“I see. That does sound important. How bad is he?”
“The wounds were not lethal, the ancestor has gone into seclusion and should be out in 3 months time.”
“How did it happen? What are the nature of these wounds?”
“A relic of heaven was seen to have fallen from the sky, creating a great light visible for many hundreds of miles. When ancestor arrived, there were already other cultivators seeking the treasure. Many of them were late and peak stage core formation, but with the advantages provided by the holy lake, ancestor should have been able to deter them.”
Narrowing his eyes. “What happened?”
“Ancestor said a nascent soul cultivator arrived. No one could withstand his spiritual pressure.”
“His soul is injured? A few months in seclusion sounds like an impressive recovery time. We should be glad he lived at all.”
“Yes. We should be grateful, but we know not what will become of the holy lake now.”
Humming in thought. I would have to kamikaze Long to beat him, so I don’t believe I could compete with this “ancestor”. If I can’t even do that, then I doubt I can defeat a nascent soul cultivator that completed core formation…god their order of cultivation is out of whack. “My vessel is not ready yet. Bring me a sample of one of all living things you have. Whether it be tree bark, grass, tea, meat, blood, or fur. Even small parts may be sufficient. I need to acclimate my vessel with your world, and perhaps I see a way to aid your ancestor in recovery.” Hope that excuse works for him. Whether I gain enough to become confident of defeating a nascent soul cultivator or not, I'll have taken what I need and can just run if I feel like it.
“...I see. Understood. I’ll get to it right away!” Long turns and runs out the entrance, making haste.
Aden turns to Ling. “Well, Ling, looks like I’ll be here until he’s got everything together. Aren’t you happy now?” Aden gives a smirk and walk back to his books, passing the young man who retrieved him, spying from around the corner.
Shaking his fist. “Who said I need ya!? Snake people are easy to find in these parts!”
Ha, tsundere old man. Wait, maybe they are common?
Poking his head back around the corner to ask. “Are snake people really common here? I didn’t see any.”
“You! guh, well…no, not really.” Sagging in defeat.
“Oh ok”. Aden continued his return to reading.
While those sections widened my perspective about this world, they didn’t help me in the way I need right now. I need to look for areas related to my current state. I need necromancy to see if I can utilize my dantian and If that doesn't work I need to focus on external means of empowerment. I already have some ideas about runes and formations, I just need a more detailed understanding and a jumpstart to skip parts of the learning phase. If I can create a runic formation powered by the chi in the surroundings to summon one of those eldritch beings with the nascent soul as sacrifice, I might be able to jump the gap in realms.
Let's see…”Medicus Locum Tenens: 2nd volume”, maybe later for the ancestor. “Lin’s Apiary Accounting”, useless, wonder if they are related though? “Rotmind puppets: Experiment 43”, seems both potentially useful and like a waste of time if I can’t directly control my chi. Maybe if I approached it from an engineering standpoint? “Draketail’s Cornucopia”, A story book? No, supposedly its real, its just reframed as a kids book for educational purposes… It's got vivid, almost lifelike art of some sort of serpentine dragon's remains of food. What the fuck is wrong with these people. Ah! “Vestiges of the Raven Art’s”, I’ll put that in the pile.
Oh…I really made a mess of this table…I’ll clean up when I’m done.
“Skybeak’s Impaler”, it's like if an engineer became an artifact refiner. This birdman is just boasting about his invention when it's just a spear. Well, it is pretty detailed. Seems good enough to learn from, this guy put everything in here. No runes, but I think I want to call them microformations? They look like microcircuitry but without sharp turns! Into the pile!
“An Accounting of Toluo’s Relics - Current Progress and Substantiation for Further Study”, don’t need to ask. Into the pile!
What else we got here…hmmm, “Dirg’s Golemancy for the Young”. They really have works from all over. Maybe this is another way I can go to manipulate my chi better. My chi flow already changes as I manipulate my body, perhaps I can create runic microformations in my flesh to mobilize my chi. If I get good enough, maybe I could do it on the fly? I need more.
“Excerpts from my memory of an Official Copy of the Physiologus - By: Theodore Herzl”. Holy shit.
Aden stared in disbelief. Is he a transmigrator? Reincarnator? Did he get isekai’d like me? Is this a name you can find in this world? Maybe this Physiologus is just named the same as from earth.
No. He writes with such familiar knowledge…How did he get here? I should look for more of his books.
“A continuation of the Physiologus - By: Theodore Herzl”. This is it. It has what I need. This man thoroughly dissected so many creatures, studied them in their natural state, attempted to rear them himself when he could, and these drawings are more lifelike than photos. Ah…the last page…”In dedication to my late friend Theo, I, Braumhurst, have continued this book in his stead. Though he sleeps the eternal slumber in his homeworld now, I hope this book continues to grow long after my travels through the many realms. - T. G. Braumhurst.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Looks like this book has been to more worlds than this one. Hmmm…found it. “Slime”. It’s everything you would expect from a cliche slime, but in more detail than was ever necessary, thanks stranger. I’ll add you to the pile.
Now for my dantian phylactery. “Auxiliary Encapsulation After Death”...gross, no. “Fruit of the Core”, cruel and unusual torture, but an interesting “fruit” they grew, no…ish…ok, into the pile. I am part plant, afterall. “Grand Demon Sealing Formation of the Tang Clan and Raven Remnants Alliance”, yes. “I Figured Out How to Bottle Death and You Can Too - By: Bill Billy Anderson”, motherfucker. This looks like the original book. It's so sloppy. He’s explaining it like its gunpowder. He’s explaining how to use it for cannons! American superiority brought to another world. Well, he didnt cultivate for shit, so he died of old age. Which wasn’t long considering how much he divulged through his complaining about back pain. Into the pile!
“Soul Containment Formations - 4th Rendition - Volume 9 of Expert’s Homunculi Creation”, I think I can guess what kind of things they were doing. How cruel. Into the pile!
Alright, I'll burn through these before Long gets back. Then I’ll see what he has in store for me.
Aden resumed his impressive reading technique from earlier and let his mind be drawn into reading once more.
But if I did that, I might deplete my life chi reserves…
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Genius work, bill, you really outdid yourself. This explosive will do you proud.
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People don’t automatically hold authority over their own chi reserves? Looks like I found a cheat for “modern” xianxia times. Although I don’t know how to do that, it doesn’t say anything about how that works.
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Hoh? This raven group offshoot should just abandon the name at this point. All they do is sacrifice to eldritch abominations, no more worship of the raven god. Good shit though, I’ll have to keep a summoning as a last resort, they really nailed the “go back to your world after completing objective without sidetracking” part.
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Mmmmm, but when my arm was separated, it almost had a will of its own. These homunculi are missing the idea of programming the chi itself instead of restricting the inserted soul.
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Ha! Theodore you poor sap. Killed back on earth just for having the same name as someone else. Truly pitiable, enough that a god brought you back. I don't know why you used your old body though, maybe a lack of creativity?
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What If I form it from my body? Perhaps I could fight remotely with clones and not have to go anywhere near the enemy.
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Knowledge is power, but I don’t think feeding an eldritch being your memories to gain its power is what I’m looking for.
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I see. Looks like my time really is limited. If I don’t keep up my life chi, I’ll completely degrade into a mindless undead of whatever I am. Draining from my environment can help tide me over, but if I want to improve my condition, I need a greater source. Time to check the maps.
Mmmm, my flows are much more controlled. I’m not exuding my chi wastefully anymore. I doubt anyone weak could look inside anymore either. I can’t wait to start experimenting.
Here we are. Clearly the map section, even has a huge sky map engraved into the ceiling.
This isn’t it…this neither…no…no…not this…no…damn it! Is this place averse to life chi?! No, no, not here, wrong, no, misnamed…Shit. I’m screwed.
I need to escape this world or I’ll suck it dry and then “die”.
Aden released a deep sigh, nearly relaxing in his seat before he realized he had been standing all along. Why am I so stressed? I have time. A lot of time. If I am this far already, then I should be able to do it. If Braumhurst could do it as a mortal, then I should be able to figure it out.
Mm, good timing, sounds like Long is back up front.
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“Hey Long, you got everything?”
Elder Long steps forward, his legs straining, as he places a sack on the ground, panting. “I retrieved all I could find. I hope this is enough.”
Holy fuck, it sure as hell must be to make him sweat. It's only the size of a dog though, how can it weigh so much?
Opening the sack to peak inside, Aden sees his answer. A collection of rings and silk bags. “Spacial compression bags and storage rings?”
Quickly recovered. “Spacial? Storage, yes. I had run short of methods to store the materials.”
Grabbing hold with all four arms and cupping his wings around the bottom, Aden lifts, expecting great weight, nearly throwing himself back. “Oh, I was expecting a much greater weight.”
Long lets out a deep laugh, uncontrollably amused. “Am I so old now that I can’t lift a bag!” His laughter continuing, “Of course it’s not heavy to a descended god, how could it be!?”
“I am glad you find this amusing. To reward your great effort, I have something else to ask for. What was the bed you gave me made of?”
Long straightens immediately. “No-no…you cant mean…”
“Just a nibble…of every part.”
“I-you don’t know-It was so hard to get…It’s so rare!”
“Do you want me to succeed or not? If its so rare, it must be something good. What’s it made of?”
“I had retrieved it from a small realm during an interclan raid I was brought in for, as they needed a specialist. It’s the only one of its kind I have seen, it is the only one I have. I do not know what It is made of.”
“Then all the more reason. I’ll return to my room and begin sampling everything.”
Long slumps against the wall in defeat, accepting his loss. “As you wish."