I wanted time alone. Time to brood? Maybe, but I thought of it more as time to reflect.
Alone time was difficult to get. Soon, I would be pulled out to be tested and then sent somewhere. I didn’t know where. I hadn’t run the loop with Peak affinity, so there might be changes. I didn’t want to deal with that. I just wanted time to myself, just for a little while.
“System, when I’m tested, I want them to think I just have a High affinity. What’s the cheapest you can do that for?
50 credits.
Purchase confirmed. 1,950 credits remaining.
I did my best to relax as I waited. I felt conflicted about what I was going to do. I knew of only one place where I would be able to spend as much time alone as I wanted. I would be able to work and improve myself in solitude. I wouldn’t have to worry about rent, or food, or the cost of materials, or anything. I wasn’t sure how many different ingredients I would have to work with, but that would be ok. There were still things to improve in even the most basic pills.
I was planning to go back to a place I hated.
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I went through the test and was assigned to Rudy, who, of course, made sure I had the slave mantra.
Once in my room, I sat down.
Before he allowed me to do anything else, Rudy wanted to force me to cultivate to Disciple 4 so I would be unquestioningly loyal to him, but I did not have to rely on his technique anymore. Though, I still had an important question to ask.
In my last life, I had used a technique given to me by the Twin Mountains Sect. I was told the mental component of the technique was designed to help an alchemist focus in some way, but I wanted to know more about the details. The sect was trustworthy, but I should still do due diligence.
“System, what are the mental effects from the cultivation technique I got from the Twin Mountains Sect?”
That will cost 5 credits.
“That’s a lot cheaper than I thought… purchase it.”
Purchase confirmed. 1,945 credits remaining.
It is cheap because you knowing will have an extremely minimal effect. Cultivating that technique makes one friendlier, increases the sense of camaraderie, reduces aggression, and increases naiveté. Cultivators will become more susceptible to any suggestions they hear.
That sounded like it might be problematic, but I could deal with the implications later. There might be potential for abuse, but it wasn’t worth thinking about for the moment. Everything was good in the sect, so it wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t an ideal technique, but I felt it was much better than anything else I had seen.
“System, what is the cost of a Peak-Yellow version of that technique? Also, I want it changed so it doesn’t affect naivete and susceptibility, also, maybe get rid of the part about a sense of camaraderie if possible. The friendliness and aggression parts are fine to leave in. Can that be done for a reasonable price?”
The cost would be 800 credits. This gives you knowledge of the technique, but you would not be a master of it. You will still need to practice it.
That price wasn’t bad. Considering my funds and my plans for this life, it was very reasonable. Would getting an even better technique be possible?
“What if, instead, the effect was something like simply improving my focus? Make it so that once I started a project, I felt compelled to work on it until completion. Something that gave me the urge and ability to ignore distractions.”
The cost would be 10,700 credits for such a Peak-Yellow technique.
“So, adjusting what I know can be cheap, but learning something completely new is expensive. Alright, buy the first one, and add in a High-Yellow version with the adjustments. That shouldn’t increase the cost much.”
900 credits.
Purchase confirmed. 1,045 credits remaining.
Information flooded my mind. As it did, I compared the two High-Yellow techniques. They were not too dissimilar, but they had differences I couldn’t understand. Yet another problem for later.
Cultivating with a high-ranked filter was slow. Increasing purity by a percentage point caused an exponential increase in the time required for advancement. I needed to be fast though. Rudy expected me to cultivate with no filter. Of course, he also expected me to be completely clueless, which gave me at least a little extra time before the delay would seem suspicious.
I tried to remember how long I took the first time I cultivated but failed. Spending a month to reach Disciple 4 seemed more than reasonable. I remembered early lives where I died at that point after a month, so that’s how long I gave myself.
To save time, I did not cultivate the Peak-Yellow technique. I focused on learning and cultivating the new High-Yellow version of the cultivation technique. The changes in it were difficult enough to master in the short window of time I was allowed.
Reaching Martial Disciple 2 was no problem for me at this point, and even learning the new technique, I was able to hit it in only two weeks. As the month deadline approached, however, I had still not even hit level 3. That was fine though, I had my backup.
I pulled a Basic Qi Gathering Pill from my storage space. I didn’t want to use anything more powerful, because a pill that was too strong could introduce impurities into my cultivation, but it was the pill with the fewest toxins and highest efficacy that I had made.
I was already at the edge of level 3, so the pill broke through that boundary with ease. It had enough energy to get me halfway to level 4, but not nearly enough to make it there. I would just have to do my best and hope I was just seen as a slow learner. That might have been good too.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
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It wasn’t until the two-month mark that I broke through Disciple 4. It was slower than I wanted, but my foundation was the firmest it had ever been. Rudy didn’t come to look for me at all during the time I was cultivating, so that was good too.
When I did emerge, he sent me away again immediately to learn how to tend to all his herbs. I wasn’t sure why he bothered though. Weren’t they all Rank 1 pills? There were only three herbs that matter in Rank 1, I thought with a chuckle. Rudy was just wasting his time.
Since I no longer needed to rush my cultivation, I spent the next month studying the Peak-Yellow technique. The complications were an order of magnitude more complex than High-Yellow. The idea that a newly advanced cultivator could learn this without decades of practice seemed crazy. The control over qi required was far beyond row 5 of the qi skill index cards. How could anyone learn this without decades of practice?
Affinity, I realized. If someone’s affinity was high enough, this technique would be a breeze. What made it hard was how difficult it was to control the qi for this technique. A high affinity would give you that control for free.
“System, how much would it cost to raise my affinity to eight-star, low?” I asked.
1,000 credits.
“100 times the price of nine-star?” I asked. “That seems like a bit much.”
No, it is only 10 times the price. The price is no longer discounted.
I thought back. ‘The Earthly Dao’ had said as much, but I had expected to still get a benefit here. I guess not.
1000 credits was too much for now. There were other things I wanted to try, so it wasn’t the time to spend, not yet. I went back to practicing the technique. I was slowly getting better, but it would take time.
After a month had passed since seeing him last, I went to find Rudy again. He gave me the same test as before and instructed me to take care of the herbs. Then, he took me for the lesson on concocting Qi Gathering Powder.
His alchemy seemed… inept. He was only making powders, but his qi control looked very poor. I began to realize that Rudy was not, in fact, a very skilled alchemist. Before this, in my mind, he had still been an imposing figure. Now, his abilities started to seem childish. Didn’t he say he had an eight-star talent? Why was his control so poor?
He left me with the task of creating ten Qi Gathering Powders for him. This was supposed to take me weeks to accomplish, so I didn’t rush it. I was only given blue peonies to practice alchemy with, but that was what I wanted.
I came here because I wanted to spend years in isolation. However, I wouldn’t waste that time. The first big thing I wanted to do was figure out why I had never been able to make a Perfect pill. I had already created a Basic pill where, as far as I could tell, I had expertly eradicated every bit of toxin while perfectly preserving the medicinal energy, but the result was High-Purity with 99% efficacy.
I wanted to find what I was missing. I wanted to figure it out myself, through my own efforts.
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For me, the mission to create Qi Gathering Powder was a simple thing, something I didn’t even need to think about. However, I still needed to waste time before turning in my finished products.
My memory back so far was not great. I had no idea how long I should take doing this or how many flowers I should destroy in the process. I doubted it would make much difference anyway. As long I was not too fast.
I began creating Basic pill after Basic pill. After turning the first ten into powders, I destroyed all the rest. All of them were High-Purity. I was close to the point of being able to consistently make 99% effective High-Purity pills, but I never breached 100% or Perfect purity.
There was one possibility I considered. In my soul, a fire now burned. It was possible I could use the spirit fire I obtained with my life to create Perfect pills. I wasn’t about to use it though. During this period of time, nothing I did worked. There had to be a trick to using the fire seed I didn’t know.
I considered asking the System for information on how to use it, but I was here to learn on my own. I wanted to try to figure out the uses for the seed without relying on the System.
After two and a half months, I turned in the powders, Rudy left, and I entered true isolation.
This was what I had been waiting for. I now had all the time I needed to chase down Perfection. To be Perfect, I had to remove all the toxins. Fine. I removed all the toxins I could see. The only answer that I could reach was that there were toxins I couldn’t see. That meant improving my qi vision, which meant improving my soul.
In the sect, I didn’t get a soul cultivation technique. I wouldn’t have touched it if I had it. The potential for permanent harm was too great. So, I had been relying solely on exerting my soul over and over to build it up. However, now that I had a few credits, I could start to look into my other options.
Based on my experience with regular cultivation techniques, I knew there was probably no getting around mental influences with soul cultivation techniques. Last time, the System suggested that if I had energy that surpassed the Heavenly Dao it would be possible to get a technique without side effects. Would I have to wait until then before cultivating my soul to not do permanent damage?
I had no basis for understanding the power of the Heavenly Dao, but I could damn well guess I wouldn’t be surpassing it anytime soon. Waiting for something that may never come seemed like the worst option in this situation.
Unlike with the fire seed, I knew this was not something I would be able to figure out on my own. I had to rely on the System for information. Even then, I knew it was probably a losing cause, but I decided to ask. Better to look a fool than to make an assumption here.
“System, is there a way I can buy a soul cultivation technique without any side effects for a reasonable price?”
Define ‘side effects’.
“Just, something that will only increase the strength of my soul. I don’t want it to do anything else to any other part of me. No messing with my mind.”
No affordable options are possible. At currency tiers crystal and below, no options exist.
“Then is there anything I can buy to strengthen my soul without side effects? Suggest something, you’ve done that before.”
Cost, 10 credits.
Having to pay… I didn’t want to, but last time the information was worth it.
“Alright, go ahead and charge me.”
Purchase confirmed. 1,035 credits remaining.
Request is to strengthen your soul without it having any other impact on you. This contradiction is equal to that of a spear that can pierce any defense and a shield that can defend against any attack.
It is impossible to strengthen your soul without fundamentally changing who you are. You recently absorbed a spirit flame seed. This strengthened and purified your soul. This changed you. It changed you in a way that nearly everyone in this world would kill for, but it is still change.
So far, you have mostly strengthened your soul through exercising it. This still changes who you are, but the changes are haphazard and unfocused. It is like a parent raising a child. They try to teach them, but in the end, the child becomes their own person. In the end, parents don’t have any control over who they become.
Soul cultivation techniques focus the path of progression. It is like indoctrinating the child as it grows up. They forcibly control its direction of growth so the soul will grow in a regulated manner.
Both options have advantages. Cultivation is controlled and has a predictable end-state. Growth through exercise is unrestrained and can lead to new, unique places, for better or worse. You have to decide what you want. If you want the latter though, there is no good technique to use for fast progress. Soul cultivation techniques with unpredictable outcomes are highly inadvisable.
Credits expended, transaction complete.
I reframed the question. Did I want to choose a well-trodden path and walk down it knowingly, or did I want to recklessly blaze my own trail in the wilderness?
I chose to continue only using exercise.
My reasoning was clear. I needed to start strengthening now, but I didn’t know who or what I wanted to be. I felt the exercise option would allow me to grow into who I needed to be in the future instead of forcing me to grow into something I chose in the present.
Exercise was slower, but I had nothing but time.