“The patterns of energy that create formations draw upon higher sources of understand that have contaminated the energy or attuned it. That’s why there is a home field advantage, and how energy interacts with symbology,” Yang Heng explained the answer to another one of my questions without any hesitation.
As he explained, I wasn’t asking anything that was secret, merely knowledge that wasn’t spread about or understood. “My apologies senior, if I have gotten carried away,” I said as I realized I had been asking questions for a while now to sate my curiosity.
“It is no problem. I too had many questions, and my seniors gave me the answers. One day you will be in my position,” Yang Heng replied. He really had warmed up after learning about my cultivation. Apparently the rest of cultivation society were cannon fodder, servants, and the lower classes. It was just a matter of getting back to the Heavenly Alliance. But that was incredibly difficult.
“I was planning to look at the other shops before we left,” I said.
“It is all trash,” Yang Heng replied with a shrug. “You can take a look, but the rats have better goods. The beings living in this small section are the desperate and stuck.” I knew he was referring to himself as part of this group of beings.
“Why look down on all of them?” I asked out of curiosity. Yang Heng stared at me. “They aren’t human, but the Ek seem to have a working society.”
“I suppose it is understandable seeing such a wonder. But the hover craft you arrived in, is far better than this floating pile of junk. As a cultivator, our power comes from energy. The ability to draw it into ourselves, shape it, and then use it. These Ek are the remains of some race that has sunk down from the Material to this layer.”
“I don’t understand, unless you are saying beings should be judged by their energy?” I asked and Yang Heng nodded.
“Indeed. While there are powerful super-organizations that use technology and science. The power of energy eclipses everything else in reality, since with it the very rules can be rewritten. Even weakened like I am, I could crush this place with the energy I have.”
“And you didn’t demand a vessel?” I asked in surprise.
“They won’t trade one and then I would have to honor my word and destroy this place, leaving me to drift along to be picked up or die. Better to wait, for someone like you to show up,” Yang Heng explained. “If you want to look around, I won’t stop you. But I guarantee, the best items are trash compared to what is in the Forever City.”
“Since they don’t use energy?” I asked.
“Some of their items do, but they aren’t efficient with it. Our society has streamlined the process of harvesting and using energy to the extreme. Perhaps in a couple of ages these Ek might become powerful enough to risk going to the Firmament and trying to develop there. But it is doubtful they would last long,” Yang Heng said.
“It is more dangerous I take it,” I replied, and he nodded.
“This is a barren layer in terms of life. The environment is hostile due to how it changes. But the Firmament outside the bubbles of reality is far worse. Various things have an easier time surviving as well as thriving from the amount of energy available. What is your guess why the Astral Plane below that is also desolate?” Yang Heng asked me.
“Things that come from Chaos, beneath that layer, if I had to guess,” I answered.
“Exactly. While the energy is rich, the danger is immense.”
“I have to ask, is there an end to cultivation?” I asked.
“Hahaha, I asked the same question to my tutor when I was young as well. The limit is the amount of energy you can safely wield and draw upon. The amount of energy is infinite, but the ability to draw upon it, or harvest it is not. Past a certain threshold you risk greater dangers,” Yang Heng answered.
“Monsters that break the rules, like traveling through time. I was told I had one chasing me once I broke through the first bottleneck. Is this true?” I asked.
“Most likely. But if we return to the Firmament, it would be easy enough to protect you.”
“And you can’t make a portal, since there is no energy,” I replied and Yang Heng nodded.
“The higher the layer, the greater the boundary between layers. The Astral Plane is the bleed over from Chaos. To cross into the Material from here, is almost impossible.”
“The Heavenly Alliance maintains the outposts to make such a trip easier?” I asked and Yang Heng nodded once again.
“Correct. If I was in the Firmament, it is a simple matter to make a portal to the Astral Plane. But here, there is not enough energy to be wielded so freely. True power comes from machines, devices, and whatever dregs of energy can be scrapped up.”
“So, I need a lot of energy to advance my cultivation, and everyone wants energy,” I replied.
“Yes. The paths to the Firmament are strategic resources for the super organizations controlling them. It is not a simple matter to go down a layer.” Yang Heng shook his head and let out a sigh. “To get the energy you need for your cultivation is no simple matter either.”
The more we discussed, the more I was warming up to Yang Heng with how helpful he was being. “The only option is to explore.”
“It is risky, but better than waiting here,” he replied.
“I still want to look through the other shops before we depart,” I replied. He gave me a nod, but didn’t stop me from leaving. I considered just leaving right away and leaving Yang Heng behind, but I hesitated. He had shown me trust and not every cultivator was a scheming old person.
The fact he most likely had a more stable upbringing as a treasured scion of the Heavenly Alliance, would give him a more balanced view on life. Also, he might directly attack me if I tried to leave without him. I had no idea about his level of power, but it was sure to be considerable. The concepts and knowledge he had showed his background was not simple. While anyone could lie, very few people would have knowledge of fundamental concepts.
I looked through the few other shops and he was right. Limited selection of goods, and I saw nothing that the Ek didn’t have in some version that was slightly better or newer. I made my way back to my hover craft and Yang Heng was waiting for me at the airlock.
“Find anything?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
“Not surprising. I used to check the markets here occasionally for anything, but there is nothing worthwhile.” We went through the airlock to the hover craft. “A small scouting vessel.” We entered and I began to close things up and get off my gear.
It took a moment to get the communication device set up as Yang Hen stayed to one side of the main cabin, out of the way. “I see you have purchased equipment. Smart. But none of it is truly safe. There are ways to track and identify such things.”
“There aren’t any other options,” I replied. “I am just surprised everything is compatible.”
“Universal interface ports and power ports are the norm for any civilization using technology. They are just too useful. Even if you come up with your own design, it is still universal, so it doesn’t matter. A combination of technology converging and practicality. The rats and other trash adopt such things quickly in order to trade what meager garbage they manage to scrounge up.”
It then hit me, that I had a cultivator supremist on board. The sheer distain leaking out of every word he said was probably him being polite. I finished setting up the communication device and requested permission to leave. The large hanger door opened and we left the Ek’s super large vessel. I plotted out a course to another area and set off. Yang Heng remained in the cabin quietly while I handled things in the cockpit.
I left the door open so he could see though it and the outside. “At last, I have finally left that garbage hauler. While I might have forced the issue, thank you, Yuan Zhou.”
“Um, no problem. Well, off to the next area, unless you have a suggestion?” I asked.
“If we run into a super-organization, I should be able to understand their relationship with the Heavenly Alliance, if it is hostile or just competitive. The rest, I never bothered to learn anything about. I might know a lot about cultivation, but learning about all the groups of trash collectors would exhaust even an Immortal,” Yang Heng replied.
“I did encounter some things on the way here.” I then described the spatial twist, the Seekers, and the black crystalline spiders.
“The spatial twist is beyond valuable. You were scammed. It is a natural connection to the Firmament,” Yang Heng said with a sigh. “We might have been able to return with it. But that is no longer possible. And things move.”
“For a scout vessel this thing doesn’t have scanners,” I countered.
“It is designed to propel and house, not to do other functions. Those would be the jobs of the cultivator flying the vessel. What those scanners do, I can do as well. With the proper training, you could learn the necessary sensing techniques.”
“And communication?” I asked.
“Pointless using technology that you have acquired. If a being can’t communicate via energy projection, they aren’t worth communicating to. The Seekers are another group of trash bottom feeders. I suspect they are the proxy for some super-organization but hiding their allegiance. Most likely long-range scouts. As for the anti-light spiders, they aren’t a concern unless you run into them. One of the few non-sapient creatures that has managed to thrive in the Mechanical Layer.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
There was a period of silence and then Yang Heng began to roll his neck and stretch out his arms and legs. “Feeling cramped?” I asked.
“No. I am just preparing to go into a trace. Once you get close to something interesting, I will wake up.”
“You don’t want to chat?” I asked, disappointed.
“With all the knowledge you have asked about already, I am surprised your head hasn’t exploded,” he joked.
“I am curious what energy is exactly. A particle or something else, why can it be mentally controlled? Why crystals and geometric shapes for various things? How does reality come into existence in the top layer, the Material? Do the continents really provide energy?” I quickly asked all the big questions I could think of.
Yang Heng held up a hand to stop me. “The curiosity of youth. Energy is a particle in a state of constant flux. Crystals are but latices to hold that energy in a state of flux until used. The energy bars you have are just very compact crystals. The lattice like structure contains the energy particles. The better the lattice, the higher the concentration of energy.”
“Geometric shapes tap into the contamination or fundamental truths of energy. Like arrays and formations, but on a much deeper level. Cylinders are great for directing energy in a specific manner. The Ek have a powerful weapon they built their vessel around that uses the concept. Hence the cylinder shape.”
“Energy production is determined by the amount of territory one can claim. The continents are outposts in the Firmament, bubbles of reality that draw in energy. A small portion is used to support the continent and maintain the garrison, while the rest is sent on to the Forever City.”
“As for the Material, that is unknown. It is theorized however, that reality might not be layers, but a circle instead. Where if you pass through enough chaos, the chaos erases everything, and eventually a random event births a new Material existence. The Material is composed of bubbles based on observations, but it is near impossible to truly tell, what lies outside these bubbles. Again, Chaos is the common answer, but it has not been proven by us or any other super organization.”
“Because it is too dangerous to check?” I asked.
“Exactly. Causality is the subset of reality we refer to where there are rules and structure. Cause and effect. Linear time. Spatial dimensions. They are the foundations of existence. If you go to far into Chaos, there are things that ignore these rules. In the other direction, there is no energy to draw upon and the rules cannot be broken.”
“But things sink down through the layers? I heard that before. The Material sinks into the Mechanical Layer here,” I said.
“It happens rarely, but it does occur. This occurs when the civilization above finds a technical way to go down through the layers and draw up energy. As energy proliferates, the massive bubble that holds the Material bubble begins to fray. Those locations where they punched through the layers, drags their entire existence down to the Mechanical Layer. In this process most things are wiped out and you get these clouds of gases and other matter drifting about.”
“And these civilizations?” I asked.
“Most of them are wiped out in the process. What few that survive are instantly swarmed upon by super-organizations for anything of value. Then the bottom feeders come to pick at the bones. Finally, after all that, some beings still survive, they become new bottom feeders.”
“Have cultivators tried to go to the Material?” I asked.
“It has been attempted, but almost no energy that far up in reality. If what you feel now is bad, it would be unbearable to live in such a low energy environment. Also you very presence would destabilize the Material bubble if you dried to draw in energy.”
While reality was described as layers, they weren’t layered in the three dimensional sense. There was no up or down, but that was the nomenclature used. Down was towards Chaos, up meant less energy. It was easier to go down than up, which was probably why the layers were referred to in such a way.
“Thank you for answering,” I replied and Yang Heng smiled.
“Think and then ask more questions. It is good to recall all of this as well for my benefit. Most of what you ask is hard to discover if you don’t have the heritage of a super-organization, but it doesn’t provide much practical benefit.”
“It all seems so simple when you explained everything like you just did,” I replied.
“Ha, what I have told you is the result of eons of investigation and accumulation. And what you ask aren’t really secrets. I wouldn’t share them with others, but you are a cultivator who has stumbled onto the path our Heavenly Alliance has laid out. Each cultivator that has achieved what you have is quite precious.”
“Can’t you just give resources to reach where you are?” I asked Yang Heng.
“There are limited resources, competition is fierce. Only the most deserving are allowed to advance after strict tests and evaluations. Out of ten thousand children, I am the only one to make it this far.”
“Ten thousand?” I said in surprise. That number seemed high.
“A small number, I know. But it is easier to provide resources at a lower level and monitor progress for a longer period of time. The ones who fail aren’t killed but become servants or soldiers. Some even leave to try and advance like you have, but that is near impossible. You advancing this far on your own, is beyond impressive. So, while you are weak compared to me, I can’t help but respect how far you have come.” Yang Heng inclined his head towards me.
“Thank you senior, for your kind words.” I got up and bowed deeply back. “I need to think on what you have explained so far.”
“Take your time. If for some reason there is an emergency and you need to break my trance, say my name and I will rouse. Otherwise, I asked to be left to rest. If something interesting shows up nearby, I will sense it and wake up. You won’t wake me if you move about or make noise, so don’t worry about being quiet.”
“Of course senior,” I replied. Yang Heng settled in on the only bed. That was annoying, since I would be sleeping in the cockpits chair, but I couldn’t tell the Immortal cultivator who was traveling with me, was polite, and answering questions not to lay on the bed.
I closed the cockpit door and settled in as the hover craft moved through empty space. I had forgotten to ask why this place was so static, with some areas filled with gas, and other areas were clear. But then the answer was obvious, energy. Spatial dimensions and environments were segregated.
Then there was the question about imprints that were part of energy itself. That was very concerning. Were they influencing me in some way? How could a particle retain an imprint? What was the particle made of? Or was this particle smaller than an electron?
I had countless more questions that had come up from the answers I had been given by Immortal Yang Heng. But I knew not to keep pressing. While he seemed like he would answer, thinking about his answers was not a bad thing. It also wasn’t like he was going anywhere. We could be stuck togeather for a long time, since I doubted, he would get off to stay with any other faction, or trash heap as he liked to refer to them.
He was also right in that the information he had given me had little use beyond satiating my curiosity. He had all the answers but the ones I needed. At least I wasn’t on the wrong path with my cultivation. But that made sense if the Heavenly Alliance suppressed knowledge of three part cultivation.
I thought back to the Cloudy Moon Sect, how even after their destruction they had preserved knowledge. It was but a drop in the bucket in comparison to the Heavenly Alliance. A drop in the ocean actually. Even the TripleX faction was a frog in a well, only seeing a small part of the sky and thinking they knew the truth.
It was depressing to finally get answers, with simplest explanation being the right one. Everything was constructed by the Heavenly Alliance for the purposes of retaining and gathering power. Power in terms of energy to use and cultivators willing to defend their interest.
I noted that while Yang Heng was annoyed with the Heavenly Alliance and how he was stuck out here, he never really criticized them. The criticisms were more about his predicament and the local beings trying to survive. That sense of superiority never diminished, not even for a moment.
Thinking about my situation, I needed a bigger vessel than this hover craft. Unfortunately, it appeared to be much more advanced in terms of getting around than anything the locals produced. My guess was that it used energy to manipulate space in some way. It wasn’t fast, it just appeared to be fast.
If there was one thing cultivators were good at and took pride in, it was there ability to manipulate energy. It would make sense that their vessels did the same thing. While I knew the various systems, and how to do basic maintenance and repairs, I didn’t know a lot about their inner functions.
Traveling at the speed I did, made me think of the vehicles in the Forever City.
But creating and countering such forces here in the Mechanical Layer was several orders of magnitude difference. And unlike the Forever City, there was no one to care if space itself was manipulated. While there was almost no energy, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any energy. The hover craft might be manipulating the small amount energy around the craft itself.
That was the challenge when you could bend the rules and even break them. There were multiple ways to accomplish the same task. I could also see why cultivators would use a vehicle. Someone like Yang Heng could survive outside, but constantly propelling oneself vast distances was probably not an easy task. If it was possible, it would also be a distraction if a cultivator had to fight, talk, or do other tasks.
So, while they didn’t like tools, and the hover craft was the bare minimum, it was highly capable at the tasks it was designed to accomplish. Namely, getting a cultivator from one location to another very quickly.
My original idea to trade did not look so good. There were no huge markets and both groups I had run into seemed very self-sufficient. The one thing everyone wanted, energy, was what I wanted as well. I watched brilliant swirls of gas pass me by as I considered my options.
There weren’t many beyond fly about and hope I run into something interesting or beings willing to trade. But there was nothing that others had that I wanted. Maybe a bigger and more powerful craft than the one I was using, but that wouldn’t be cheap. Even the Ek did not like selling vessels and put a premium on them.
I then realized why that was. It was energy. However they got around, it had to be energy for traveling this fast. Otherwise, a person would die of old age before they got anywhere. Even an Immortal would get worn down. My guess is that is what happened to Yang Heng. He couldn’t propel himself through space fast enough or safely enough.
What I needed to do was to find a source of energy, or someone who was willing to trade a lot of energy. But considering how much the Ek were willing to trade for one energy bar, was not a good sign. The more wealth I got, the greater the risk. Also, I might get far enough away from the Heavenly Alliance that they were no longer known.
The Mechanical Layer was infinite after all. The same with the other layers of reality. There was no loop around either. I could head in any physical direction and I would still be in the layer. Good news was, that since it was infinite, there had to be some way out here for me to progress. Bad news, the place was infinite, so I could be looking around for a long time.
My current destination was listed as the super-organization, Shield Spheres. They were open to communication and weren’t instantly hostile. I should have asked Yang Heng before he went into a trace, but I had been caught up with all the other information he had given me. Once we got in range to see them, he should wake up.
Were the beings there actual spheres? Or did they just make powerful shields in the shape of spheres? It was an interesting question, since everything was translated. My guess was that the translator worked based on energy in some way. How else would there be a universal translator?
Then I realized that was why the Ek sounded like they were struggling to form full sentences. The translation device was struggling to pick up their intent while my replies were likely understood in full. With the lack of such a device for sale at the outpost, cultivators probably had a technique they used instead.
I should have asked Yang Heng to teach me some of those basic techniques. He was probably waiting for me to do so, and then would talk about how cultivation is superior to technology. After everything I had seen, I wasn’t entirely sure. I am sure there were super-organizations that leveled technology to a much greater degree than the Heavenly Alliance.
It took me a moment, but I think I recalled a super-organization called Replicators, or was that just a description. While my memory was quite good, certain things I just didn’t pay attention to. I had lived for a long time and if it wasn’t important to me, the memory would fade. Was there a machine army out there? I saw very little in the way of high technology. The closest things were the pads that were used in the Forever City, but that was more energy and cultivation techniques, than actual technology.
There were no holographic displays on the Ek’s vessel and the goods didn’t seem to have a high degree of automation. A risk of subversion for more technological systems perhaps? If energy could break the rules, it was easy to see a technique countering most technology. And how would an energy particle interact with other particles?
Well, things were looking up. Yang Heng hadn’t brutally murdered me and was quite agreeable. Was it just luck, or a higher force at play? I didn’t like my actions being controlled, but I had taken in the cultivation of other cultivators. Were there hidden dangers I needed to be aware of?