“I have waited for you to arrive with your requests for long my partner in crime. Have you brought the goods (ideas)?” The spotlight shined on me as Chen Zhipeng leaned forward.

“…I have brought the goods (Ideas).” I said.

“Great! I completed the thing you talked about last time.” He jumped off his bed and landed in front of two metal tanks. The two tanks were connected with numerous black tubes with their silver body overrun with inscription lines. “With this making cola is easier than ever. All you have to do is think.”

At his motion the tanks hummed, the water in the air stuck to the cold surface of the metal. From his storage ring, he took out a glass bottle with a dark syrup sitting at the bottom. On the side of the narrower tank, a hole wide enough for the mouth of the bottle to go was present. When the bottle entered sideways, a stream of fizzy water shot into it mixing with the syrup.

“Now, cola will officially take over the world!” He declared with a metal-capped bottle in his hand.

“Gu Fei won’t be happy with this,” I said.

“Not my problem. I did make a contract with her but never said that I wouldn’t improve the process. After all, I know the value of your idea too well to let it be tied down.” He shrugged even though it wasn’t that deep. Nevertheless, I can’t stop him as it would serve to keep Gu Fei busy while the sect helps the Purple Cloud Sect.

“The wind element cultivators she brings will still be of use. Just not as many as before after I make a bunch of these T.O.T.W.C ver 1.2!” His naming sense was as atrocious as ever. It was partially my fault. “I forgot. Would you like some tea or fizzy water?”

“Fizzy Water?”

“Yes, Fizzy water. The one used to make cola. I was interested in how it tasted without the syrup, and it was very refreshing. I am certain we can sell that as is.” He said. Holding a glass bottle of fizzy water. “I used the water from a spring near Shuiwen Gorge, that had worked the best taste-wise.”

“Do you think this will sell well?”

“Any good businessman can identify which product will do well on the market. And I am the best Businessman on the continent, you can trust me, Partner.” He showed a grimy smile.

“No need to act in front of me.” I said.

“I don’t know how it’ll do, but I just want to make it.” Typical Chen Zhipeng behavior, but he continued. “I know for certain that new flavors of cola will do well. The caramel honey and lemon zest syrup is good, but we need something more. I am thinking more like lime, or the mandarin that grows in the north would be good.”

He kept on speaking while messing with the machine. I had talked about this carbonation process in passing before. However, he built the entire machine after he witnessed the process of Wind Cultivators dissolving carbon dioxide into water. Now they weren’t even needed.

“So, what can I do for you, Partner?” He turned to me.

“I thought you’d never ask.” I said.

“I told you, right? I know a customer when I see one.” He grinned as he knew interesting things would come out later.

Leaving that aside, the blueprints made for the two training rooms were shown to Chen Zhipeng. These would be made by modifying a few rooms in my residence. One for Sun Lingling and the other for Wang Yang.

“This is very detailed, even the changes made to connect them to the main array are clear and concise. And the Five Element Array seems to have improved its cost-effectiveness by 50%...... Did the Grand Elder work on this?” Chen Zhipeng was the one who made the original Chamber of Five Elements on Osmanthus Peak. So, his shock was obvious when the design improved.

“No, I found this one in an old book from Feng Shu while translating it. It has great returns for an Earth Grade High-Rank Formation.” I said.

“Wait… You mean to say you have a formation manual from one of the only Formation Saints of the Golden Age?” His excitement was palpable.

“Hao Chang of the Peach Peak discovered it in the Moon Hegemon’s Secret Realm five years back, she didn’t have any talent for formations so Huang Bai gave the original to Grand Elder. What I have is a copy.” It was a stroke of luck that this book fell into my hands.

“Still impressive that you translated it. Immortal Feng is known for her long-winded explanations. Even her writing is in an unknown branch of the common language. But, that is to be expected from my Partner. You understood something that makes most Formation Masters tear their hair out.” He said.

“Well, I have only been able to decipher the first fifty pages in five years.” It only worked because I put a few years into the process after getting Immortal Feng Shu’s personal diary thanks to Wang Yang.

Now, I had the entire book translated and had a better Five Elements Formation than the one in this blueprint. However, both of the facts cannot be revealed as the time wasn’t right. Even Xianquan had translated one-fourth of the book around this time. Not to mention that a high-level formation would be more harmful to Wang Yang at this point.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“The second room seems simple enough too. I can get these two done by the end of the week.” Storing the blueprints into his storage ring, he looked at me with a smile. “So, for the price, you’d have to give me the goods (Ideas) like usual.”

It was always like this. But, unlike before, this time I’ll shoot two birds with one stone.

“Chen Zhipeng, don’t you think that controlling a flying sword is kind of old-fashioned now? Everyone has one.” I said.

“Hmm… do go on.”

“Now, what if you could control another version of yourself and make it do things for you? Like looking through paperwork and cleaning up your rooms.” Nothing else had to be said.

“I am in.” He said.

The only reason I knew this was possible is thanks to Wang Yang. He brought back a sample he found in a Treasure Realm left behind by an ancient cultivator. Zhipeng worked on it for a few years to find out the inner workings of the device before making it for himself. This time I had the complete data from the device. So, the completion would come about faster. But, before that something had to be said.

“I’ll give you the blueprints, only if you promise me one thing.”

“My lips are sealed about the source of this, even if the Grand Elder or Zhao Jun ask me, I won’t mention you, Partner.” It was the usual agreement to keep myself out of the limelight.

That is why my partnership with Chen Zhipeng worked so well. He enjoyed the limelight more than anyone I knew of. But, he was also the man of his word despite his extreme curiosity and unreliability.

It worked in my favor. As a man from the Twenty-First Century, I have seen a lot of things, not from science alone, but also through the medium of entertainment. And Chen Zhipeng was a genius that only needed the initial spark. Once he gets that, the rest would be a walk in the park for him.

“Complete the task at my peak first and don’t get absorbed in this.” I said.

“Yes sir. I’ll start tonight.” His shining eyes glued to the blueprint already. When this idea comes to fruition, a lot of things will become easier. Not only for Chen Zhipeng and me, but for others too.

Still hope he doesn’t delay my work because of it. Well, I guess time will tell.

Leaving the Pavilion through the open door, the flying sword took me to the next destination. It was to gather used practice swords for Sun Lingling. Chen Zhipeng or any of his disciples didn’t use swords enough for them to provide anything valuable. The only place in the sect where talented weapons users gathered was the Tiger Peak.

Even while flying up the peak one could see a line of disciples running up and down the steep stairs with weights strapped on their backs. Numerous paths branched off from the main path leading up to tens of training halls and fighting arenas where disciples duked it out. Many others watched from the sidelines, analyzing or cheering for the fiery battles.

Among the many residences and pavilions on this peak, the place I needed to be was the Weapon Pavilion located near the Main Martial Arena of Tiger Peak. But, unlike the normal disciples who entered through the front, I went in from the back to access the weapon storage. Because this is where the head of the Weapon Pavilion stays most of the time.

“Greetings Peak Master Li. Is there something I can do for you?” Elder Shen Xia, the one-eyed stoic woman in red robes always cut to the heart of the matter.

“I need some training weapons used by the most diligent of the disciples.” It shouldn’t take long since she was here.

“For Disciple Sun Lingling?”

“Yes.” Receiving my nod, she walked to the nearest shelf and picked up the small chest. Inside it were a handful of rings that she checked before handing them to me.

“You already had these prepared?” There were loads of used longswords inside the rings when I checked. From the quality of the swords and the degree of damage there was to the overall structure. These should belong to the top disciples of the Peak.

“We always gather used swords from the disciples when they are worn down. Peak Master Li should know how Weapon Master Zhou from Chrysanthemum Peak is.” She said, her voice dryer than Sun Lingling’s.

“Won’t you be in trouble if you don’t give this to him?” That man did buy these for a good price and also supplied Tiger Peak with top-class cold weapons. The blonde in front of me may fall into trouble for this.

“There are other weapons for him to choose from, and if I say that no disciples submitted a sword this time around too, he’d believe it.” Unlike the unapproachable aura around her, Shen Xia was a very helpful person.

“Thanks for this Elder Shen. I’ll treat you to something good in the future for this.” I said, making her brown eye shine.

“I am just returning a favor, Peak Master Li. If there is something I can help with, do contact me through the transmission token.” She bowed.

“I’ll keep it in mind. Then, until next time.” Leaving the Tiger Peak, I went straight to Plum Peak.

In the residence, Sun Lingling continued her cultivation practice in the makeshift resonance room. And Wang Yang kept on slashing at the dummy in the courtyard.

“Why isn’t it breaking down?” Hearing his confused questions, I made myself comfortable on the slanted tilted roof to watch him. “I have been hitting with all I’ve got for two hours and there’s not even a dent in it.”

Going down to help would be the normal process when considering other people. But, working with the current Wang Yang, a different approach was needed. The dummy test was one he had to figure out. If I give him the answer it wouldn’t do as much for him. He needs to learn how to find the answers. By himself or through others.

Cultivation is a lonely journey. You have to sit alone in isolation for hundreds of years trying to take another step towards progress. Others can help, but at some point, a person can only rely on himself and his insight to walk through the unthreaded Path. I want Wang Yang to have that sort of view from the start this time around. So, under the whacks of the wooden sword and loud grunts, the sun started to set, casting the hunched-over boy in an orange glow.

“Looks like you failed.” He flinched at my words. “You can only have dinner after you finish the sword swings.”

“Master, you never said anything about that!”

“You never asked.” With his protests stuck in his mouth, Wang Yang could only accept the punishment.

Be strong. It is for your own good.

This time his foundation would be much stronger than last time.