Chapter 47: A Moment Of Peace

Chapter 47: A Moment Of Peace

I continued kneeling in front of the grave. My mother had passed away, from what was most likely a stroke. There were no autopsies done in cultivation land. But based on the description, she collapsed and began seizing. She passed shortly after that. That had happened two years ago while I had been at the Floating Island of Death.

Lighting the incense in front of the grave at the family compound, I knelt there quietly thinking about my choices in this life. I had started on the path of immortality because of fear of death. I had died once before, I didnt want to die again. I didnt like thinking about my death. It caused me to feel a feeling of fear.

Even my reincarnation into this life was done by an unknown force. I didnt like the idea of higher powers. But if there was one out there I would say a prayer. If anyone is listening. My mother, Yuan Wen was a decent mother. While she was prone to drama and overacting, she did care. I took a deep breath before continuing.

Making sure I succeeded while keeping me away from the politics of the family. I wiped my cherubic face. Everyone was getting older and older while I remained. The gravestone was well made. The Yuan family would not dare to offend me over something like this. She wasnt next to my father. That spot was reserved for the main wife.

Getting up I bowed to my mothers grave. I then walked over to my fathers grave and bowed before it. I turned to leave the graveyard and found my Yuan Yun waiting for me. His hair had a lot of gray and he was using a cane. He had also put on a bit of weight.

Brother, he said with a bow.

First brother, I replied with a nod.

I am glad to see you got the news, he replied. I nodded at this as we slowly left the grave yard, walking togeather. She was a woman with a strong personality. That is why father liked her, my brother replied.

Strong personality is right. How are things in the family? I asked to be polite.

I am retired now. My first son, Yuan Zhu now manages things. Third brother has also passed away, he said.

When? How? I asked.

Half a year ago. Drug overdose. Or his liver just gave out after all these years. You know how he liked to indulge. The theater was his playground, my first brother said, and I nodded at this. I let out a heavy sigh. Everyone I knew was dying.

Fourth brother? I asked.

Left to travel once you gave him his divorce settlement. I havent heard from him since. No idea where he is, Yuan Yun said. Your sister was asking after you.

That is my next stop. I There was a lot of hesitation to say what I was going to say, but it needed to be said. I wont be returning for a while most likely. Taking a break during my next stage of cultivation is not simple or easy.

I understand brother. Us fleeting mortals, are but dust on the ether, memories remain, he said. It took me a moment to realize what he had just done.

Taking an interest in the arts? I asked.

A hobby of mine to write haikus in my old age. I should have a few decades left, but I feel older just looking at you, he replied.

I feel short, I joked, and we both chuckled at this. We continued to walk in silence. It was most likely our last meeting.

As we reached the exit to the family compound I paused. Here. If a family member believes they can cultivate, let this help them on their path, I pulled out a rank 3 spirit stone and tossed it over. My brother caught it with wide eyes and quickly pocketed it.

You dont need to do this, but thank you brother, he said.

Consider a repayment of debts. I was pretty sure karma wasnt a thing, but there was only so much I could do. I had other things to focus on. Money was easy, spending my time was much more difficult. I paused and gave my brother a hug, surprising him. I broke all the formal rules of etiquette by doing this, but after that visit to the grave I was feeling depressed as people I knew passed away while I remained.

Letting go of my brother, I turned and left decisively. There was no need to say anything more. I slowly made my way through Half Moon City to the Yao family compound. Everyone steered clear of me since I was in my martial robes with the sect symbol.

I saw rickshaws moving about, while others were walking to carry out their errands. I reached the Yao family compound and no one dared stop me as I entered. I was shown to a sitting room. It didnt take long for my sister, Yao Chuntao to show up.

Brother, she said and gave me a hug. I gave her a hug back. Everything was going well with her and mother.

You remember how she always used to gasp dramatically and wave her hands up to her head, my sister said.

Yes. It was very over the top, I replied with a small smile.

Or that one time, you told the cooks to add extra spice to our evening meal.

If I recall sister, that was you. Saying the food was boring, I countered.

But you told the cooks what to do. Everyone tried not to say anything while eating, until it became too much, my sister chuckled.

I think that was one of the few times we were ever yelled at, I said.

I know, it was hilarious. How is my daughter? she asked, changing the subject.

She is doing well. Elder Li Fu is looking after her and she is progressing through the second stage of cultivation. It will take time, but I doubt she is going to go on any crazy adventures like I did, I replied.

You must have went on another one. What happened? I could tell my sister was excited. While she was happy being a mother and with her life, she liked to hear about the trouble I got up to. I then told her about my journey to the Floating Island of Death, the zombies, and then fighting enemy cultivators.

Fighting, I am glad you won, she said.

They werent martial cultivators. Just rouge cultivators with weapons. Probably grew up in Imperial City and wanted to make some money on the side. There are a lot of cultivators there that arent tied to the Imperial Sect, I replied.

And you won. I cant even imagine the danger, she said. At least you are safe now little brother. I rolled my eyes at her teasing.

I am going to be cultivating for a long time. I cant easily stop without risk, I said. There was a long stretch of silence. My sister reached out and I did the same. She gripped my hand, giving it a slight squeeze, even if my flesh didnt budge in the slightest.

We sat there enjoying each others company for the rest of the day. That evening, I left and began making my way back to the sect. Starting and stopping the force chamber for my attunement wasnt practical and would waste energy.

Instead, I would be put into an enclosed underground room. The spirit stones I had would be loaded up into the massive formation to generate force energy. The chamber would have a bucket, beast jerky, and reinforced barrels of water.

No lights and nothing else. It was similar to the soul reflection chamber, just built with longer term use in mind, but was still incredibly small. Since it was meant for long term use, and during the third stage of cultivation, it was more a tomb than anything else. It was deep underground with other similar chambers that the sect had for other attunement purposes, specifically earth.

Junior greets Sect Leader Li Fu? I said with a bit of hesitation.

It will be announced right before the next arrival, but Sect Leader Jiang Fengge has retired and gone into seclusion, Sect Leader Li Fu said. Come sit. I was just about finished.

I nodded at took a seat. It felt odd that Jiang Fengge had left without a goodbye. I guess he wasnt a fan of them and we had already said everything to each other that needed to be said. The new Sect Leader Li Fu took a seat behind the desk.

You will remain the Sect Disciple. Your status wont be changing. You can keep your room and your privileges.

Thank you, Sect Leader, I said with a bowed head.

It would be a disservice and an insult to do otherwise. Your niece, will remain a Core Disciple. A Sect Disciple is not a position given lightly. Jiang Fengge only managed to do so, due to your accomplishments and his time as Sect Leader. I nodded at this to show my understanding.

I will also add that the Sect cannot help you in the fourth stage. The amount of resources required is astronomical. I know that preparations were already made? Sect Leader Li Fu asked.

Another trip to find resources, into the Firmament, I replied. Elder Li Fu let out a sigh.

That is what I figured. I have little experience in this matter. And will not interfere. But I will require a signed contract handing over your share of the mining business once you reach the fourth stage and depart, he replied.

I frowned at this. Not even a day later, and my business was already being moved in on. Why? I asked.

You will most likely die once you depart. Normally this wouldnt matter, but there are two other competing interests from the Imperial Sect. If you dont return, this could create long term issues, he replied.

That is a big if, I countered. I wasnt about to give up my company, even if the new Sect Leader was pressuring me.

Indeed. If I had something like your business, I wouldnt want to give it up either. But you will be compensated. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and set it in front of me. I picked it up and unfolded it. The offer was basically a rank 8 treasure of some kind. A top tier item or spirit stone.

If I refuse? I asked.

We can put a clause in of 1,000 years. If you return in that time, then the business and all money left behind will be taken by the Sect. That will be a massive amount and a long enough time frame to confirm your death.

What about the Soul Lantern? I asked which should keep track of if I was dead or alive.

Not useful. Once you attempt to break through your bottleneck, that will not trigger it. Also, there are things out there in the Firmament that could block the connection. While unlikely, the Sect is not a bank, for the amount of wealth that will accumulate once you are gone, he replied.

Even in Imperial City? I asked.

Once a concentration of wealth grows large enough, anyone would be tempted. That is why we cant just stockpile for you for centuries on end, Elder Li Fu explained. I frowned a bit, but it made sense. Too much wealth concentrated in one place could invite disaster.

My thoughts went to the rank 8 coffin that Aoyin had given me, that I refused to use. It would have been tempting to try and pass it off as coming from the Floating Island of Death, but Wen Xue would have brought up too many questions about its origin and I would have to share any proceeds from the sale.

A thousand years was a long time, and the amount of wealth that would accumulate would be quite a bit. I could even see an Immortal taking notice. While they might not act, it would invite questions. However there had to be other cultivators who left for a time and then came back.

I could live up to 2,200 years or so if I make it past the first bottleneck. I had been reading the Sect Leaders journal about the Firmament. It was a crazy place. But I also knew that Elder Li Fu wanted the business and was willing to take advantage of me to get it.

The question was the value of the business. Back on Earth, the price of a business was based on three years worth of revenue and profit. But in cultivation land, there was no set standard. The issue was that cultivators lived too long. Very rarely did they want to sell something that was already making them money.

But there was an opportunity. If I did sell the business, I could invest in equipment and good for when I left. Money sitting around wouldnt help me get past the first bottleneck. The sheer number of resources at the Core Formation stage I would need was massive.

Elder Li Fu clearly knew this as well, which was why he was pressuring me now. He smelled blood in the water and was a shark going after a tasty meal. Zheng Ting remains employed as long as she desires and the equivalent of two rank 8 treasures. And my third stage is paid for.

That was seriously undervaluing the long value of my mining business and my share. But it was a reasonable compromise. One rank 8 treasure, but the rest is acceptable, Sect Leader Li Fu countered.

That is low, far too low, I replied.

It will take 200 years to earn the equivalent of a rank 8 treasure, he countered. He let out a sigh. That was another reason for my suspicions on what was going on.

I will sign things over once I am done with the third stage and depart, I finally said after thinking over things. I didnt want to rush into a decision. If I got past the first bottleneck, then I should be nearly unstoppable. Sect Leader Li Fu would have to bow his head towards me and accept unfairness thrown his way.

But right now I was too weak and had very little backing. Sect Leader Jiang Fengge had always been in my corner, advising me, and helping me along my path of cultivation. But now that he had retried, there was nothing more I could do about the situation but accept it.

I had no doubt that Sect Leader Li Fu could make my life difficult if he wanted to. Like the formation I would be using to attune my channels to force energy, was something made and developed by the sect as a long term investment.

Our meeting quickly wrapped up after that. The vultures were circling and I needed to keep progressing. While other people might have been tempted to force the issue with Sect Leader Li Fu, it just wasnt worth the risk or the hassle. There would be no winning for me. I couldnt depose Li Fu or go against him right now. That meant I could only endure his bullying. For that was what that entire conversation had been, not matter how polite it had been.

The month slowly passed as I reread my Masters journal over and over about the Firmament. The outside land of the cultivation continent was much more diverse and varied. So, while this created a lot of novel options in terms of cultivation, there were a lot of risks as well.

But with risks came rewards. Selling my business made sense in this context. I would sell it, in exchange for high quality spatial rings, and stuff to bring along with me for trade. It felt like I was going backwards in business, going from a multi-national business owner to a trader. But it was all about at what level of wealth a person operated at. Trading direct goods was far more impactful than letting spirit stones pile up here where I couldnt get to them.

The month slowly passed by and I was cleared by Elder Healer Meihui. I had gotten enough advice about the third stage, that I wasnt worried about what I had to do. Wen Xue had provided several useful tips to manage cultivating at the third stage of Meridian Attunement.

The first thing was to not stop carving out a meridian and channel pair no matter what. I needed to mentally focus, painfully breaking apart the portions in my soul that were surrounded by interlinked aligned motes.

This was where the triangular mental model would show value. One carved out their own soul with mental will power and fortitude. I would then need to use the Displacement Channel Carver to draws out the remains of breaking my cultivation, speeding things up.

After that it was just about working as efficiently as possible. As my channels were carved I would draw in the force energy permeating the room I would be cultivating inside of. My meridians and channels would be attuned to force energy.

As I was led into the underground chamber and locked away with enough supplies for three months in the darkness. The inside of the room didnt light up in the slightest. All the arrays were in separate layers. I could slowly feel my body getting squeezed.

Taking a deep breath, I focused my mind on the first inverse wave cone meridian I would be forming in my arm. Bit by bit, I felt the most minute pieces of my astral soul crumble away. My other hand had the Displacement Channel Carver. I could feel the bits of carved up soul getting pulled out of my body.

It wasnt completely unpleasant, but weird. Like getting pinched where I didnt expect to get pinched on my body. I lost track of time in the darkness, only able to tell how long I had been cultivating from the water and the food remaining. The hardest part was how slow it was. If I didnt pull out the broken up pieces of my soul, it would take incredibly long to make any kind of progress, since the remnants settled incredibly quickly.