18 Earth's Only Immortal

Cultivation is explained as human's challenge to the heavens. They defy heavens law by breaking their mortal bonds. There are many ways to increase ones power. Its just that at the moment the people of Barr have only discovered two ways. The body refining path and the mana manipulation path.

Steeve is interested in what kind of path the Traitor has found. He obviously isnt cultivating the mana manipulation path because no element is being radiated in his body when he approached from the mountain. And instead of radiating a strong life energy as the body refining path practitioners do, the Traitor's life energy is almost impossible to detect. Its as if he became nature itself.

"The Elven Council have never agreed with our proposal to close down the portals. Its because we lack strength. A level 7 practitioner of the mana manipulation path or the body refining path is not strong enough. We either need to reach higher levels or find new cultivation paths. I wonder if the path the Traitor follows can be practiced by anyone?"

Steeve looked at the mountain one last time and returned to the city.

........

Blub approached slowly. Walking beside him is a goblin that is as black as ink. They are headed to the resting place of the human that has been known as "Goblins protector". One who has the guts to give a name to a goblin chief even when he is as weak as a newborn goblin. Also a human that has been true to his word. Up to this point this particular human has never killed a goblin.

Klieg aka Blub remembered the first time he met that strange human. A weakling that has not even adapted much less cultivated in this world. Instead of increasing his strength this human wielded the only weapon he currently has. His intellect and imagination. Even with a body without fighting strength he toyed with a dozen goblins. But normally a single goblin can kill ten or more humans who have not jet adapted to a world with mana.

Klieg looked flustered and he shook his head as he said "We need to know what are the Human's plans. Archie met with one of human leaders recently. They must want his strength. Archie must not participate in the war. If he fights the elves or any other race then the world would recognize his strength and acknowledge him as the ruler of this continent. As a ruler he can decide if a portal can be opened in his territory or not. By then, how can the remaining goblins in our world move in here? And what if he took notice?"

............…..

Peter looked at the retreating figure of Steeve aka Cody. He can see that Steeve is strong. At least he is one of the strongest human in the City of Pilang. But he is confident in beating even a million Steeves.

"Looks like my hypothesis is right. Raw mana needs to be processed first otherwise many impurities would be absorb by the body and it would affect their chances of reaching higher levels." thought Peter.

Peter thought back to the time he developed his own way to cultivate. He learned from the tutorial video that mana will be absorbed in his body and strengthen it. That's the effect of raw mana but what happens if he purify mana before absorbing it? This is what led him to discover his own cultivation method.

He gathered all kinds of seeds and began his experiment of infusing mana into each seed. He would check which ones can handle the additional burden of mana as well as train his mana manipulation skill.

After a month he is down to three seeds that can be supplied with mana and not wither. Then he planted these seeds and water it daily. The water is infused with Peter's mana. That way the seed would be enriched with too much mana. The plan is simple. Nourish a few trees with as much mana as possible and then eat their fruits.

In the following months he included herbs and other plants in his experiment. Right now his house is filled with various plants that exudes life force greater than the goblin chief. Everyday he would pour mana directly into the plants. He also adds mana into the water. In this way he nourishes the plants and then he consumes the fruits, herbs and leaves. The mana inside these produce is gentle and is easier to absorb.

When the portal became active, Peter is strong enough to protect the newly summoned humans. He wanted to help them but they started cultivating before he could make up his mind to talk to them. Then they fought the goblins. The first few humans have all survived but from the fifth summoning a few cowards would appear. When some of them died, Peter decided to meddle. In each summoning he would talk to the summoned humans first and offer them sanctuary on the condition that they would not cultivate. From then on Peter would protect three places. The sanctuary of newly summoned humans, the goblins village and his home.

..........

The portal opens every three months. Allowing monsters and the residents of the world connected to that portal to pass through. Its nothing significant. This event has happened for over a century that people have given up hope of it ever going to stop. Its just that I can feel something strange. So I wanted to investigate discreetly.

Cody fulfilled his promise and delivered food and materials every week. All Archie had to do is to stand at the gate of the city and let his aura loose. The strength he shows is more than enough to scare anyone. Its like Archie isnt doing anything but as long as he is present no monster or other races like the elves would go near Pilang City.

The next two years passed by peacefully for Pilang City. Archie's presence is a strong deterrent and as long as they provide food and other resources, aka tribute, then their city if protected.

In those two years of peacetime they have managed to strengthen their armies. Even the otherworld soldiers have been able to take it easy as they no longer have to defend the borders from monster attacks. Now that the city is secure as long as the alliance with Archie is kept, they no longer treated summoning humans as a way to recruit fearsome and expendable soldiers. Instead of letting them experience a bloodbath on their first day on planet Barr, they rescue them and guide them to the road of cultivation. With the increase of population, Pilang City managed to flourish.

The increase of population allowed them to discover more talents. Now that newly summoned humans or otherworlders are allowed to live, they made use of their intelligence and creativity. Alchemy, potion making as well as artifact making have started to produce results. Several chemist, scientists and various scholars who would have died by the hundreds if they encounter even one goblin, have spent many months on research. Their contribution is priceless.

One thing the council found odd though is that Archie's obsession on information about the portals and everything about the goblins, elves and other races currently occupying planet Barr. It felt like he is looking for something. They wanted to figure out what Archie is looking for but some of the information is confidential and they cant just pass it to any researcher willy nilly.

...…..

Blub met with Peter that day, accompanied by a black goblin. He was prepared to offer everything as long as Peter agreed to not participate in any wars.

When Peter suddenly appeared behind them they knew that Peter has reached a level of strength that makes him the most powerful individual on the planet. The human mentioned that he is busy and told the goblins to speak in as few words as possible and not waste his time.

"Ok" says blub, "This isnt a real world and we are not real goblins."

"Wait." shouted Peter, "sit down and tell me more. No. Tell me everything."

Blub and Black Ink looked at each other, sat down and told Peter everything that they knew. They began by talking about worlds, mana and the shell that protects worlds. Then they talked about mighty beings that can ignore the shell of a world.

After that they told Peter that more than 10,000 years ago they were part of the elven empire. In their desire to pursue strength and have a better standing within the empire, they started messing with miasma. Elves, especially high elves, need pure mana with high concentration. Any elf that is born and raised in a planet or place with high concentration of pure mana would become a high elf upon reaching maturity. The lower the concentration and purity of mana they receive while growing up, the lower the quality of their bodies become.

Klieg was part of the group that experimented on miasma as a new way to increase an elves potential. His research produced 3 kinds of elves. The dark elves, who are the opposite of elves, needs miasma instead of mana. The albino elves, if elves would increase the potential and quality of their body by absorbing pure, highly concentrated mana, then albino elves would begin to devolve if the mana they receive isnt pure. Klieg belongs to the albino 'mutated' elves category. Black ink belongs to the last kind of elves that was brought upon by klieg's experiments.

Black elves are born from albino elves. One of the difference they have with elves is that they don't absorb mana or miasma. They eat it. Any material or creature tainted by miasma is a tasty snack for them. As soon as Klieg's experiments became known to the elven empire they disposed of him. What others though is that klieg and his associates were banished to worlds with little to no mana. But the truth is that the elven empire sold them to the powerful beings that can ignore the shell of a planet. Klieg later learned that these beings were known as dimensional merchants.

Klieg and his people continued to devolve as the planet they were sent to has no mana. Although after a few months, mana appeared, it was impure and is tainted by miasma. The command that their owner, the dimensional merchant, gave them is to kill and harass the inhabitants of the planet. Because only through such adversity would their potential be forcibly drawn out. Klieg was reminded many times to make sure that the inhabitants of that planet lives a life of killing. Fortunately some of the Albino elves have devolved to resemble goblins and also gained the high reproductive ability of goblins.

Klieg went on and on for several hours. His story on how they, who look like goblins are actually elves, is pretty interesting but not as interesting as what he revealed about Barr. Apparently Barr is not a planet but a gigantic artifact. An artifact that is composed of several thousand parts with each part having a spirit. That is why it is able to recognize an owner. That is also the reason why the mountains where Klieg lives is known as mount Klieg. Because the spirit of this artifact has recognized him.

This is also the real reason why they do not want Peter to display his strength. Peter is strong enough to obtain the recognition of several hundred spirits at once but that would only make him a target of the dimensional merchant when he appears. What Klieg wants is for Peter to be low key and increase his strength. The goal should be to become the owner of the gigantic artifact, Barr, so that they can escape the grasp of the dimensional merchant. Klieg is confident that when they present Barr as an offering then they can have a place in the elven empire. But before they go through with it, Klieg wants to make sure that all his people are on planet Barr before they try to escape.

Peter thought for a moment as he absorbed everything that Klieg told him. He stayed silent for several minutes and then asked, "If it happened more than 10,000 years ago, how are you still alive?"

"Silver tooth. I found a way to harvest a huge portion of the lifespan of an albino elf. By drawing certain runes on the body of a baby, the lifespan energy along with what little mana they have would be concentrated and purified into one tooth. If there is no mistake with the runes then one tooth would turn into silver. If there is even a small mistake then one tooth would turn black. The silver tooth can be eaten to increase my lifespan and it can even be used as an alchemy material. And the black tooth increases the strength of black elves." true to his word, Klieg did not hide anything. He is hoping that his sincerity would move Peter.

"One last question, if planets have shells, how come my homeworld have never discovered the shell that you are talking about?" Peter asked after thinking of earth.

"I have met a few otherworlders that came from your planet as well as checked the items they have brought over and came to a conclusion. I believe that Merlin is a transcender. The most powerful earthling. And I think that he has left for the higher planes. Unlike Klendra the greatest high elf in the elven empire. After she became the most powerful high elf and broke the shell, she didn't move to the higher planes. Instead she conquered several worlds and guided the other elves to reach the same level of strength that she possess. After establishing the elven empire which spans ten thousand worlds, she left for the higher planes with an army." Klieg has now told Peter everything that he knows and even his assumptions based on what he observed. Now its time for Peter to decide if he will agree to Kliegs proposal.

It seemed like Peter took his time deciding but in reality he gave his answer after thinking for a minute.

"Klieg, I need lots of mana stones and potions as well as this whole mountain range. In ten years I think I can reach the level of strength that you are talking about. Enough strength to become the owner of this artifact. But, I wont go with you to the elven empire. I would go back to my home planet, earth, and protect it."

Klieg extended his hand "Looking forward to returning home."