The flying sparks of the raging fire created quite a view. Illuminating the dark surroundings, and adding yellow and red colors to otherwise blackness, the flame seemed to be a single bright spot in the whole world. The starless sky without any clouds was pure navy blue without any signs of any other shades. Dominating the space above the tiny realm, it spread its influence everywhere, failing solely in front of handmade fire. Large, it was comparable to the size of a mansion. Only the deep dugouts that surrounded the ravaging flame prevented it from burning everything around until nothing was left just to satisfy its eternal hunger. However, Robert made sure to avoid such an outcome.
Looking at the conflagration, Rob’s thoughts were elsewhere. Maybe if it was him from the beginning of the journey, the blazing grave for the whole dead sect would make an impact on his mind. Perhaps, even causing teary eyes, or philosophical pondering about the fragility of life. Unfortunately, he stepped far from that point. There was no disgust when he collected the corpses of the cultivators one by one. Even though, it appeared that the state of the body depended on a cultivation realm, turning the lower rank members of the sect into skeletons while mummifying the ones with higher. Those dehydrated corpses with remnants of hair could inflict a scare, but Rob’s mind didn’t feel anything. He was just paying respect to them.
Therefore, waiting until this artificial inferno had died out, Robert slowly proceeded to bury the remnants with a conjured shovel. He never stopped until the small hill was finished. The sky was already light, exposing the brown mound, made from earth. Checking it from different sides, Rob turned to the prepared stones. Picking them one by one, he created a low fence to separate the forest from the grave, using previously made dugouts as the foundation. Then it was time to make a pathway. Taken from the half-ruined roads, they were put to use once again to set a new footpath to the place of memory. The last one was a huge rock. Placed on the very top at the end of the road, it had a text written on it. The letters had no elegance of trained calligraphy, instead looking like printed copies of symbols, but they still carried the meaning.
Here lies the Righteous and Profound Sect of the Wide Firmament.
Looking at the result of his work, Robert lightly bowed before finally turning around and leaving. Slowly walking through the empty sect, his eyes were constantly wandering around, noting the things to do. Somewhere one of the planks was damaged, needing a replacement. In another place, a stone right in the middle of the road had a crack because of a stubborn plant that made its way through the obstacle. He even found a dropped knife with runes inscribed on its blade. The weapon was hiding in the tall grass that was chaotically growing around the pathway, and only a glimpse of glow attracted Rob’s attention to a previously missed object. Silently picking it from the ground and wiping it against his already dirty yellow robe, he inwardly sighed.
It seems I also need to cut the grass…
Changing his destination, Robert leisurely strolled to one of the storages he had chosen. In better shape than others, the building additionally had a massive advantage in size and prepared wooden racks. So, pushing the doors, he was met with a view of a real treasury. The boxes with storage rings, the piles of different weapons on the shelves, the distinguished amulets, and other artifacts – everything was shoved here with disregard to the value. Colorful cauldrons with engraved scenes from the cultivator’s life, the formations of flags and stones with complex patterns, the stacks of paper talismans – everything that was no use for Rob but had a value was put here. Carefully taken from the corpses, their houses, or storages, the items were moved in a single place. And the knifed followed the suit, shoved in a free spot on the shelves. Glancing once again at the place that could make an average supermarket pale in comparison to the number of goods, Robert left.
His walk ended at the main square. The remnants of the broken statue were long taken away, leaving a clean space on the pedestal. The problem was that Rob had not even the slightest idea what to put there. He spent months pondering about it when he initially decided to put something there, but either an idea was plain stupid, or it was out of his abilities to do it. Therefore, the spot was left empty up to this point.
The only thing that I can think of with a real possibility to realize it is a guiding map like in shopping malls… But why the hell do I need it if there is no one else here and I don’t expect any visitors? Still, the place looks empty… and it’s on the straight way from the portal… Hmm… Okay, for now, let’s put it aside. Plants, I need to check plants.
Reaching the fields with crops, Robert found that some forest plants once again attempted to harvest their peaceful relatives, pushing their roots beyond the artificial edge. Conjuring a machete with a disintegrative blade, he slowly went around the fields to cut everything. The flowing reverse route was spent digging another trench to separate the botany wild monstrosity from domestic ones. Then he went to the alchemy field. Luckily, this time there was no need to do anything from his previous visit. The ground on both fields was still wet from the previous watering as the local plants were taking most nutrients from qi. Still, suitable care helped to boost their growth, while avoiding the creation of new abominations from mixing different types.
Therefore, Rob, finding nothing to do, paused for a moment before going to the last resident area. Equipped with a broom and bucket of water, he slowly cleaned the rest of the buildings. Having endless stamina, Robert found joy and relaxation in simple work with his hands. Moreover, it felt like he was doing something actually useful, fixing, tidying up, or maintaining the place. Therefore, quietly humming an unrecognizable melody, he worked until the light started to fade, signaling the end of the day. Only after that, did he stop and finally go toward the Pavillion of Techniques.
There were a few gaps in the roof of the last mansion… And I need something to kill those mushrooms on the ground floor. Simple cutting wouldn’t do…
Pushing the door and walking inside the long-acquainted place, Robert absent-mindedly proceeded toward the stairs. Reaching the sixth level, he spared another glance at the final floor that currently was out of his access before stepping inside the illuminated room. In comparison to the lowest floor, the space here felt emptier. There were similar tables in the center, but each of them was noticeably smaller, perfect just for a single occupier. The gaps between them were also wider, providing more privacy. However, the biggest change was in the number of shelves with scrolls, which didn’t amount even one hundredth to the piles on lower levels. However, Rob simply approached one of the tables without looking around. There was nothing new to see.
Dropping down onto the chair that easily withstood such rough treatment, he looked at his notes, which were carelessly left on the table. Silently rereading his latest thoughts, made with his robotic handwriting, Robert once again dived into a deep pondering. Periodically halting this process, he searched for the needed information in the pile of books that was occupying half of his table, writing down valuable pieces of information. Still, despite spending a huge amount of time studying cultivation, Rob was far from becoming one even after going through the whole library. Perhaps, not even once.
There were a few problems with becoming a cultivator. First and foremost, his inability to sense any Qi, not speaking about operating it in any way. No matter how much theory Robert shoved in his head; he simply lacked the spiritual root needed to interact with this type of energy. Not discouraged by it, he attempted to recreate his method of producing a reactor core – to create a copy of it from the obsidian steel inside his body. What stopped him from achieving the wanted result was a vague description of this spiritual root as local cultivators never focused on researching the thing they had by default, concentrating on the next realms. The other obstacle was that even if he succeeded in recreating it, any attempts to feel Qi seemed to be futile.
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Robert spent a lot of time studying plants to find their properties, and what consequences of their consuming were. His latest experiment was concluded in the Mediation Chamber on top of the mountain. Equipped with formation to increase the density of Qi in the air, they were perfect to create an ideal condition. However, no matter how many plants he ate, how long he stayed there, and how deep he breathed – nothing helped to feel anything at all. His metal body was as senseless as ever, be it Qi or anything else.
Still, Robert’s desire to overcome the obstacle didn’t waver. For the first time, he felt somewhat happy. The simple work of restoring the sect back to its glory helped to clear his mind from any worries, putting it in a state of tranquility. The absence of any time frame, judgment, or danger around helped a lot. He was doing it for himself, not driven by a survival instinct. What was more, the idea of returning to the place back the previous glory gave him a feeling that he wasn’t working only on this place, but also on himself, fixing his mind broken by wars and life-threatening struggles. It was a surprisingly pleasant experience.
On the other hand, his wish to battle was satisfied with trial fights in the Ascension Tower. Giving access only once per day, the grandeur building fulfilled his desire for raging adrenaline. Not only that, but it also made him work on his martial skills, instead of relying solely on brute force. The puppets appeared to be quite skillful combatants, training him in real fights against comparable opponents in terms of strength and, more importantly, size. Unfortunately, the place seemed to save his achieved stage, putting him one before and skipping others. So, most of his battles were against the puppet with flaming technique, and they didn’t take long. In the end, Robert spent only half an hour at most there. It left him with the Pavilion of Techniques.
The studying wasn’t as satisfactory as his other pastimes. There was a time limit on the stay, making it impossible to sit there as long as he wanted. Luckily, with his Elder’s position, Robert could spend around half of the night there before being kicked out by the growing pressure. It often broke his thinking process or halted his reading in unpropertied time, adding difficulty to the task. The other moment worth mentioning was the scrolls of valuable cultivation knowledge… and they were a chaotic mess in most cases to speak kindly, almost on the level of pure gibberish.
There were a few systematized books with proper written information. The rules of the sect, some basic methods of cultivating, and general knowledge about different topics, including raising plants or alchemy. However, the bigger chunk of them were just inner thoughts and observations of each member of the sect about the specific cultivation realm. Or the “correct” by the author’s not-so-humble opinion way to make formations. Made without any system and often even a wish to share information, they were sometimes barely understandable as if written by a drunken student at the last moment, who was only aiming for the word count to pass the assignment.
The last part of the scrolls were outer techniques, meant not to raise Qi-level but to produce a variety of effects. Robert called them skills before shoving everything about them in a trash bin as without qi there was no use in those at all. They were interesting only because they could explain what cultivators were capable of doing, but otherwise – completely useless. Overall, Rob could find valuable pieces of information, despite the lack of obvious systematization, but there was the third problem. It was simple, but nevertheless, a wall-stopping problem that made his learning process hard.
I am stupid… And I am not ashamed to admit it. What the fuck is “breathe like a male stork during the week before breeding period, who had a long flight over a large lake”? Or “sense the inner flowering under the moonlight, when earth’s energy is strong, but wood qi only starts to rise”? Or “pull the qi stream like a three-headed bull but with the gentleness of a silk”? How can any sane person understand this nonsense?
Robert knew that it wasn’t only the problem in the lack of writing skills of local cultivators. No, the cultural differences on top of his in-built translator made it hard to grasp the true meaning of some phrases. Especially, when he was deprived of the ability to feel the same things by his metal body. Still, one by one, Rob managed to create a local cultivation system in his head, simplifying the descriptions of each realm to the bare bones.
Let’s go over everything again.
The first one was the Body Strengthening realm, where the cultivator created Qi points with the help of their spiritual root. Sucking Qi energy into his body, they passively strengthened their bodies, making them faster and stronger, far above the average human.
Those five starting puppets were on that level…
The second was the Foundation Establishment. The cultivator at this stage started to create meridians to connect their qi points in a united system, providing them with the ability to empower some motions with an additional portion of Qi, spending it in the process.
This was the stage where the puppets got a web on their body, simulating the meridians.
The Qi Refining was the third, where the task was to create automatic Qi filters to purify the energy from the “dirt”, adjusting it to the specific cultivator. This was the moment when the first outer techniques could be manifested.
Yep, I remember them. The next were those with dantians, painted on their lower abdomen.
The Core Formation stage was focused on creating a vessel to store more Qi, providing more energy capacity to the cultivator. The techniques grew stronger, but the biggest difference was in Qi's endurance, noticeably raising their stocks. The Nascent Soul was the fifth. The realm demanded a nourishment of the cultivator’s souls. Placing it within a dantian, it bathed in purified energy making the soul much stronger. In return, it gave the ability to add an intent to the techniques, but Robert couldn’t understand what it was.
Something like a plus to the power of attacks? I do need a proper teacher… or a tooltip for newbies. It’s like when you send a fireball to someone’s face, you already have the intention of hurting them. How can you add even more of this wish?
The sixth was the Spirit Unity, during which the strengthened soul was merged with the body to become one entity. This was the realm of a domain, explaining that fire aura around the puppet on his current stage of the Ascension Tower.
I am here… Moreover, not only in terms of might but my soul and body are the one thing from the beginning. Maybe this is the answer? Not to focus on feeling Qi, but to create my own stable system akin to cultivation. I made it with a reactor core, but I can always improve it, adding a few more things to make it more complex and productive… Hmm, this indeed can be it. Fuck Qi, and let’s think what I lack to make my low-budget copy… And considering the next realm, the idea might be plausible… which confirms your stupidity as you, Rob, could think about it much earlier.
Returning his thoughts to the notes about the seventh realm that simultaneously was the last in the Pavillion of Techniques, but not overall, Rob pondered. Its name sounded like the Immortal Rebirth and seemed to provide real immortality to the cultivator by perfecting and making all changes they previously had done to get to this realm as naturally as if they were born like that. All those meridians, filters, dantian – everything became as if the person was born with them from the start. However, not having direct access to the last floor, it was all he knew about this stage of cultivation. There were even fewer details about the following eighth realm, apart from the name - the Dao Seeking.
Nope, the only useful thing from them is the idea of creating a natural-like system of energy nourishment… Now I only need to do the same inside me, but using my reactor core… Damn, sounds good. I have a few more hours before I need to leave… Maybe I can try to beat three puppets today… We’ll see how it goes…
Nodding to himself, Robert dived into his notes, failing to notice a light smile on his grayish lips. Without lurking danger around and other disturbing things, he finally managed to relax, while rotating his daily routine. Maintaining and rebuilding the sect to keep himself busy. Releasing steam and simultaneously sharpening his combat skills through the fights in the Ascension Tower. Solving an intriguing problem, being a real pathfinder in his version of cultivation. Each of them was plain and simple, not having any grand goals for why he wanted to do it. Robert just enjoyed the process, nothing else. And exactly that made him happy.
Life is good!