Cultivation Nerd

It took a little while before we arrived at the mountain's peak, where the Blazing Sun Sect was built. Oftentimes, it was easy to forget the whole Sect was built on a giant mountain due to just how large everything was.

Even the mountain itself was unusual. During summer, it was full of greenery all the time, even at the highest peaks. I only noticed recently that the clouds in the Sect were higher positioned than typical clouds should be.

Up here, the air was thinner, and it was hard to breathe. I kept taking deep, rapid breaths and somehow felt out of breath.

Various buildings were scattered across the upper parts of the mountain. From towers to strange giant mansions and even fortified fortresses, it seemed like every powerful cultivator in the Sect had built their own dream home up here, all with unique tastes.

But the most ridiculous of them all was the building at the top-most peak of the mountain. Up there was a marble palace with golden towers pointing at the sky. The whole place looked overly extravagant, even from a distance.

As we approached the strange chateau, I noticed the first thing that stood out like a sore thumb. Despite the extravagant appearance, no guards were in sight, and I couldn't sense anyone. Perhaps they were hidden, but guards were supposed to be seen to dissuade anyone from attacking and to handle people who wanted to meet the Sect Leader.

Well, as the Sect Leader, I doubted he needed guards. But this blatant lack of protection seemed more like a message and, at the same time, an invitation for anyone dissatisfied with his leadership to try their hand at assassination. These were some of those things that only worked in this world where leaders had personal power.

There was a good chance the Sect Leader could take the whole Sect out on his own if he wanted. As far as I knew, there were no other Nascent Soul Cultivators here. At least, that was public knowledge; who knew what the ancestors were up to.

We arrived before a giant silver door leading to the palace. No one was here to stop us, so we just floated in front of the gate.

"From now on, everything is in your hands," Song San said before using a slight tug of his Qi to push me off his flying leaf. I didn't resist as I jumped in front of the door, and before my feet even touched the ground, Song San had set off.

But I didn't care about that and just stared at the silver door. Surprisingly, there was no array around here to stop the cold.

I walked toward the silver door and knocked a couple of times. Though there was barely any sound from knocking on a dense silver door, a Nascent Soul Cultivator should still be able to hear it.

After waiting for a couple of dozen seconds, there was no response. I put my hands on the cold silver door and felt a chill pass through my body as I tried pushing it open.

Despite my efforts, the doors didn't even budge. Only when I pushed as hard as I could, sweat trickling down my brow, did the door finally budge. However, as soon as that happened, I let go and stepped back, and the doors closed again. I breathed heavily and narrowed my eyes at the silver door.

There was something strange about it.

Dancing Jade Armor!

Qi flew out of me and took a humanoid shape, forming a jade soldier with cool-looking armor. A dragon was engraved on his chest, and two bear heads were shoulder pads. But that wasn't all; he now had two bright, shining eyes, although his facial structure still lacked real definition.

Working on the shape of the constructs created by Dancing Jade Armor was like drawing… Well, to be honest, it wasn't like drawing at all. But making faces was challenging due to the intricate details required. Of course, this was all a cosmetic change that I worked on for fun and never affected the technique's power. But it did look cooler.

"I need to increase the brightness in your eyes," I said to the jade soldier as if he could understand. In the future, I planned to look into an illusionary technique that would make its eyes crimson red. The deep green didn't have the same scary effect as red.

"Push the door," I instructed.

There was no need for verbal orders since he only worked with mental commands. But if anyone was listening, it would be okay if they misunderstood how this technique worked.

I put my hands on one door, and the jade soldier put his hands on the other. We both pushed at the same time. Even though I exerted as much power as possible, the gate barely budged, and we only managed to open the door by less than six inches.

Yeah, there seemed to be some mechanism that would stop the gate from moving unless we exerted our full power. But just as I was planning to let go, as a last-ditch effort, I created some jade strings to hold the door in place as we took a breather.

I wasn't expecting the strings to hold, especially against an artifact designed to handle bigger and more powerful things than a Qi Gathering Cultivator's power. But just as the doors were about to close, there was a deep, grueling sound of metal clunking.

Huh?

I looked at my jade soldier, who was still holding the door in place. By now, the Qi I had input into the technique should have run out, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Was I missing something? I was pretty sure I had calculated everything and was familiar with the Dancing Jade Armor Technique.

So why was the technique sustaining itself longer than usual?

The only logical answer was that the technique was supercharged because jade was around. Judging by how the technique worked at unprecedented levels, there must have been a lot of jade around!

But I wasn't going to complain. I took a deep breath before pushing on the door again. This time, the door nudged open a couple more inches and was held in place by the jade strings.

Using all the power I could muster for an extended period was difficult. But doing it in short bursts of strength was relatively easy, and that was what I was doing.

When the door was a foot open, I slipped through and let go of my techniques.

What greeted me inside was a bright light and a place that was wholly too extravagant. Golden dragons wrapped around marble pillars, and the floor was made of jade. At least now I knew why my Dancing Jade Armor Technique was supercharged.

I looked around and finally found the only person in this place. He was surprisingly average-looking, with dark hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. He wore a red robe embroidered with golden writings that resembled an array. He was sitting on a throne of gold adorned with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and many other gems of different sizes. Some of those gems were the size of my fists.

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Was that the Sect Leader? He was not what I was expecting. The guy looked so… normal. Like he wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

Though his demeanor was definitely abnormal, as despite some young kid just entering his palace, he looked at me without a care in the world. He wasn't even annoyed that I had just cheesed through the front door test or whatever that was.

"Many people have cheated through the test at the front door. Usually, they were prepared. But it seems like you just came in here and figured it out on your own," he said, his voice strangely calming and comforting.

He did not look arrogant, unlike what I expected a Sect Leader to be. But that uncaring look in his eyes, as if he was watching the weather, was a bit unnerving. It seemed like nothing could startle or surprise this man.

Many thoughts went through my mind as I prepared many plans for how I should act, depending on how the Sect Leader reacted. But he seemed so nonchalant about everything.

"Sit down," the Sect Leader pointed toward some of the seats around the hall.

I nodded and followed his instructions, sitting on one of the seats. But as soon as I did so, I realized I had been too lost in my thoughts and forgotten about the customary greetings, like bowing and all that.

Uhhh... Was it now too late to do that? Perhaps he had forgotten about the greetings too, and me doing that might remind him, and he could slap me into a bloody pulp.

"Liu Feng..." the man muttered, sending a chill down my spine as I realized he knew my name. "You are quite an interesting guy."

I was about to open my mouth and thank him. But I recalled that it was better to shut the hell up in these situations if I had nothing of substance to say. Hopefully, this was the right thing to do, though it was hard to tell since the Sect Leader looked as nonchalant as ever.

"Are the rumors about you being Song Song's lover true?" he inquired.

How should I answer that? Saying yes would offer a semblance of protection. But lying to someone of that caliber, unless it was the last possible option, was better to avoid.

"No, Lord Sect Leader. We just work together. The best way to describe our relationship would be that of a servant and master," I said.

"Yeah, I didn't think little Xing would raise someone to make the same mistakes she made when she was young," the Sect Leader nodded.

Xing Ju was Song Song's master and the Core Elder who had talked to me while I was in prison. There was probably some bribing going around at the time since the granny wanted the Liu Clan to support Song Song, and that was why she gave me advice and went easy on me when we were in the cell.

Calling that ancient granny "little Xing" was a bit weird, as it was how someone would address a kid. Though I doubted he meant it disrespectfully.

Even though the Sect Leader looked like someone who was not over thirty years old, he was still much older than the granny. He was probably the Sect Leader even when she was a young girl. It was strange to think how a young-looking man was much older than the granny, but this was cultivation, where a kid could be a thousand-year-old monster.

"You know, I met your ancestor about four hundred years ago," he said. "He was a Core Formation Cultivator, and it was before he made the Liu Clan. Though we never knew each other that well, I only encountered him several times. He was an ambitious guy."

I never realized this before, but talking to people who knew my great-great-grandfather was a strange experience.

"Oh, what did you think of him?" I asked, hoping that my ancestor had made a favorable impression.

"Well, he was ambitious, as I said. He was a lone cultivator who reached Core Formation through pure talent alone. That is very rare," the Sect Leader nodded and looked as if he was lost in memory lane. "No doubt he had grand ambitions of becoming a Nascent Soul Cultivator. But when he reached nine-star Core Formation, he gave up and formed a clan instead. That is quite common, and I have seen many like him. Even if someone reaches the peak of Core Formation and has everything prepared for that last step to break through, very few take it. Failing to break through to Nascent Soul means a fate worse than death."

Someone coming from nothing and tied to no organization, reaching the peak of Core Formation sounded exceptional. That was the kind of power that could rule a region, and except for the great sects, nothing was stopping them from doing whatever they wanted. But the way the Sect Leader described it seemed like it was nothing that special. This man had lived long enough that even such feats seemed almost common to him.

How many times had someone pulled something like what I was doing? No wonder he didn't seem surprised.

Lying to a man like this was useless. Small talk or getting directly to the point mattered little. He had seen it all, and there was little surprise. I would likely end up the same too, just another guy who barged into his castle and offered him something.

Knowing that, then there was no need for small talk.

"I'm here to bargain," I said.

"Bargain with what?" he calmly asked.

"I know the place where monstrous beasts are going to attack with their main force," I said, looking him in the eyes.

"Normally, I would take that as a youth's arrogance. But you have written that book and even defended your city well with limited resources. Tell me where it is, and I will have a couple of Core Elders go and defend the place," he leaned his head on his fist, with his elbow resting on the armrest of his golden throne.

For some reason, I felt at ease even though I was talking to someone of his stature. Was it because it seemed like no matter what I said or how I acted, he wouldn't be bothered by it.

"As a reward for this information, I want Song Song to be set free," I said.

"I can't intervene in the Song Clan's internal affairs. But you can ask for anything else," he said. "While I have decided to listen to your words, even if you know exactly where the monstrous beasts will attack. For now, your words are still just hearsay and not worth the effort of getting into a scrabble with the Song Clan."

There wasn't even anything I could criticize him for. It was a logical decision on his part.

"How about at least getting her to house arrest?" I asked.

"Sure," the Sect Leader easily agreed. "If your information is correct. If not, she will return to wherever the Song Clan is keeping her."

Okay... that was kind of anticlimactic. I thought I had to try harder to convince him.

"To get this information first requires some preparation," I said. "I need the names of every disciple that has left the Sect and which city they have gone to."

He met my gaze, and his brown eyes felt like they were looking straight at my soul. "Someone will be here soon and will bring the books."

Someone? He already had someone called for this? How did he reach them? Was it some kind of telepathic communication?

Despite wanting to know, I kept my curiosity in check for now.

In less than a minute, a red-masked guy wearing a dark robe just shimmered into existence next to the Sect Leader.

I had a hard time keeping my face straight as I stared at the "thing." This red-masked guy was different than Song San, who only had no presence. I couldn't hear his shoes touching the ground as he appeared, and I couldn't sense the movement in the air as this guy moved about.

He had three thick books in his hands, and with a wave of the Sect Leader's palm, the books flew out of the grasp of the red-masked guy. The books floated right before me, and I grabbed them as the levitation effect immediately disappeared.

How weird, I couldn't sense any Qi even when the books floated.

I opened the book and went rummaging through the names, acting like I was looking for something specific. Though I tried not to give away my intentions, it would be hard to hide anything from the observant eye of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

But even if he found out my reasons for this, it should not affect me that much based on his demeanor. However, my idea would likely be dismissed if he knew how I came to such a conclusion.

It took only a short time until I found what I was looking for.

[Hu Jin — Red Lotus Town]

Despite seeing the name, I tried not to give it a second glance and kept flipping through the pages. After a while, I closed the last book and turned toward the Sect Leader. The red-masked guy was no longer around, and I hadn't noticed when he left.

"The main force of the monstrous beasts is going to attack Red Lotus Town," I said.

Normally, I wouldn't speak confidently about something I knew so little about. But sometimes, one had to act confident, even when they weren't.

The Sect Leader looked at me silently for a few seconds before finally asking, "How confident are you in this?"

"Very," I replied. His only response was a brief nod.

This was the kind of plan that would work only in this world, based on what I knew so far. Those favored by the heavens always got the main slice of the action.

While I hadn't technically lied to the Sect Leader. I muddled the truth in convenient places, especially about how sure I was about the whole thing.

How confident was I in this? Not very. This whole thing worked on logic I barely understood.