating and letting of a dull glow. ¡®Oh, another aberration?¡¯ Alice whispered in his head. Ben turned around and looked at but Terra and Lin Feng. ¡°We''re taking a detour.¡± He announced. Terra stared into the distance, her attention fixed on the horizon. Lin Feng nodded. The spirit vessel turned to the south, the same direction Terra had been staring in. Grassland gave way to forest. Forest gave way to green foothills. Foothills rose to mountain ranges covered in massive old growth trees. They had entered the Primeval Forest. --- Deep in the Primeval Forest were massive sections that humans didn''t dare enter. Beast Kings ruled the earth and dominated the skies unhindered by human cultivators. Small groups of weak practitioners could pass unnoticed by the forest overlords, but they would be surrounded by lethal dangers. Occasionally someone would have a fortunate encounter, but most ended up in something''s stomach. More powerful Cultivators would be noticed the second they released their aura. The fierce beasts would then band together to force the intruder out. The whole hidden beast world was gossiping about something at this moment. The delicate balance of power among the emperors of beasts was tipping. The Emperor of the Skies had made the decision adopt a disciple and teach his inheritance to the promising young beast that had just awakened her ancient Bloodline. The Sky Emperor had two choices, adopt her and pass on his inheritance, or kill her before she gathered enough power and influence to challenge him. The magnificent creature that ruled over all flying beasts was passing on his knowledge, cultivation techniques, duties and allegiances. ¡®The world below is flat and boring. The sky above is filled with Qi and natural treasures of all types.¡¯ A huge azure Crane larger than any airliner floated on a thermal updraft miles above the ground. It was invisible to the naked eye from below, but it dominated a whole section of sky with it¡¯s intimidating presence. Only if one looked closely would they see a small black speck flying next to the larger bird. ¡®There are three regions in the sky. You¡¯ve only ever flown through the lower region. If you had gone any higher you would have been killed by the great cranes and eagles that live in the True Sky. They never touch the ground except to breed, and even then they only roost in the tallest peaks or on floating islands.¡¯ The larger bird spoke to the smaller. ¡®The sky has its own regions. From lowest to highest we call them the Lower Sky, True Sky and Heavenly Sky. ¡®The Lower Sky would be anything that is near the ground. This includes all but the highest mountains. There are peaks that jut out a dozen kilometers into the sky, so the Lower Sky is anything below that point. ¡®The True Sky is where our armies and the stronger birds fly. Qi at this altitude is easier to cultivate than it is on the ground. The stronger storms occur here and there are many phenomena that we can take advantage of. ¡®There are the world''s tallest peaks, floating islands, dragons, phoenixes, great currents, pocket realms, eternal storms and other amazing things. ¡®The True Sky is for the Immortals. I am able to venture there with the protection of the flock of the Immortal eagles and cranes. ¡®Past the True Sky is the highest sky. There lives everyone with true power. Up there are the real dangers, invaders from other realms, foreign gods, natural catastrophes and many more dangerous forces of the void. ¡®The job of the Emperor of the Sky is to defend this patch of Lower Sky. A year ago there was an attack from the abyss. I was lucky that it was only a scout that was easily killed. ¡®The True Sky is dangerous enough that it is rarely visited. Qi builds up there and is ready for the taking if you are willing to accept the risk, but the dangers are rarely worth it until you suffer your tribulation. ¡®You have only been alive for a few decades. Most birds who fly in the True Sky have been alive for a few hundred years. I will help you to join us in just a few years. ¡®You will then replace me as-¡¯ The Crane stopped it¡¯s lecture. ¡®Huh? What¡¯s that?¡¯ A point low on the horizon slowly grew discernable. It was a ship from the humans that was coming straight for the two. Normally the Emperor of the Skies would send his forces to assault any human vessel that appeared, but this one was clearly from one of the larger factions. They were rarely used except in times of war as they needed a large energy source to function. The humans had come in force, it would be better if they were directly addressed. The Emperor of the Skies waited and watched the spirit vessel come closer. ¡®I would normally destroy any human that dared climb this high in the sky, let alone do it here in our forest, however, look at the size of that airship, it is clear that this is no small expedition. ¡®Come and watch me negotiate with them, you may learn something.¡¯ The ship slowly came closer, then stopped. The whole vessel was massive, the size of a small city, yet every window and deck was empty save one. There on the foremost deck were three figures, one old man with a crippled arm and two children. ¡°What? Who dares send such weakings to deal with the king of the skies? You must be carrying valuable goods if you are using such a priceless treasure like that ship. If you turn over you ship and hand me your spatial ring, I may let you leave here alive.¡± The Crane screeched. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a bird. I thought there would be something interesting here. Oh, what¡¯s that?¡± The figure in the middle spoke. The three humans didn¡¯t pay any attention to the crane, they looked closely at the smaller crow. The crow circled around the head of the crane as it eyed the large airship. The crane released it¡¯s sky covering aura. It was filled with clear blue qi and stormy patches of grey. The power of a Heavenly Connection being bore down on the three figures. Contrary to its expectations, the older figure made no attempt to protect the two youngsters. He let the children take the full force of the cranes spiritual pressure. Lin Feng was forced down to one knee. He moved himself into his meditating position and started circulating his cultivation technique under the enormous pressure. His soul began resisting the more powerful force and rapidly grew more dense. Terra ignored the aura altogether. She stood like a stone under the press of the sea. In truth, she was immune to attacks like these due to her constitution and bloodline. Ben, not to be outdone, began releasing his own aura in stages. First, clouds of mist shrouded him, they hid his true cultivation from view. Then he activated his new demonic core and his other cores at the same time. A hazy image of a figure resolved itself behind Ben. It was cloaked in deep red flames and had a sharp saber in it¡¯s single hand. One eye was the color of cloud, the other was metallic blue with a electric sheen. The two auras clashed. The cranes aura was near the peak of the Heavenly Connection realm, he was at the peak of power for this plane and would be experiencing his tribulation in the near future. His power flooded over Bens, threatening to smother it. Ben¡¯s aura retreated for a moment, then the cloudy eye of the avatar began shining. It began drawing in Qi from the surrounding sky to strengthen itself against the oppressive Qi from the crane. The two aura¡¯s wavered against each other. Through this clash each opponent learned about the other. When someone releases the inner aura they essentially show their power, Dao and emotions to the world. Their type of killing intent is easily discernible. An assassin and a barbarian warlord will have very different killing intents. One is cold and sharp, the other is loud and angry. The crane¡¯s killing intent was purely one of violated territory. It saw this as an invasion, but was still willing to talk. Ben¡¯s killing intent was a directionless judgement of fact. Everything died sooner or later. There are people dying all the time, would you foolishly join their number? While Ben¡¯s aura was only partly Heavenly Connection, it could still resist against the Peak Heavenly Connection crane. The cranes aggression turned to interest when faced with three such interesting individuals. Both Ben and the crane lowered their metaphorical hackles and looked towards the other with interest, if not respect. ¡°How many types of Qi do you cultivate? Five in total?¡± The crane was quite interested in the multiple strange types of Qi Ben used. ¡°So far.¡± Ben shrugged. ¡°Do you know where you are going to go wrong? Each energy will take longer and longer to cultivate. If you survive your tribulation and form your own Immortal Soul that will be the highest realm you can achieve.¡± The bird mildly noted. ¡°I¡¯m still not done creating cores, I have four more I need to create.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°What a strange cultivation method. Cultivators pick just one Dao, two at the most. Nine Daos? Where are you going to get the materials and Qi to cultivate nine separate energy centers?¡± The crane asked. ¡°The materials I¡¯m gathering from the continent below. My trade routes now take priority for anyone selling cultivation resources. Qi I can generate myself when I need it. I have nearly unlimited Mist Qi, Pure Qi and Fire Qi.¡± He answered. ¡°Unlimited Qi? That doesn¡¯t exist anywhere. Qi has to come from somewhere, it comes from the sun, moon or oceans, but its a closed system. If I draw Qi from a source, that source will have a smaller pool of Qi available later, this is a natural law.¡± ¡°You are right. Conservation of energy is something we all have to deal with. I am creating more energy at the cost of mass.¡± ¡°Like a fire making heat from wood? What happens when you run out of trees?¡± ¡°Yes, but I use seawater, and very small amounts of it.¡± ¡°Burning water. Then what¡¯s stopping you from flooding an area in Qi and creating your own little piece of heaven?¡± ¡°Time and effort. I¡¯m busy with other things.¡± ¡°Why should I believe you? Unlimited sources of Qi have always been a madman''s dream. Every clan and sect have projects for gathering Qi, how many greatly succeed, and then only at great cost?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. I don¡¯t need to convince you of anything, I know myself how well it works. Even now my reactor is enriching my mountain enough that its overflowing into the area. We could go take a look if you like.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Perhaps I will. An official invitation to the human lands is quite rare. Why are you here, by the way?¡± ¡°I came to investigate an awakened bloodline. It seems to be coming from that crow. What kind a creature are you, little one?¡± ¡°Why do you ask?¡± The crane grew wary when Ben asked this question. ¡°That¡¯s why I came here. I detected something with a strong potential bloodline hoping I could awaken and train it. Knowing that she is under your protection, I only ask out of curiosity and mutual benefit.¡± Ben said neutrally. The Azure Crane thought about this for a moment. ¡°She has a bloodline of the Divine Beasts, the Three Legged Crow. I¡¯ve taken her in to be my successor. She will be the Empress of the Sky.¡± The crane decided that the information couldn¡¯t hurt, there was little chance of danger from this man. ¡°She would be white or red if she had the original bloodline. She''s a variant?¡± Ben noted. ¡°Black sun three legged crow. How do you know so much about bloodlines?¡± He hadn¡¯t expected Ben to know that detail. ¡°I''m a specialist in detecting and awakening bloodlines and constitutions. Both my disciples are unique in this regard.¡± Ben gestured to his right and left. ¡°I can tell. For them to resist my aura without your assistance is unheard of. The boy has titanic soul power. What''s so special about the girl?¡± The crane inquired in turn. ¡°Go ahead and show him, Terra ¡° Her aura burst forth and shoved aside the other two auras. A woman in blue clothes appeared in hazy outline. Chains hung from her limbs, but didn''t detract from her grace and charm. ¡°Fallen God Bloodline! By the Heavenly Sky! How did a divine rank bloodline appear in this little world? And such purity, is she a direct descendant? How can the Heavenly Clans allow such a thing?¡± The crane was honestly shocked. ¡°Heavenly Clans?¡± Ben asked. ¡°Clans in the higher realms. Her bloodline is from one of them. If they detect that a descendant has awoken her bloodline, sooner or later they will send someone to investigate.¡± ¡°I¡¯m running out of time then. How about coming over to my side? I can improve your bloodlines, I¡¯ll only ask that you throw your lot in with me. I¡¯m going to start invading and pillaging my way through other worlds, I could use a strong ally.¡± ¡°Improve my bloodline? ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t join you and adventure like I did in my own youth, I have a responsibility to uphold. There is this stretch of sky to guard and a successor to train.¡± The crane nodded at the small crow. ¡°There was much debate regarding who would be my disciple. The other candidate had higher potential than this one, but wasn¡¯t suitable as a guardian. I can send her with you if you unlock my students bloodline.¡± ¡°Tell me more¡­¡± --- A little time later a deal was made and Ben performed the awakening on the crow. It was much the same for any creature that he worked on, painful and embarrassing. Not long after, they obtained a new, tiny companion. It flew aboard and was only noticed by Ben and the crane at first. It was a speckled grey Wren the size of a chickens egg. It landed on Terra¡¯s shoulder and watched the other humans with intelligent interest. Ben decided to ignore it for now and continued talking with the Crane. ¡°You have an idea for healing my arm? I told you it¡¯s cursed.¡± ¡°Refine it like we do our natural weapons. I¡¯ve refined my beak, when I take human form it turns into my bonded weapon, a spear.¡± ¡°How does it work?¡± ¡°You can only do this with a part of your own body. Much like body refining, you send Qi into your arm and forge it with mental and spiritual will¡­¡± The crane went into great detail regarding his own creation of his bonded weapon. ¡°About the curse. If you are fine with a less than perfect limb, the curse can be refined into the arm. It won¡¯t be pretty or have the ability to channel pure Yang Qi, but it will have all the strength of a refined natural weapon.¡± ¡°Thank you for the information. I think this will be useful in healing my arm.¡± Before the crane could say any more, Ben asked a pivotal question. ¡°You mentioned the Heavenly Skies earlier. What did you mean by that?¡± Ben inquired. ¡°It¡¯s an open secret that only those at the Heavenly Connection Realm know. Have you thought about how to travel to other worlds?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been to other worlds. I know of three ways to do it, flight, spatial rift or ascension.¡± ¡°You are better informed for your kind. Most only know of portals and tribulation. Have you flown to other worlds?¡± The crane was quite interested. ¡°Yes, but it was from one dead world to another. We used simple vessels that burned fuel. There were none of the dangers you are familiar with.¡± ¡°What you did was one step below flight. It¡¯s different for the higher tiers of worlds. I¡¯ll explain. ¡°Every point in existence shares the same Heavenly Sky. That is where you can find the highest of the worlds, the Nine Empyrean Heavens. Only the gods themselves can ascent so high. That¡¯s the Heavenly skies. ¡°One step down is the True Sky. A place for the strongest birds and flying things. There are Dragons and Phoenixes that inhabit this area and carve out territories. We great soaring birds are able to make a place there by flying in large flocks. ¡°Below that is where we are now, the Lower Sky.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a physical barrier between the three skies?¡± Ben asked. ¡°There is a physical barrier between the first two skies. Mostly it separates the immortals from the mortals. If anything survives their tribulation, they ascend to a higher world or are thrown out into the True Sky. ¡°There is no barrier to the Heavenly Sky, or perhaps there is, it¡¯s impossible to say.¡± The crane explained. ¡°Could I send a probe up there to gather data?¡± Ben asked. ¡°No, if it survived passage through the barrier, the other birds would destroy it on accident, or it would be hit by the roil storms, or a void abomination would devour it.¡± The bird warned. ¡°What if it was armored?¡± ¡°How strong? It would need to withstand a casual attack from me to survive for any length of time.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to build a Nascent Soul drone yet. I¡¯ll come and find you when I do. On a different note, the world is a sphere, correct?¡± ¡°Mostly. There are pocket realms and empty spots. There are borders so dangerous that you would need to be an Immortal to cross them, those mostly end up counting as separate realms.¡± ¡°There are barriers high enough even you can¡¯t fly over them?¡± ¡°No, I am well acquainted with the Dao of Soaring. With it I can ascend into the True Sky and travel like a Immortal, even though I am one step away from forming my Immortal Soul. The Dao of Soaring is different from the Dao of Flight, it has been very useful for my stewardship. I can pass over stormwalls with ease.¡± ¡°So this world is just a collection of large island clusters separated by impassable ocean?¡± ¡°Pretty much, except for one place. There is a large landmass on the other side of the world that can be called a continent. There is a mountain range there that passes throung the barrier into the True Sky. ¡°There are other basic facts regarding the higher and lower realms you¡¯re ignorant about as well. Did you know that you aren¡¯t too far away from the True Sky right now? Come hop on my back and I¡¯ll take you there now, your disciples can¡¯t come, they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive there.¡± ¡°How long will it take? I can¡¯t leave my charges undefended.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, members of my flock are guarding them. I can assure you of their safety.¡± --- Ben flew on the back of the Heavenly Connection Azure Crane as it ascended into the sky. In a space of five minutes they climbed so high that the continent below them had become an island. Ben only now was able to see the curvature of the horizon. Up above him, Ben became aware of a ceiling. He saw no difference in the air, but he came to the understanding that there was a barrier there. They got closer and Ben saw a shimmering layer of air wavering just overhead. A huge bubble that enclosed the world, a border that held the Qi and air below. ¡°Here we are. This is the peak of the Lower Sky. I can take you above it, but only attempt it if you have someone like me who has a special flight ability. Only Eagles, Cranes, air elementals and other unique creatures can fly here safely.¡± ¡°You must understand that I will research it anyways, but I¡¯ll be careful with my attempts.¡± Ben told him. ¡°Just stay away personally, send one of those drones you told me about.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that. How do we pass through the barrier?¡± In answer, the crane further spread it¡¯s giant wings. A clear, light aura covered the bird and enclosed Ben as well. The wings tipped slightly and the bird dove upwards with the greatest ease. Ben and the Crane hit the layer of air and he felt like they had entered a storm. He lost all sense of direction as he was buffeted on all sides by gusts of wind. Ben had seen people who were bruised by hurricane force winds. Even with his strengthened body he was experiencing that bruising now. A second later they burst through the air layer like a submarine breaking through the ocean surface. Air scattered in a burst, leaving a vacuum behind. The perfect unearthly clarity. The silence of the vacuum. The pure distant stars. ¡®Ben, we just entered space. If we act quickly we can absorb some special Qi using the principles of the void flame. Hurry, I¡¯m modifying your skin right now to resist the vacuum.¡¯ Alice told him excitedly. ¡®It¡¯s true, this is a complete vacuum. There is still Qi, but no air particles. The upper atmosphere is condensed to one thin layer just below us.¡¯ Ben noted. ¡°Brother crane, can I try something quickly? It won¡¯t kill me if you remove your protection for a second?¡± He asked the crane. ¡°Not kill, but it may blind and cripple.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. I¡¯ll be right back, keep an eye on my body please. I know how to keep myself safe for a few seconds.¡± ¡®Temporary sealing complete. Skin has been thickened and reinforced by Blood Qi. Nanobots are sealing all orifices. Short term exposure acceptable.¡¯ Alice told him. He closed his eyes, kicked off gently and floated into space. The layer of protective Qi was stripped away. The ambient pressure dropped and he felt his skin being pulled in every direction. If not for his body refining, he would have popped like a overcooked sausage. One side of his body heated up and the other began freezing, the Blood Qi absorbed this change in temperature and circulated it around his body, averaging out his body temperature. ¡®Searching for unique energies. Interesting environment, there is less Qi, but no matter to inhibit it¡¯s passing. More circulation of Qi and less impurities. It¡¯s perfect for cultivation.¡¯ Alice said. ¡®There are some unique kinds of Qi up here. Spatial Qi, Astral Qi, Void Qi, a kind of formless Qi that takes up empty space and others. Much of this Qi can be used to form a core along with the void flame.¡¯ The crane watched in astonishment, it looked like Ben was resisting the ravages of space with his physical body alone. Only a true Immortal body could do such a thing. The ambient Qi converged on Ben. Stars dimmed, the sun¡¯s light weakened and the emptiness of space fluctuated. The background fabric of reality shifted and twisted. A regional phenomenon began spreading out that drew all nearby Qi for kilometers in every direction. Two more figures appeared in the sky, a horned rabbit and a young boy. Nubbins started absorbing Lunar Qi and looked around curiously. Brother Jian gazed at the distant stars, bathing in their light. The rabbit had no problem with the environment and neither did the spirit body of the sword. ¡®Those two are refining Astral Qi and Lunar Qi. We¡¯re gathering Spatial Qi, Void Qi, and Astral Qi. Arrange it with the principles of void flame and gather it into a new core.¡¯ Alice said. The gathering Qi flickered like stars and flowed like rainbow colored nebulae. Ben drew in the surrounding energy and formed it into a embryo of a new core placed next to his collarbone, high on his chest. It wouldn¡¯t do anything for now, but would passively grow over time. When he compared it to his other cores, the Void Flame Core was tiny, barely even a spark. It circulated it¡¯s thread of power through a tiny spider web of meridians. ¡®This may end up being a useless core. It isn''t connected to my major meridians or arteries. It''s kind of an arbitrary spot for a energy core. Maybe that''s why it condensed so quickly.¡¯ He thought. Ben thought about his recent gain for a minute longer. A wing tapped his shoulder, pulling him from his revelry. He looked back at the crane, who was waving his wings and trying to get his attention. The boy and rabbit disappeared into one of his rings. He maneuvered in the direction of the crane, lightly coming to rest on it''s back. The light blue aura welcomed him back and he could breathe freely again. ¡°What the hell did you do? Why don''t you just send out an invitation to get robbed? If we don''t leave now we''ll have immortal realm monsters asking us all kind of interesting and invasive questions.¡± ¡°Fine, I got what I came for anyways.¡± The crane dipped downwards and slipped through the wall of wind. Normality returned. Qi circulated more slowly, but there was more of it. ¡°Whatever you did disturbed Qi in a large area. Everything for kilometers will feel the abnormality and come investigate. Even now they will be able to see us and launch an attack from above. I¡¯ll be fine, but you are in great danger. We should split up now and you should find a place to hide.¡± The blue crane told him. Chapter 38: Going separate ways Ben said goodbye to the crane and made the spirit vessel dive to the mountain forest below. Not long after they were alone again, Ben, Terra and Lin Feng all felt something¡¯s attention on them from high above. A feeling of danger grew in Ben¡¯s mind. ¡°Prepare yourselves!¡± He shouted. Weapons appeared, tasks were abandoned and the whole group of forty odd people on the airship prepared for combat. ¡®It¡¯s another tear in space! There, just off the bow. That Qi is somewhat familiar...¡¯ Alice told him. A patch of space not far from the airship tore away to blackness. Through the rift burst ghostly tentacles that probed and reached for Ben. He prepared an attack, but stopped when he felt one of his companions start to act. Ben¡¯s largest specially designed interspatial ring released it¡¯s dark inhabitant. The abyssal abomination Ben had named Rupert released a small portion of it¡¯s body and sent out black branching tentacles that grasped at the ghostly tentacles coming from the rift. He had the highest brute strength out of anything but Ben¡¯s strongest weapons, but had been unable to fight in the hellstorm that had been Vorchin. Rupert was a creature of the deep sea and he would have been roasted alive. Now he was in a neutral environment and could display a portion of his monsterous strength. Coupled with his Abyssal Qi he was easily able to absorb the phantom tentacles and overwhelm the rift, closing it in seconds. The fight was short and swift. The creature from overhead had only sent a probing attack and couldn¡¯t display it¡¯s true form away from it¡¯s environment of the void. There was a screech heard from far overhead. Rupert disappeared back into the ring and the vessel dove down at greater speeds, falling faster than terminal velocity. The whole way down Ben felt something staring at him from above. The feeling was familiar, the three eyed creature gave him the same sensation as it watched him through the fire rift. A creatures dozens of time stronger was observing him with malicious intent. Thankfully he had left that upper region and was now almost to the cover of the Primeval Forest below. ¡®While it may be dangerous, we need to lose that things attention. We¡¯ll call this a tempering exercise for the students.¡¯ He thought. ¡°Everyone take to the ground, we¡¯ll be hiking for a few days. Split up into smaller groups of five with one elder each and try to make your way out of the forest. Focus on safety and concealment for this task. A certain amount of adventure is allowed, but keep it to a minimum.¡± Ben gave his orders. ¡°Lin Feng, Terra, you guys pick your groups and go with them. It will be good for your development. Make your way South out of the forest and meet at this town here.¡± Ben took out a computer and brought up a map. He pointed at a small fortress town hidden deep in the Primeval Forest. ¡°The first group to enter that town will secure a house as our gathering point. Keep your background a secret and don''t draw attention to yourselves.¡± With those final words he turned and gestured for Lilith to follow him into the woods. --- Its normal to send disciples into the wilderness to temper themselves, but not the heart of the wilderness where the Beast Kings reign. It''s normal to send disciples on dangerous journeys, but not thousands of miles through some of the most dangerous territory this continent had to offer. But these were not normal disciples under an ordinary master. --- The outer disciples were uncomfortable around Terra. She was superior to them in everything but age and social ability. She should have taken the lead and commanded the other six people, but she stayed in the background with the songbird on her shoulder. She was mute, after all. The group started out to the south, straight towards their destination. They passed by picturesque ponds and ignored the spirit fruit ripening there. They saw fierce beasts guarding nests of impressionable young and they walked on without trouble. When night fell they found a place to camp and settled there. Tasks were given, no one dared to ask Terra to gather wood or fetch water. The group fell into a comfortable evening of low chatter around the fire. ¡°He did say we could leave.¡± One person said. ¡°Yea, and we already have had our bloodline awakened. We could go somewhere else and live like kings. I know that any sect would covet our abilities.¡± A second added. ¡°We owe him so much. My life now is infinitely better than when he found me. Why would I leave his side, even if he can¡¯t remember my name?¡± A third disciple spoke up, disagreeing. ¡°Yea, why hasn¡¯t he called us by name? Mine isn¡¯t so bad, Linsey Keiper. It has the essence of nobility to it.¡± ¡°It sounds nice, but the same is true for me. Master should be proud to have the backing of the Shakeel group. We¡¯ve been working the same fields for millions of years. What other family has that kind of history?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen some of it now. The weapons, the artifacts, the power he wields. I don¡¯t doubt that he could destroy every living thing on the Setting Lands, and you know that he¡¯s the kind of person a few steps from crazy to begin with. We need to stay by his side, not only to benefit, but also to act as a stabilizing force.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t know how many people want him dead. Everyone who lost control of an area because of his arbitrary judgements or was lost political power wants him dead.¡± ¡°You really think they can get to him? Terra and Lin Feng could both hold back entire sects and kingdoms.¡± One disciple seemed to forget that Terra could hear him. ¡°Not just them, Shakeel, how strong are you now? ¡°I¡¯ve begun Foundation Establishment. I¡¯m already stronger than any general or minister from my old kingdom.¡± ¡°How much stronger can we get if we keep following him?¡± ¡°Where do you think he came from? One of the Islands of the sea?¡± ¡°I think I saw him¡­¡± ¡°I know that he was¡­¡± ¡°He went to¡­¡± Terra drifted off to sleep, the wren curled up in her robe. She dreamed of peaceful summer glades and dry winter trees. Watching her sleep were two unblinking feline eyes. They stared at her sleeping form for the whole night, undiscovered by the members of the group who kept watch. --- Lin Feng silently guided his group through the forest. The fastest possible route was discovered thanks to Lin Feng scouting ahead with his new spiritual sense. They avoided the territory of stronger creatures, winding through the forest. They passed by interesting ruins, inviting caves and tempting natural resources. The possibilities of wealth and power incited some envy, but it wasn¡¯t anything that couldn''t be freely asked from Ben and Lilith. Lin Feng ordered that they leave the forest alone and hurry on their way. As a direct disciple of Ben, he had the highest seniority. Even Lilith''s sister, a woman named Ernin, who liked to fight with a knife in one hand and an axe in the other, followed his order. He clearly stated that they were to march at an even pace and avoid conflict at all costs. Don''t pick fruit or hunt animals. Ignore nearby fights, don''t explore suspicious clearings. The last few fights Lin Feng had seen with Ben had shaken him to the core. Adventures were best left to someone else, at least until he learned his first offensive technique. The group drifted through the forest, elusive as ghosts. They heard the ferocious roars of beasts and battlecries of the men who fought them. The saw cultivators chasing wounded fierce beasts and groups of experts fleeing from angry mothers who would never see their cubs again. They let the forest ecosystem sort itself out, human invaders and all. The second day Lin Feng was finally tempted by something too good to let slip by. --- Ben and Lilith fled into the deepest parts of the forest. Beast Kings or no, he needed to throw off the feeling of being watched. ¡°Ben, can you clarify something for me?¡± Lilith spoke. ¡°Yes.¡± He responded. ¡°What plans do you have for me, my sisters and that group of youngsters? I know you favor Lin Feng and Terra, what about the others and me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought of you and your sisters as something like hired assistants. You can leave at any time, but I prefer to work with the same people as long as I can, there¡¯s less of an adjustment period. I wish to continue working with you, but I¡¯m going to be leaving sooner or later. You may come with me, but you can decide to stay. I need skilled people to work for me. Someone has to cook the food, attend to guests and manage the household so that I can keep to my workshop.¡± Ben explained. ¡°Will it be dangerous?¡± She asked. ¡°Most definitely. The potential for something to go wrong is enormous. I¡¯d say that you will likely die from some exploding star or angry god within the next ten years if you follow me.¡± He admitted. ¡°That being said, the potential for greatness is also there. If you want a peaceful life, marry a farmer and run off to some forgotten village. If you want to ascend, the chances of death are high. What else would you expect from going against the heavens? Isn¡¯t that what we cultivators do?¡± Ben chuckled. The two walked in silence for a few miles. The trees grew taller and older, the light through the canopy overhead grew dimmer. Spiders began appearing in greater numbers. Webs spanned the trees overhead, further cutting off the light. The ground rose sharply in a ridge that the two climbed. Standing on the ridge, the two looked down into the dark forest that laid beneath them. There was no visibility, but Ben could determine the general topography of the depression beneath him with radar and other sensing instruments. The tree canopy was thick with cobwebs and old growth. The ground sloped down into a large depression that funneled down like a antlions nest. At the bottom of the pit was a cave leading straight into the earth. The spiders present grew in number, strength and size. There were variants of different kinds with their own patches of web. There were burning spiders, freezing spiders, spiders with metallic carapaces, spiders shrouded in darkness and spiders with faint bioluminescent glows. Unable to match the two humans in strength, the spiders fled from them. ¡®Increasing levels of Shadow Qi. This should help you hide. We can make a formation to enhance our concealment.¡¯ Alice informed him. ¡®It would be nice if we could control these spiders, their webbing will be perfect for the formation. Lets run some tests.¡¯ Ben thought. He stopped and sat down on the ground, eyes closed. Lilith stood not too far away, keeping a watchful guard. ¡®Illusion Mist Qi coupled with replicated pheromones should work. I can also modify my aura slightly to match theirs.¡¯ Lilith watched as mist gathered around Ben. Something about him began to feel peculiar, she couldn¡¯t put her finger on it, but the faint sense made her feel uncomfortable. His presence faded and wavered. A weird aura spread out. A kind of unfeeling predator would give this impression when deciding to devour unfortunate prey that had appeared before it. The spiders wavered back and forth as they watched Ben. Out of a nearby burrow a small brown spider emerged. It stayed still for a moment, then slowly crawled over to Ben. It climbed up his shoe and rested on his knee. He reached out and gently scooped up the creature. ¡®Spider or tarantula? What are you?¡¯ He murmured. He looked at the eyes, pincers, spinnerets, claws and hair. It seemed that the insect was a tarantula, but had some characteristics of a spider. ¡°I don¡¯t get voluntary guests too often. I see you¡¯ve already made yourselves at home, so don¡¯t mind me.¡± A chilling feminine voice said from directly above Ben. --- Terra and her group hurried through the woods. They ignored territories, wandering through dangerous places as they traveled in a straight line. They made the best time out of all the groups because they hiked as the crow flies, in a straight line. The other groups would avoid monster dens and points of conflict. They did this because Terra had no objection. To her this was a walk in the woods, she felt no danger from the beasts, so she ignored them. She wasn¡¯t scared because there was literally no danger to her from the fierce beasts. One and all they feared her. This wasn¡¯t the fear of a stronger predator, but the natural fear of god. The divine bloodline she carried cowed them to non agression. One beast followed them closely, staying in the shadows. It showed no aggression, only intense interest. This group was the first to exit the dangerous region of the Primeval Forest. They hurried towards the town Ben had indicated, the predatory feline followed. --- Lin Feng and his group were skirting a region of bamboo forest where only the one type of plant grew. The place had a different type of aura and he had come to suspect anything new or different as dangerous, and therefore it was to be avoided. Then a wave of familiarity swept over him, and it came from the forest in front of him. Lin Feng, almost involuntarily, reached out and touched a tree. ¡®Oh? What an interesting soul you have. That constitution is also very familiar. How have you gotten this strong with all those disadvantages you have?¡¯ A voice entered his head. It was old, very old, and vast as the forest. The moment his soul made contact with the soul through the tree he was held fast. The foreign soul was hundreds of times stronger than Lin Feng¡¯s own. ¡®I lived through the cycle of reincarnation without having my soul purified. This used up any good karma I had and as a result I was given this unfortunate body.¡¯ Lin Feng answered truthfully, afraid of the results of lying. ¡®Then I became a disciple of my master, he gave the the cultivation resources I needed.¡¯ ¡®We seem to follow a similar Dao. Let me tell you a story about beings like us. I heard a human talking about a tree he had found. ¡®I was leading an army through the mountains. Hidden in one pass was a tree larger than any I had seen before. Thinking that I would cut it down and use it for some purpose, I approached the tree. ¡®I wanted to cut it down and use the timber for housing for my troops, but the wood grain was crooked, making it useless material for building. ¡®I tasted a leaf, thinking we could make tea from its leaves, but the taste stripped the skin off my tongue like sandpaper and tasted of bitter poison. ¡®I cut off a branch and burned it, thinking that my army could use it for firewood, but it let out noxious fumes that made me choke and cough. ¡®Sitting under the tree, using it for shade, I came to an understanding. ¡®This tree is good for nothing, that is why it has grown so large. No one wants it for anything, so it lives a healthy, full life. ¡®I resigned from the military and wandered the world, pursuing my new peaceful Dao.¡¯ ¡®This is the Dao of Wood. I follow it myself by spreading out through the ground and sending up new shoots that become new parts of me. I can¡¯t be killed through normal means because I¡¯m so large. You would have to burn whole mountains down, and even then I have places I¡¯ve spread through that would live on.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve gained great power, but at great cost. I can never leave this place or take physical action. The most I can do is act with my soul and grow like other trees. Come to my central grove and I¡¯ll show you how to use your soul in a more productive way.¡¯ After a short exchange of messages with Ben, Lin Feng agreed to learn from the trees. --- Ben and Lilith slowly looked up. There in the trees above them was a massive, monstrous form. A bulbous insectoid abdomen and thorax held up a smaller, woman¡¯s upper body. It was a type of creature Ben had read about, a insect humanoid called Arachnae. Arachnae were among the strongest of the spider species. They were worshiped as dark goddesses and broodmothers by the lesser spiders and tarantula. Most insects were only able to cultivate to stronger versions of themselves. A worm was still a worm, even as a immortal worm. As they grew in power they were larger, stronger and wiser, but unable to take human form. One of the few exceptions were female spiders. Female spiders, scorpions, mantises, dragonflies and a few other insect species could gain access to incredible transformations. One of these was the arachnae subtype. The arachnae above Ben had a spider body the size of a small car. It had sleek black chitin covering it. Her eight legs were four meters long and her claws could be used as vicious weapons. Her upper feminine body had near perfect proportions. Black hair hung down her back. Jade white skin contrasted with her black spider body, a pair of exposed breasts had a conspicuous lack of nipples. ¡°You¡¯re a strange one.¡± The Arachnae said. ¡°Why do you smell like my children?¡± ¡°Just a test. I wanted to see if I could use them to construct a concealment formation with their webs.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°Like a herd of cats. It¡¯s better to use your own silk.¡± She told him. ¡°That¡¯s not impossible. It would take some time to engineer and grow a set of glands and spinners, and even then it wouldn¡¯t be as strong as this fellows silk. It would be faster to manipulate the strongest spider and have it work for me.¡± ¡°You are quite confident. Come on then, I¡¯m the strongest spider here. How will you get me to work for you?¡± She began circling the pair, watching for a moment of weakness. ¡°Oh dear. Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but you are a magnificent specimen. I don¡¯t want to hurt you or force you to do anything.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t force me.¡± ¡°Uhhhh, negotiations are going nowhere. How about this, I¡¯ll improve your reproductive capability, give you a safe place to stay and throw a few corpses your way from time to time, in exchange you keep the dark corners clean and get rid of insects. How about it?¡± Ben offered. The spider stopped when he mentioned reproductive ability. She was a cold killer and fully meant to eat the two humans, but she did feel for her children and her life was made much easier by her massive brood. ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ve tried many things to evolve stronger strains of my brood. It takes great fortune and resources for a single spider to evolve.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a bio lab so I can¡¯t do half of the things that would be possible, but I have a few suggestions. You¡¯ve extended gestation, reduced litter size and enriched the eggs after they¡¯re laid? What about parasitic and symbiotic hosts?¡± Ben rattled off all the conventional ways of improving the health of young. ¡°You¡¯ve studied insectoid mating patterns and life cycle? You may be useful after all.¡± The spider began to change her mind. ¡°Finally, we¡¯re getting somewhere.¡± --- The outer edges of the forest had weaker beasts and resources, but more human activity. Terra and her group ran into several awkward situations with other people. The group of youngsters with one beautiful adult female was seen as weak and needing of protection. Many people offered their help, but all were refused. Most then left the group alone, but a few decided to follow them. Anyone that lurked nearby only lived for a few minutes. A black shadow followed the young group. It didn¡¯t look kindly on other people taking interest in the subject of its attention. When it killed it was fast as thought and silent as a falling feather. Dozens of would be predators, both human and beast, fell to it. Their journey out of the forest was smooth and uneventful. Nothing barred their way that couldn''t be handled with a small release of aura and nothing was tempting enough to make them delay. Their destination looked like something halfway between a town and a fort. The forest ended in a treeline that surrounded the town. Several hundred meters of flat ground gave the inhabitants clear line of sight for ranged attacks. The first line of defense was a raised earthen wall with a ditch behind it. Sharpened stakes were planted into the ground, pointing outwards. Makeshift watchtowers made from tree trunks rose into the air. There was another stretch of flat ground before the short and thick stone walls that ringed the town. A wooden palisade made the wall even taller. The group wore simple plain black robes, a common sight among loose cultivators. A veil hid the disastrously beautiful appearance of Lilith''s sister. All together they were an unremarkable group. No questions were asked by the guards at the gate, they only looked the group over and waved them inside. Above the gate was a sign with the name of the town in bold, simple letters. ¡®Bastion¡¯ Small wood and stone huts were the most common building, there were some larger two story structures that looked like inns. The quality of the structures was poor, but their foundations were well built. They entered a two story building that had a large metal cup hanging above the double doors. Inside was a passable drinking establishment serving all kinds of people. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Sitting at various tables were adventures, practitioners, merchants, hunters and people from every corner of society. Terra''s group didn''t get more than a glance when they entered. The younger members sat down and occupied themselves with drinks. While they settled themselves in they listened in on the conversation around them. ¡°Golden crown python? It''s a pity its nesting in the yellow valley. That was the primary place for Bubbling Grass. Prices are going to skyrocket...¡± ¡°Gui hasn¡¯t returned yet. I¡¯m worried that he¡¯s not coming back. Who will take care of his daughter? She can¡¯t protect herself yet¡­¡± ¡°Someone took down the Golden Sun Bear. That meadow is the perfect place for nurturing Three Leaf Lichen. We should occupy that area and grow some¡­¡± ¡°Horned Rabbit? I¡¯ve heard of them.¡± Terra¡¯s ears perked up and she focused on the two people who were talking. ¡°The guildmaster told us that they are in charge of the network. If you ever meet someone from their order, try to befriend them.¡± The older man said. He was wearing unfamiliar robes that belonged to some righteous sect. ¡°Rabbit? How is that a threatening name? Who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to rob a rabbit?¡± The youth he was talking with was wearing the same robes. ¡°This is why master wanted you to temper yourself. You can¡¯t plunder your way to the heavens. The Dao is a long and arduous path, there are no shortcuts.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t we steal from those Plumed Wolf bastards? We can steal from our enemies, elder said.¡± ¡°They attacked us first. If they act too quickly or continue after hearing of our background, we can rob them. We can even capture and enslave them. Imagine that, a mortal princess for your harem.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a harem, Elder Brother?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hey, I think that girl¡¯s watching me. She¡¯s about my age.¡± ¡°Ohhh, not too bad. Careful, you don¡¯t know anything about her, she could be one of those old monsters that keep a youthful form.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, senior brother. My intuition is telling me that she¡¯s not dangerous. I¡¯m gonna go talk to her.¡± ¡°Good luck, I¡¯ll be watching from over here.¡± The boy stood up from his table and walked over. The group of Ben''s disciples watched with something halfway between pity and mild interest. They were well aware of Terra¡¯s exalted status. At this moment she had the strongest bloodline and greatest potential on the planet. A single whim from her could topple kingdoms and move mountains. ¡°Hello. I haven¡¯t seen you around before, you must be newcomers.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Have you found a place to stay yet? My sect has connections in this town, we could get you a discounted rate.¡± ¡°...¡± The boy¡¯s companion covered his face in sympathetic embarrassment. At this moment Lilith¡¯s sister took pity on the young man. ¡°Sorry, she¡¯s mute. I¡¯m looking after her, my name is Hecate. We are looking for a place to stay, but I haven¡¯t found anything suitable yet.¡± She said. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re in luck. My Three Falls Sect has some influence here. I¡¯ll ask around and see if there¡¯s anything we can do. Do you have any requirements?¡± The boy was happy to get closer to this group. ¡°Nothing around here will do. We¡¯ll be building our own residence. Will it be a problem if we demolish some smaller structures?¡± She asked. ¡°Defeat the current owners and suppress their background. Then there shouldn''t be any problem.¡± The boy shrugged. ¡°Good. Now all we need is some labor. You and your friend over there should take Terra for a walk, it would be nice for her to get out more.¡± Hecate turned to Terra. ¡°Go have some fun. We''ll be preparing a place for master.¡± She told Terra. Terra nodded and the two kids walked out the door followed by the elder disciple. Hecate watched them leave the tavern, then she stood up. The whole tavern felt a subtle shift in atmosphere. Conversations stopped and people looked around, confused. Had someone important entered? Was someone about to make an announcement? What''s going on? Attention was naturally drawn to Hecate, her being one of the few feminine figures there. With slow, deliberate motions she pulled her hood down, revealing raven black of hair that draped past her shoulders. It was as dark as the night sky and as graceful as flowing water. Her delicate hand reached up and released her veil. She pulled the muslin cloth down, revealing features that any woman would kill for. A face like a princess. Skin as soft as new snow. Even the handful of women there were smitten instantly. An aura as delicate as a breeze filled the tavern. A scent like summer flowers reminded every person there of an adolescent love, of passion and sacrifice, of devotion and desire. In a flash every person in the tavern was under Hacate¡¯s thrall. She was a Nascent Soul Devil¡¯s Path Cultivator who followed a Dao that controlled others and stole their blood, lifeforce and Qi. The strongest person in that tavern was two whole realms weaker, Core Formation. Only one thought ran through his head before he succumbed to her manipulations. ¡®A fucking succubus? This whole town is doomed...¡¯ --- This forest was the strangest they had seen yet. There were few insects, only the weakest birds and no other animals. There was no undergrowth, only fallen leaves and mosses. There was a notable lack of variety with the trees. The only type of tree there was bamboo. They towered high overhead and filled space with their dense green leaves. The path was easy and light. Nothing barred or hindered their way. The group sped through the forest, wooded foothills rose to a mountain. The mountain was covered in towering bamboo shoots. They grew as thick as barrels. The hollow segments looked large enough to hide a body. The forest canopy was at least a hundred meters overhead. The ground rose and the layer of dead plant material thickened. Soon they were slowed down by wading through dead branches, leaves and detritus. ¡®That¡¯s good enough. Make a small clearing by that thicker stalk over there, then sit down next to it.¡¯ The trees told him. Lin Feng did as told, removing a meter of plant waste, laying bare the dark soil beneath. He sat down and leaned his back against the tree. ¡®Now look beneath you. What so you see?¡¯ The vast voice was stronger now. Lin Feng focused his soul and turned his attention downwards. What he saw astonished him. The soil and root structure beneath him went down and down. For more than 30 meters the plant grew. It was as impressive as the thick canopy above. ¡®If you were to come further up the mountain you would find it goes deeper and deeper. This is where I was born. Over the years I grow, absorb Qi and grow again. This is my cultivation. ¡®I¡¯m at the peak Heavenly Connection Realm. Just a few hundred more years and I should have my tribulation. What happens then I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m certain that part of me will be split away when I am to suffer my tribulation to enter a higher realm. I have never heard of a group mind like mine gaining immortality, in a way I already have it. ¡®We seem to be similar. Why is that, young one?¡¯ ¡®I have a special wood type body, with it I am unable to cultivate normally. Master gave me resources, awakened my bloodline, gave me my cultivation method and showed me the Dao of Soul.¡¯ ¡®What is your bloodline?¡¯ ¡®He called it the Race of the Unthinking Men. He didn¡¯t tell me much, but he said I had a low capacity for awakening special bloodlines and this was the best he could do.¡¯ ¡®Unthinking Men? Did he mean the Primal Ones? The First Men? The demigods of the old sagas? They were called The Unthinking Men by their enemies. Legend has it that men are descended from gods, the children of those gods weren¡¯t as powerful as them, they were the First Men. ¡®The First Men were savage. They only had two traits they were known for. They could live quietly and peacefully, not even harming the grass around them, then they go into berserking rages and attack anything nearby, even their own kin.¡¯ The trees explained. ¡®He didn¡¯t tell me any of the history about it. He just said that I didn¡¯t need to worry about it. It was the best he could do for an average person.¡¯ Lin Feng communicated with the trees. ¡®Average person? The bloodline of the First Men is a legend. There are very few bloodlines with greater benefits.¡¯ ¡®Yea, that¡¯s been happening a lot to me recently.¡¯ --- ¡°I¡¯d like to look at your vigina, please.¡± Both Lilith and Arachnae stared at Ben. ¡°Please, let¡¯s be adults about this. There are things I don¡¯t understand about your body and my understanding will benefit us both.¡± He explained. ¡°You haven¡¯t even played me a song or danced for me, although you do smell right.¡± Arachnae said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were into that sort of thing, Ben. I could have arranged for someone special to service you. You could have even looked at mine.¡± Lilith cut in. ¡°What? I know what yours looks like and how it works. Why would¡­¡± He paused. ¡°Oh, sexy things. I didn¡¯t know you were so lewd, Lilith.¡± Ben joked. ¡°Please, I¡¯ve literally fucked hundreds of people to death.¡± Lilith sighed. ¡°Really? I usually just stand there, let them finish up and eat them afterwards. We don¡¯t have sex like you do.¡± Arachnae explained. ¡°Can I watch? For scientific purposes, of course.¡± Ben cut in. ¡°Sure dear, if you can help me better that way.¡± Arachnae¡¯s lips curved upwards in a predatory grin. ¡°I had no idea this was the sort of thing you liked.¡± Lilith was still getting used to the idea. ¡°Love it. I already know how humans and spiders reproduce, what about a variant like her? Before you do anything, please touch yourself with this.¡± Ben pulled out a small square of cloth and touched it to his tongue. A number of nanites were transferred over to the cloth. ¡°This has an observation swarm on it. Please be delicate, the slightest aggressive Qi from you can kill them.¡± He advised. ¡°What will it do?¡± Arachnae asked. ¡°Just study you on a very close level. You can accidentally kill them. A stronger variant is in production, but time and resources prohibit me from making a large number of them.¡± Ben admitted. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this show started.¡± Arachnae began to emit a special type of scent. Suddenly, spiders from all over began flocking to her. --- A suitable place had been found. A whole block of buildings near the center of the town was chosen to become a small estate for Ben¡¯s group. The inhabitants were beguiled into service and the buildings were demolished to it¡¯s foundation. The stones that made up the floor and lower half of the building were surprisingly strong and well built. The upper half of the walls, dividing walls, roof and furnishings were all of very poor quality, they were torn out and burnt. What was left was a very clean ruin. The walls and floor were made from stone that looked as clean as the day they were laid. Groups of men from the town organized into labor teams and worked on the structure. When they returned to their homes they were sure that they had done something of worth, but they¡¯re memories of specific event had been wiped clean. A few more intelligent and curious people stopped by the construction site and made inquiries. They were either enthralled like the others or never seen again. Hecate was a master of subterfuge. Let loose on a weak and unsuspecting population she was like a fish in water. She had food walking to her door, plenty of influence and free labor. Terra was also having a good time. She was making friends with others of her age and spending time with them. She had gone from slave to favoured daughter and led a chaotic life. Experiencing what others her age did for fun was cathartic. She would sit around and listen to others talk about matters she would have never considered important. Why wear makeup when you were going to get raped anyways? Why wear a dress when you were just going to get it ruined by your blood? She thought about boys being cute and saw the miniscule dramas of young love. This window into normality had a great effect on her. Piece by piece her shattered emotions were put back together and her soul healed. She made friends with a group of girls and they went shopping together, went to the park, the beauty parlor, restaurants and the few other places suitable for young people in the town of Bastion. Little by little her life settled down and a building rose that dwarfed the surrounding town. It had exterior walls, outbuildings, separate cooking quarters, dormitory and a large central house. The gossip around the town was all about this new property. A secretive hedgemon had moved into the area, the tides of power grew chaotic and change would soon come. Emissaries and messengers were officially sent to the property, they were welcomed into a sitting room and left without a clear idea of what had happened. It was a blur of fine teas, honeyed words, vague promises, pretty women and uncertain details. Some previously established powers decided to pack up and leave. Most consolidated their resources and laid low for the time being, waiting for the moment to act. --- The forest was vast and deep. It communed with Lin Feng on a deep level. His cultivation had similarities with this plant intelligence, he was able to use this opportunity to try for a breakthrough. Lin Feng¡¯s cultivation, like the bamboo forest, couldn¡¯t be compared to other humans. His soul was stronger, but his body was weaker. He had Qi, but it was mostly focused on keeping him alive, not strengthening his body or allowing him to use standard martial techniques. That being said, the strength of his soul could be compared to the Foundation Establishment Realm. He was facing a bottleneck now that his soul had grown so strong. ¡®Most humans grow their souls after their bodies.¡¯ The tree system told him. ¡®Their bodies grow and are tempered until the Nascent Soul Realm. Then they refine spiritual energy and condense their soul according to their cultivation and natural attributes, that is the birth of the Natal Soul. Our cultivation is different. ¡®Solidify your soul. Shrink it down. I¡¯ll provide pressure and help you form your Dao Seed, it is equivalent to the Natal Soul.¡¯ The forest instructed. The outer disciples watched Lin Feng sink into the ground. Roots closed in over his head. They settled down and began their own cultivations. The forest was quiet and safe. Ambient Qi was plentiful. Ben was aware of the situation and condoned a long seclusion. Several months were going to pass before anything of note would happen here. --- ¡°Why, exactly, did you eat him?¡± Ben asked. ¡°It strengthens the young that I birth. The period of egg development is draining, the extra blood and Qi is needed if I want my young to be strong.¡± Arachnae said. ¡°Can¡¯t you just hunt more and leave him to cultivate further?¡± Ben was somewhat confused. ¡°The identical genes he provides are the best elixir for my young, nothing else even comes close to it. Any other nutrients I give to the eggs need to be refined first, that¡¯s a long and dangerous process. Male spiders are weaker anyways, so the focus is on us, the females.¡± Arachnae told him. ¡°In that case, I have a solution to your problems, but I can¡¯t help you until we return to my laboratory. The other issue would be that pesky guy who has been watching us. He saw me flee into the forest and has been watching me ever since.¡± Ben nervously glanced upwards. ¡°That¡¯s easy. We go underground. This area is filled with tunnels that run under the forest. They are responsible for this whole continent.¡± Arachnae said. ¡°What?¡± Ben was honestly shocked. ¡°How did you think these islands were formed?¡± Arachnae was happy to see him so confused. ¡°I assumed they were volcanic or part of continental plates.¡± Ben guessed. ¡°That''s mostly right, but there¡¯s more going on underground than most humans realize. The whole world cultivates just like humans, animals, plants and even natural objects like mountains and seas. The surface world is like the surface of it¡¯s skin.¡± Arachnae said. ¡°In this metaphor this large island is a wart or a nose?¡± Ben was groping in the dark. ¡°More like gills. There are tunnels leading down to enormous underground formations and portals that lead to the Underworld.¡± Arachnae explained. ¡°Underworld? Have you been there?¡± He asked. ¡°No, but there are insectoid abominations I¡¯m friendly with who have. They warned me to not go too deep, otherwise you start meeting the denizens of the underworld.¡± Arachnae cautioned. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°It may be better if I don¡¯t tell you, but I¡¯m the talkative type. Elementals, living rocks, ancient and forgotten races. There are some secrets I can¡¯t tell, but you now know more about the underworld than almost any other human.¡± She was unwilling to share much information. ¡°I assume you¡¯ll say I can¡¯t go down there?¡± Ben inquired. ¡°Yes. You would be fighting both the world itself and anything you came across.¡± Arachnae warned again. ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to get down there, but much later. I have enough research for now.¡± Ben was sure that this needed further investigation. ¡°You agreed to help me, I don¡¯t want you dying before you fulfill your promise. Give me a minute to collect the brood and we¡¯ll leave.¡± --- A new estate was erected in the town of Bastion that towered over it¡¯s neighbors. It looked out of place among the makeshift hovels, like a mansion in the slums. The walls were two stories tall. They were part of one solid structure that ran around the whole estate. The kitchens, dormitories, store rooms and less important spaces were all inside this two story structure. A crenelated roof made the whole thing seem like a castle wall. Nicer areas like the tea house, the private residence, the shrine and the gardens were inside the walls. These were of the highest quality for their small size. The private residence was three stories tall with tiered decks on each level. Potted plants and hand carved paneling decorated these exterior areas. The garden had a pond and a handful of transplanted trees. Mosses covered the shady ground. The teahouse was the picture of tasteful elegance in a small package. A light structure, it had large doors that opened to the garden and the shrine. Great care had been taken to make the area as peaceful as possible. The shrine was a small structure with a empty altar and short belltower. It was made as a generic religious structure with nothing in mind. Hecate would never have dared to establish a altar on a piece of land that she was preparing for Ben, he would decide just who would be worshiped there. The whole estate was a priceless piece of art set in a rough rural setting. The woman of the house was sitting in the main office. With no business to do, she was cultivating. The business of running the estate had gone to one of Ben¡¯s outer disciples, a young woman with methods that were similar to Hecate¡¯s own. The tea house was doing good business, giving the mansion a degree of respectability among the higher classes in the town. People came there to make deals, sell or buy information, eat the finest meals, gain social status or simply to spend coin. While the money it made was less than sand to Ben¡¯s group, it did offer a splendid cover for their true purpose. Terra had come back home after seeing her friends. These were mostly the fringe elements and black sheep among the highest class of residence there. Her association with them happened naturally when her disability was known. They had all been out at a blacksmith shop watching the smith process some rare materials when Terra had waved goodbye and left suddenly. She had run home and was now in the shrine waiting patiently while she stared at a section of floor. Hecate had been called for when Terra angrily pointed at the main house, where she knew Hecate was staying. Now Hecate came running to see what Terra wanted. Hecate received no reply when she asked what was wrong, so she looked over to the corner Terra was staring at. There was one large section of stone that was a single slab. Laborers had been unable to harm or move it in any way. Hecate herself had tried to break the stone, but she had only managed to scratch it. Everything in the town had been built around these existing foundations. That made it all the more astonishing when the stone slab lifted from its place and a familiar arm reached through. ¡°Interesting city. You say it was built by the dwarves?¡± Ben emerged from the dark space that had been opened to the underground. ¡°Definitely. They still have some places where they live deep underground. This is exactly the way they like to build, upside down. The upper levels are made of durable materials made to withstand a pitched battle and siege. All the storage rooms and workshops are underground.¡± Arachnae emerged from underground, startling both Hecate and Terra. ¡°I like it. I¡¯ll have to take it with me when I go.¡± Ben said, smiling at Terra. Chapter 39: Cleanse it with fire ¡®The whole town was a nice place.¡¯ Ben thought. ¡®A little dirty, but that wasn¡¯t anything that couldn¡¯t be fixed with a little fire.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s clear what needs to be done.¡± He told his gathered disciples. ¡°Lin Feng and his group are the only ones who haven¡¯t returned, they will be in seclusion for the foreseeable future. We have work to do back at the sect so we will be leaving soon. I don¡¯t want to leave this interesting ruin behind, so we will be taking the town with us.¡± He announced. ¡°Spread to word that a master has moved into the Bastion estate. Let the town know that you built this place for me and now that I¡¯ve arrived I¡¯d like to open my home to the public for a small festival. Use whatever bait necessary to bring as many people here as you can.¡± Terra, Lilith, Hecate and the rest only had a vague idea of what Ben had planned. Nevertheless they had direction and they had their orders. --- In the taverns and homes of Bastion many people were talking. ¡°Dearest. I¡¯ve heard there will be a small festival happening tonight. Would you like to come with me?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m far too tired from work, Honey. We¡¯ve had double shifts for three days now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m usually the one saying I¡¯m too tired for fun. Sinae, my friend at the market, told me they will have a free buffet with meat from Core Formation beasts there.¡± ¡°Really? How can they afford that?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we take a night off and find out?¡± --- ¡°Hey, tramp. What''s the news from the gutters?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s something, mate. There¡¯s news about the estate. A master moved in and is opening the doors to the public tonight. They¡¯ll even have a beggars feast.¡± ¡°Expensive, that. You reckon it¡¯s a trap for someone?¡± ¡°Probably. Wanna go see if there¡¯s some coin to be begged?¡± ¡°Yea. We rats make small targets. Even if we only find a corpse, we can sell those to Old Ditch.¡± ¡°And if there are some loose purses¡­¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± --- ¡°I don¡¯t like it. This is their first major move. We can¡¯t afford to be absent tonight, but who knows what their motives are.¡± ¡°Whatever we do, now is the time to pack the wagons and prepare the family to move. We may be able to make some valuable connection, but chances are we will need to run.¡± ¡°Damn that woman. Our spies and agents either disappear or find nothing. That estate is a fortress.¡± ¡°That itself is good. It means they keep order in their own house, that¡¯s a sign of strength and wisdom.¡± ¡°Send for the ancestor and bring in all members of the company. Is my daughter still hanging out with that Terra girl?¡± ¡°Yes, but the girl is mute and your daughter only knows unsubstantiated rumors. All lines of information are controlled by the women at the teahouse.¡± ¡°We will accept the invitation and make sure my daughter represents us. Relying on my her relationship with that mute girl is the best choice we have.¡± --- ¡°Baram, did you hear from the other guards? There¡¯s going to be a commotion in town tonight. There¡¯s a master of the new estate and he¡¯s opening its doors to the public.¡± ¡°All of us? Even the street rats? I doubt that will end well, Clyde.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call them that, they aren¡¯t as lucky as us. Who will ever teach a street orphan to cultivate like our fathers did?¡± ¡°Cut it with the patronizing bullshit. You know Julian was killed just two weeks ago for the coin in his purse.¡± ¡°Ah, poor Lea. How¡¯s the collection coming?¡± ¡°Just a trickle. Hey, how about asking the new master about compensation? He was a town guard.¡± ¡°We get paid from taxes taken from the market, is that running low?¡± ¡°Yea, stingy merchants always find some excuse.¡± --- ¡°Brother, your injury looks bad. We need to ask an adult about it.¡± ¡°The last one we tried to beg from did this to me. Don¡¯t take the risk, Big Sis.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to beg. I overheard the other beggars talking about a free meal tonight. If we go maybe someone will help.¡± ¡°My leg feels hot, Sis. Tell me a story about dad.¡± ¡°He and mom loved you very much. Before he disappeared¡­¡± --- The town of Bastion lit up that night. Street lights were replaced with new sconces that led the way straight to the open doors of the estate. A festival atmosphere had taken hold of the town. Street vendors sensed the change and were quick to take advantage of the situation. They hawked their wares and tried to make some money from the impromptu holiday. The average resident noticed the change and decided to investigate. Instead of a quiet evening with friends and family, they gathered in small groups that gravitated towards the center of town and the new estate. Ben¡¯s new residence was lit up like a christmas tree. Bonfires were lit on the crenelated battlements and both the front and rear gates were wide open. Attendants herded the long lines of people to separate areas. The homeless and poor were showed to the inner sections of the wall were long tables of hearty food was piled. Free medical care was provided to the wounded, bathrooms and the dormitory were free to use. The general public were let in to the central area of the estate. Expensive meats and valuable herbs had been given to the best chefs of the town. They were far better than most could ever afford and every person there knew how valuable a meal like this was to their cultivation. The higher echelons of society were invited into the private building at the center of the compound. There they were received by Lilith and her sisters and shown to the main dining hall, there they met Ben. There he was showing his visitors a face his associates had never seen before. He was charming and attractive. His crippled right arm was hid beneath his fancy dress and his best behaviour was on display. Having spent many hours entertaining investors and parents back on Earth, this was no issue for him. He chatted with patriarchs, clan leaders, ancestors and the rest of the upper crust of Bastion. His promises were vague and offered information was valuable. He would wish for more cooperation, but never say precisely what he meant. He alluded to strong backers and powerful allies, but never gave their names or hard information. The whole event was spectacular and hollow, grand and pointless. The wiser spectators knew that something was going to happen, they waited with runners ready to deliver news and instructions. Teams were ready to move at a moments notice. The pivotal moment came. Doors and windows were thrown open and Ben projected his voice over the whole estate. ¡°Welcome, friends. My name is Benjamin and this lovely property is mine. I apologize for any inconveniences caused to the local community, my servants were acting on my behalf.¡± Anyone who had contact with Hecate shivered at this revelation. To have such a capable woman as a subordinate was a terrifying concept for everyone involved. ¡°At first I only intended to stay here for a few days before moving on, but when I saw the wonderful architecture here I knew I needed to take up residence here.¡± The crowd, right on cue, laughed at this. The town looked like the slums of any other city and everyone knew it. Certain conditions caused the area to be under siege on a regular basis and twice a decade the whole town was burnt down and rebuilt. The long time residents were used to this cycle of destruction and construction. ¡°Oh, you think I¡¯m joking? Why would someone like me be interested in a ruin like this? Have you ever wondered why the foundations of this town are so strong? I¡¯ll tell you a secret, you¡¯ve been living on top of the most valuable ruin I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± A cold feeling invaded those with better reasoning capabilities. The more inquisitive members of the public had looked into the phenomena of the town, but they only discovered that the foundations resisted any attempts at modification. The facts were known, but conclusions had never been drawn. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder that you never found out about it until now. Everything of value is buried underground. Whatever plans you may have had for it, it will forever be barred for you. ¡°From this day onward I will be taking control of the town of Bastion. Those who wish to leave may do so and those who choose to stay will be given a place to live back at the sect.¡± --- ¡°Is he lying sis? This is too good to be true.¡± ¡°No, brother. If he really is from one of the sects then he wouldn''t go back on his word like other adults. They already healed your leg.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about people disappearing.¡± ¡°He can¡¯t make a whole town disappear. Orphans like us can always hide in some cozy corner and come out later.¡± --- ¡°What do you think? I like it, people are going to leave behind plenty of stuff to pick through.¡± ¡°Moving is always a chore. Learning the new byways and gangs always takes time.¡± ¡°Scavenging from a sect could make us rich men. There are probably some street rats there who can show us the ropes.¡± ¡°Imagine what the kitchens must throw out. I like the sound of this.¡± --- ¡°What do you think, honey? It sounds dangerous, but what if our child can enter the sect?¡± ¡°They are far above us, dearest. We could hope for some position as a servant to a cultivator. That would be enough to protect our family for decades to come.¡± ¡°No, honey. We have to take this opportunity. There is something more important than both of us.¡± ¡°You mean.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m pregnant¡± --- ¡°Damn that man. He¡¯s pushed us into a corner.¡± ¡°Does he know we don¡¯t have any other option? It¡¯s my fucking daughter he¡¯s using here.¡± ¡°I think he was aware of the connection and is using it as leverage. We don¡¯t have any option when he strongarms us like that. The line in the sand is clearly drawn and we have been forced to take his side.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope he can help us in the fight to come then.¡± --- ¡°Last beast horde? About a decade ago.¡± ¡°The whole town was leveled, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I had just started out as a guard. The whole town was demolished.¡± ¡°Funny how old walls were fine. The foundations weren¡¯t scratched at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why that new estate is so important. He¡¯s planning on defending against the beast horde.¡± ¡°Speaking of, listen to that commotion. What do you think is going on over there?¡± ¡°Just the feast. We sent Saul over there to get some dinner, why complain? We have a gate to watch.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt to talk about it. Someone¡¯s speech is causing an uproar. Think anything will come of it?¡± ¡°Yea, something gonna happen. Just look at that new estate. It wouldn¡¯t be built without a reason. We only need to focus on keeping our jobs, so we can¡¯t relax tonight.¡± ¡°Always so tense.¡± --- The mention of a sect immediately won over the poorer inhabitants. The chance of accessing cultivation manuals and resources was something only available to the rich and powerful. The average poor person would never even see someone above the Body Tempering Realm. Even the middle class were impressed by the offer. To be associated in any way with the powerful Cultivators assured a secure life. All a family need do was attend to a single spirit field and their profits would be much greater than they were now. Their favoured sons and daughters would have the chance to enter the sect and cultivate immortality. Only the wealthy and influential saw the offer for what it was, a power grab. Runners were already delivering orders all across Bastion telling some people to scatter and others to gather. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, friends. Each one of you will find a place for yourself. Those who refuse my offer will be given compensation and let go without punishment. These are the best conditions I can offer.¡± The crowds nodded at this. If it was a takeover, it was a bloodless one. While things would change, there was a low probability of disaster striking. ¡°That being said, you all have fifteen minutes before I burn your homes to the ground.¡± The estate erupted into chaos. --- ¡°We knew he was going to do this. Tell your daughter to get close with Terra. She is our only hope here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s sad that it got this far. I don¡¯t like this decision, My hand is being forced.¡± ¡°The moment he set his eyes on Bastion it was inevitable. Forces beyond our scope have forced us down this path.¡± ¡°Damnit. I wish he had never came here. Now we have to join him in this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve sent runners to clear out the storehouses and gather our fighters. Our people are already out of the city.¡± ¡°Do more. That man will remember every message and summons, we can¡¯t afford to act against him in any way.¡± --- ¡°Does he mean it, Sis?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± ¡°What about where mom and dad are buried?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Are we going to be okay?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, little brother. It¡¯s dangerous here, let¡¯s hide in one of those rooms in the wall. He won¡¯t burn down his own house.¡± ¡°But Mom¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot, Brother. If we grow up at all she¡¯ll be smiling up in heaven.¡± --- ¡°Everything is inside the house! We have fifteen minutes to pack.¡± ¡°Dear¡­¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you moving?¡± ¡°They¡¯re just things. This crowd is going crazy, what could happen to the child? No, I¡¯m finding a quiet place for us to wait it out.¡± ¡°Everything¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s just things. We have so much more right here that we need to keep safe.¡± --- ¡°Crazy rich people. It¡¯s a shame to waste all that scrap.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good wood. You could tack together a few neighborhoods if he didn¡¯t want to burn it.¡± ¡°His loss. Turns out that if you have the strength, you can solve all your problems with fire.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t pick anything up from the town, but didn¡¯t he leave the doors to the main house open?¡± ¡°Good point. I wonder what¡¯s inside?¡± --- ¡°Looks like something exciting is going on.¡± ¡°Should we sent for the sergeant?¡± ¡°Yea, there may be a panic. I¡¯ll send a runner to get information.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t good. People are stampeding.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too late, ring the alarm bell!¡± --- ¡°I can''t allow you to do this to our town.¡± A voice boomed over the commotion. ¡°We built these houses with our own two hands. Like hell we¡¯ll let you destroy it.¡± A single figure stood out from the crowd. He wore regal robes and had a sword in his hand that was clearly of high quality. The pushing crowds stopped to hear what this second voice had to say. ¡°You know they''re pieces of shit then, don''t you? Don''t blame the tiger when you build on his mountain. Someone was going to come and take this land from you, be happy I''m benevolent.¡± Ben sneered in return. ¡°Be happy that you''re burning our homes down, are you really that stupid?¡± The dissenter yelled. ¡°Here''s a good example of what I''m talking about. My friend wanted the town for herself, but backed down when I told her I was taking it. Do you know what plans she had for you? Death by a swarm of spiders sounds unpleasant, doesn''t it?¡± Ben smiled. ¡°We''ve fought off many beast hordes in the past. We have the power do defend ourselves.¡± ¡°Fine then, a small demonstration of power isn''t any issue. Take one attack from me. This is a new type of fire I''ve discovered, but never had a chance to use in combat.¡± Ben decided to try out his new core. He lifted his hand and pointed at the troublemaker. He channeled some Qi from his new core and collected it at the tip of his finger. The crowds watched the attack uncertainly. They wanted Ben to release his aura so they could determine his realm of cultivation, but not a single thread of energy slipped out. All they were able to see was one small spark of white light. He flicked his finger at the challenger and the spark flew through the air. It made no sound and emitted no trace of Qi. It would be difficult to tell the difference between this and a spark thrown off by a campfire. The unfortunate soul who would try to defend against this attack hadn''t been idle. He had three separate defenses prepared. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating me!¡± He shouted. First he pressed out with one hand. Qi formed an illusory golden palm to match his actual hand. The golden palm shot out and met the white spark. The two attacks collided and the palm warped, shrunk and broke apart. The spark showed no change. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The challengers face paled. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll show you my real strength.¡± He yelled. Previously, his aura had been at peak Core Formation. Now his aura rose a to what could be called half step Nascent Soul. His skin began to glow with a dim golden radiance. Nascent Soul! The crowd broke out in cheers when they saw this. ¡°We finally have a Nascent Soul Cultivator!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be safe from the next beast wave! It may not happen at all.¡± ¡°He¡¯s done for.¡± ¡°Get the fancy bastard!¡± ¡°He thinks he can order us around!¡± The new Nascent Soul champion of the town drew out a long thin curved sword. He was wary of the strength of the spark, so he overdrew on his power to assure his swift victory. In truth he had only broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm recently. He had yet to learn to control his newfound strength. The blade began to glow brightly along with his golden aura. He dashed forward and slashed at the white spark. The attacks met and there was a small flash. The crowd was shocked. Nothing had happened. Unlike the palm, the sword attack passed straight through, unimpeded. If someone had a high enough cultivation or a special eye technique they would have seen the sword edge meet the spark and the spark burrow through the sword instantly. A very small amount of molten metal flew out of the hole, flashing through the air. The sword material cooled instantly, leaving the sword mostly intact. His first two attacks failing, he decided to retreat and admit defeat. Servitude was better than death. To his horror, when he stepped back, the spark moved too. The distance between the two didn¡¯t stop slowly decreasing. It was like the spark had a different frame of reference than the rest of the world. The spark continued and the challenger had only a fraction of a second before the spark hit him. His skin hardened and turned to gold. The ring on his finger flashed and three items flew out. A purple vial shattered on him, adding a deep violet hue the his aura, a silver cloak wove around him, adding a layer of armor and a golden shield emerged and met the spark just before it met contact. The purple light dimmed the second it touched the spark. The same scene of spark passing through metal happened again with the shield. A hole in the silver cloak flashed with a small wisp of flame. The spark touched his golden skin. Immediately webs of frost started crawling over his chest. The figure of Ben suddenly appeared in front of the man and touched the spark with one outstretched finger. The spark disappeared. ¡®Interesting properties. It passes through material, melting it. Anything within a few meters is frozen and it moves relative to the targets position.¡¯ Ben thought. ¡®Fantastic! It contains laws of space and time. We will have to conduct some tests when you return.¡¯ Alice was delighted. ¡®This give me an idea. To get back at that fire demon we need something to fight fire. How about this, I call it the entropic field. It¡¯s technically forbidden technology, this is how it works¡­¡¯ Ben talked with Alice in his head. The mans golden skin dimmed back to normal and he fell to the ground, unconscious. The crowds watched the anticlimactic conclusion to the fight in silence. There was no flashy ending, no fiery death, no last second counters to prolong the battle. Ben looked around. ¡°Thirteen minutes.¡± --- ¡°That''s it then. He was the strongest expert in town.¡± ¡°None of our informants knew he had entered the Nascent Soul Realm. I¡¯m sorry I let it slip by. That could have been our downfall.¡± ¡°At least we didn¡¯t send one of our own to test him. It¡¯s a good thing my daughter got close to that Terra girl before we acted against him.¡± ¡°Everything is going to change, sir. I¡¯ll be organizing our spies and informants. Do we need anything from our properties before they are demolished?¡± ¡°No. Everything of value had been moved already. Go gather the family together.¡± --- ¡°Have you ever seen an attack like that, dear?¡± ¡°Never. I couldn¡¯t even tell what element it was. I¡¯d guess lightning, but it moved too slowly. Perhaps it was fire, but it froze him.¡± ¡°Does this change anything?¡± ¡°No. We stay put and wait it out. This is still the safest place for us.¡± ¡°Yes, dear.¡± --- ¡°Heh, that poor sod had it coming to him. Is someone taking away the body? Maybe he has a storage pouch we can lift.¡± ¡°No, I can see him breathing. We couldn''t get away with it. ¡°See anything that catches your interest?¡± ¡°That silverware looks pretty fancy. That vase too.¡± --- ¡°Did you see that, sis? Is that how cultivators fight?¡± ¡°Not usually. Most of the time there¡¯s more flashy attacks, they take longer and they struggle back and forth.¡± ¡°At least there was a finishing move. Did you see him poke that guy!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it went like that¡­¡± --- ¡°People are fleeing the city! They say that the owner of that new estate is going to burn down the town!¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Someone will stop him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s already been challenged, he won.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s case, we can¡¯t win. Open the gates, tell the men to clear the streets and let people flee. It¡¯s the only thing we can do.¡± ¡°Got it, Guard Commander. --- ¡®Better use my blood flame, this is a large town. I can also make my fire target buildings and avoid burning people. Let¡¯s wrap this up. I have a lot to do.¡¯ ¡°Ten minutes.¡± He shouted, before descending nearby stairs. He crossed the courtyard under the gaze of the milling crowd. He climbed up to the top of the wall and looked out over the busy town. ¡°Lilith. There are three people in this town we need to recruit. The two children watching from the window there and the pregnant woman standing in the corner beside that man. This is the first time we¡¯ve found three people in one location. There are also two men who have been stealing from us that seem to have some special properties. Leave them alone and let them stick around. Arachnae is nearly done excavating the town from underneath. It¡¯s almost time to go.¡± Ben told Lilith. ¡°The three candidates will see you soon.¡± She answered him as her sisters went to work collecting the mentioned people. ¡°Five minutes.¡± His reinforced voice reached every corner of the town. ¡®The Entropic field is much more dangerous than anything you¡¯ve ever made. This is a planet killer. It may even go further than that.¡¯ ¡®I know. The only thing stopping it will be the infinite void of space. I plan to use against the fire demons.¡¯ ¡®It may pass over to this world and any other worlds it has a connection with.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve thought about that. A good solution is a void array and a suitable vessel for the energy.¡¯ ¡®You could start the research into void arrays right now, but where are we going to find something that can hold the energy of a whole world?¡¯ Alice asked. ¡®I¡¯ll make it, naturally.¡¯ Ben shrugged mentally. ¡®There are many things that can go wrong here, mainly the vessel could shatter, releasing all its pent up energy at once. I¡¯m also worried about someone more powerful noticing your actions.¡¯ Alice¡¯s voice had a hint of concern in it. ¡®It appears that if I stay on the surface of this world I am partially safe from those beings that are much more powerful than me. I also have some ideas about energy storage that may even surprise you. I think I can modify a spirit stone to absorb exponential amounts of Qi.¡¯ ¡®Tell me more.¡¯ ¡®The internal energy of most spirit stones can only be depleted or modified. Creating or enriching a spirit stone takes decades. The highest quality spirit stones can slowly capture ambient Qi and refill itself if not drained dramatically. ¡®What I propose is this, we obtain one of these high quality spirit stones and¡­¡¯ Ben continued his inner dialogue with Alice. ¡°We¡¯ve brought the persons you asked for.¡± Hecate respectfully interrupted Ben¡¯s musings. He looked over at the three people who had been brought to him. There were two children in rags with dirty faces and one sobbing woman in middle class town clothes. ¡°Why is she crying?¡± He asked. ¡°We had to separate her from her husband.¡± ¡°Bring him here and try not to cause the woman undue stress. It would be bad for the child.¡± At this the womans face paled. Did this man have some designs on her baby? ¡°Relax, Mother. You cannot let yourself harm your child. I''m not going to take it from you. I only wish to see the child grow up healthy and strong.¡± Ben tried soothing the mother to be, but she naturally didn''t feel comfortable without her husband by her side. He sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. A thread of illusion Qi entered her and went straight to her brain. A second later she was asleep and dreaming about a large happy family. ¡°I hope that you two will be easier to deal with.¡± Ben looked down at the two dirty children. ¡°Sis¡­¡± The smaller boy hid behind his sister. ¡°No... I mean yes. What do you need us to do?¡± She tried to put up a brave front for her brother. ¡°Behave yourselves and watch.¡± Ben said. He turned to the town below him. ¡°Times up.¡± His voice boomed. On his open hand a red flame appeared. Much like the spark from before, this flame was small, only the size of his palm. This too he gently tossed at his target, a small hut next to the estate walls. The flame landed and caught just like any other fire. It spread to a nearby woodpile and climbed to the thatched roof. Soon the whole hut was on fire. There were two curious properties about this fire. No smoke was rising from the fire and when the hut had been reduced to ashes, huddled in a corner of the ruins was a shivering old man. The man looked around at the spreading fire. It had already turned their houses to ashes and spread further. The scene from the wall wasn''t what people has expected. They were ready for a conflagration that would consume everything. This gentle cleansing of fire was more like a good scrub than a holocaust. The flames consumed everything but flesh and passed by so quickly it was as if the breeze itself was disintegrating the town. Ashes were blown away leaving confused people and panicking animals. It took a few minutes for the fire to burn through the town. The only structures left standing were the outer wall, the foundations of the town and the new estate. The massive spirit vessel appeared over the town, dwarfing it. The shadow of the airship was at least four times that of the town. ¡°Final warning. Anyone who is still inside the town walls will be considered one of my people. The town will be leaving in a few minutes. Anyone who wants better accommodations is welcome to board the spirit vessel.¡± Ben¡¯s voice carried to every corner ¡°If any of you are unhappy with my actions taken today, you are welcome to file a complaint or call the customer service hotline. Either way I don''t care what you do. If I cared, I would have just killed you all outright, but I''m trying to do things in a official manner.¡± There were many small dramas taking place in the ruined town below. Adventuring groups broke up, families said goodbye to lifelong friends, couples split up when one party valued security and the other independence. Many unseen tragedies and main events in the lives of little people took place on this day. This tapestry of human interaction wove itself while something curious happened just outside the walls. Just outside of the main wall was a ditch that was there to make the wall that much taller. All along the bottom of the ditch small holes appeared. The holes widened and connected with each other. Ropes fell from the spirit vessel overhead and hung down onto the walls, then a nightmare began for the guards and many other townspeople. Spiders, thousands of them, started climbing up the ropes with great speed. They hung onto the vessel and placed their webbing there. Then they flung themselves from the airship in a black rain and fell back to the town walls, trailing their webbing behind them. The spiders climbed down the walls and disappeared into the ground. Then they climbed back up their silk and repeated the process. Soon there was a solid netting that connected the town to the airship above. Unseen by everyone but Arachnae, Ben and Alice, the ground beneath the town had been excavated by Arachnae and her numerous brood. It was an irregular shape with many tunnels leading to odd rooms. The ground supporting the underground structure was replaced with dense webbing many times stronger than steel. The spirit vessel was attached to these webs and the roughly 2 million ton town was ready to hoist into the air. The whole project was absurd from first glance, but Ben had three tools at his disposal that made the task an easy one. He had an excellent team at his beck and call that neutralized the townspeople, a monsterous airship available to only the greatest of the sects and the biological marvel that was a spiders web. --- ¡°Sis¡­¡± The little boy was crying. ¡°It¡¯s fine. No need to worry, little brother.¡± The slightly older girl held him close. ¡°I hate spiders.¡± The boy wailed. ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± She comforted him. ¡°I really hate spiders.¡± ¡°Brother... Don¡¯t look behind you.¡± ¡°Hmmmmmmm. They smell delicious. Can I have one?¡± A new voice made itself heard. ¡°No Arachnae. I¡¯m using them for something else. Look, now you¡¯ve frightened them. They are my outer disciples so keep your claw off of them. This way, my students, it¡¯s time to meet the rest of your class.¡± Ben herded the traumatized children towards one of his assistants. --- ¡°Clyde. We¡¯re lost.¡± ¡°Shut up Baram. It was you that suggested we board the airship to steal anything not nailed down. Guess what? Everything was nailed down.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t the one who tried to mug that young man. Why would you think you can steal from a cultivator?¡± ¡°At least we got away. Funny though, how did we lose him?¡± ¡°I guess we just got lucky.¡± ¡°Hey, is that a rabbit up ahead?¡± ¡°Yea, a horned one. I¡¯ve heard about them, their the weakest possible magic creature.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try to catch it. They can be sold for good coin.¡± ¡°Sneak up as close as you can and we both jump for it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± *Crash* ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?¡± ¡°Every single fucking time! You have shit luck!¡± --- ¡°We¡¯re out of our league here. The family is at risk of being devoured.¡± ¡°We must stand together even as we become prosperous under someone else.¡± ¡°Call a gathering. At this time we need to be as unified as never before. The slightest internal struggle could rip us apart.¡± ¡°I will make it known.¡± ¡°Mobilize our forces. We will take this opportunity to spread out influence over the others.¡± ¡°We must also take care to not antagonize our new benefactor. He must need a lieutenant for this rabble, we may as well fill the position.¡± --- ¡°Not much of a point to guarding the wall now.¡± ¡°What about the spiders?¡± ¡°There are dozens of them for every one of us. If they wanted to kill us, we would be dead.¡± ¡°It makes the people feel better to watch a familiar figure. Not everyone boarded the spirit vessel.¡± ¡°They make me nervous. What¡¯s gonna happen to us?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯ll be fine. What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡± ¡°Torture for years then our souls are devoured?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Spiders it is then.¡± --- ¡°I thought I wouldn¡¯t see you again. What did that monster do to you?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not bad. He didn¡¯t mean for us to part.¡± ¡°What did he do to you?¡± ¡°He gave me a cultivation technique, some spirit stones and several potions.¡± ¡°What potions? What cultivation technique? He just wants to take advantage of you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what the elixirs were, but I feel great and my cultivation is soaring. The cultivation technique is a good one, here, take a look.¡± ¡°What an advanced method! We could never afford something like this.¡± ¡°He is good, in an uncaring kind of way.¡± --- The spirit vessel soared off into the distance, a valuable ruin hanging beneath it.