Watching Wu Tian look depressed, Guizou sighed. "Get up." Seeing him raise his fallen head, Guizou tried to cheer him up. "Maybe I slightly exaggerated some things. They are still valid, but it's not every day that you might die from all of these. Possibly."

"So why not do something more fun? Tidy up the piles and push them aside. Before we go back to the herbal shop in three months, I want you to practice a martial method!"

Smiling from ear to ear, Wu Tian almost jumped from joy. "Really? Master, can I really learn one? But, what about the Purple Foundation Herb or was it the blue? Shouldn't we get that one before? Didn't the staff member say that they will not keep it for long."

"Don't worry about that, if you listened and payed more attention, you would have seen that the previous order was taken into account. We have six months to get both orders."

Wu Tian was still unsure. "But don't we need to pay first?" Guizou shook his head with a faint smile. "They saw you pillage the entire gambling house and rack in a fortune. They are probably waiting for you with everything to make friends."

"Now, let's stop talking about irrelevant stuff. You have the choice to learn a martial method from multiple choices. I'll just ask you, do you want to learn one with potential? One more centered around your level? Maybe you prefer a specific grade and want to train it until you become strong enough?" Wu Tian was obviously puzzled at the onslaught of words. "Master, what are the grades?"

"Mmh... in order, the lowest is the Mortal Grade, and each increment up is meant for a whole major realm above. So in order it goes something like this. Mortal, Warrior, Star, Earth, Heaven and Emperor. Though, you have to know that each grade is divided into three smaller ones. Kind of like tiers maybe? They are the low, mid and high whichever you call it. For example, the one you saw me use when dealing with the fatso was the high Emperor Grade martial method called [Flowing Lightning Fist]. It was created by the Great Emperor who ruled right before my own reign. Eight Skies Trampling Thunder Great Emperor."

"But he's dead. Ended up so just before I got the position of ruler. A lot of Great Emperors don't care about managing the Fairy Land, especially when strong. So a lot of people were shocked when I, a Nine Skies Great Emperor, took the role right after an already rare Eight Skies had it. I just remember seeing him a few times, he was quite tall. Almost as burly as me with blonde hair like that of a lion's mane. Quite impressive. The only issue is that his Daos were very focused on lightning and thunder. Lucky me I can still use his martial method without too much trouble."

Wu Tian was in a daze. Guizou kept talking without stop, but he was too focused to mind. He was relishing in this rain of information. Guizou never talked much about the Fairy Land. It was the first time he learned about how many major realms they were, about how a martial art needed at least one part at a certain grade to be considered low tier of this grade, even if the rest was much weaker. There was a lot he managed to catch.

"...also, this bastard stole my table, so then I locked him up in a cell for a hundred years." Suddenly realizing himself to have sidetracked for a good fifteen minutes, Guizou massaged his forehead. "Aiz, silly me. Sorry about the tangent kid. So, what type do you want? Speed, attack speed, raw damage? Focused? Not so much? Maybe something with all of it? Just tell me what you want to learn."

Still in a daze, he answered without much thought. "A cool one."

"..."

"Doesn't help me much..."

Lucidity emerging, Wu Tian blinked a few times. "Oh, I wasn't paying attention. Uh... I guess something that will last a long time? A martial method I can use almost every time no matter how strong I am?" Guizou nodded. "Great choice. If only it existed. I'll teach you one of the following. By the way, they are the closest to what you want. Anyway, you can choose between the low Emperor Grade [Ten Blossoming Mountains], the low Emperor Grade [Sublime Demonic Core] if you are willing to start over and cultivate the [Sublime Demonic Path Method] instead. You can also try the low Heaven Grade [Six Dominant Paths], it's also quite good. I think the low grade Emperor Grade [Six Inherent Palms] isn't too shabby either..."

"I have some more, but for now I think these are quite good to start with. Most are somewhat simple. I will also teach you the low Star Grade [Illusionary Arts] no matter what."

Under such great options, Wu Tian really did not know which was better. It did not matter how high the grade was, he trusted his master. "I'll choose the first one?"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Guizou remained silent. He clearly realized Wu Tian to not understand anything. Whatever, any of them can be considered good choices.

"Alright. Here you go." Sending two gusts of spiritual energy, Guizou forced Wu Tian into a daze. In the meantime, he went back to sleep.

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Passing a few weeks, Guizou was still inside the pendant. Almost...

He was drifting inside the white space cross-legged, his ethereal eyes closed shut. A vortex of spiritual energy was draining everything around him. It was the first time he could finally practice the [Basic Soul Method]. Back then, as he was alive, he decided to put the method onto the shelf and not mind it too much. It was just a fancy method he did not really understand well enough. It was nothing short of an exotic piece of collection.

But as he was assassinated out of nowhere, he began to ponder on it more. He only had a soul remaining, maybe even less. His soul was filled to the brim with spiritual energy when he tore open space, however this exact move drained nearly all of it. Even as a Great Emperor, his body and Qi mastery would still make him struggle to tear open space itself.

His white-grey soul was absorbing and refining it. The place where his heart would be blinked with a purple light.

The more he absorbed, the more his soul would turn purple in its entirety. It was a slow process that he only recently restarted. After a session of a few weeks, while most would not be able to, Guizou could tell his soul to be a shade closer to purple. This drained everything... but I can feel my soul becoming stronger.

Cultivation was about using a fair trade to reach unfair milestones. Even without the surrounding spiritual energy, Guizou could tell his soul to not lack any less than before. Yet, his soul was much stronger.

Unfathomable. So simple yet so effective. I'm really curious.

Thinking about a thin book in his mind, Guizou sighed. Who created you? He only knew of the creator's title, yet never heard or saw anyone with such credentials.

On the book, he vividly remembered.

'Author : Wandering Mist'

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After a few weeks, Wu Tian was back into the shop. Paying the thirty golds, he returned to the cave. Standing alone on the uneven rocky ground, he looked ahead. The cave made him look somewhat small. He saw some sunlight bounce off and illuminate some parts of the cave. It was peaceful.

Closing his eyes, Wu Tian began to circulate his Qi. He did not have much of it, mostly nearby atmospheric Qi. The energy entered his body and converged all over it.

Slowly opening his eyes, he looked somewhat disappointed. A thin layer of rock rested upon his skin. But it was not enough. It's hard... And it's only the first part as well... Wu Tian was practicing the [Ten Blossoming Mountains] martial method. The first part, [Mountainous Incarnation] was supposed to render him invulnerable to most attacks in the Warrior Realm. However, his own low strength and aptitude only helped him get to a worthless level of mastery. He lacked a lot. Be it expertise, knowledge, talent or even raw ability. Yet, he felt fine. He believed that soon he would turn it into something decent. The stronger he became, the higher this technique would reach.

Guizou on the other hand, while still in the pendant, knew otherwise. The first part was unfortunately a failed attempt. The author never managed to overcome the limitations of its effects, making it useless past the Warrior Realm.

To avoid the brat from feeling down, Guizou hid it still. At the time, he would not feel much regret. He would be exposed to higher levels of methods and feel it to be overrated.

In the meantime, Guizou sometimes reminisced with the past. His first thought always was his wife. This made him think of teaching Wu Tian something more.

Coming out of the pendant, he ignored the now aged man's futile attempt at mastering something he was not yet ready for. "Kid, I remembered something. I just wanted to tell you to avoid relationships. Serious ones at least."

Wu Tian was utterly dumbfounded. "Why?" He too wanted to feel love and have descendants. How few did not? Guizou shook his head. "I know what you're thinking about. I'm not telling you this as a rule, you can do whatever you want. Just don't make the same mistake I did. My wife is long dead and I never had an offspring. The reason is the exact same one I'm telling you about."

Feeling a short silence, Guizou explained further. "The higher your cultivation, the stronger your entire body. This includes your little swimmers." Wu Tian scratched the back of his head. "Swimmers?" "Never mind. Just realize that to conceive as a cultivator, you need your partner to also be at your level. This is also why I never had any despite my wishes. My wife's eggs were not resilient enough to endure my seed. The same is applicable on the opposite situation, where the eggs are too resilient and cannot be fertilized."

Wu Tian looked confused. "Do humans lay eggs?"

"Aiz... kiddo... just understand it. I don't want you to regret something so important in your life. Choose your partner wisely, and think of your own wishes in life to avoid problems. I love my wife, and always will. But some things must be faced. Remember. Unless you are of the same cultivation level, chances of insemination, I mean, chances of your partner getting pregnant are basically non-existent. If you truly want a child to call you dad and your partner mom, pay attention to both cultivation and aptitude." It may have been a random thing to talk about, but Guizou preferred to have it laid out when he first could rather than forget and end up with Wu Tian's regrets washing over him every time he would open his mouth. Having a partner and being intimate even with different cultivation levels was not difficult. There existed many ways and compromises. But some things could not be changed.

He sometimes wondered if it was the rule of Heaven and Earth to bring balance upon a subject he had yet to discover. Being the strongest did not mean being the wisest.