Calculating Cultivation

“The zombies don’t have much on them. Even the armor and clothing isn’t that good,” Wen Xue muttered quietly.

We had been searching the city for two weeks now. Carefully moving between buildings. We had found several rank 3 treasures and a few rank 4 treasures. Weapons, equipment, unknown tools, all quite valuable but not what I needed. There was even a rank 5 sword that we found that was on par with the one my first master Yi Rong had given me.

“We need to go the central plaza and the palace,” I muttered quietly. We were already pushing things, with patrols of zombies moving constantly about. With my sight we had avoided any close calls, but it was risky. One mistake and we would be swarmed and killed. Most buildings were packed with zombies now. Only a few had a couple on patrol.

“I don’t think we are going to find any null metal. If you haven’t spotted anything. Maybe it falls off from the rocks underneath the city instead of being found in here?” Wen Xue said and I winced at this.

“There are reports of null metal being brought back or discovered on the Floating Island, but no details,” I replied.

“Well, if there were easy sources, they would have been picked clean over the millennia. We would need a big distraction if we want to keep going and you have even pointed out zombies on the rooftops,” Wen Xue replied. “I think we should think about retreating.”

“With what we have, that is nothing. An expedition to kill beasts would have been more profitable. We can try a decoy array,” I said and Wen Xue winced at the suggestion.

“We can, but it is a risk. We need to be far away and timers on arrays are difficult. And then it would be easily destroyed. An array won’t run away and have the zombies give chase,” he replied.

“Maybe, but we need to do something, and that palace is bound to have better stuff. You have noticed the quality and number of items has increased the deeper we have gone,” I replied.

“And the risk. Every time you sleep, my nerves are on edge,” he countered. There was a lot of pressure on both of us. But we couldn’t give up now. If we got another rank 7 treasure, then it might be possible to exchange for null metal depending on the rarity.

Giving up at the start was not good. While Wen Xue might be happy with the scraps, I wanted and needed something more. There was no turning back for me here until I got what I came for. “Can you make an array to act somewhere else?”

“Displacement, not easily. Remote activation could lead the zombies back to us as well,” he said.

“What about a three day timer? We set up this building to go crazy, and another one four days from now. Then we spend two days circling around to the other side of the center of the city.”

“That would use up all my supplies, but it can be done. Activating on a specific day is doable. But there will be a day gap,” he said.

“Can’t you have the arrays trigger one after another?” I asked and he considered that question.

“It will be tricky. But one master formation with satellite arrays would be possible. I will have to use up two of the larger plates. That would just leave us with one left.” I nodded at this.

“Good, we have a plan. Get to work. Draw up what you need to so we can move quickly in both buildings,” I said, and he nodded. The zombies didn’t seem to care if one of their companions went missing. They kept doing whatever it was that they did. Moving around, rebuilding or relocating parts of the city, standing around in groups in the various buildings.

The next five days were stressful as Wen Xue got the arrays prepared while I kept an eye on the zombies. I had some idea on their detection range, with previous arrays we had used to test things out. But I had no idea how that compared to us personally or if different zombies had different ranges.

One thing that was bothering me was the lack of decay. The zombies were rotten with pieces of flesh missing. Their clothes were in tatters. But there were no maggots, bugs, or even a smell indicating decay.

I got us close as we could to the plaza. Wen Xue was out of arrays at this point. Either to disable or distract the zombies. All he could do was disable the hostile arrays. I hadn’t seen any of the zombies setting them up, or any arrays forming in places we had already been.

A loud screech sound echoed over the city. All the zombies, but the ones standing in groups inside the buildings, instantly turned towards the noise and began making their way to the location. More arrays activated one after another was more zombies were pulled away from the center of the city.

We then quickly made our way to the biggest building, which we were calling the palace. There were no markings or decorations. Whoever made this place didn’t think too much about aesthetics. I checked and there were no zombies inside. I also checked the plaza in the center of the city. There was a fountain, which was a shock. Since it was the first major decoration that I had spotted beyond the brickwork of the zombie city.

Looking back at the five story palace, there was a formation on the front door, five overlapping arrays. I had been too far to spot it before. I quickly described it to Wen Xue while also making my notes. The loud noises continued. Once the formation was copied down, I checked out the fountain while Wen Xue quickly worked to disable the formation.

The water was clear, and I didn’t see any energy inside of it. The fountain itself was a circular design like the plaza. The fountain had four tiers, with water gushing out of the top. There were multiple arrays on the fountain itself. There was no ornamentation, and nothing to take.

“Yuan Zhou,” Wen Xue said from the palace doors. I rushed back over just as the door clicked open.

“That quickly?” I asked.

“An older common design. While complex it has already been solved and used as a teaching tool,” he replied as we pushed open the doors as another loud screech occurred off in the distance. We had to hurry.

Inside the palace, it was everything my heart could desire. There were pedestals of rare materials on them enclosed in glowing arrays. This was the only light in the entire place. It wasn’t a palace, it was a treasure vault. I noted a rank 7 gun, a green ocean lily contained in a sphere of water, a black glowing mask that was plain except for two eye holes and probably rank 8.

“With me,” I told Wen Xue and raced forward, quickly scanning for anything that could be null metal in this treasure horde. “There!” I pointed at one pedestal, and we raced over. The chunk of metal was deep black, incredibly deep black. That was the sign that this was null metal.

I quickly began to describe the two arrays that made up the formation. “The inner one is a containment, the other one is a trigger, but the array is active. I can see it myself. The inner one isn’t a problem.” We only had a few minutes left and I knew an active array was not simple.

Unlike the previous ones Wen Xue could not just disable it without the trigger kicking in. Something was supplying it with power. A master formation of some sort. Similar to what we had done to lure the zombies away.

The problem with active arrays, was that anyone could easily see them. I noticed it was much brighter than the previous arrays. “I think I can disable it for a few seconds without triggering it,” Wen Xue said.

“Do it,” I replied. He poked the array with his rod. Various of the symbols flickered and the glowing portion began to curve. A visible hole quickly formed. I could see the energy dispersing into the air where the array had been bent, like sparks coming from a loose wire.

I quickly pulled out my containment case, opening up one end. It had been given to me specifically to put in null metal and not expose it. I stuck the case through the arrays and the hole Wen Xue had made. I angled the opening of the lid, and then pulled the mechanical latch. The lid began to close and the edges caught the black null metal, pulling it inside the case. The case snapped shut and I quickly pulled it free.

It couldn’t go into my spatial ring due to the properties of null metal, but that didn’t matter. “Another?” Wen Xue asked as another screech happened in the distance. We would be cutting things close, but in my mind we couldn’t let these treasures go.

“Yes, you pick,” I told him.

“There,” he quickly pointed at a book on the pedestal next to ours. There was no title on the cover, and it seemed to be made of human flesh. That seemed like a bad choice. I would have picked the rank 7 gun, but apparently Wen Xue wanted tainted knowledge.

He quickly began working on the array. I pulled out a grabber stick from my spatial ring. Basically, a long stick with a piece of string, and grippers that would close on the far end. “Good,” Wen Xue said as another hole formed in the active array. I quickly pulled the book out and tossed it with my grabber stick into my spatial ring. I definitely wasn’t about to touch it.

“We need to go,” he said, and I nodded. We quickly left the treasure palace. Closing the door on our way out. The zombies were already flooding back into the rest of the city as we retreated far in front of them.

“Leaving?” Wen Xue asked, and I nodded. While we had another sound distraction ready to go off tomorrow, the zombies would be in a patrolling frenzy after being disturbed. No need to take any more risks. We got what we came for, plus a creepy tome.

Trying to figure out the secrets of this place, or take anything more, was asking for major trouble. There were zombies patrolling the streets up ahead. These ones weren’t pulled away apparently. I adjusted our course through the empty streets to avoid the zombies.

That was when I saw people in the far distance, coming over the wall. “This way,” I told Wen Xue and we turned to our right. They might have spotted us, but no one would risk a fight in the city unless they were crazy or suicidal.

Wen Xue and I were breathing hard as we kept retreating. I had to carry the containment case with the null metal, and it wasn’t light. While my cultivation helped, it was clearly a heavy treasure. I didn’t spot anyone pursuing us, as I quickly led us to an empty building. Wen Xue quickly broke the arrays as I called them out to him.

Entering the building, we made our way to the third floor to rest, while I kept checking around us. I didn’t see those people from earlier at all, or any zombies in our building or approaching. “We did it,” I said quietly with a smile.

“I can’t believe it. What was that place? The wealth? It was like an ancestor’s treasure abode,” he said.

“Probably stuff the zombies collect from people or around the area. I am surprised there was null metal, sitting right there. I would have thought it would have been somewhere else,” I replied. “I wasn’t expecting a treasure palace.”

“I am surprised more people haven’t broken in,” Wen Xue said.

“We only moved so quickly since I could describe the arrays and spot the zombies. Anyone else, one mistake and it would be over,” I replied with a smile. The adrenaline was finally coming down from the heist. I couldn’t wait to get away from this death trap and never come back. “Why the book?” I asked.

“Um, well, it was the closest thing,” Wen Xue said, and I chuckled at that while rolling my eyes. “It is probably super valuable.”

“A book made of flesh, probably is. I would guess rank 8 cultivator flesh,” I replied, and he looked nauseous at that statement. “I am not pulling it out until we leave and are in a safe place. That thing is probably cursed.”

“I saw the containment array. It is designed to contain energy,” Wen Xue replied. That was good since it was active, he could see it. “I am just not clear on the type. There were some drawings I am unsure about. I should write them down,” he said and pulled out his personal notebook he kept on him.

I checked around us once more. I saw three cultivators approaching our building from the outside. “Wen Xue, three cultivators have found us.” He looked up in fear. It was hard to make out their cultivation, but if I had to guess they were all rank 4 cultivators. One stage above me and they most likely had techniques.

We couldn’t win and I had no idea how they were following us. Worst of all we were tired from setting everything up and moving about the last couple of days. Now with all the running we had done, we were in no condition to fight. We also had no more killing arrays prepared. I quickly pulled out scent concealer and used it.

“Out the window,” I said quietly and Wen Xue nodded, putting away his notebook. The window was quite narrow. I went first and was grateful the container with the null metal barely fit through. Leaping down, I landed quietly on my feet. The cultivators were on the third floor when Wen Xue leapt off and we quickly ran.

This time I led us back towards the center of the zombie city, taking more risks on the patrols and we curved into the higher risk areas and then back out, finding another abandoned building to hide in. Wen Xue all but collapsed in exhaustion when we came to a stop while I kept watch.

Once he had slept for a couple hours, I woke him up to get some sleep. Thankfully no one showed up that entire time. My ability to see the zombies at a distance through the walls, was a huge advantage that let us rush around recklessly.

The cultivators who had showed up wouldn’t have such luck, even if they could trap us. The risk was too high. One mistake and they would be zombie chow. When Wen Xue woke me up, he let me know that the zombies hadn’t gone into a frenzy.

That meant there was the other group and us out here and they were clearly interested in us. The fact we avoided a confrontation meant we were cautious, afraid, or both. “We have supplies for a while, we wait here?” Wen Xue asked me and I nodded.

“At least a couple of days. Rest and recover. Then we need to figure out how to get off the floating island.” While I had prepared quite a bit, I hadn’t been able to prepare a parachute unfortunately. That would have made this incredibly simple.

“Getting down Mount Atlas will be risky, with our cultivation and that case. Even if our cultivation is hidden. Old Hengar?” Wen Xue suggested.

“No idea when he will show up again. Could be in a day. Could be months from now. We have rope. I can put the container in a pack, and put our remaining food in the spatial ring,” I said and then frowned. “Or maybe not. I am worried about that book you picked.”

“It might corrupt stuff in your ring?” he asked me. I put in some beef jerky into my spatial ring next to the book along with some hardtack.

“We will test it out. See if anything happens. But I can’t believe you picked something like that. It was made with human skin,” I muttered.

“I am sorry, but I panicked a bit,” Wen Xue defended himself.

“It is fine. It is probably worth a lot. We will need to get back to Imperial City safely to sell it,” I said.

“And not read it?” he asked. I stared at him.

“Is your mind corrupted?” I asked him.

“No. Why?”

“That book is clearly super evil. Like demonic cultivators eating babies kind of evil. I have no doubt that the moment we pull it out, think about it, or look at it, something horrible will happen. We take it to the Imperial Sect, someplace very secure and safe, and sell it,” I replied.

“And lose that knowledge? We won’t even know its worth,” he said.

“It is rank 7 or rank 8. We can trade for at least six rank 6 treasures. Maybe more,” I said. Our deal was that I got the null metal, everything else we split equally. That was due to how much I had invested in this expedition out of my pocket and my spatial rings. Stuff Wen Xue didn’t have.

“Still think we should look at it and see if we can learn anything. Maybe it says how to control the zombies,” he replied.

“Then someone else can look at the evil book instead of us. I can trade my half for a focusing crystal and a bit of craftsmanship for a Displacement Channel Carver. What about you? Anything specific in mind?” I asked him to take his mind off the book, which was clearly an evil trap.

“I was thinking a Refining Formation, rank 6. It is something that can extract any kind of energy and turn it into drops. The sect has some rank 4 Refining Formations, but they aren’t that good. Getting one from the Imperial Sect, and then using the rest for spirit stones to get drops, will let me get past the first bottleneck,” he replied.

“What is the rate of drops to spirit stone?” I asked.

“A rank 4 stone is worth about 1 drop. I can hopefully get 100 such spirit stones and then I will be set,” he replied.

“That would put you at a solid core then, right?” I asked for confirmation.

“Indeed. Very standard, but that is the minimum requirement. Hopefully I can get 150 drops before trying to pass the bottleneck. The more the better, but I don’t think I am up for any adventures after this,” he replied.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes. We came close to death so many times. I can’t wait until this is all over,” he replied. That was his choice even if I didn’t agree in the same way. With preparation, supplies, and research, a lot of problems could be overcome if it was just the environment. Against anything actually intelligent, like other cultivators, it was much more concerning.

I heard a screeching sound in the distance. “Our second distraction formation went off. Shame we can’t go and get more treasures,” he said.

“Knowing when to stop is important. We got two things, very valuable things. No need to push our luck anymore. I know there were other things in that massive treasure room that I wanted. But it is far too risky to go back. What we need to do is focus on escaping,” I replied.

“Go to the edge and wait?” Wen Xue asked.

“Yes. Once we get close to the ground, less then five stories from the end of the rope, we can jump. Maybe seven stories if we need to,” I answered.

“Well we have a lot of rope. We might just go down all the way,” Wen Xue replied.

“Hopefully. Depends on where the floating island is and if there are other people below us. We can’t risk being intercepted. The biggest challenge now is getting back to Imperial City safely,” I replied heavily. The stress was wearing on me too. Going to the Astral Plane, was nowhere as stressful as the Floating Island of Death.

There were screams in the distance, and zombies began moving towards it. Another cultivator was being swarmed. “We should move, the streets are clearing,” I said.

We quickly left the building and made our way over the wall into the massive forest. Once there we quickly raced to the edge of the floating island. Looking down over the edge, all I saw were hanging frayed ropes and clouds beneath us.

Setting up in a nearby large tree. I laid out a wood plank for us to sit and rest on. The mid-rank spatial ring I had was the real hero of this adventure. We settled in for a wait. I would check the edge every couple of hours. The island rotated around as it moved, so there was no front or back. It also went up and down to some extent as well.

The only thing we could do was wait and hope for the best. Days and then weeks went by, with the distance still too far to the ground.

The food I had put next to the book in my spatial ring had decayed. It shouldn’t have decayed in the spatial ring, but it had. That book was seriously bad news. No way was I bringing it out and moved everything I could to my low-rank spatial ring. It was tempting to try and move the book to it, but the risk was too high bringing it out without any kind of containment array. I might not be able to get it back inside one of my spatial rings.

Better to lose one ring and less valuable stuff we had found on the floating island, than lose the book. After the null metal, it was the most valuable thing in my mind. We couldn’t afford to lose either item.

Checking over the edge like I normally did, I saw the clouds had cleared and there were mountains not that far below us. They weren’t Mount Atlas, but they were tall. I quickly went back to Wen Xue. “We need to go now. With the rope, about a four story drop,” I said and he nodded at this.

We quickly raced for the edge, and I kicked the rope over the side and quickly grabbed onto it with my hands, going over the edge. I began to slide down rapidly. My cultivation protecting me from rope burns, while my descent slowed. This was something I had tested out before. Wen Xue was right behind me, but he had put on gloves. Reaching the end of the rope, about forty stories down, from the floating island, I saw a rocky plateau below. I let go of the end of the rope and fell.

I landed without much difficulty. Wen Xue was right behind me, landing as well. Looking up at the floating island, its massive bulk kept moving along without anything slowing it down. I didn’t see anyone following. “Let’s go,” I told Wen Xue who nodded at me. We quickly set off.

I had been observing the terrain for weeks now, and knew where we were. We were not headed back towards Black Rock City. We would go through the wilderness for a bit to city outside the range of the floating island. From there we would take a rapid carriage back to Imperial City. Carrying the containment case, even in my pack, was too risky to do so on an open road.

Also, I wanted to rest for a long time. My nerves were shot after our time on the island. Right before we hit the tree line, I noticed three cultivators going down the rope we had left behind. Dammit! “Into the tree line, hurry,” I told Wen Xue as I pulled out scent concealer.

We both used it and kept moving while changing directions. “What do we do?” he worriedly asked me.

“We will have to fight, if they keep chasing us.”

“I can’t fight, I don’t know how without arrays,” Wen Xue said. Basically one and a quarter versus three superior cultivators with techniques.

“You will need to carry my pack. I can’t fight encumbered,” I said while taking it off and handing it over to Wen Xue. My packs were smaller due to my stature, so it wasn’t too hard for him to carry in his arms. “There is small cliff ahead. We go up it, you keep moving forward up to the peak. Wait there. I will fight them. If I can ambush one, that should even the odds,” I said with much more confidence than I was feeling at the moment.

This was going to be a serious fight. I had them in the past. But I had always turned the situation to my advantage in some way. Me against three cultivators, wouldn’t be simple. Even if I got that down to two versus one at the start with an ambush, they would have techniques.

That was a massive advantage in any fight. I had confidence in beating cultivators at or below my stage, but I had no idea about techniques. We quickly ascended the cliff. Looking back the three cultivators were catching up.

Wen Xue rushed ahead, while I curved to the side and hid behind a rock with my sword drawn. I focused on my breathing. No matter what, I couldn’t lose here. I had survived the Floating Island of Death. I was not about to die to some cultivators out in the wilderness seeking to take the resources I had worked hard for.

I heard the three cultivators climbing up the cliff. I readied myself. They rushed past my hiding spot and I kicked off the ground as hard as I could. I stabbed the closet one, on the right of their formation in the back through the spine. Their cultivation was in the fourth stage, and my blade was of the fifth rank. Their martial robes were nothing special. I yanked my blade to the side, carving their back open as they out a scream.

The other two cultivators spun around as I raced forward without slowing down in the slightest. I couldn’t afford to give them time to regroup and outflank me while attacking me from range. “One wall!” the lead cultivator screamed in panic. I saw the energy surge into the ground and then explode upwards, forming a wall in my path.

I kicked off the ground to go up and over. “Fire lance!” A jet of white hot flame shot at me. I was forced to kick off to the side off the top of the wall, as it felted.

“One wall!” A wall quickly rose up behind me as the fire cultivator moved about to get a better angle on me while more rock walls quickly formed to cut off my escape routes. The fire lance came closer, and I had no other choice, since there was no way to dodge in time.

My hand darted out and I grabbed onto the end of the grabbing stick, pulling it, along with the evil book out of my spatial ring. The fire lance hit the book, and was completely stopped. The flames turned from white to dark blue as they exploded around the book, melting the grabbing stick, while the book itself was unharmed.

I quickly shoved the book back into my spatial ring before the gripping stick completely melted away. I then rushed forward, sword in hand. “Ring of fire!” A ring of fire went up around the cultivator and exploded outwards. He was sweating and shaking, but I wasn’t going to stop.

Swinging my sword through the flames, the etched words, One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth, glowed as the fire parted around me from the force of my swing. I stabbed out even as the cultivator tried to back peddle, but it was too late. I took him right in the chest. I didn’t hesitate to yank my sword to the side, killing him as the remaining cultivator screamed in rage.

It was a woman who had been making the earth walls. She gave me a look of hatred before turning tail and fleeing. My robes were a bit singed, but I was unharmed. I had won. I was about to collect the bodies into my spatial ring and then realized that the evil book was in there. Anything they might have on them, even a spatial device wasn’t worth the risk of zombies forming.

I left them where they lay and quickly set off for the top of the mountain. Wen Xue let out a sigh of relief when he saw me, and I relaxed as well. “The enemy cultivators?” he asked.

“Killed two. The last one ran off. Probably their tracker since she was in the lead of their formation. But nothing we can do. We should get as much distance between her and us as possible,” I said, and Wen Xue nodded. Hopefully that was the only fight until we could make it back to Imperial City to exchange and sell the spoils of our adventure.