1-7 Cultivating Insanity: Xianxia and Strategy

Chapter 1: Is Heaven Supposed to Hurt This Much?

"To cultivate is to have courage. To spill blood. To venture into the heavens or down to the depths of hell. To fight through the nine skies for the path to eternity." A voice echoed across the foot of the small mountain.

The voice's owner was a blue-robed, white-bearded, and wizened man. He looked as if even the smallest gusts of wind could topple him, yet he stood firm in front of the young students who had not yet entered the sect.

"Your path begins here. There are five ways to the top of the mountain. At the far right is the Thunder Path, where thunder souls will test and temper your spirit channels. Those who walk this path to the top will become an inner disciple of the Nine Thunders Sect. The far left is the Spiritless Path. In between are the wood, fire, and water paths." The man paused his speech and turned his attention to the boy at the front. "Anlin, what's your choice?"

Anlin had been the best of this year's sixty students, passing the first two tests of the sect entrance exam with flying colors. Now, he was just one final step away from becoming a full disciple of the sect.

The other students held their breath as they waited for his answer. The choice Anlin made today would determine his future fate.

"Elder, regarding the wood, fire, and water paths. If I take them, I won't be able become an inner disciple?" Anlin asked.

"Indeed. Those who reach the top with any of the other elemental paths will still become disciples, but only outer disciples. And anyone who chooses the Spiritless Path, they'll become a sect laborer."

Anlin nodded. "Elder He, I'd like to try the Thunder Path."

"Good." Elder He stroked his beard and gave a kind smile. "Remember to stay focused and keep walking forward. The test is not without risk. I will heal any injuries you sustain during the test once you reach the top of the mountain. But if you stop during the test, no one can help you. You will die if you can't keep going."

"I understand," Anlin said, bowing to the elder, and walked to the start of the Thunder Path, a simple set of stone stairs that rose up the side of the mountain.

Taking a deep breath, Anlin stepped forward. Nothing happened as he planted himself on the first step, or the second. He moved onward briskly from there.

Soon, the other students had to strain their eyes to distinguish Anlin's small figure amid a white fog that seemed to thicken as Anlin climbed higher. Things were going so well that he began to accelerate, taking two steps at a time and going faster and faster.

And then things went wrong.

A white cloud emerged from the thicket of fog, well-defined and heavy at the bottom, bobbing menacingly a bit further up the stairs. Luckily, Anlin had not let his focus flag entirely. He spotted the thunder soul in front of him and slowed down. When the soul didn't immediately attack, he stepped to the right side of the stairs, trying to get around it.

Continuously facing the cloud, Anlin climbed higher, wary of the threat even as he tried to pass by it. Soon he was parallel with the soul, and moments later managed to pass it.

Before he could celebrate his good luck, a blue lightning bolt arced out of the bottom of the cloud and cracked against his chest in the blink of an eye. Anlin's cotton robe instantly burned away as he staggered back from the impact. He found his footing inches from the right edge of the stairs, almost falling off. He got into a stance, crossing his arms protectively in front of his chest.

The thunder soul threw a second follow-up bolt that splashed against Anlin's arms. He winced at the pain coursing through his body and curled his hands into tight fists, his fingernails digging so deep into his palm that blood began to trickle down his arms, but he didn't retreat.

With a shout, he charged downwards at the cloud and flailed his fists.

As hard as it had been able to hit him, Anlin was surprised at how easily the white fluff dispersed under the attacks. Each punch he threw tore a tiny fragment away from the cloud. The fragments stuck to Anlin's skin before being absorbed by his body. Soon, the thunder soul was defeated.

Anlin stopped to savor the feeling of victory before continuing his climb.

At the bottom of the mountain, Elder He waved the other students to begin the sect exam. Some of the students chose the Wood or Fire Paths. Only two picked the second most difficult Water Path.

But most simply accepted their lesser fate and took the Spiritless Path to the top. Becoming a sect laborer, one forced to work for cultivation resources, was still a high accomplishment by mortal standards. Their cultivation progress would be slow, but a limited success was still far better than failing the entrance exam or losing their lives to the elemental souls.

Once the students were fully sorted into their various paths, Elder He glanced at the other two sect members observing this year's exam. One was an inner disciple called Zeran, and the other was an elder named Pidao. Although both Hetain and Pidao were elders of the Nine Thunder Sect, Hetain belonged to the sect's more senior combat faction while Pidao was backed by the smiths.

"Perhaps I should take Anlin as a disciple before he gets to the sect," Elder He muttered to himself. "Three personal disciples will make it easier to get a good score in the end-of-year competition, especially since Anlin is the best of his class. The edge might mean that I could win a Water Charm Pill, or perhaps even a Jade Zhen Sword."

If he were to ask Anlin to become his disciple, the other two were too low on the totem pole to do anything about it. By the time they got back to the sect, the master-disciple relationship would have already been established, and by then even the sect leader couldn't usurp the rules and force Hetain to relinquish his disciple. A small smile spread across the wizened man's face.

Back on the Thunder Path, Anlin saw the end of the stairs in the distance. It seemed he only had a minute or so worth of climbing left. Although his chest and arms hurt slightly from the earlier encounter with the thunder soul, he still felt mostly fine. His legs were strong, and his breathing was even. He could keep going.

He couldn't stop the smile that began to creep up his face. His thoughts wandered to his rough childhood, the years he spent studying at the sect's academy, and even to his future life as a disciple cultivator. This was the moment he had been working so hard for. It was all there, just a few more steps.

Unbeknownst to Anlin, a new cloud began to form in the mist behind him. Unlike the previous thunder soul, this new soul was jet black with sparks of purple flittering across its firm surface.

With his vantage point at the bottom of the mountain, Elder He saw the new cloud and the blood drained from his face. "Anlin! Behind you! Run!"

Showing an agility far beyond the limits of a normal person, Hetain rushed to the peak of the mountain in seconds. He hoped that he could pull his future disciple out of the Thunder Path before the new thunder soul struck.

Anlin spun around to check on the danger, spotting the thunder soul just as Hetain reached the end of the Thunder Path. The slight hesitation from the student became his downfall.

A crash of thunder resonated across the mountain as a thick purple bolt snapped out of the soul and lifted Anlin off his feet as the impact slammed him back against the stairs.

The strike seemed to take everything out of the cloud. Wisps of smoke escaped from its sides as it grew smaller, and even the purple sparks were gone.

But it didn't matter. Anlin tumbled down the stairs, unconscious and helpless to stop himself.

Each time his body hit the ground, a new splotch of red was added to the steps. When he finally came to a stop a dozen steps away from the path's entrance, everyone knew that the genius of their year was gone.

—

Xun woke up with a raging headache. His skin, his face, and even his lungs burned with pain. The stone under his hand felt rough and the wind blowing against his skin felt sharp. Is heaven supposed to hurt this much? Or is this hell?

Before he opened his eyes, he heard a heated conversation somewhere in the distance.

"Pidao! How could you have let the thunder soul grow to the Consecration Realm?! Anlin was the most promising student of this entire year!"

"I understand your feelings, Senior He. But I don't believe checking the cultivation level of the elemental souls was one of my assigned responsibilities. Traditionally, the most senior member of the exam was responsible for the maintenance of exam equipment."

"Are you saying that this is my fault?"

"Of course not, Senior He. But this is quite an unfortunate occurrence that we could perhaps chalk up to happenstance…"

"Elder Pi. Enough. I'll report this matter to the sect leader. He will mete out the corresponding punishments according to his own judgement. In the meantime, I'll be at the top of the paths, welcoming those who successfully passed and ensuring that such an incident doesn't happen again."

The sound of clothes shuffling concluded the conversation.

Xun tried to understand what was happening. A moment earlier, he had been lying in his silk bed, listening to his children and the elders of his sect argue and bicker like hyenas over who would inherit the sect he had founded.

It would have infuriated him if he wasn't on his deathbed. The eternal darkness had a funny way of making most things seem unimportant.

In the end, Xun realized that his spirit weapons, the sect he founded, and the spirit stones he hoarded meant little. In life, they were useful, shiny, and beautiful, but they meant nothing to someone on death's door.

In the end, he found, all that mattered was life. He would have given any amount of spirit stones to extend his lifespan, even if only by a single day. Unfortunately, lifespan pills cost more than mere spirit stones.

Holding on to that final thought, he had closed his eyes for the last time... or so he thought.

The darkness took him for a brief moment before he was unceremoniously spit back out into his current situation.

"Zeran, did you see what that old dog just tried to do?" The second voice from the earlier conversation sounded again.

"I'm sorry, Elder Pi, I didn't." Xun heard a new voice, this one female.

"That's okay. You've been relatively sheltered as an alchemist and haven't had to deal with the politics of the sect. That old dog rushed down the mountain and faked his anger in hopes of cowing me into taking the fall for what just happened on the Thunder Path."

"I see."

"But I caught on to his tricks. He failed the sect by forgetting to check the paths. That's not my responsibility."

"I agree."

"See? I knew you'd understand, Disciple Zeran. When the sect leader asks you about what happened, I'd appreciate it if you could repeat what we just talked about. We smiths and alchemists need to stick together. The meatheads that only know how to fight don't understand our struggles."

"Of course."

A small crack sounded from somewhere behind Xun. A moment later, he felt a stinging pain hit the small of his back and he twitched involuntarily. He flipped to his side to see what was attacking him.

A cloud?

"Elder Pi, did you see that? I think Anlin is still alive!"

"Well, I guess his life force is a bit stiffer than most people's. But it doesn't matter. His spirit channels are likely damaged after that shock. I'm not sure if it's luck or misfortune that he's still with us."

"Could we help him?"

"And risk the wrath of the thunder soul? A Consecration Realm elemental soul is no laughing matter. I could probably deal with it, but if you try while still at the Foundation Realm, there's a chance that you'll hurt your own cultivation. If he's truly that tough, let him climb out himself."

"Anlin's the first to attempt the Thunder Path in four years. That's worthy of something."

"Yes, it's a worthy lesson to stay one's greed. Elder He was being stupid when he pushed the boy to attempt the path. Did he think cultivating is a child's play? The path to eternity is not meant to be taken lightly. Greed has slain more cultivators than every other sin combined."

"But…"

Another lightning bolt struck down and Xun stopped paying attention. He watched the electricity gather at the bottom of the white cloud floating on top of him and then flash down onto his body. His pain somehow reached a new level.

It was worse than anything he had experienced before. Not even the agony of the Thunder Tribulation could compare.

I'm not dead. Xun's brain finally comprehended that he was neither in heaven nor in hell. If the conversations weren't enough of a clue, then the pain was pretty good evidence. There's no way the afterlife is this painful.

As his mind began to thaw from the pain, Xun realized something far more important. His body was in an extremely sorry state.

If he took any more of the lightning bolts, he was going to die. Again.

Chapter 2: Patience, Distractions, and Time

Xun pulled his knees as close to his chest as he could and then crawled forward. His body was numb from the pain and electricity, but he still felt a brief moment of free fall. His heart dropped. Then, he heard a thump as his body hit solid ground.

Where in the nine skies am I?

"To still move after all that. Anlin must be under immense pain." The female voice sounded again.

"He carried eight hundred stones with just the strength of his spirit in the will test. When I saw that, I thought that the boy was going to be one of those who either become strong and famous, or die from pushing too far. It's a shame that it'll be the latter."

"Elder Pidao, could you save him? He took a strike from such a strong thunder soul and still survived. If you helped him, he might take you as his master to repay your kindness."

"I could. But I said before that his spirit channels are damaged. He'll be a mortal even if he survives."

"But…"

The male voice scoffed. "Zeran, your heart is too soft. Don't you see that old dog, Hetain, up at the top of the mountain? He probably wanted to take the boy as a disciple. Greedy bastard. Now, he's given up. He knows the kid is damaged goods. He already cut his losses and will probably choose whoever reaches the top first of the remaining students."

The words were enough for Xun to piece together the clues. He was in a sect entrance exam and the thing tormenting him was a thunder soul. What kind of barbaric sect still uses elemental souls and doesn't save its disciples when they're in mortal danger? And how can I, the great Earth Sky Sword, die to a lowly thunder soul?

Xun pushed his failing body forward, tumbling down another step before tensing his muscles and waiting for the next thunderbolt to strike. It came a few seconds later, making him writhe in pain and clench his jaw as the electricity did its damage.

While waiting for the shock to subside, Xun looked inside his body. His spirit channels were ravaged, a mess of gaping holes and twisting paths. Not a huge surprise given how much pain he was in.

He focused his attention on the silver hue of the channels' walls and the fact that his aperture, sitting right below his stomach and connected to the spirit channels, was unopened. Once an aperture was opened, nothing short of total destruction could close one again. It was the final confirmation he needed to accept that he was no longer in his original body.

I reincarnated? Xun tried to recall all the events that had led up to his death. He had attempted to break through to the Lord Realm after decades of being stuck at the peak of the Consecration Realm. He failed. The Thunder Tribulation had ruined his body, leaving him desperately clinging to a single breath of life while his sect descended into chaos around him.

I've never heard of a Consecration Realm cultivator reincarnating. I thought that only Lord Realm cultivators and above could reincarnate with their memories intact.

A more pressing problem was his talent. Without cycling zhen, Xun had no way of knowing how severe the damage to his spirit channels was. But based on the quantity and quality of holes, his best-case scenario at this point would be falling a single level to a Shale tier talent. Dropping down two levels to the bottom Chalk tier was also a possibility.

Talent was everything for a cultivator. It determined how much zhen they could retain after each cycle of the cultivation scriptures. Those with Chalk tier spirit channels were usually doomed to be a mortal for the rest of their lives. No sect would accept them. But even that was a small price to pay for getting a second chance at life.

Another lightning bolt came and Xun threw away those thoughts. There would be a time and place to think about his talent later. Right now, if he didn't escape, those bolts would fry his body and he'd die. Again.

Xun waited until his muscles thawed and shifted forward. He felt himself fall before landing on yet another large stone slab.

How many of these steps are there?

Tilting his head forward, he saw that there were seven more steps between him and a patch of grass that he hoped was the outside of the thunder soul's activity range. It was such a small distance, but felt almost impossible to cross. Xun had to fight back the darkness and desperation creeping in at the edge of his vision as he forced himself forward.

You can do this. Xun clawed forward with his left arm, grabbed onto the nosing of the stone step, and pulled himself along.

Six steps left.

As if sensing Xun's resolve, the thunder soul dropped another bolt. Xun tasted metal in his mouth. Something, somewhere, was bleeding.

One minute. That's how long I have between each lightning strike.

Patience. I need to be patient.

Xun closed his eyes, trying to preserve every ounce of energy he had. Trying to distract himself from the pain, he began to think back to his deathbed, where he had plenty of time to reflect on his cultivation journey. His previous talent was Gold tier, but he had failed at only the Consecration Realm.

I failed because I was arrogant. Because I was a sword cultivator, I beat everyone at the same cultivation level as me and began to challenge cultivators who were one to two stages above me. Sometimes, I even won. After each fight, as I savored the glory bestowed upon the victor, I ignored the wounds and scars in my body. When I faced the Second Thunder Tribulations, those wounds reopened. My arrogance cost me dearly.

Xun dropped another step and weathered another attack from the thunder soul. His body felt heavy, and his heart itself was tired from fighting all of the shocks.

Five more steps.

"Anlin? Are you okay?" A new voice sounded. At this point, Xun had guessed that his body's original owner was called Anlin. He opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the voice.

He found the vague outline of a person two hundred steps away, half obscured by the red flames dancing on each step of their path. The arms of the person were almost the same size as their legs. If it weren't for her voice, Xun would have never guessed that the figure was a girl. She yelled again, "I believe in you!"

"Anlin's alive? Please let that be true." Xun looked beyond the girl to find a young boy on a path full of green shrubs and giant plants. The boy had a slender physique. "Anlin, I promise I'll come help you when I'm done."

As the other students realized that their friend was still alive, they also shouted out words of encouragement.

Xun didn't bother responding to any of them and instead closed his eyes.

Fights weren't the only reason I failed. I was distracted. I started a family, I built a sect, and I spent time enjoying the finer parts of life that were unrelated to cultivation. All for nothing. I thought that having others would protect me and allow me to build a legacy. But the moment I stopped being the Earth Sky Sword and became another old man on the verge of death, they all abandoned me. They probably didn't even bury me when I died.

The thoughts left a bitter bile in his mouth, washing out the taste of iron. With a renewed vigor, he heaved forward.

Four steps.

All he wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and sleep, letting the sweet darkness take him. Before the defeatism could seep any further into thoughts, he bit down on his tongue. The new pain cleared his mind and gave him energy to drop another step.

Three steps.

It didn't even feel like he was moving his own limbs anymore. His mind was sending signals that his body sometimes didn't obey. Luckily, that was something he was intimately familiar with. In his past life, age had robbed control over his own body. He had worked around that. He could work around this, too.

After two centuries at the Copper Roof, the highest stage of the Consecration Realm, Xun had reached the end of his life. He had only a few months left to live. The only two ways to extend his life were to either find a hundred-year lifespan pill or to finally advance to the Lord Realm.

He couldn't afford the pill, especially when he was supporting his entire family and sect's cultivation. So he chose the riskier path of undergoing the Second Thunder Tribulations and breaking through to the Broken Lord Stage.

At that point, he no longer cared about the power or fame that would come to those in the Lord Realm. All he wanted was to live longer, to watch more sunrises, and to inch further along the path to eternity.

More than the fights and the distractions, the reason why I failed was because I didn't have enough time. I could have succeeded if I had more time to gather spirit stones, formations, runes, and more. In the end, I was pushed to the tribulations because I ran out of time.

That thought was enough to breathe new life into Xun as he counted to five and mustered all of his strength into throwing a giant backward punch.

The white thunder soul had flown lower and lower, thinking that Xun wasn't a threat. Xun's punch caught it right in the center. Pressing the attack, Xun found the energy to rip the thing to shreds before he tumbled down another step.

Two steps.

Xun laid on the stone step, breathing in the air of his new life. Elemental souls were difficult opponents in that their attacks were powerful. But they had very little in the way of intelligence. The thunder soul had let its guard down and now, Xun was the victor.

It was going to be a great second life.

Because his eyes were closed, Xun didn't see a second cloud zooming forward. It was the same one that had shot out the purple bolt earlier. Its edges were still frazzled but its color was still a dark black. After charging for a few seconds, it shot a pale violet bolt out at the human who had killed two of its siblings.

As the thunderbolt sped toward Xun, he felt every hair on his body stand up. Instinctively and without opening his eyes, he rolled into a ball with his arms held up. Somehow, he finished his motion before the bolt landed.

All he felt was a massive blow that crushed him into the ground. Every organ in his body simultaneously gave up under the immense pressure and stopped functioning.

Xun's arms fell limply by his side. He knew that they were damaged in some way but didn't have the energy nor the desire to understand how they were hurt. He couldn't even feel his legs. It was like they weren't a part of him anymore.

The only part of his body that was even remotely close to operational was his mind. The first conversation he heard after being reincarnated played back in his thoughts. They had talked about how the thunder soul was beyond the Foundation Realm.

The thunder soul… it's Consecration Realm. Is this some kind of sick joke? No mortal can survive this. What kind of cursed place did I fall into? Against the onslaught of negative emotions that threatened to overwhelm him, he found a glimmer of his past self. The person that he had been before the years washed away his edges and made him dull.

I'm Xun. The genius of the Xun clan. The founder of the Violet Mirror Sect. The sword prodigy in the Eastern Continent. I'm not going to fail here. My life is not in the hands of heaven. I will choose my own fate.

Xun tapped the anger within the thought to crawl forward and dropped down another step.

One step.

He could see the grass in front of him, so close he could smell the sweet and sharp scent. Calling upon every bit of energy he had, he crept his hand forward and struggled to slip out of the final step.

Another strike landed on Xun. This one was weak, like the ones before, but it was the final nail in the coffin. Xun's outstretched hand dropped to the stone. It was the end, he had nothing left.

A bitter smile formed around Xun's lips as he opened his eyes for one last look at the world. His second death place was a pretty one. It wasn't stuffy and cramped like the bed he had first died in. There were endless blue skies, green flowing grass, and pretty white clouds.

The last thing Xun saw before darkness took him was a slim, pale hand reaching for him.

Chapter 3: The Path to Eternity

"Anlin! Anlin!"

Xun woke up to a sweet, flowery scent. It smelled like jasmine with a hint of lilac. Probably his wife or one of her maids. He was glad that the pain and the thunderbolts were all just a bad dream. He was safe now.

But a part of his mind asked if that was true. There were some clues nagging at him that it wasn't. For one, he didn't recognize the voice calling out to him. And second, his name was Xun, not Anlin.

He opened his eyes with a start. What met his eyes weren't silk curtains or soft female faces. Instead, he saw a boy with skin as dark as coal mere inches from his face. It took all three centuries' worth of control to not scream.

"Anlin? Thank the heavens, you're awake. We have to go now. I'll help you get through the Wood Path," the slender boy said.

"Where am I?" Xun asked.

"In front of the Thunder Path. You got out. You're safe now. But if we don't get to the top of the mountain, then we'll have failed."

Xun creased an eyebrow as he remembered seeing the boy battling one of the elemental souls earlier. The scent he smelled was coming from him. "Weren't you already almost through your path?"

"So? I came back when I saw that you had escaped the Thunder Path. We swore a vow that we'd help each other. Dashan and Anlin, we'd both become disciples and cultivators and explore the path to eternity together. I checked with Yifan and we decided that I'd be the one who came down to help you."

Xun nodded, trying to piece the fragments of information into something coherent.

"I know you're tired, Anlin. But I'll help you take the Wood Path."

"Wait." Xun needed more time to think. A sudden influx of memories from his new body's previous owner muddled his own thoughts. "Give me a second. The sect won't accept me as a disciple if I pass with your help."

"So what? We'll solve that problem when we get there. It's better than staying a mortal for the rest of your life." There was a directness in Dashan that reminded Xun of his younger self, where everything was either right or wrong and little room for nuance in between. This was back when he was called a sword prodigy. "I'm sorry Anlin. We don't have time right now. The entrance exam is almost over and if we don't make it, it'll all have been for naught."

The boy raised Xun's arm up and slipped it forward. Then, he pushed with his legs and slung Xun over his wide shoulder.

"Wait," Xun said. Dashan's steps didn't slow. Xun curled his hands into fists and beat against the boy's back. "Hold on. I'm going to die."

Dashan immediately put Xun down. "Where are you hurt? I thought you were okay since Disciple Zeran checked over you and gave you a pill."

Was Zeran the one who saved me? Xun filed the name away for later.

"No, it's not that. It's my spirit channels. They're damaged. If the wood souls even touch me, I'm dead."

"Oh, that's easy. I have a plan; I'll distract the souls while you climb."

"And what if one slips through?"

"That's just a risk we'll take. I'll do my best to keep them away."

"What if I don't want to take that risk?"

Dashan stared into Xun's eyes. "Anlin, are you really going to give up here? Your family died so you would get a chance to become a cultivator. Are you turning your back on them?"

Xun answered with his actions.

He struggled to his feet and walked over to the Spiritless Path. Unlike the other routes, there were no elemental souls lining the sides of the path. It was just a simple set of stone stairs to the top of the mountain.

"I've decided," Xun said. "This is my path."

"Are you sure, An?" Dashan followed behind as Xun hobbled up the steps, taking a single step every time Xun took two. "If you use this path, you'll become a laborer. You'll be stuck in the Foundation Realm. You won't be happy."

"There's an old saying. If you're not a fish, how could you know if a fish is happy? This is the path that I've chosen. And I'm happy with it."

At that moment, a gong reverberated across the mountain. Dashan's face showed a struggle between convincing his friend otherwise and looking out for his own future. "Sure, alright, whatever you say. We don't have much time left. Make sure you reach the top, Anlin."

Xun nodded and took another shaky step to climb higher on the Spiritless Path.

About a quarter of the way up, his legs began to spasm from the exertion. Xun had to take longer pauses between each step and catch his breath. Before long, he was spending more time resting than climbing.

So what happens if I don't make it into the sect? Xun's mind began to wander. Could I get the cultivation resources as a mortal?

There were stories of mortals who got lucky and stumbled upon an inheritance and became cultivators. But those were the rare exception. There were also mortal families with close ties to cultivators that would sometimes be gifted resources. From the memories Xun browsed through, Anlin's family was not like that.

If I can't get into this Nine Thunders Sect, I'll be too old to try for another cultivation sect. At that point, it'll take me years to get the right cultivation resources. Time that I can't afford to lose.

That thought gave him new strength. He stared at the peak of the mountain and climbed higher and higher.

About halfway, Xun was exhausted. There was still so much to climb and so little strength he had left. Then, he felt a hand lift his arm and help him climb. He turned his head and found Dashan next to him.

"We also made a promise that we'd share the fortune and suffer the misery together. I couldn't let you become a laborer by yourself now, could I?" Dashan said with a smile. He heaved, and Xun felt his body launch through the air.

Perhaps having a family and a sect was a distraction. But friends might not be. The path to eternity is a lonely journey. Having someone with me, it might just be worth it.

—

So my spirit channels are completely destroyed.

Even with Dashan's help, Xun barely reached the top of the mountain in time. His half-burnt robes were soaked in sweat, and he laid face-down on the patches of grass that grew between the rocks. Taking advantage of this rest, he began to look inside himself again.

My talent isn't chalk-tier anymore. It's below that. The average mortal has better talent than me. The only people who have worse spirit channels are those born with blocked spirit channels. And I barely beat them.

Spirit channels were the product of heaven. They embodied the five elements, fire, water, earth, wood, and the lost iron.

No one knew for sure what spirit channels were. Experiments in dissecting the human body never once uncovered an organ or tissue that even remotely resembled the spirit channels. But every cultivator knew their spirit channels, combined with their aperture, were the foundations of cultivation.

"The universe runs on fifty rules. Forty-nine of which have been cemented by heaven's will. The last one is known as the path to eternity. It's luck, a chance for all living beings to become eternal." A young woman stood at the front of the collapsed students. She wore a simple white dress with very few ornaments.

"You have taken the first step on the path to eternity. That's why the final test of our sect entrance is a mountain climb. Cultivation is not just the simple pursuit of strength. It's the journey of finding yourself in the shadow of adversity and not being afraid. For without adversity, there can be no triumph."

None of the students really understood her words, but Xun did. Whoever this woman was, she was wise. Xun was suddenly jealous; to have such a deep insight at such a young age was a blessing.

Noticing that the students weren't responding, the woman paused and began a new line of thought. "Congratulations! Two years of learning and honing your spirit channels for this moment. And it's all paid off. Welcome to the Nine Thunders Sect."

A weak but happy cheer went through the crowd.

"Before you enter the sect, I'll tell you a bit more about your future life." She waved her left hand at the mountain range behind her while her right hand was tucked between the folds of her dress. "Behind me is the famous Seventeen Mountains. Does anyone know why we chose such a site?"

One of the boys closest to the front raised his hand and said, "Disciple Zeran, is it because it has more zhen than elsewhere?"

"Correct, and you can also call me Sister Zeran or Sister Ze if that's easier. Everyone here is now my junior brother or sister, so there's no need to be so formal." The disciple smiled as she continued. "Zhen is the foundation of all living beings. Cultivating in an area with high zhen density has many benefits. That's why we live in the Seventeen Mountains. We share this mountain range with two other sects, the Twin Beast Sect and the Purple Flower Sect. Your first lesson as a member of the Nine Thunders Sect is to never lose face for the sect when dealing with the other two sects. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Second, right now, none of you are cultivators. We've intentionally stopped you from opening your aperture in order to give your spirit channels time to develop and grow. But now that your channels have matured and have been tempered by the elemental souls, it's time for you to become cultivators."

"Wait!" a red-robed man called out. "Before we get to this next section, perhaps Elder He should announce the results of the entrance exam."

Elder He stroked his beard in agreement as Zeran bowed to give the stage to the elder.

"Remember that twelve of your peers perished in this exam," Elder He began. "Cultivating is not meant for the faint-hearted. If you can't accept that, it's better for everyone if you leave now."

No one moved.

"Good. You all have done well to get to this point, but one of you did better than the others. Fangqiu passed the Water Path first. Well done, Fangqiu. I have an offer for you. While the sect mandates that students who pass any non-thunder elemental path must become outer disciples, I see your talent and heart. I'd like to take you as a personal disciple, my third disciple, when you graduate into the inner disciple ranks. In the meantime, you'll be an honorary disciple of mine. What do you say?"

In a motion that looked rehearsed, Fangqiu stepped forward and bowed low. "Of course, Elder He. I would be honored to have such a master."

"Master He now."

"I apologize, Master He."

"Good, good." The old man laughed as a cloud appeared beneath his feet. "My good disciple, you and I have lots to talk about. Why don't we head to the sect first?"

Neither of the other two sect members moved to stop Fangqiu from stepping onto the cloud. Together, the new master and disciple sped away.

The moment the fire-robed man saw that Elder He was out of earshot, he spat at the ground.

"Thank the heavens that idiot's gone. Zeran, don't waste time teaching them. Your time is precious. In another few years, you'll also be an elder. You need to get rid of the kindness you've developed as a disciple. Just announce the results, and we can all be off."

In the back, Xun looked at the woman and committed her face to his memory. So she's Zeran, the one who saved me. I'll find some way to repay her.

The female disciple bowed. "Yes, Elder Pi. Fangqiu, Yifan, Hongdao, Luotu, and Zhanghan. You five are now outer disciples of the sect. The rest of you chose the Spiritless Path and are now sect laborers. But the path to eternity is long and wide, becoming a laborer doesn't stop you from becoming cultivators. In our sect history, many laborers have become elders through hard work."

"That's enough Zeran. Outer disciples will leave for the sect in twenty minutes," Elder Pi said. "Say your goodbyes now. It'll be months before you see each other again, if ever."

He dismissed everyone with a wave and walked over to the side of the mountain as if he couldn't stand being in the presence of the students.

Xun also took a long look at the man and remembered his face.

He's the man behind the second voice. The one that said my life wasn't worth saving.

Chapter 4: Why Bother with Enemies

Xun waited for the other students to start their conversations. Soon, the chatter was loud enough to cover what he wanted to say. He turned to Dashan, who was sprawled on the ground next to him.

"Thank you, Dashan. I owe you."

Dashan waved him off. "No thanks are necessary between us. You know that."

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have reached the top and would have lost the chance to become a cultivator. You gave up your own chance to become a disciple to help me. Thank you. And I'm sorry."

Seeing that Xun was serious, the dark-skinned boy sat up and nodded.

"We said that we would become cultivators together," Dashan said. "So what if my starting point is a bit rougher than I hoped? I still got on the path to eternity, right?"

"Yes, you're right."

"That's all that matters. The rest, we can figure out together later." Dashan laid back down in the grass. "Now, I think it's time for my daily dose of the sun."

Xun smiled and joined Dashan in the grass. He closed his eyes, just happy to be alive. It was a nice, warm feeling, one that he had missed during the years he spent worrying about his approaching death. He soaked it in as he considered the next steps in his path.

The sword path needs drive, an arrogance that everything in the world can be solved with a swing of the blade. And if that doesn't work, then two swings. A long time ago, that would have been perfect. But I don't have that confidence anymore. I need a new path of cultivation.

Even though his cultivation path was uncertain, Xun didn't feel dispirited. More important than anything else, his dying wish had come true. So what if his cultivation was gone, his spirit channels broken, and his resources missing? He had decades of life left in this body and uncountable chances to make things better for himself. He was happy.

Unfortunately, that feeling of contentment didn't last long.

"It's a shame that you failed, Anlin." A new gloating voice sounded above Xun. "Anlin and Fangqiu. The only two Silver level talents in our year. But while you've become a laborer, Fangqiu is now an honorary disciple of a senior elder. What a difference."

Xun ignored the comment. It didn't take a subtle ear to hear the hostility in the voice. He searched his new memories and found that his body's previous owner, Anlin, had often fought with other students to protect his friends.

That's one thing I'll change. But why bother fighting enemies? If I cultivate well, I can simply outlive them. Why fight someone when you can just wait until they're dead and then dance on their grave?

"Watch it, Hongdao." Dashan pushed up from the ground to glare at the newcomer.

"Oh no, the idiot who could have become an outer disciple but became a laborer to help his friend is angry. What will I do?"

Xun cracked open an eye to look at the newcomer. Like the other students, Hongdao wore a cotton robe. Unlike the others, he had embroidered the edges of the robe with a light red thread.

"You think you can say whatever you want just because you're an outer disciple now?" Dashan said.

"That's exactly what I think." Hongdao turned his attention back to Xun. "You know, I think it does make sense that you lost. You always tried to find shortcuts, while Fangqiu was the slow and steady one. I guess a person's character does matter."

"Do you really think your friend doing well means I can't beat you up?" Dashan threatened.

"With what standing? You had the chance to cross the Wood Path and become an outer disciple. But instead you wasted that chance up to be a laborer with Anlin. Now, neither of you can lay a single finger on me. I'm a disciple."

"Are you sure about that? You're not a disciple until you pass the entrance gate. Right now, you're just a student like the rest of us."

"You're right. But I think you forget that I'm friends with Fangqiu, the honorary disciple of Elder He. Say he tells the elder about a student who started a fight on the day of the entrance exam. What do you think would happen to that student?"

Dashan clenched and unclenched his fists but stayed silent.

"I don't get why you're still friends with Anlin. Sure, he had a silver-tier talent before. But now? He's probably no better than a mortal. You've chained yourself to chalk-level talent, fool. And now you are both sinking, together."

Dashan clenched his jaw so tight that the bottom of his face turned pale.

Originally, Xun had planned to stay on the ground, waiting until Hongdao left them after getting his fill of gloating. But that plan went out the window when he realized the taunting wouldn't stop. He stood up, suddenly, staring all the ice he could muster into Hongdao's eyes.

"Perhaps you'd like to tell me why you really came here."

Hongdao instinctively flinched away under the glare, then returned to meet Xun's gaze.

"It's simple, really. I think you should stay away from Yifan. When you and Fangqiu were both the geniuses of our year, you had the right to chase after her. But now you're a laborer and she's an outer disciple. Fangqiu is going to become an inner disciple soon. He's a better match for her. If you cared about her, you'd let her go."

"Sure."

Both Hongdao and Dashan stared at Xun like they had seen a ghost.

"An, what did you just say?" Dashan asked.

"I agreed," Xun replied. He wanted to laugh. So much of the trouble in his past life came from his wives and paramours. Now that he had a second chance at life? He'd leave love for those who had the time and energy. He just wanted to cultivate. "What did you say her name was again?"

"Yifan?" Hongdao replied, unsure of his sudden success.

"Right, so I'll stay away from Yifan. It's really not that big of a deal." The image of the bulky girl he saw in the Fire Path sprung to mind, unbidden. For a second, Xun wondered if maybe he had been reborn into a universe with a different aesthetic taste than the one he was familiar with.

"Anlin! How could you say something like that?"

Before Xun knew it, he was face to face with a girl with tears in her eyes. I really need to cultivate. My senses are all so dull.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it, Yifan." Dashan tried to protect his friend.

"No, I heard it loud and clear. Anlin, tell me, why would you say that?" Yifan asked.

Unlike the figure he saw in the Fire Path, the real Yifan was beautiful. Not as pretty as his previous wives, but still someone that Xun could understand people falling for. Next to her, Hongdao had a slight smile playing across his face.

Xun scratched the back of his head. Anlin's life was a bit messier than he first expected. It was no matter though, he'd clean everything up.

The first step to changing a person's mind is to pull their attention to someone else.

"Sorry," Xun said, "I was only responding to Hongdao. He said some nasty things."

"Is that true?" Yifan whirled on Hongdao. "You really think that you can bully others because you're friends with Fangqiu? Why do you always annoy me?"

Hongdao's smile disappeared. "I didn't mean it like that. I was simply talking about how Fangqiu is now an honorary disciple. And…"

Yifan ignored the weak excuses as she turned back to Xun. "Anlin, it's my fault. Are you alright? I would have come to help you in the Thunder Path, but the elder forbade it. Are you hurt? How can I help?"

The second step is to intensify another of their emotions and let them come to their own conclusion.

"My spirit channels are damaged and everything hurts," Xun replied. "Even this conversation is making my head hurt."

"So Hongdao was taking advantage of your injuries." Yifan walked forward with concern in her eyes. "It makes sense that you'd say those hurtful things now. You aren't thinking straight."

The third step, sow confusion and use it as cover to find an escape.

"Something else happened when I almost died on the Thunder Path," Xun said as he raised a hand to stop the girl from approaching closer. "I've decided to devote my life to cultivation. To show my commitment, I'm changing my name. From now on, please call me Xun."

It was like he had dropped an Ardent Light Rune in the middle of the students. Almost everyone turned their head to look at Xun.

Maybe I confused them a bit too much.

"Anyways, I just want some time alone," Xun said. Like he expected, his conversational tactics had accomplished all his goals, and he wasn't followed as he walked away. He dragged his half-broken body to an empty area on the mountain and looked out at the view below.

The five stone stairs wound around the mountain like snakes. Dots of white and gray clouds drifted around the Thunder Path, sparking. It was peaceful, almost beautiful. Deadly things were like that. Beauty often concealed danger.

I don't know why I've been given this second chance. I don't know how, either. But I'm not going to make the mistakes I did before. This time, I'll make sure that I make it to eternity. Whatever the cost.

Yifan stared after him, seeming as if she wanted to say something. But she couldn't seem to find the right words. Perhaps it was the strange things that Xun had said, or maybe the fact that she was now a disciple and he was a laborer.

"Disciples, it's time to leave," Elder Pi's voice boomed across the mountain.

Underneath his feet was a grey-colored cloud. It was far larger than Elder He's, but also much less intricate. The sides seemed solid, but the students who stepped onto the cloud staggered as their feet sunk into the swirling mist.

Finally, Yifan seemed to have made up her mind on. She called out to Xun.

"An… Xun, I promise I'll help you once I get to the sect. I'll find a way to help you repair your spirit channels. Remember our promise. I'll come find you."

Xun nodded without turning around. In his mind, he hoped that once she realized the heavy cost it took to repair a person's spirit channels, she'd give up on the friendship.

Although they were both about to be cultivators, most sect laborers in Xun's time were glorified mortals; stronger than the average person but weighed down by chores and tasks assigned to them. Most were unable to find the time or the energy to pursue cultivation in earnest.

More than that, he knew the cost it would take to repair his spirit channels wasn't something the average cultivator could bear. In his past life, one of his favorite children had an accident that hurt their talent. Even with damage to their channels much less severe than his own, Xun had spent a fortune to heal everything back to normal. Even if the Nine Thunders Sect was inclined to be so generous, he was unsure if they could bear the cost.

Soon, everyone had boarded the cloud with Elder Pi.

"Zeran, if you don't mind, could you take the laborers to the sect? I want to make sure that the outer disciples arrive on time. I'm sure that everyone else is waiting."

"Of course."

"Good, I'll see you at the sect."

"Safe flight."

After a quick check to make sure that all the outer disciples were present and no laborers had snuck aboard, Elder Pi poured his zhen into the cloud and the group flew off toward the main sect mountain.

The young woman rolled her shoulders back as Elder Pi disappeared in the distance. She still kept her right hand tucked in her dress, but now smiled at the remaining students.

Sensing her kindness, the soon-to-be laborers edged closer.

"Senior Sister Zeran, how are we going to the sect?" One of the remaining students, a lean-looking boy, gathered his courage and spoke up.

"We'll walk."

Chapter 5: Still as a Mountain

The trek to the main sect mountain was taxing, but none of the newly minted laborers complained. For one, they knew better than to leave a bad impression on their first day. Second, Zeran made their time worth it by telling them her own impressions of the history of the Nine Thunders Sect.

"… And so the first sect leader invoked our sect's secret art, the Lightning Fox Technique. Lightning in the shape of a fox surged forward and slammed into the Twin Beast Sect's leader and crippled him."

The laborers made noises of appreciation in accompaniment to the story.

"And that's the story of how the Nine Thunders Sect came to inhabit the Seventeen Mountains. Both the Twin Beast Sect and the Purple Flower Sect agreed that Nine Thunders would have the southern side of the mountains. Over the centuries, we've had skirmishes to preserve our share of the space, but gradually fell into a balance with the other sects. These days, the allocation of the mountain happens over a tournament between disciples of each sect."

"We'll work hard to help contribute to the sect," one of the boys said. He had been right on the heels of the disciple during the hike.

Zeran looked back and smiled. "Your name is Pengzi right?"

The boy nodded furiously.

"Alright, what do you want to hear more of?"

"Sister Ze, could you tell us more about cultivating?"

Zeran found a small clearing along the hike and waited for the laborers to all gather around. Surveying the expectant faces and then glancing up at the sky, she said, "Seems like we have a bit of sunlight left. Who can tell me the four realms of cultivation?"

"Foundation, Consecration, Lord, and Ruler," Pengzi answered in a hurry.

"Good, and remember that within each realm are four smaller stages. What are the four stages of the Foundation Realm?"

"Earth Flesh, Wood Skin, Water Lungs, and Fire Eyes," Pengzi again.

"Seems like you already know everything," Zeran said with a small smile. "How about I talk about the story of the first human? Have any of you ever heard of it?"

This time Pengzi had a look of confusion on his face while the other laborers all shook their head.

"That's okay. It's not very well known. At the start of history, there were five elements. Iron, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They lived together, coexisting and working to create a paradise. There was infinite zhen and the elements each stayed in harmony with one another. But, like all things, trouble eventually found them.

"In those days, there was no good or bad, no virtue or evil. Their downfall came from something far worse. Boredom. They began to become unhappy with their peaceful lives and questioned the purpose behind their existence."

"So what did they do?" one of the female laborers asked.

"One day, three of the elements came together and plotted to create a new element. Water, Fire, and Iron collected an incredible amount of zhen and added their power as a catalyst. But in the process, something went wrong. Out of control, the mixture began to escalate into an impending apocalypse that threatened to destroy their paradise."

The audience gasped.

"To stop that from happening, Iron sacrificed itself and became an enormous forge, the size of an entire continent, that locked the reaction in place. The other elements mourned their friend, but gradually developed a new balance over the following few millennia. Water extinguished Fire, which burned Wood, which in turn parted Earth, which finally completed the cycle by absorbing Water.

"As they settled into their new pattern, the forge that was once Iron cracked apart. At the center of the giant structure was a small blue ball. Lightning. And Lightning created life."

Nestled in the back of the crowd, Xun chewed over what Zeran just said. And lightning created life…

During his earlier examination of his spirit channels, Xun had found that the thunder soul had done more than just tear apart his muscles and damage his channels. A thick black-green paste was nestled right next to his aperture.

Since the paste didn't seem to be bothering his aperture, Xun ignored it at the time. Now that he had a bit more time, he realized that the paste looked familiar. It was as if someone had ripped out the walls of his spirit channels, mashed them together, and then imbued it with a new energy. If he thought about it, that was kind of what had happened.

More than that, the paste was giving off a woody, spring-like feeling. It looked like the raw form of lifespan pills.

Back when Xun was a disciple, his master had often given him one-year lifespan pills. Those were mostly pale green and refined by Foundation Realm beginner alchemists. They tasted horrible.

Later, when he built his own sect, he'd often chew on ten-year lifespan pills, refined personally by the sect's Consecration Realm alchemist. And he would have kept eating them if it weren't for the fact that each pill left his body with a small amount of poison. As he ate more, the benefits he got from each ten-year lifespan pill became smaller and smaller. Eventually, they no longer added enough new life to his body to justify their toxicity.

The hundred-year pills that he had been searching for before death were dark green, and each one was the product of a Lord Realm master alchemist.

It was said that thousand-year pills looked black-green, and that even Ruler Realm grandmaster alchemists couldn't always successfully refine them.

And yet, the paste was black-green.

Did I just gain a thousand years' worth of lifespan? Does sacrificing one's talent give them the chance to increase their lifespan by that much?

Before Xun could think more, Zeran began to answer another question.

"… while most people know that they must first finish the Earth Muscle Stage before proceeding to the Wood Skin Stage, cultivating is a bit more complex than that. Take the Earth Muscle Stage. Technically, anyone who's opened their aperture is at that stage and can start nurturing their muscles with zhen. But when should a person begin training for the Wood Skin Stage?"

The laborers each volunteered their own answer.

"When they have strength that rivals a bear."

"When they can lift fifty stones."

"When they think it's time. They should feel it."

Zeran smiled at the last answer. "You're all technically right. A long time ago, a poet described those who complete the Earth Muscle Stage as, 'One must be as swift as wind, still as a mountain, aggressive as fire, and quick as lightning.' That's because each stage has four ranks."

"I've heard of ranks." It was Pengzi again. "For the Earth Muscle Stage, that's Entrance, Strength to rival a bear, Strength to rival an ox, and Strength to rival a tiger."

"Correct. Any cultivator who reaches a new stage is automatically at the Entrance rank of that stage. From there, they must go through the Minor Attainment, Major Attainment, and Perfection ranks before advancing to the next stage. Like what Pengzi said, the Earth Muscle stage's ranks revolve around strength."

The students all nodded.

"Good, now let's continue." She began hiking up the mountain again. "I might have gotten a little carried away with the story there. We'll need to hurry to make it to the sect before sunset."

—

On the second half of the journey, Zeran began to take extra care to protect her troop of laborers. She cleared away the overgrown underbrush and even pointed out the lairs of dangerous spirit beasts. As a result, the laborers were exhausted but all in one piece when they reached the giant entrance gate of the sect.

"If I could, I'd like for you to remember something." Zeran turned back to address the disciples before they entered the sect. "Even though you're a laborer today, that doesn't mean that you'll forever be one. Everyone who enters the Nine Thunders Sect begins their cultivation the same way. They're given a copy of the Sky Thunder Scriptures to learn how to open their aperture. It's the same one that the first sect leader used."

"Even us?" one of the laborers asked.

"Everyone. The scripture is but a single aspect of your cultivation. To grow, you need the heart and will to practice even when you're tired or unhappy. Elder He was correct in saying that cultivating needs courage. But I believe that cultivation is more than that. It's a process where you learn about and accept each part of yourself, both good and bad. They are all a part of you."

The laborers had confusion in their eyes, but nodded along.

"If you do so, I believe that you will become disciples. When that happens, I have a personal request to make of you. Would you consider joining the alchemist faction, led by Elder Lifeng? We're known to be one of the most united factions in the sect."

Everyone hurriedly voiced their promise to join the alchemist faction. Disciple Zeran had cared for them after the exam, and that kindness had been magnified by the disdain the previous two elders flung at them.

Xun, however, tugged Dashan's sleeve to stop him from making any such promises. When the larger boy looked confused, Xun shook his head.

A small kindness used in the right place is far better than a heavy gift at the wrong time.

In his past life, sect entrance exams were a time when all the different factions within the sect competed to recruit the most disciples. More disciples meant more power, which led to more resources.

But the real prize was actually the laborers. Most people ignored them, given the low chance of most laborers becoming cultivators and the fact that very few would ever get past the Foundation Realm. But there were ten laborers for every disciple. And at least one in five laborers eventually graduates to disciple. Zeran, by hiking with everyone, won the hearts of all the laborers in one swoop. If any of them eventually become an outer disciple, they'd not only join her faction but also be loyal to her.

The other two elders each had their eyes set on the most talented students of the year. In some ways, their choice wasn't wrong. It was usually better to bet on a sure thing than to gamble on an unknown possibility.

But when the cost to win the hearts of the laborers was just a bit of time? It was simply good business to take such an opportunity.

Zeran nodded her thanks to the group and pointed them to the entrance of the sect. The group bid her farewell as they walked under the sect's entrance gate with their heads held high. Many of them were probably dreaming of the day that they proved their talent and became outer disciples of the sect.

—

The moment the students crossed the entrance gate and became official laborers, outer disciples who had been standing by the sect entrance pounced forward.

"What took you guys so long?" One of the larger disciples asked.

"We…" Pengzi began. He looked back and found that Zeran was nowhere to be found. "We didn't realize that senior disciples were waiting for us. I'm sorry."

"Bah, this happens every year." This came from one of the other disciples, a smaller man with a mustache. "You see, these laborers still think that they're the same as everyone else."

A third disciple, this one chubby, stepped forward. "Listen up. You might have been the smartest kid in your village, or even your town, but you're laborers now. You know what that means? It means that you're on the lowest rung of the sect. Do you know why you had to walk up the mountain while your peers came up on clouds? It's because you deserve to grovel in the ground to make up for your lack of talent."

In the end, the laborers were split into multiple groups, each for a different function. Some people became smith apprentices, while others were assigned to become pill servants or paper makers.

"Pengzi, Lanhua, Liubo, Anlin, Wangpan, Zhuge," the chubby disciple said. "You six are assigned to spirit farming. I'm Disciple Fanpin. Come with me."

Dashan had been assigned to the alchemists. Xun didn't have time to say goodbye before getting separated by the impatient disciples.

Disciple Fanpin marched the group for two hours to one of the side mountains, a fair distance away from the main sect mountain. It was split into three sections. At the bottom was a small smattering of huts with a small fire pit at the center. The middle, which comprised most of the mountain, had been transformed into terraced farms. The top was wreathed in trees, with a small cabin nestled in the forest.

"This is the Bright Sun Farm. Your new home." The disciple scanned over his new laborers, and his gaze lingered on Lanhua for a brief moment. Xun shivered as he got the sense that the laborer was looking at them as if they were cattle.

Chapter 6: Inner Breathing Method

"Spirit farming is probably the best job you laborers could have hoped for. All you have to do is watch over the spirit rice and work hard during the harvest days each month." Disciple Fanpin said, relishing the control he had over the six laborers. "I still remember when I was a laborer, working as an apprentice to a smith. I had to wake up at the hour of the tiger, before the sun rose. I'd go to sleep at the hour of the dog, long after the sun fell. You don't know how good you have it."

Once again, it was Pengzi who spoke up, ruining the plans of everyone else trying to avoid the disciple's attention. "I agree. We'll work hard on the farm."

"That's good. Hard work and persistence are the most important virtues of a laborer," Fanpin said. Reaching behind his back, he put his arm into his robes and extracted a small scroll. "This is the Sky Thunder Scripture. It's the official cultivation scripture for the sect. I expect everyone to open their apertures within a month and begin helping on the farm."

Pengzi stepped forward to accept the scroll. "Thank you, Senior Fan. If I may, could I know if there are any other laborers at Bright Sun Farm?"

The disciple's lips curled downward as he dropped the scroll to the ground before Pengzi reached him.

"First, it's Disciple Fan, not senior. None of you are disciples yet, only laborers. And second, no. It's only you six. The laborers who came before you have all reached the Water Lung Stage and graduated to outer disciples. That alone should tell you how lucky you were to have been assigned here. Third, the rice matures every month. I'll take care of this month's harvest, but if you're not a cultivator and helping out during the next harvest cycle I'll kick you out of the sect myself. Understood?"

The laborers, Pengzi and Xun included, lowered their heads in acceptance.

"One last thing." Fanpin began to walk away before remembering something. He turned back with a serious look on his face. "None of you are allowed to go beyond the farms and into the forest at the top of the mountain. If you disturb my rest, I'll make sure that you regret it."

And with that, their new boss took one last look at his laborers, paused his eyes on Lanhua again, and walked up the small stone path to the top of the mountain.

Without Fanpin's presence, the laborers relaxed.

Pengzi spun around and addressed the other laborers. "The zhen here is so thick. I feel better just breathing it in."

"And it's so pretty," Lanhua commented.

And there's so much farmland that we're going to be in the fields from sunrise to sundown, Xun complained to himself. There were enough terraces along the mountain that even a small village's worth of labor would have had a hard time tending to everything.

"So what cultivation realm do you guys think Senior Zeran is at?" Pengzi asked.

The two male laborers edged closer.

"I think Senior Ze's at least at the Water Lung Stage," the taller of the two said.

"That's wrong, Wangpan. I heard a rumor that she's actually at the Fire Eyes Stage and about to attempt the Dragon Leap," the shorter of the two said.

"You're dreaming, Liubo," Wangpan said. "She's so young. If she reaches the Consecration Realm, then she'll be one of the sect's elders."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Pengzi asked back.

The laborers fell silent.

"What about Disciple Fanpin?" Lanhua asked. From her tone, it was easy to see that she wasn't a fan of the more aggressive disciple.

"I'd say he's at the Water Lung level. At most." Wangpan said, a bit of malevolence edging into his voice. "I wonder when I can reach that stage and become an outer disciple."

"I'm sure it'll be soon," Pengzi said, carelessly. He then pointed at the largest hut in the village, which sat conveniently near the fire pit at the center of the empty village. "Sister Lan, what do you think about this house? It seems like the best maintained of them all. I think you should take it."

Thrust into the spotlight again, Lanhua looked around at the other disciples for any objections. The second female laborer caught her eye and nodded in an almost imperceptible way. Perhaps having needed that extra confirmation, she accepted the offer of superior lodgings. "That sounds good, Brother Peng. I'll accept the house, if no one has any objections. Thank you."

"And this house will be mine. There are more than enough huts here that we don't need to fight over them." Pengzi beamed, gesturing to the hut directly next to Lanhua's house.

"Wait, why should…"

Before the other male laborers could object, Pengzi waved the scripture scroll still in his hand, "We should all pick our huts. Then tonight, when we're all settled in, we can study the Sky Thunder Scripture together."

It was obvious that Pengzi wanted some time alone with the scripture, and also get on Lanhua's good side as well. Xun couldn't care less. It was highly unlikely that a sect would give their laborers anything better than a Shale tier scripture, and he had more important things to figure out. Before the others broke out into argument, he nodded his head and claimed one of the more isolated huts.

—

Xun knew of two Silver scriptures. The first was one he had practiced in his past life, and the second was one that he obtained after establishing his sect. But neither would be enough to overcome the damage to his channels. He needed something greater.

A cultivator's growth, he knew, was a simple combination of two variables. Scripture and talent.

Scriptures taught cultivators how to cycle zhen. Better scriptures allowed a cultivator to cycle more times in a single day. And talent determined how much zhen a cultivator could retain each cycle.

Both scriptures and spirit channels were classified into Chalk, Shale, Silver, Gold, and Jade tiers.

A Chalk-tier scripture could only support cycling zhen ten times in a single day. Any more and the cultivator would damage their spirit channels. Shale allowed thirty cycles, Silver fifty, Gold seventy, and Jade ninety.

So someone practicing a Jade scripture would increase their cultivation at nine times the rate of a cultivator using a Chalk scripture. There was, Xun thought, no justice under the heavens. Those who started high tended to stay there. Those who started low paid the price for their misfortune every day.

Chalk spirit channels were as low and worthless as the name implied. They were the unfortunate reality for most people, forever barred from the path to eternity. The walls of their channels were an ashy white color and could only retain ten percent of the zhen that passed through them.

The other student-turned-laborers had Shale channels. Their channel walls were dull gray and saved thirty percent of cycled zhen. Silver channels, were the next step up and retained fifty percent. Gold channels retained seventy, and Jade ninety.

Xun's previous combination of Gold channels and Silver scripture meant he could cycle fifty times per day at seventy percent efficiency for a net of thirty-five units of zhen.

But now, his current spirit channels were so broken that before he could even finish a single cycle, only five percent of the zhen was left. So even with a Silver scripture and cultivating thirty times a day, Xun would only gain one to two units worth of zhen each day. At that rate, it'd take at least two months to reach the hundred units of zhen necessary to open his aperture.

To go back to Chalk talent level requires the Seven Turns Pill, a Foundation level pill worth ten spirit stones. But I'm penniless. Xun paced around his hut, feeling the cold wood floor beneath his bare foot.

Absentmindedly, he found a corner of the hut and sat down. Reaching a finger out, he began to write on the dusty floor in front of him.

He first wrote "Selling Past Techniques and Scriptures."

What if I sold some of the scriptures and techniques that I know? Xun spent a few seconds mulling over the idea before dismissing it. While his knowledge was valuable, he was too weak to get the proper value for it. The Chalk scriptures or techniques were useless to the sect, and anything better than that would raise uncomfortable questions he was not prepared to answer.

Xun crossed out his first idea. Underneath it, he wrote "Selling Guidance."

As a sect leader, Xun had spent plenty of time answering cultivation questions from his disciples and descendants. But unfortunately, while he knew that this knowledge would guarantee anyone a smooth journey to at least the third stage of the Consecration Realm, it carried the same problem as selling techniques and scriptures. He was too weak. No one would believe his advice, let alone pay for it.

He crossed out the second idea.

Xun wiped the dust words away in frustration as he wrote a third idea. He could, he thought, create a better Scripture.

He couldn't describe it but thinking about scriptures gave him a feeling that he was on the right track. Xun closed his eyes to better follow his instinct.

I only have two Silver scriptures. Neither is going to be enough for me to really cultivate. Not with my spirit channels in such a weak state. He needed a Gold-tier scripture where he could cycle seventy times a day to have a cultivation pace fast enough to open his aperture before the month ended.

The problem was that Gold-tier scriptures were a guarded treasure, restricted heavily even in top sects. Anything better, like Jade scriptures, were so rare that the entire continent only had three of them. Even in his past life, he hadn't seen any of them personally.

If I had known that I had the chance to reincarnate, I'd have sold all of my fortune for a Gold scripture. If only whatever chose to reincarnate me had also given me a Gold scripture. Actually, while I'm dreaming, why don't I ask for a Jade scripture, or even a mythical Emerald scripture that promises a hundred cycles each day?~

Xun's eyes snapped open.

Technically, he had an emerald scripture in his memory. It was one that almost everyone, cultivator or mortal, knew. But among the millions of people who practiced this scripture, the ones who found success could probably be counted on a single hand.

Even more famous than its mythical emerald status was its legendary difficulty. It was said that the scripture was notorious for the amount of pain it brought to the cultivator. On top of that, following the scriptures would damage a person's spirit channels. Where the first difficulty deterred most mortals, the second obstacle discouraged most cultivators.

Talent was everything for a cultivator. The rule of cultivation was that someone with Silver spirit channels was guaranteed to cultivate further than someone with Shale spirit channels.

But Xun's spirit channels had already been ravaged to such an extent that there wasn't much more that he could do to damage them. While he hated pain as much as the next person, he didn't exactly have a choice. An emerald scripture would triple his cultivation speed compared to the Silver scripture.

This was probably his best bet.

Grabbing a brush pen and scroll from the nearby table, Xun began to write out the scripture.

As someone with a Silver scripture in his past life, Xun had paid very little attention to a scripture that only mortals with no other choice would cultivate. The only reason he had memorized the scripture was out of curiosity and the vague notion that it might help his cultivation one day. So there were a couple parts where his memories were fuzzy that he took care to mark out.

In the end, he had a couple thousand words splayed across a scroll. And at the top of the scroll were three words: Inner Breathing Method.

Chapter 7: Is this Torture or Cultivation?

With his method now set, Xun wasted no time in beginning his cultivation.

For all the downsides, there was one concrete benefit to being a mortal. He didn't need to worry about stuff like heart demons or wrong scriptures. Those dangers would come in their time, after he had opened his aperture, but for now, he was too weak for small mistakes to compound into serious problems as they would for someone more advanced on the path. He might not be sure of some parts of the scripture but if he was wrong, he could correct himself as he went with little risk.

Following the first step of the method, Xun exhaled as deeply as he could, then waited. Soon, his lungs were burning from the lack of air and he felt blood rushing to his head.

With his iron willpower holding his reflexes in check, his body began to panic. At the same time, the oxygen deprivation began taking its toll and his eyelids became heavy.

Still, he waited. The rings around his vision became darker and darker until, on the brink of unconsciousness, his body found another way to get its air.

Every pore of Xun's body opened as he greedily sucked air in not through his lungs, but through his skin. And sneaking in to be greedily gulped down with it was zhen.

That was the crux of the Inner Breathing Method. The name itself was a pretty big hint. He breathed through his body, instead of the organs tailor-made for that purpose. Technically, anyone could do this, it just was painful.

With air coming in through his pores, the pressure on Xun began to relax. He waited until there was a full cycle's worth of zhen before sending it to each of his limbs, completing the cycle in a single minute. Then, he held the remaining ball of zhen, a five percent portion of the original amount, and threw it at his aperture.

The mist-like energy splashed against the rock-like surface of the aperture and disappeared. It looked like nothing had changed. But that was to be expected, especially given how little zhen remained after each cycle.

The first cycle was over. Every part of Xun's body was screaming him to use his nose or mouth to breathe.

Instead, he began the second cycle of the Inner Breathing Method.

—

Everyone, even those born with Gold or Jade spirit channels, were born mortal, their apertures unopened.

The first step of cultivation was to collect zhen and attack the aperture at a single spot. Once enough zhen had been thrown at the aperture, it would crack open, revealing an empty core. Cultivators could then use that space to store zhen in mist form. Usually, it took about a hundred units of zhen to open their aperture.

For Xun, who was pushing less than one-tenth of a single unit of zhen at his aperture in each cycle, it'd take thousands of cycles just to open his aperture.

After the second cycle, Xun realized that there was a reason that the Inner Breathing Method wasn't called a scripture. Whoever had written the thing probably realized that it was closer to a torture method than a true cultivation scripture.

As Xun finished his fifth cycle, he had to use every part of his strength to stop his body from taking a breath. It wasn't that the scripture forbade him from taking a break between cycles. He resisted because taking a break would set a dangerous precedent.

If he allowed himself a breath, His mind would know that pausing, relaxing, breathing, or generally quitting was an option. And when things got hard, like they did every second of practicing the method, it would give itself permission to stop.

On the tenth cycle, the mild stings he felt each time the zhen came through his pores turned into needle-like agony all over his body, including some more obscure areas where he was sure he never felt pain before. His spirit channels were also getting battered by the reckless zhen-gathering, but the remaining walls of his channels were so far proving sturdy enough to withstand the zhen's rampage.

After fifteen cycles, Xun found himself fantasizing that his worst enemies had to use this method to cycle a hundred times each day. His face paled with the realization that the fantasy was to be the reality of his life, not theirs.

He reached twenty cycles. Staying on the edge of almost blacking out and pushing down his body's instinct to take a deep breath was becoming incredibly hard, almost beyond his capabilities. It felt like there was a giant millstone grinding against his chest.

Perhaps he had underestimated the difficulty of this scripture. In his past life, the silver scripture had also involved some level of pain, but nothing he couldn't handle. Mostly it just required patience to complete the fifty cycles. Each cycle took anywhere from six to ten minutes, and a full cultivating session lasted around six hours.

The Inner Breathing Method was different.

Each cycle only took a single minute. Somehow, that now felt like a negative instead of a positive. At the start of each cycle was an intense burst of pain. The hurt would lessen while the zhen cycled through his body, but less than a minute later, he'd have to brace for the pain again.

Twenty-five cycles. Xun knew that his Inner Breathing Method was wrong. It wasn't a major problem, just that he was losing a bit more zhen than necessary each time he allowed the zhen to linger in his limbs. He tried to think of something he could do to correct the inefficiency, but nothing came to mind.

Thirty cycles. Xun had to concentrate entirely on cultivation. It was hard not to. Any time his mind wandered away from the task at hand, the start of a new cycle brought a painful reminder to keep his focus.

Forty cycles. Time seemed to slow down as Xun's determination began to waver. Each cycle was harder than the last and he began questioning if this was all worth it.

Did it really make sense to pursue the path to eternity again after all that he went through in his past life? Wouldn't it be easier to live out the rest of his life as a mortal, especially given how broken his spirit channels were? He'd never have to worry about pills or spirit stones or losing face. And he'd never have to practice this cursed scripture again.

As the fiftieth cycle turned into the fifty-first, Xun found he already knew the answer to his question.

I want to become immortal. I want to see the view at the top of the mountain, to go where no other has gone. I want to reach eternity.

That single thought reverberated across his mind as he kept cultivating. Sixty cycles. Seventy. Eighty… A hundred.

Without realizing it, Xun began cycling his hundred and first cycle. And then hundred and second. Although pain still wracked his body, his face was serene, peaceful even. It was like nothing was bothering him.

If another cultivator had seen Xun in that moment, they would have known exactly what was happening. Xun was in a moment of enlightenment, one of the rare times where a cultivator lost themselves in their cultivation. At the end of the process, they'd understand something new about themselves, something that would drive their progress in a way mere practice and dedication couldn't.

Usually, these moments of enlightenment came after a fight or during meditation. Xun lacked the luxury of a restful time to experience his. He kept cycling zhen, and the strains from the Inner Breathing Method were beginning to show. Small dots of red appeared throughout his skin like unhealthy goose bumps, then blood started flowing out of all of his pores.

Finally, when Xun hit the two hundredth cycle, he opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

Wow that felt really nice. It's been a while since I was in a state of enlightenment.

But that scripture really, really hurts.

Xun didn't have time for a third thought. His world went sideways. An instant later, it turned black.

—

When Xun woke up, the sun had already set. He was lying on the ground, his new robe drenched in a mixture of blood and sweat. All his muscles were screaming like they had been abused. In a way, they weren't wrong.

Xun folded his legs under him and tried to stand. His first attempt failed pathetically. He landed face-first on the floor again. The second attempt was better, especially since he learned from his mistake and grabbed onto his bed for balance. His legs felt like noodles, his arms like stalks of grass.

It smells horrible in here. With the moon's dim light, Xun looked at his hand and found it a dark red. Blood had sunk into every crease of his skin and dried there. What in the nine skies happened?

I need something… The rice field.

Beyond just scriptures and spirit channels, there was a third way that cultivators could increase their cultivation, resources.

It was said that with enough resources, a toddler could become a Consecration Realm cultivator. Though that story was likely apocryphal, there was some nugget of truth. Spirit rice was one of the most basic spirit plants and each pound of rice had around eight units of zhen.

The only problem was that a cultivator couldn't just mash their face in rice to keep gaining zhen. When consumed, a spirit plant's zhen would diffuse through the cultivator's body. Over time, a cultivator's zhen cycles would pick up the energy and deposit it in the cultivator's aperture. Even though the spirit rice's zhen was incredibly calm, too much of any type of zhen would damage the cultivator's body.

That's why most spirit plants were used as ingredients for pill refinement. By extracting the essence of each plant, pills could supplement a cultivator's cultivation directly or even help them break through to the next rank, stage, or realm.

The picture changed when one's body was injured or broken to the extent Xun's was. For his purposes, zhen diffusing throughout his body was just fine.

Opening his door, he stumbled out into the open. He had enough awareness to know that he should try and avoid the other laborers. Luckily, his hut was remote enough that no one noticed him dipping into the lower terraces of the farm.

Surrounded by rice stalks, Xun snapped one of them with his hand and brought it to his mouth. He used his teeth to thresh the stalk and swallowed the grains raw.

As each grain of rice slipped into his stomach, they turned into miniscule amounts of zhen and sped through his spirit channels, choosing random locations in his body as their new homes. And since almost every part in his body was broken to some degree, wherever the zhen settled, the nearby muscle fibers began to greedily take in the energy and heal themselves.

In seconds, the zhen from the raw rice was gone.

Xun brought a second stalk to his mouth and swallowed. Before he took the third stalk, a small voice in his mind cautioned him towards reason. Taking too much from a single location would expose him. If he was going to steal from the spirit farm, the least he could do was be smart about it.

With strength the rice had provided, Xun stood up and slipped off his shoes. He made his way to the drainage ditches dug alongside each terrace. From there, he began to pick ten to twelve grains of rice off each stalk, spacing out his theft to minimize the chances of it being discovered.

Because the harvest wasn't ready yet, the rice was green and small. But there was still a slight bit of zhen in them, less than the fully mature spirit rice but greater than the ambient zhen that Xun would take in from breathing.

The mud and water in the ditches squelched with each step that Xun took, but he had no intention of moving to the elevated footpaths. Snout-nosed rice borers appeared more frequently next to drainage ditches. It was natural for the stalks closer to the ditches to have lower yields, and nobody would question it enough to search for his footprints.

Xun shoved the rice in his mouth as he slowly made his way through the terrace.

As he worked, he noticed more insects were sticking to the rice stalks than normal. The yields of the rice would be severely impacted, but that suited Xun's needs just fine. It might be a problem for someone else, later. For now, it helped cover his tracks.

Once he ate enough unripe rice that his body felt bursting with zhen, he made his way back to his hut. He could have taken more, but having green rice in his hut during the day was asking for trouble. If he needed more rice later, he could steal it then.

He was set on food, at least for the moment. Now, what he needed the most was an alibi.