Calculating Cultivation

“You may enter now,” the servant said, and I got up. I had been waiting for quite a while to meet with an official representative of the TripleX faction. It hadn’t cost anything surprisingly. I had done enough business with them, that they were willing to meet with me without an upfront payment. I was on level -3.

I didn’t often go to the negative levels. It was more a preference thing between Bones and myself wanting to be higher up, rather than lower down. While the outside environment of the Forever City didn’t have a strong gravitational field, things tended to go down more than up, even with the spatial turbulence.

The office was incredibly lavish and took three floors worth of height. It was immense. More of a garden than an office. There was running water, plants, and I saw a couple of birds actually tweeting out a song in the background. The walls and ceilings were hidden by powerful illusions, giving the impression I was actually outside. If I didn’t know I was in the Forever City, I would have thought this would be an idyllic clearing of some kind.

There was an old man with a long white beard sitting on a rock. There were smaller rocks in front of it. When you are super powerful, you can have your office any way you wanted. I kneeled down in front of the powerful immortal. “Junior Yuan Zhou greets Senior of the TripleX faction.” I felt like a kid again, begging for a cultivator to take me on as an apprentice to Yi Rong.

There was silence and I stayed in place with my head pressed against the ground. The birds continued to tweet, and I continued to wait. I didn’t dare lift my head, since this was clearly a test. I had been made to wait for months to get to this meeting. And now the immortal would make me wait even more.

It was petty and annoying, but I had no choice. If I complained about such a thing, then I would complain about other issues in the future. It wasn’t just about making me wait, it was a test of temperament. At least I had the pleasant sounds of birds tweeting in harmony with each other to listen to.

“You may raise your head and sit,” the immortal said. I brought up my head and then moved to a seated position, with my knees tucked under my body. “Yuan Zhou, the cultivator who has messed up their cultivation. The cultivator who has been stealing from other factions to fund their cultivation but has remained hidden. The cultivator who has garner the attention of a member of the White Lotus faction, since coming from one of their tributaries.”

The immortal laid so many things about me bare in a single moment. But I didn’t say anything since there was no question. “I am Vice Leader Qiang You. State your reason for requesting this audience,” he said.

“Honored Vice Leader Qiang You, I require help with my cultivation. I ask this in turn for subordinating myself to your faction,” I answered, and he nodded while stroking his beard. The rest of his face gave nothing away about how he felt regarding this request.

“It is good you have made that request with no observation blockers. I can see the mess of your cultivation. The cost, even I shudder to think at the cost it would take to fix things. Your background is known to me. Someone considered a genius, but you have made mistakes with your cultivation. But you have somehow survived and even thrived in the Forever City. A very rare occurrence,” Qiang You said. He inclined his head a fraction at me indicating I should speak.

“Being a scavenger in the Forever City has given me some success, but it has been challenging. My success is attributed is about assessing risks and gathering knowledge.” I wasn’t going to mention Bones since that was a complication I didn’t need. But I wasn’t lying, Bones was the source of my knowledge.

All the effort I had put in so far wasn’t wasted. It showed that I was capable. It was the equivalent of padding one’s resume with work experience to get a much better job in the future.

“Indeed. That is the only reason why I am talking to you and considering your request. It would cost 30 million credits to get you to the next stage by having a specialty organ made for you. I have heard your cultivation plan, and it is interesting. But untested. And if I invested into you once, then I would have to do so again and again. I could raise many more people to greater heights than you. What do you say about this?” Qiang You asked.

“Honored Vice Leader, I have the chance to go further. While past success doesn’t guarantee the future, it does indicate a trend. Also, while I know little of the limits of immortals, I do know that by going my own path, I will be able to go further than other cultivators,” I said.

“Far in the future. Very far in the future. If I applied any kind of interest rate to the investment needed it would be ruinous. Still, you are correct in what you say. But the risk is immense and will impact my revenue, lowering my standing within the faction. Our fates would be intertwined with each other as well. The risk of karma is not small.” I didn’t know what to say about any of this.

“This is an immense favor. For I know you have nowhere else to go. No backing and no support. To reach down and help you would be charity. But you are a hard worker and capable. So, there is a chance you will achieve great things however small. Very well, I will gamble on you Yuan Zhou, but there are conditions,” he said and I listened intently to what Qiang You was about to say.

“You will be given a line of credit for a hundred million credits, to advance your cultivation. I sense there will be even more issues in the future, and I will not give any more. In return you will owe a thousand times of whatever you borrow. That would be a hundred billion credits if you use the full amount.” My eyes went wide at that. That was an immense amount, both what he was willing to give me and expect me to repay.

“That is the bare minimum I can accept as a repayment for the risk I am going to take on you. In addition, you will owe three favors to me personally. I will not ask for your life or your cultivation, but anything less than that you will fulfill. What do you think of these terms?” Qiang You asked.

There were horrible terms. This man was a loan shark of the highest order. I could almost feel the greed rolling off him in waves. But you don’t become an immortal cultivator with kindness and generosity. The higher up you were the more cutthroat one would become.

This was the hardest point in the conversation. Accepting immediately would secure my future but put me in debt or eons. But that debt would also be my shield and protection. It also made me weep inside thought to be taken advantage of this egregiously. I would also be able to make money in a legitimate way now. While Qiang You was probably thinking I would be fighting or doing something else that involved conflict, I would be looking into business once more.

“I would be honored Vice Leader Qiang You to accept your offer,” I replied and kowtowed once more.

“Raise your head. Now that the initial offer has been accepted, there is much more to discuss. You are an investment Yuan Zhou. A massive investment. That is why I must make sure you don’t kill yourself with something foolish. Explain your cultivation plan to me,” he demanded.

“Yes Vice Leader. I plan to use my the breakthrough of my soul cores to establish the boundary of my soul. The breakthrough of my mind cores to bind my soul and physical body. A cultivation organ and my body core to draw in energy. For the future, I would use the spaces I had my cores to create filters for this energy, gathering it inside my body to advance,” I explained.

Qiang You stroked his beard while staring intently at me. “Combining three different cultivation methods. How bold, but your research is sound. You started with the Qi Emplacement method, which is the most versatile and stable of all methods. The one that is favored by the factions of the Heavenly Alliance. Body Replacement method using an external organ is a much harder path and leads to many fallen cultivators. Eventually they are replaced in full, mind, body, and soul.” Qiang You shook his head at this method, clearly disapproving.

“Then you have the Full Body method. To use one’s entire body as the cultivation focus. But your foundation is much stronger, alleviating a critical weakness of this method. Strengthening one’s body to sustain one’s cultivation and the energy to breakthrough requires resources that aren’t cost effective. That is why the Qi Emplacement method developed over the eons is the most effective for advancing,” Qiang You explained. I listened intently, since even Bones had not been able to explain such things.

“I speak about these methods, since your path will be paved with hardship. The amount of energy you will need is immense. Your foundation is too big. But that is why you are a worthwhile investment. Improving one’s foundation is impossibly hard once you get past the various breakthrough points. Countless cycles are spent trying to eek out that one more bit of improvement,” Qiang You said. Clearly the favors were the most valuable aspect of the deal to him. Not the credits, but the ability to call those favors in once I got strong enough.

“But to reach immortality with your base. It is heaven defying. Hmmm, I know how to repay one of the favors you will owe me. Your breakthrough will be quite an event. It can be used to draw attention to one of the factions that oppose us.” I winced at this. I would be used as bait. But I was in no position to object.

“Yes Vice Leader. I am honored I can repay a favor so quickly,” I replied, and he smirked slightly. I was really starting to dislike the old powerful cultivators I had to suck up to in order to move forward. But that was how cultivation society worked. Those stronger gathered resources unto themselves to advance.

I also noted the Qiang You had not offered to be my master. Instead, he was content on just supporting me. There was a subtle but key difference between the two. Being a disciple was much more personal. One did not take on a disciple lightly. They held a position of importance. If Qiang You had a disciple and they were weaker than me, I would have to bow my head towards them.

This also meant that he wouldn’t be as invested into my safety. While I could not ignore the favors I owed, I couldn’t count on him to risk himself to save me in any way. If I was ever too much of a burden I would be killed or suffer some unspeakable fate. There would be no forgiveness or leeway for any kind of missteps.

The fact that my position was so precarious was exactly the reason I had held off to this course of action until there were no other alternatives. I wanted to go to a faction after my breakthrough and negotiate from a position of greater strength. I would probably owe only ten times the investment and maybe a favor if that had been the case.

But I was too weak now and Qiang You could do whatever he wanted. I was at his complete and utter mercy. He also didn’t have much faith in me paying him back either. The number of credits was just tacked on in order to saddle some other cultivator or faction with my debt if they killed me. In fact, I could guess that was what he was probably going to try and do.

“There is also the matter of you and the White Lotus faction that must be resolved. You will carry my emblem and go to them and resolve this conflict. Once that is done, then you will be able to fully focus on your breakthrough,” Qiang You said. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

I called it. While I would like to claim some kind of future insight, it was obvious what was going to happen. He wanted the Whtie Lotus faction to kill me and then try and use some external channels claiming they had to repay my debt to him. This also couldn’t be counted as a favor, since the White Lotus faction was my problem. I was glad I didn’t have any more personal problems that needed to be dealt with, since they would be used as leverage for my death.

Bones had explained that rarely would upper-level cultivators fight. Conflict was handled through proxies or mediation through the Heavenly Alliance. Qiang You would claim a hundredth of my debt and be seen as generous or something, while profiting ten times off my corpse. And that was if I used up all the credits he was offering.

After being independent for so long, it was hard to bow my head again, but it was the only choice I had in order to advance. And while the deal he offered was terrible, it was better than any other faction would give me. They would have just killed me and used my body for spare parts or fertilizer.

“Yes Vice Leader, do you know why they have targeted me?” I asked.

“No. But it needs to be resolved before you can officially join the TripleX faction. Here,” he tossed a metal symbol of the TripleX sect. I caught the metal badge and looked at it. Three ‘X’s overlapping each other made with white metal. I could see energy inside of it. My best guess put the value of the metal around 50,000 credits based on my experience.

“And see my servant for new robes. Can’t have you wearing those rags. Go forth under my authority. Once you return, an organ will be prepared for your breakthrough. The place and time will be decided by me.” That meant I couldn’t try to breakthrough without his approval.

There was the option of running away, but then I would always have an enemy. Since Qiang You was a faction leader it would mean the TripleX faction would be my enemy as well, which in turn would draw me into a conflict with the Heavenly Alliance. That was the power of having backing. People and beings with any kind of intelligence would just give up before even thinking about causing trouble.

The melodic tweeting of the birds in the background did nothing to improve my mood at the moment. I knew this would be a pivotal and risky decision, but it was the best one. I stood up and bowed deeply and then backed away. I spared a quick glance at the immortal Qiang You, and he already had his eyes closed once more and seemed to be meditating peacefully.

I left the large indoor garden, and a servant was waiting outside. “Greetings, I am Head Servant of Qiang You.” The fact he did not give his name indicated he probably did not have one. His cultivation was non-existent, so probably modifications to keep him living indefinitely as a servant.

“Vice Leader Qiang You indicated that I could get appropriate robes and then conveyed to the White Lotus faction.” While the second was a small stretch of his orders, someone like Qiang You wouldn’t care. It was about completing the task. If I succeeded, I would prove myself capable and worth investment. If I was killed, he could claim recompense for my death. A win-win situation for him regardless of the outcome.

The Head Servant gave me a look up and down, his eyes stopping at the faction symbol in my hand. “I see he has recruited you under his purview. A great honor.” A giant debt trap that I had to accept with my life on the line, was the more accurate description.

“Indeed, it is the greatest honor I have received,” I replied while holding back the sarcasm.

“Midnight black robes, with luminescent pearl white threading would be best,” the Head Servant said.

“Why those colors? Shouldn’t they be reversed?” I asked, since Qiang You had been robed in gold and white, and the servant here was also in those colors. The Head Servant gave me a look like I was an idiot child who just made a mess.

“You are nothing but scum beneath the master’s eyes. You shall wear what you are provided. Unless you wish to complain to him yourself?” That escalated quickly.

“And disrespect Vice Leader Qiang You and the faction? That would be unacceptable and lower his standing,” I countered. We then had a staring contest. The man refused to give in as he continued to glare at me. Time to back off, and hopefully not create an enemy.

“Head Servant of Qiang You, if I offended you, I apologize for my transgression.” I then bowed my head.

“Here in the TripleX faction, we don’t need riff raff like you. Why the master has seen fit to show his benevolence is beyond me. Your power is pathetic. Your demands are immense. And your cultivation is a disgrace. Your very presence sickens me to see you disgrace these halls with your presence.” I blinked slowly at the vitriol that was spewed at me.

“I hope to prove myself worthy of the benevolence Vice Leader Qiang You has bestowed upon me,” I replied slowly. The Head Servant let out a scoff.

“You will take black robes with white threading without complaint,” the Head Servant said. Well, there was nothing I could do to argue with this person. He had all the power to make my life miserable. Hopefully he wouldn’t go out of his way to make things harder. I followed him to a side room and was given robes fitting my size.

I was looking older thankfully. Like an older teen. Still youthful, but not an old man. It felt much better to be an appropriate size compared to a child. My new robes were of immense quality and expertly made. They conveyed a high degree of protection just wearing them.

Once I was changed I followed the Head Servant to another level of the tower. There were private vehicles and actual doorways to the outside environment. It wasn’t just an open floor, but there were barriers in place.

“The driver has been informed of your destination. They will wait for you to return, and you will return with them,” the Head Servant said, and I got in. I noticed the much more streamlined appearance of the vehicle. Normally they felt more like flying bricks, where function was the only thing that mattered. This actually felt like something that was streamlined and built with form over function in mind.

I settled into a comfortable chair and there was an actual display showing where we were in the Forever City as the vehicle quickly transited into a straight line lane and then massively accelerated. It was far faster than the other vehicles I had used. And based on the positioning, had priority movement in the Forever City. I quickly began to put on my equipment and observation blockers.

The vehicle ascended and we came to a stop at level 35,212 on an open level of a tower belonging to the White Lotus faction. I got out of the vehicle. It would have been too much to hope that Qiang You had phoned ahead. That was why I was being dropped off so high and not one of the middle levels. I let out a sigh and exited the vehicle. I put the badge on my chest and it stayed there.

I got some looks, but no one bothered me. I pulled up the tower’s public information on my pad. I had to go down to level 5,680 to reach the public office for the White Lotus. Most factions had a low level office where people could reach out from other factions. It was like a reverse embassy. Since I didn’t have a contact here, this was my best option for resolving whatever conflict was occurring.

I entered the staircase and began my descent. Some of the cloaked beings shifted away from me slightly as I passed by. With my new robes and badge, it was clear that I had the backing of a faction. That meant I wasn’t someone they would mess with.

At level 22,122, I encountered a checkpoint set up on the staircase. I paid a fee of 5 credits and kept descending. I occasionally encountered another checkpoint, the cost increasing as I go closer to the middle floors.

Eventually I reached the public office for the White Lotus. Their iconography was everywhere as I entered. Now that I made it here, the amount of tension I was feeling decreased slightly. The person at the front desk blinked a couple of times as I entered. A clear indication they were off in dream land from one of their modifications.

“How can I help you?” the woman asked. Thanks to Bones I had some idea how to handle this type of situation. Low level conflicts could be resolved fairly easily if someone more powerful stepped in.

“I have had some low-level conflicts with the White Lotus faction. I have been requested by my senior to resolve these conflicts in an amicable manner,” I replied. I had to be careful not to represent myself as speaking for the TripleX faction or Vice Leader Qiang You. But implying that I had his support was more than acceptable.

“Name, location, and time of the incidents?” the woman asked.

“Yuan Zhou,” I replied and listed off the two incidents. If I hadn’t made it here, then I might have been disappeared or killed. But now that I made it near, they were obliged to sort the mess out. Also, I had no doubt that Qiang You was watching through the badge he had given me. Assuming I had any privacy going forward would be foolish in the extreme.

“Please wait, a member of our faction will be here shortly to address the issue,” she said. I was content to wait and took a seat in their lobby area.

It took about an hour for someone to show up. “Junior greets senior,” I replied. While the woman was wearing observation blockers, not letting me see their level of cultivation, they were dressed as well as I was with a faction symbol on their clothing.

Since they were after me, they clearly knew my level of cultivation. There was no need to try and be rude for no reason. “So, you are Yuan Zhou. How interesting. And you have found a faction. TripleX. Surprised they would take someone so weak,” she said impassively.

“They saw my potential,” I replied calmly.

“Potential. That is one way to call your advancement so far. There is a conflict that predates your arrival to the Forever City and one of our members has a claim on you as a cultivation furnace,” the woman said with a sinister smile.

It took me a moment to put everything togeather. “Aoyin?” I asked. That was the only guess that made sense.

“Indeed. And he has made significant contributions to our sect. Enough that we are more than happy to pay whatever fee you have paid to TripleX,” she said and took a menacing step forward.

“One hundred billion credits and three favors,” I replied calmly. She paused all of a sudden and stared at me. Probably trying to process what I just said. “If you kill me, that is my debt. I am sure the Vice Leader Qiang You will be more than happy if you kill me, so he can file a claim with the Heavenly Alliance.” I then pointed at my badge. The same one she was wearing.

These were normally only given to people who had reached immortality or favored cultivators inside a sect. She couldn’t kill me while I was wearing it, but the threat of how much I owed, and the risk that debt would be transferred was immense.

“I suppose his claims that you truly are a genius might hold some merit. And to come here as well. But Aoyin has a similar debt. His cultivation cannot advance without killing you and striping you of yours. We might be willing to shoulder some of that. I am sure Vice Leader Qiang You would not mind,” she said. I didn’t blink or act surprised. I kept my breathing steady. She was trying to get a reaction. There was no way she would risk that kind of debt or headache.

That was a surprise he had come to the Forever City. I guess he didn’t expect me to flee all the way here. He was probably conscripted in one of the endless battles, earned credits, and then spent those credits looking for me. This is why you don’t sacrifice a part of your cultivation, no matter what. The risks were high and reaching immortality was not simple. While there was probably a way around, it would most likely be insanely expensive.

Aoyin had most likely done the math and realized it was cheaper to try and kidnap me. He most likely had command of some subordinates, which was why he sent out weaker cultivators to kidnap me. The piece of his cultivation he had placed into me, Aoyin’s fang, had come back to bite him centuries later. His rage must be immense at this point.

She let out a snort and then stepped back. “Very well. The White Lotus faction will no longer support Aoyin’s attempts to reclaim you. So, I swear on behalf of the White Lotus faction under the watchful eye of the Heavenly Alliance.” She didn’t wait to hear my response but turned and left immediately.

I rolled my eyes as the door closed behind the woman who hadn’t even bothered to give her name. She was clearly angling to have Aoyin kill me and push all the blame onto him. It also meant that he wouldn’t be using the White Lotus as a proxy to try and come after me. His rage was probably immense at the moment, and it just brought me amusement. His sect had terrorized my life. I had zero compassion for the Demonic Blood Sect that he ran. He had killed my niece and destroyed the Cloudy Moon Sect.

While I had no chance against him currently, I could greatly inconvenience him. Right now was also the point I was the most vulnerable. I had no doubt that Aoyin would try and ambush me if I went up through the interior of the building. Even the exterior was risky.

I left the public office of the White Lotus and stopped in the staircase. He would use the elevator shaft most likely. I wasn’t capable of that yet. He would be easily able to intercept me if I went up or down. While this tower belonged to the White Lotus, they would just say he went rouge. Qiang You would complain and get some credits thrown his way.

Getting the White Lotus to back off while I had a faction behind me was easy enough. But an individual who wanted to kill me and knew where I was, that was a completely different situation. I checked the levels above and below me. There was a shopping level that was open to the public one level down.

I went to that level and made my way to one of the stores at the outer edge. “A thousand credits if you look the other way,” I told the clerk manning the counter at the store.

“What?” he asked.

“Look away from that wall, and don’t ask questions. You get a thousand credits,” I said. He took a moment to think before nodding. I paid him the amount and went over to the wall and moved a shelf of hair product. I then began cutting into the tower’s outer wall.

The clerk didn’t say anything and I cut out a pocket inside the wall. I then dragged the shelf back over and pulled the slab of the tower wall out, replacing the outward portion I had cut out. I then put on my cloak and mask next and cut my way to the outside. Once outside I replaced the portion of the wall I had cut, since I had no doubt the White Lotus faction was watching me in some way.

Once the outer wall was replaced, I began running towards the nearest tunnel connecting two towers. I crossed to an adjacent tower, and then another one, before I started ascending and looking for a open floor to get a vehicle back to the TripleX faction.

It had been a slightly risky situation, but I had managed to get clear of Aoyin without running into him. I had no wish to be cut apart and harvested. I am sure many people were disappointed that I hadn’t been killed horribly, specifically Qiang You. He was the real winner regardless since I owed him and he could claim credit for getting the White Lotus faction to back off of me.

That wasn’t true in the slightest. But when you were old and powerful, you got to make the rules. It was probably amusing to him how I had to suck up with no way to protest or argue. And at the end of the day he was technically helping me. At least now I would be able to advance with my cultivation and hopefully not die from being used as bait.

I took a vehicle a short distance to return in the vehicle I had come with from the TripleX faction. Those were the orders I had been given from the Head Servant. I thought they were stupid, but it was probably to try and pin me down. Aoyin would be waiting on the open floor when I returned. That was the entire point. The Head Servant wanted me to die as well.

I missed the Cloudy Moon Sect. While they weren’t the most social people, they weren’t trying to kill me and profit off my death in some way. I missed my family. While it would have been a short life, it would have been a better life in many ways. Perhaps I would have come back a third time? The only option left was to keep moving forward. I couldn’t quit, and admitted that much to myself.

Once I was in the vehicle to make the short trip back to the White Lotus’ tower and the open floor the vehicle I had to reach was in, I got changed again. A completely different outfit. More observation blockers as well and hid my spatial rings in my cloak. New boots with lifts in the heels to make me appear taller as well. I pulled out a box as well, filled with miscellaneous components that I had collected while pillaging the Forever City.

Exiting, I could see an older man standing off to one side looking closely at everyone and everything. That was probably Aoyin. He was getting older as his cultivation ran down to the end of his lifespan. How unfortunate for him.

Box in hand, I made my way across the open floor. I got looked at heavily, but Aoyin didn’t make a move. I turned and went into the stairway and found a cloaked being two levels down, sitting in a corner. “A thousand credits for you to go up to the open floor and walk around it hundred times.”

“Box,” the being hissed out and pointed. I tossed the box over. It disappeared into one of their spatial devices. They got up and left. I went down three more levels and found another being in a corner. This one took the thousand credits. The third being didn’t even move, they might have been dead or just a pile of rags. The fourth being took the credits. I replaced my outfit a third time and went back up.

I could see the man that was most likely Aoyin, looking around in confusion as several cloaked beings were walking about. I joined their walk. No one wanted to take the risk of interfering with any of us, since there was no telling how strong we were. Aoyin, while powerful, was not an absolute powerhouse in the Forever City.

He had just a single chance to act and intercept a single cloaked being and was clearly feeling stressed. I passed by him and could see wrinkles on his face. Stress lines under his eyes. He glanced at me but didn’t act. I stepped into the vehicle of the TripleX faction and pulled out my badge.

“Let us depart,” I told the driver. They immediately sealed the doorway and took off. I could almost here the scream of rage as we left. I was beyond Aoyin for now. While not the revenge I wanted, avoiding him was all that I could do to make his life difficult.

I changed my outfit once more to the TripleX faction’s martial robe before the vehicle arrived. Once it landed, I got off and the Head Servant looked disappointed for a brief moment. “My task has been completed,” I said.

“Anyone could have done what you did. Regardless, master is pleased that you have resolved the possibly of any factional conflict. I am to show you to your room. Once the specialist arrives to assist your pathetic cultivation, you will be called for,” the Head Servant said.

“Any idea how long that will be?” I asked.

“No. Now come,” he said, and I followed. I was led to a large suite of rooms. “This is yours for now. As long as you don’t disappoint master.” I nodded at this. This place was far nicer than any of the rooms I had stayed in so far in the Forever City. A working bathroom, several potted plants. Pictures of scenery scattered about. A sitting room and a kitchen.

I had no doubt this was their worst set of rooms, but the Head Servant could only make things so terrible. Direct sabotage was off the table, but he could inconvenience me. Thankfully I had a thick skin, so I wasn’t too concerned. The worst room here, was a paradise compared to sleeping in dark and dirty corners of the Forever City.