A real struggle with this bad boy. Trying to make some necessary story advancements while keeping it interesting.
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Hundreds of KE points and many sleepless nights, but I did it, thought Felix; his cheeks aching as the tension left his face for the first time in far too long. My determination made manifest and my future reclaimed.
With an unsteady hand, he reached out to caress the manual before him. The book’s haphazard binding did not survive his touch. Paper tore and his other hand shot out to stabilize the toppling mess.
My best does not really inspire confidence, does it?
Stifling a strained giggle, he moved methodically to redo the poor binding. Fingers flowed in practiced motion as pages were strung back together. The result was better, but the strings still strained.
Perhaps I should have divided it into multiple volumes.
Finally finished, he slid the leather cover back on and once more scanned his work.
[Elemental Soul Cradle (Mortal 58)]
Power: Average
Comprehension: (500/500)
Stage: Essence Gathering
I had to cram everything and the bathroom sink, but it should work. It should… no, it will work! Each element manual I used as a basis inadvertently helped the soul as a side effect. Days of tweaking enhanced that aspect. Then came time to combine them.
He glanced at the four manuals next to his masterpiece, and then the many attempts before them, filling the large table. The neatness of their binding decreased on those most recently created.
So much wasted time on what I thought would be the final copy. I would almost finish but in doing so find a new issue. Another way to improve. This beauty though, it will work.
He brought his focus back to his monstrosity.
[Elemental Soul Cradle] should be able to balance the four elements of the sect, creating a body that embodies all of them. Each ‘part’ of my fucked up soul will be supported by one of those elements. Hopefully. I just don’t know if that’s enough elements, as those ‘parts’ of me are certainly more than two. Self-reflection alone is no help in figuring out that number. Even using [Dew of the Last Gasp (Mortal 98)] only did a little to help, bringing my internal self into sharper contrast before things would turn trippy again. Thankfully Elder Jackie gave me those notes. He may be a body cultivation nut but his ideas are what will allow me to add more elements later. Assuming I can find a unifying principle that accommodates more elements… And that his ideas actually work… And a thousand more things…
His smile dampened as he reviewed the system notification. 500/500 sticking in his mind’s eye.
It better work for all the extra steps and resources needed. I’m frankly afraid of finding out the market price. That isn’t even accounting for how each of the four manuals I added increased in length as I worked. Then was the manual that gave me a unifying principle to make all of this possible.
Felix gave the book in question a complicated look. The manual rested on a pedestal like many in the room but had long been dragged next to him. It did not crackle with power or float in the air. Nor did its pages look worn from age, with cracked pages whispering of old secrets. Instead, it lay there unopened and in pristine condition.
This fucking thing. The secret of the sect indeed. Just appeared here after my talk with Elder Jackie. Do I dare even touch it?
Hesitantly, he reached out and laid a hand on its cover.
[Four Seasons Frame the World.]
Power: Very Strong
Comprehension: (99/100)
Stage: Nascent Soul
He shuddered and retracted his hand away as if bitten.
That was the first one that made me feel small. I spent points like water to understand it and I still couldn’t grasp the last final part. It was time though. A taste of it. The Power rating given by the system clearly isn’t linear. I hadn’t really noticed it because of the rare instances of weak and very weak, but the price of KE use shot up exponentially with the rating. When I tried to upgrade it despite not having fully comprehended it, I only got the message ‘insufficient points. Where the hell did the Elders even get something like this? It is the first thing since the Hydra God that I can say with confidence that it is not meant for this realm… Well, and the systems.
Repressing the chill that was creeping down his spine, he turned back to his work.
A secret for another time I suppose. The elders have looked over my work and even Elder Jackie stopped by a few times. I would’ve liked Xue to look at and even Elder Zhenzhen… Maybe it's best not to think of that frustrating weirdo. It’ll just distract me.
A slight discomfort radiated from inside. A groggy discomforted murmur.
Besides, I don’t think I can keep dicking around.
---break---
Felix strode into the same cultivation chamber he had first used to upgrade his body. The bags had left his eye and he couldn’t help but admire the room for a moment.
I first came in here with so much hope. Ignoring the event that shall not be named, it was the first point I felt I could become special in this world. Not even cultivating [Heavenly Earth] felt the same and I felt my future was limitless… Then that fucking Hydra cock slapped me with reality… Phrasing Felix, phrasing.
With a shudder, he walked past the entrance room directly into the cultivation room. Dropping his cosmos sack to the floor, he pulled out four large jars and dozens of small containers. He spent a moment to set them up in the order needed for the manual and then took out those needed in his first body cultivation method. With practiced hands, he applied it nearly identically to his first version of [Pillars of the Earth] and assumed its first stance in the middle of the room. Then he began.
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Was it serendipity that this technique was suitable for the earth portion of [Elemental Soul Cradle]? Perhaps I should really be thankful to Xue instead, for her thoughtful pick has helped me once again.
Pressure built upon his body as he flowed from one move to the next. Unperturbed, he finished a single cycle with ease.
Huh… not many impurities. Makes sense since I’ve basically done this part of [Elemental Soul Cradle]. It is the next parts that are going to get… messy.
Applying the drugs from the second and third element, he changed his stance to the wind portion. He stood in a T pose, holding perfectly still. Then he started flapping using just his fingers. Then added his forearms, and from there expanded until he was using his whole body. He went up and down and looked as if he was a child trying to imitate a bird. A thin layer of gray slime that was almost unnoticeable formed on his skin, but the smell certainly wasn’t.
Okay… the portion inspired by the [Cyclonic Humming Hawk Body] technique is good. Should I continue… ugh this is gross. I can even tell that this one is different from the original impurities from the smell. Damn, cultivator body.
He continued to flap even as his face hardened.
Despite how foul this is, I need to push these next three elements to bring my body in balance. Luckily, I haven’t progressed to the next stage in [Pillar of the Earth]. Not even sure what additional complications I would need to deal with.
The flapping sped up and the air in the room began to stir. Soon the isolated room’s air began revolving in a slow circle. A few of the lidded jars fell over under the increasing turbulence. Felix felt the connection between the wind and his body.
God my body is vibrating under the force. Hell, it feels like my skeleton is humming in tune with the wind. I almost feel like a bird. The cutting winds slowly tamed by my wings. The air slaves to my muscle power! Ah shit, I nearly went too far.
Felix froze and the moving air stilled within moments. Taking a deep breath, and pointy ignoring the taste of impurities in the air, he brought his hands together and pointed them toward the ceiling. Just like with the wind portion, the water portion began with a small motion. A small wiggle in his hips. Soon his whole body was wiggling.
This is even more embarrassing than that damn flapping. That portion right there was suspiciously twerking like. Still, this one feels good. Like I am being rejuvenated.
The wiggling speed increased and medicines for the water element quickly lost their efficacy. His eyebrows rose as he began to feel a different type of change.
What the… I am swelling!
Like a balloon full of water, he began to increase in size. It was not uniform, certain areas increasing faster as he performed different motions of the technique. Just as his fingers almost doubled in size he stopped. He frowned down at his swelled body.
Ugh… if I didn’t have the other three balancing me out, I am pretty sure I would become, well, plush. I should have known with a name like [Lucious Eel]. It definitely targets parts of the body that are more ‘fatty’… I wonder what Xue would look like if she started using this one?
Felix’s nose twitched as a new smell was added to the old one. His slowly shrinking body resulted in a new slime layer with a light brown tint under the gray.
Impurities Lasagna. Gross.
He moved across the room, pulling out the last remaining prepared bunch of herbs. This one was contained in a strange black metal jar. He removed the jar's lid and his head reared back at the wave of escaping steam. Once it had mostly disappeared, he stared down into the boiling mess inside.
I would almost rather eat my impurities… Well, now is no time to stop.
The jar was turned up in one smooth motion and burned down his throat like fire. Sweat began to pour down him as his body to form rivulets through the impurity grime. Shuffling back to the room's center as his skin turned red with the heat. Tears formed in his eyes as he assumed a ballerina pose. Then he began to spin.
His body got hotter and hotter. A new layer of impurities with an orange tinge was added and made a three-layer mess. Yet that layer and all the other layers began to dry, cracking as he spun.
This… This feels amazing!
His muscles pulsed with every spin and smoke started to appear and disappear at various parts of his body. Some of the impurities even turned to ash before they were dislodged from his body. A booming laugh escaped him as the room blurred. Now the flame didn’t stop and covered him entirely. With one final spin, a puff of ashy impurities and remaining clothes fell off him.
If impurities weren’t reason enough to isolate… Well, time for the most important part.
Going back to his stack of medicines, he took all that remained. Combined together, the amount rivaled that used for the four elements and he applied all of them liberally. What he couldn’t find skin space for, he swallowed. Stomach swelled as he ingested more and more.
Gross. This part takes so many fucking resources!... Okay, it is all gross besides this weird radish thing.
Slowing down just a moment, he savored the radish. A refreshing sweet crispness with every bit. Finishing off the strange spiritual herb, he gulped down a few more jars and assumed a cross-legged seat.
Time.
His body began to burn in pain.
Each season embodies an element. A driving force that creates the world around us. Defines it and sets the stage.
The water fought the earth.
This is fine, sometimes the seasons contain aspects of one another. Follow the needed pathways to begin the process. To lead the body in understanding by copying the cycle and achieving harmony.
Fire fought the wind.
Yet this too must pass. Let them flow into one another. Fire to earth, then wind, and then water. Time allows the change, but so does the change allow time to be. A connection formed between time and these four elements. Another string in the web.
One type of qi blended into the other, each bit of his body falling in line afterward. Soon he felt his cells calm down.
Yes, it's working. I think- I think I have a better chance at understanding [Four Seasons Frame the World]. This epiphany stuff is weird.
Then he took a bit of water qi down the wrong pathway. His cells emulated him.
Fuck! This is the worst time to be distracted. I haven’t stabilized it yet!
He tried to correct the qi but it had already spiraled into a different part of the pattern sending more down wrong pathways.
No… no, I am losing it! I figured it out and I’m losing control!
Felix scrambled. He fought. Yet the energy continued to cascade out of control. Then he felt a force rip through his body, dragging the qi back along the correct pathways even as it went through him.
What in the-
Another cutting blade of force came from a different direction and more qi was forced back onto the correct path. Then a different kind of force echoed down from his head, slowing qi in that area, and allowing him to regain control.
Almost there- I have it.
The cycle was complete, and Felix felt whole. Snapping back to the present he gave out a cry of joy. It was cut off when he saw Elder Jackie glowering down at him.
“You Imbecile! Do you know what you almost did?”
“I broke through? Were you the one who helped me?”
“Yes! And look at yourself, you idiot.” Said Elder Jackie, the anger leaving his face with only tiredness remaining.
Felix stopped and did so. There was a lot of blood and pain. Aches and bruises he hadn’t even noted under a wave of breakthrough euphoria finally reached him.
“Wha- how did this happen? Nothing in the manual should have caused this. What have I done?”
“Nothing, thank the Dao.” Said Elder Jackie. “What you almost did was ruin yourself at one of the most crucial parts. One of the easier parts since if I am reading your manual right, the qi should want to do what it needs to do. Somehow you still made a mistake and I had to step in. Your injuries are just side effects of my intervention, but they will heal on their own.”
“So, everything is fine?” said Felix.
“It is not fine!” said Elder Jackie. “I don’t even want to know what would happen if I wasn’t watching. Damnit boy! I was worried I would kill you even as I saved you. I neither know your body, the technique, or the best way to help you as I do with Yang Mei. We are both lucky I didn’t cripple you in trying to help you. Not that you left me any choice!”
…This body euphoria is making it too hard to feel bad.
Elder Jackie fought to control his face as Felix tried to repress his smile. Both equally unsuccessfully, the elder finally strode out of the room. The following door slam causing the room to shake.
…I feel good, nana, nana, nana, nana!
Felix sprung to his feet and grinned. He took only a moment to wipe the blood from his right eye.
To good to worry about existential dread, oh yeah.
A sense of completeness with each part of his body. Switching to a simple stance, he sent out a few punches. Then he moved more complicated moves as burnt ashes swirled around his feet.
Doesn’t really seem like my body’s strength has improved… Though maybe it was only because it is one session?
Then he started going through his techniques one by one, feeling his body with every motion.
No… It may be a little better. Though considering I just combined four elements, you would think I would be four times as powerful… Maybe this is another reason many techniques focus on one thing instead of a bunch of different things, as it doesn’t always mean an increase in the final performance.
After several more rounds of shadow fighting, his manic grin began to fade. Finally, he slowed until he stood standing and staring at the door that now had cracks in it.
What in the world happened at the end there? That epiphany was too much. I have to be better about those… I kind of want to cry.