Chapter 9 - Taking advantage

Mark’s facial was the equivalent of a huge question mark. This supposedly common knowledge actually helped him forget about his amnesia, since, coming from another world, it was not possible for him to know of these things.

Still upset that this world offers cultivation instead of leveling, he felt a huge blow to his motivation. He would rather have everyone be normal humans than have cultivators. Cultivation was based on talent, not hard work… Who knew if he had this so called talent! As far as he knew, he could turn out to be the shittiest human of the place in terms of it.

However, with the help of this scroll along  with his vague recollection of memories from when he was a ghost, and if he could befriend the man in front of him, he might just be able to gain a foothold in this city in terms of business and wealth.

“It may have value, but, can it be used by multiple people? Or is it a one-time use?” Clearly,  Mark was unwilling to part with the item that might bring along his fortune. What’s more, if he could gain an endless amount of gold by continuously selling this scroll, he would gain a good foundation for further investments.

“Do you really not know where you come from? From the looks of your knowledge, it might even be possible that you do not come from the Continent!” The Commander was shocked by the lack of common knowledge of this weird but handsome looking young man in front of him. However, this shock merely increased his interest towards him.

“In terms of cultivation techniques, scrolls are but a receptacle to store the technique hidden inside. From the moment you have learned a technique by heart, you will be able to reproduce it on paper as long as you do not forget it.

You can also  recite it to someone. However, that is on the condition that that person has trained his memory enough to remember the whole technique in one go.”

As Mark kept questioning the Commander, he managed to learn all of the basics required to understand how cultivation works. The fact that Qi Techniques of higher level were what had the greatest attraction towards young men made him really delighted, since he now knew that the scroll that he had been given given was of a higher rank compared to those present in this city.

After this, Qin Duan went on by explaining the political situation of this world.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“In this Continent, a lot of different empires exist. Although most people would think that the fact that they exist near each other would most likely cause an era of war to erupt, except for some exceptions, that is not the case. This is because the fighting strength of each party has reached a peak so high that waging war would actually mean the destruction of all their territories.

Therefore, even though their may be some hidden tensions, most empires keep a smiling face on the surface. In the end, they prefer keeping to themselves and have the least contact possible with other countries.

Of course, there are some ultimately strong people that ignore these barriers and just walk past, destroying whatever gets in their way. Apart from these strong people standing at the peak of the continent, there are also a few organizations and sects that coexist with these empires. The Alchemists’ Guild as well as the Heavenly Runes Guild are both good examples, as they exist in every corner of this Continent.”

By now, Qin Duan was basically willing to hand out any interesting information to Mark in order to earn his trust. It was the only way for him to learn more about his origins.

Seeing this attitude of his, Mark was delighted. Forget about becoming acquaintances, if this continues, I can literally use him to gain a high position in the entire empire! Mh, I should be careful though, as this situation might turn upside-down really fast… Now, what convincing lie should I tell him about my hometown? Or should I keep asking questions?

“You said that conflicts between empires are usually avoided. Do you mean that there has not been a single war in the recent years? That seems quite hard to believe…”

Amused by this ridiculous question, Qin Duan laughed out softly. “Although I have said so, there are naturally exceptions! A hundred and ten years ago, a mysterious man that came from somewhere outside of this continent suddenly appeared in a hidden valley inside one of the mountains near this city. Sensing the heaven-defying amounts of energy erupting from within his body, the four rulers from the four nearby empires quickly hurried to that place, sharing the same thought of killing this mysterious person, that threatened their almighty rule, with their combined strengths.”

That mysterious man appeared in a hidden valley inside one of these mountains? Don’t tell me that me being reborn in this weird place has some relation to that person?! If that is the case, what is it that he wants from me? Not that I’m ungrateful about having a second chance, but I don’t really see the meaning in doing all this. Mark was slightly absent-minded as he let his imagination go wild. For reason he had appeared in this place, he really wanted to know. After all, the reason for one’s existence had always been a mystery.

“After days and days of searching, as they went deeper inside the mountain range, they finally arrived at their final destination. However, they had arrived too late, as the mysterious expert had already left.”

He left? What does that mean for me? Should I just forget about this matter and wander at random in this fantasy-like new world of mine? His mouth filled with bitterness because of this missed opportunity, Mark started considering the various choices that presented themselves to him.

Qin Duan continued “Although that mysterious expert disappeared into thin air, he had left behind an item of unknown origin. For those power-greedy rulers, possessing an item left behind by an expert stronger than anyone else in the Continent was something that they had only dared to dream about. That’s why, the moment they finished assessing the situation, the eyes of the four of them instantly turned blood-red from greed, resembling enraged beasts, as they shot forward in a desperate attempt to take that item for themselves.”

“Sensing the greed contained in each of their gazes, their killing intent rose to the heavens. After a minute of mutual silence, as if to represent the sun before the storm, what ensued was something that would mark the entire Continent for centuries to come!”