Cultivation Nerd

As we left the castle, the snowy ground felt chillier than usual. Perhaps it was because I was still expecting the Song Clan Leader to kill us at any moment.

From the haunting laugh I heard, he would either send assassins after us, or it could be the Song Clan equivalent of a proud parent. What a weird family.

"You have to get a better handle on your emotions. While my father won't kill you since he probably sees some value in you, he is the kind of guy who uses everything and everyone. He is efficient at his core," Song Song said, looking at the cloudy sky as snow began falling. "Well, since you were able to create trouble for him, he probably likes you."

"Likes me?" I inquired as we walked down the stairs. "Does he like people who cause trouble for him or something?"

"Not at all. My father just likes competent people. As a Qi Gathering Cultivator, being able to convince the Sect Leader is very impressive. But always remember, no matter how impressed he is with you, you will be nothing more than a tool in his eyes," she explained.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and began walking toward the exit of the Song Clan. While we could have flown away, we needed some time to think.

Now that I was free, there was so much I wanted to do. But I hadn't decided yet where to begin. However, as soon as I started thinking about it, one thought stood out at the forefront. The first thing I had to do!

I turned toward Song Song and said, "I have to go get Speedy now that we are free."

"Speedy?" She raised a questioning brow.

"You have a turtle named Speedy?"

"Your first name is the same as your last name," I grumbled.

"It means princess if you look at it a certain way," Song Song refuted.

"In what way?" I asked. As far as I knew of this world's language, her name didn't mean princess.

We reached the populated areas of the Song Clan, and the clan members stared at us. Some seemed star-struck, while others frowned. Song Song seemed to have contrasting views throughout the clan.

"I will send a letter to Whitewall Town and have someone deliver your turtle. For now, you just need to cultivate. It would be stupid on my part to let my adviser go around recklessly now," she said. "There could also be some dangerous monstrous beasts that escaped the last battle."

It was considerate of her as we walked out of the Song Clan Compound. Then she turned toward me and began thinking a bit.

"We technically aren't allowed to fly around the Sect recklessly," Song Song said.

"No, we have broken enough rules for now. Also, we should use this time to plan some things out," I hurriedly said before Song Song decided to convince herself to break the rules. She usually did so easily and would have never questioned it before.

Did we break the flying rules when we did so within the Song Clan grounds? Or was there some special permission in that place?

"We'll go to where I used to live and set up a base there. Then, we can handle the rest, like getting you some pills to cleanse your spiritual roots. Can't have you lagging so far behind," Song Song explained.

"Make sure to get me as many of those pills as possible. I might break a couple," I reminded Song Song.

"You're like a spoiled kid," Song Song sighed in mock annoyance.

We continued talking about things that most people might consider useless, like new ways to use our techniques. After some time walking, with the sun about to set, we had traveled quite a bit through the stony roads and finally reached what looked like a mansion covered in green vines and other forms of grass. It looked abandoned.

"You live here?" I asked as she opened the gate, which made a loud creaking sound of rusted metal rubbing against itself and looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

"Used to," Song Song clarified. "I lived here with my mother. It was when my father didn't care about me since my talent had not been tested. There were a lot of assassins, as every wanna-be wife or concubine hoped her useless children would somehow make it ahead of the line and resorted to murder."

"All of them?" I asked as we walked past the long grass, and she nudged open the slightly ajar wooden door.

"Obviously, not all of them. But you should read between the lines. There were actually some women my father found fancy enough to take to bed. Most of them ended up having brutal deaths. Either their children died with them or were left to live with the memory of their mother being brutally murdered and not being able to do anything about it due to their trash-like cultivation talent," Song Song explained in a long rant, roughly summarizing the politics of the Song Clan and even the Blazing Sun Sect itself.

The inside of the mansion was dusty, smelled like old wood and mold, and had many other problems that I likely couldn't see. Some were clearly visible, like the number of spiderwebs around and the rat staring at us through the hole next to the cracked stairs on the left side.

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"Nice place," I nodded, looking around. This place looked like it had been abandoned for a while.

"Well, it is the only place I have where I can be sure no one will listen in on us or anything like that," she said, rolling her eyes at my evident sarcasm.

She started opening the doors and dodging the dust that came out. Then she swung her arm and created a soft wind with her Qi, trying to push the dust away. Instead, it made a dust cloud, causing her to cough and run out of the room she had just entered.

The dust settled in her hair, making her look like a coal miner. Her piercing blue gaze stared into me as if trying to pierce my soul. My lips twitched as I tried to hold back my laughter, and Song Song's glare intensified when she saw that.

But despite my best efforts, her messed-up hair and glare were such a funny combination that I let a chuckle escape.

"I'm not laughing at you," I hurriedly said between laughs. But Song Song's glare was not helping.

She used her Qi, causing a burst of force to push the dust away. Shaking her head, she settled her frown on me.

"Anyway, you said something about getting me those pills that will clean my spiritual roots," I said, obviously trying to change the subject.

She stared at me briefly before a small sword-like dagger emerged from her storage ring. Song Song breathed Qi into the dagger, and with a letter attached to its hilt, the weapon flew out the door in a blinding light.

"You sure that isn't going to stab someone in the back of the head?" I asked.

She just stared at me without saying anything. Her deep blue eyes shined in the darkness as she said, "That sword just went to the Alchemist Tower. Inside was a request for your pills."

"You sure they will listen to you—"

Before I could finish my words, there was a burst of Qi from Song Song. All the dust in the room blasted about. Song Song was quick enough to create a spherical Qi barrier. Of course, I wasn't fast enough to replicate that and was covered in a coat of dust.

"I have always had a tendency to convince people to give me what I want, especially the alchemists," she laughed. It was scary how similar her father's laugh was—a haunting witch-like sound.

As the dust settled, I wiped off my mouth and eyes. "How many did you have to kill to gain that privilege?"

"Just a couple," she said, ignoring what she had just done. "Alchemists are usually smart and can get the message quite quickly."

"When did you become so childish?" I sighed.

"There is a library in this house. It probably has some books about Alchemy. Would you accept that as an apology?" Song Song inquired.

With her saying that, I couldn't even muster an annoyed expression. I smiled and said, "Yes, I will forgive you."

"You will forgive me? That is how you talk to your leader?" She raised a questioning brow.

I nodded and looked around, "So, where is that library you were talking about?"

"Shameless bastard," Song Song grumbled under her breath, but there was no heat behind her words. "Also, I thought you would stay more focused on Array Conjuring. What is with the sudden interest in Alchemy?"

She signaled me to follow her, walking toward one of the walls and tugging at an old torch. At first, nothing happened, so Song Song frowned and pulled harder. This time, a clicking sound followed by a large creak as a door opened, revealing a large, thick iron door with rust along its hinges.

It was strange, considering how old traps and entrances wouldn't work as perfectly as when they were made.

Song Song extended her hand forward, and a blood-red fire flickered into existence, serving as a light source.

"By the way, when do you think you will become a Level 3 Array Conjurer?" Song Song made some small talk as we walked down the dark, dusty stairs. "We need some good arrays around here, and I don't trust anyone else. No offense, but a Level 2 Array Conjurer is kind of a nobody."

"You know, I kind of just reached Level 2 Array Conjuring recently," I reminded her.

"Yeah, so what?" Song Song had the gall to act confused. "I never thought you didn't have the abilities of a Level 3 Array Conjurer. You only lacked the knowledge you needed to reach the next level, which I gave you when you gained access to the Song Clan Library."

"That's not how it works," I grumbled. Though I had never tried to use a Level 3 Array, I knew the difficulty of casting one.

We reached the bottom of the dark stairway. It led to a dusty library with shelves that looked in poor condition. There was a heavy smell in the air as if it hadn't seen fresh air in a while.

"I'm pretty sure you should be a Level 3 Array Conjurer," she said. "After all, I've seen worse Level 3 Array Conjurers who can't do what you can with the lightning array."

"Really? I have never had experience with that kind of thing." I relented, letting her have her victory so she wouldn't continue talking so much when I was trying to read.

"You should try using a Level 3 Array," she insisted.

"If an Array Conjurer tries to use an array above their level, it usually ends with a nasty explosion. A Level 3 Array might not sound like much, but it would destroy this library and cause the mansion to cave in on us. We are quite deep underground, and with so many tons of earth and rocks falling down, even you would be in danger," I explained why her request was insane.

She smiled and stared at me like a hawk. It was a fake smile she wasn't even trying to hide, and a chill went down my spine. Song Song was about to do something crazy.

Without saying another word, she gathered a ball of Qi in her hand, which had enough power to destroy the whole place.

"I see that uncertainty is making you cautious. Well, I'll get rid of that doubt for you. If you don't try using a Level 3 Array, I'll explode this ball of Qi and have the whole library cave in on us," Song Song stated nonchalantly.

"There is no way you're going to do that!" I said hurriedly.

"What? Do you think I'm the kind of person who makes useless threats? I'm hurt you think so badly of me," the crazy smile on Song Song's face widened. "Now, it's your gambit! What're you going to do?"

"You crazy bitch," I grumbled under my breath, not caring if she heard me.

She was putting our lives in danger for no damn reason! Oftentimes, Song Song was a very stable person… Well, perhaps not "very" stable. But she could be relatively normal, and we would even joke together. Then she went and did something crazy like this!

"You should really start working on it. It's getting hard to control this unstable blast of Qi," Song Song said, and as if to prove her point, the crimson Qi ball shook.

"Fuck," I cursed under my breath.

I went through the motions for a Level 3 Array, taking all the steps; chanting, hand seals, and deep concentration formed from the life-and-death situation. It was the best condition to create an array, and the type of array I had in mind only required Qi.

In the end, a long rectangular barrier formed around Song Song.

"Qi Disruption Array!"

The Qi ball in her hand popped like a balloon, creating a pushing force that destroyed the barrier. But her Qi blast no longer had the power to do much, and it ended up just making a strong wind that pushed my hair back and threw some of the books around.

Song Song looked at me, her deranged smile replaced by a strangely peaceful one. "Congratulations, that qualifies you as a Level 3 Array Conjurer."