Calculating Cultivation

Chapter 69: A Millenia Weighs Heavily

I was a thousand years old. It was kind of funny that no one cared but me. I had outlasted countless people, enemies, family, and friends. Time did not fly by. Each day was another exhausting day of planning out thefts and moving about the Forever City.

“You ever get tired?” I asked Bones as I sat at a table in our room drinking some pure water.

“You are more melancholy than normal since we are so close. Problem?” Bones asked me.

“Just thinking about how long I have been alive. Most of it has been in this hell, but it all just blurs togeather sometimes. You ever miss home?” I asked.

“No. What you are experiencing is living sickness. It happens to everyone eventually. You either learn to adapt, or you die,” Bones told me.

“Or waste away in silence,” I muttered.

“That too. I have lived far longer than this speck of time you have been in the Forever City. So have many other cultivators. I learned to deal with it, by focusing on myself. Since that was the only thing that was constant.”

I looked at the painting I had set up on the table that my sister had drawn so long ago. This place was terrible for me mentally. I had been here for far too long and it was depressing. I could understand how a native might not have a problem with the Forever City, but it was bleakness made manifest. Where everything that made life worth living was cut away for the naked pursuit of more power. The Forever City needed a park, or some place that didn’t feel like I was sinking into the abyss.

I definitely didn’t want to stay here long term. “Is there somewhere else I could go after the Forever City?” I asked Bones.

“For a cultivator who wants to cultivate up stages, no. This is the place to be at your strength. After your breakthrough, anywhere else would still be risky in the Firmament. You would not last long, even if you had a guide. To endure is to cultivate. After all this time, effort, and sacrifice, you are getting cold feet?”

“No, just wondering if there is anything more to life than this?” I asked.

“Life is what we make of it Yuan Zhou. Even its setbacks and successes in equal measure. Now is the moment of triumph. If anything you should be celebrating. We have everything we need for both your cultivation and my body,” he said.

“And still no plan for my breakthrough. Even after all this time, there is nothing,” I replied.

“You have hundreds of cycles left to find a solution. Perhaps you will grow a bit as well. I have heard you complain enough about your stature.” I glanced over at the coffin that held Bones’ bones. He had repurposed the coffin Aoyin gave me along with a bunch of other materials to reconstitute a physical body. Right now it was cooking and we were waiting for it to be done.

Once it was, Bones would change it over to energy use from potions. I would submerge myself in the liquid energy, and skip to the end of the fourth stage. It was just that easy. Almost too easy. But that was the scale of the Forever City.

What was an insurmountable problem in the past, could be solved with credits. We had also prepared clothes and a separate credit card for Bones to use once he had his body back. We had talked about our parting in the past and he would be leaving once he got his body back and was sure that I was absorbing energy safely.

He had offered many times for me to go first, but his body took about a month, while I would be submerged for three years. I knew he wanted to leave and go do his own thing. It was better to part on good terms. Also, I suspected he might try absorbing or using the energy from my cultivation submersion procedure. He had changed some of the items he needed when he made the final purchases.

I didn’t mind. It was just the natural instinct of a cultivator to maximize every situation if possible. I would have 1.4 million credits once this was over. Bones would be leaving with 2.1 million credits. Both sizable amounts.

Right now there was nothing to do but wait. Leaving the body unattended was not going to happen. Bones would not take that risk with his return. “I have been thinking about your breakthrough actually. There is something I can do to help you,” he said.

“Oh, now I am interested, what is it?” I asked.

“I have a contact I can reach out to and arrange a meeting with. They might, and it is a big might, be able to help you. If anyone can for a non-ruinous cost, it would be them.”

“And you didn’t bring this up before?” I asked calmly. I might have been annoyed in the past, but Bones liked to be very deliberate about what he shared and what he didn’t.

“They owe me a favor I am loathe to give up. But it is the best option. While your cultivation is regained, I will sort out my existence during those couple of cycles. Then escort you to my friend. Payment will be up to you,” Bones said.

“And that would make us even and you would leave after that?” I asked.

“Yes. While it has been fun Yuan Zhou, having my own body again is greatly preferable. I am sure you feel the same way,” Bones told me.

“Perhaps. Without your help, I would have never gotten so far. Thank you,” I honestly replied.

“Well, I didn’t think I would get my body back. My plan was a long shot. After getting poisoned, the odds of me coming back were astronomically small, but we have pulled it off.” We had. It had taken far too long, but we had. The most notorious small time thief in the Forever City.

“What will your friend what and who exactly are they?” I asked.

“Friend might be a bit much, acquaintance is better. They go by the title of Broker and trade in favors and tasks. Credits will be useless with them. I was hoping to use my favor I had banked up to get started on my comeback.”

“And it is just good enough for a meeting? That seems, off?” I replied.

“What you need is not small. And this entity is not to be trifled with. Any deal you make, is up to you. Death is preferable to failing,” Bones explained.

“Omnious. So in the Forever City?” I asked.

“The edge, somewhere. Once I get my body back, I can locate them while you absorb all the energy you need to. They are outside the purview of the Heavenly Alliance and possibly work for another super-organization. No idea which one, but that is not a question I am qualified to ask.” Bones rarely liked to downplay himself, and when he did he liked to make it clear he was no match for the organization or being in question.

“Then you have my thanks.” There was a soft chime. I finished my water and put the picture away. I then made my way to the smoking coffin. Thankfully we had gotten a high quality room with ventilation. I pushed open the lid and there was a female body, completely naked lying down in the coffin.

“A woman?” I asked in surprise. I thought Bones had been a guy.

“Yes. It is not my preference, but I plan to surprise my betrayers. Changing my appearance and body shape so drastically, will give the advantage in surprise for that one moment.”

“Well she, you, look good,” I replied. The body started breathing and I startled a bit.

“It is pathetic. A fraction of my true might and potential, but enough to house my soul once more. It is active, the compatibility appears strong enough as well to support me, even if just barely. Put your head onto its head, and relax,” Bones said. I did as he instructed, leaning over one edge of the coffin turned portable chamber.

“Ahhhhhh!” the woman took in a deep breath under me, and her eyes opened. “Bones?” I asked.

“Indeed,” a male voiced came from the woman who frowned. “Indeed. Indeed. There that is better,” she replied in a more feminine voice.

“I can lift my head?” I asked.

“One moment, I am making sure I didn’t leave anything behind. Nothing, you can lift your head,” she said. It was weird to hear Bones speak in such a light airy tone. I lifted my head and moved back. She slowly got up and gestured. A spatial ring flew onto her finger and she was instantly clothed.

Looking at her, I could see the pulse of energy through her quickly growing, but it still seemed quite weak. “Any issues?” I asked.

“Many. Far too many, but this will do for now. I am not completely crippled and can improve from here.” Bones turned towards me and then bowed fairly deep. “Thank you Yuan Zhou for returning me to a body.”

“Of course senior,” I replied and bowed back. We then straightened up and she looked at her hands and made a fist. She bunched her fist into her palm and frowned.

“My advice is to never lose your body. It is the foundation of what makes you, you. I have countless cycles ahead of me, working to get everything in order again.” She then closed her eyes and I had to squint as there was a sudden torrent of energy moving around her. I heard bones cracking, organs squishing, and then it finally stopped after a minute. “Ahh, that is better,” she said.

“You altered your body?” I asked. I couldn’t see any outwards difference, but her energy was flowing more vigorously now.

“Just adjusting the internals. The nice thing about a constructed body is its malleability. I am sure I will have to do that many more times as more issues come up. But first, you. Let us get this chamber switched over so you can cultivate to the end of your current stage,” she said and turned around. I walked over to watch her work adjusting runes and the energy flowing through the coffin.

“Should I still call you Bones?” I asked.

“It is fine. For we are closer than family. To have trust is a rare and valuable thing. One would say the most valuable thing one can have. My old friends and family are gone. Now it is time to focus on recovery and then revenge. Perhaps in the future we shall meet if fate ordains our paths cross again. But it is doubtful. And done. Containment is more than sufficient if it was good enough for me,” Bones said. She got up and then went to the nearby table and picked up a pad. She put her hand on it and then handed it to me.

I looked at the pad and there were instructions to go to a specific location in the seventh ring and floor 222,222. “Lots of twos,” I said.

“It amuses the Broker. Go there and you will meet an intermediary. Present this token to gain access and to make a deal,” Bones said and put down a coin that was a metallic white. I picked it up, it was incredibly heavy and the energy inside of it was immense.

“Where did you get this?” I asked.

“When you are at my level of cultivation, you don’t need spatial rings for everything. Regardless, that is for you Yuan Zhou as payment for helping me.”

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“So, you won’t be here when I come out?” I asked.

“I might, but most likely not. I have my own path and so do you,” she said.

“One last question, how strong are you? Like what stage? I know you said I am a one, to an immortals two, to your three,” I replied and she smiled.

“That really is your last question?” she asked.

“I considered asking about your past, but you clearly want to keep that secret,” I replied. The fact she wasn’t even wearing the same face or body type was a clear indication of that.

“A three little cultivator, a three,” and then she just disappeared with a pop of air. For a brief moment I saw the Astral Plane behind her. She just left through the Astral Plane. It took me a moment to process that Bones really was gone and doing such a thing clearly showed she had power.

“I swear, if I ever make it to the top, I am going to get better labels and measurement systems in place,” I muttered in complaint. Well it was all on me now. I set up the huge tank of energy potions and hooked it up to the portable chamber. I had enough experience with cultivator scripts over the centuries by watching Bones that I understood what she had been doing. She just disabled the body shaping aspect that had been ingrained into the device. That was still weirding me out, that she was now a woman.

I understood going all in on a plan for revenge, but that felt like a bit much. Still, she was super powerful and could do what she wanted to do. I took off my clothes and entered the coffin. While it should be technically called a portable chamber, it was coffin shaped and had a coffin lid. I put on a tiny mask over my mouth and nose so I could breathe.

Liquid flooded the coffin and I felt the pressure of energy outside of my body. I was quickly covered and began to absorb the energy through my channels. It had been a long time since I had improved my cultivation. While I had the very rare sip of an energy potion to keep my channels full for techniques, I was never improving, just gathering credits to buy resources to make the leap all at once.

It was disappointing that Bones had left right away, but I would have gone insane if I had to depend on another person to get my body back. While we worked well togeather, I could tell that he, no she, was frustrated by my limitations. It was a slow grind to the needed number of credits, but we had done it with time to spare at least.

Bones left me with a path forward. Unfortunately, even the specialist Ming Jiei had struggled with the issue regarding the bottleneck. I had paid for my soul to be healed, but he had no good solution about my breakthrough. He had suggested a faction might be willing to use a temporal chamber for fifty million credits.

That was never going to happen and was completely out of my price range. I had been prepared to accept the fate that befell my first master and stop. I didn’t know where I would live out the remainder of my life if I made such a choice, just not the Forever City. I could still return to the continent any time. But there was nothing left there for me.

While Bones might be focused on revenge, to me it was pointless. Aoyin and his demonic sect seemed so small and petty now. While I had been wronged, it wasn’t worth going after him. I could go back and help the Cloudy Moon Sect. I owed them a huge debt. Too bad there were no shipment services, otherwise I could have spent a thousand credits to send some valuable cultivation resources back.

It was funny that I was using Aoyin for my advantage. I guess the best revenge was a life well lived. I could only hope he was dead. It would be hilarious if he came to the Forever City to try and find me. But he was probably here before and left. Or maybe he didn’t want to take the risk. Without a guide like Bones I would have died countless times.

But Bones had left a path forward for me. I could go see this broker. It would be dangerous. That high up in one of the outer rings, was very risky. I had never gone past floor 100,000 in any of the towers. The risk was just too high in Bones’ opinion. Now I was on my own. The training wheels were off.

Energy continued to rush into me as I thought over what I should do. Having a path forward gave me new hope, keeping the depression at bay. As long as I could move forward, everything would be fine. Once I reached immortality then I could have a long breakdown. The will to keep going was not simple. Each time I thought I had the mental maturity to endure, time wore me down.

The pressure on my cores built up, but there was no pain thankfully. The cracks had been fixed and I wasn’t absorbing energy through my physical body, but through my channels like my cultivation plan was designed for.

The pressure continued to build up as the solid cores were compressed more and more. The durability of my body was immense. Then I felt the first ignition as my cores quickly transitioned from a solid to a plasma one by one. There was no logical explanation why energy in cores followed the states of matter. I had even asked Bones, but she had just shrugged at that. Her lack of knowledge in some areas was really confusing sometimes.

The ignition, made my body tremble, and I had to focus to keep drawing in more energy. I also activated the technique I had been working on, to use the energy of my cores to contain itself with force barriers. The pressure continued to build as I took in more and more energy. Without creating these barriers, the risk of damage to my cultivation was too high.

I would have to slowly reduce them once I was done taking in energy. Soon the pull of sleep began to come to me. I slowed down the pull of energy to a trickle through my channels and ensured my technique was stable. I then drifted off to sleep. I woke up in a little bit of a panic and started drawing in energy once more.

This process would take three years. I had six tanks worth of energy potion to get through. Once one was done, I would exit the coffin, eat, drink, and then hook up a new tank and get back in. While I had a lot of channels, they could only take in energy so quickly. The fact that I could get half a million drops of energy inside of me in three years was what was really impressive.

There would be a small bit of wastage at the end, but Bones had done the calculations and worked out what I needed with a small margin of error. While I had a decent number of credits to my name, I didn’t want to waste them. I didn’t feel bloated, but full as I took in more and more energy.

It was insane that I was using up enough energy that existed on the entire continent, or close enough that the comparison wasn’t far off. I really was a pig, consuming resources like I was. But the Forever City had resources to spare, if you had the credits.

Once I was past the first bottleneck, I vowed to get back onto the path of business. Also, I wouldn’t be able to get away with stealing with my slightly increased strength. It was possible, but the risk was slightly higher. I would get caught eventually.

No, I wanted to actually run a business and after spending so long in this hell, I had gotten a very good sense of what this city needed. I just needed to break through the bottleneck so I had the strength to see my dreams through. Bones thought my idea, while good, was doomed to fail. I wasn’t so pessimistic.

The trick was to give ongoing value, while not being worth the trouble to get rid of, nor valuable enough that other factions wanted to get rid of me. It was a very narrow tightrope, but I had hope that I could walk it once I got past the hurdle of my cultivation. As much as I wished to focus on business, I had to deal with my cultivation issues first and foremost.

As I drew in more energy, the outer mind shell cores filled up first. I stopped drawing in energy from those channels. I had years of practice controlling my channels. If this was centuries ago when I had first come to the Forever City, this would have been impossible, but now, it was simply a matter of intense focus.

I could focus for days at a time, or even weeks. Stealing stuff was a risky business where one needed to be able to move at a moment’s notice. Without Bones’ ability to sense at a very far distance, I would never have been able to get away with so much larceny. Crime didn’t pay, only if you were weak or were caught.

If you could get away with it like I had, it was a viable method to survive and gain credits in the Forever City. There was always a need for credits. Any problem, could be fixed or solved with enough credits. I had tried asking economic questions of Bones, but they went over her head. Was there a set limit of credits in circulation or did the Heavenly Alliance manage the supply?

That high level information, there was no answer for. I just had to be content with what I could observe and pick up during my thievery. While I knew there was a lot Bones wasn’t telling me, I felt like I had picked her mind clean on almost everything about the Forever City. And none of that changed my mind about how depressing this place was.

I guess if I was one of the elites it wouldn’t be so bad. But living out in the slums and heavy manufacturing area most of the time was mentally and emotionally draining. At least thing were changing now, and I wasn’t going to keep doing the same thing over and over again, or at least for a while if I could help it. Cultivation, then business, even if it killed me. I was going to get my passive income. No fighting, or stressful adventures once I got past this bottleneck.

My body core filled up, and now it was just my four main cores that I was drawing in energy for. The force barriers inside my filled up cores were slowly be reduced in strength as my channels settled, my body adapted, and my cultivation became less turbulent inside my cores.

Getting back into the coffin for the fifth and last time, I was filled with rising hope that I would not be stuck in a rut. Like I had been. That vow felt feeble when I realized I promised myself to not lock myself up in a dark chamber after the nightmare of the third stage of my cultivation.

At least it was only a couple of years. If this had to go past a decade, I would have screamed. It made me regret not coming out here at the start of my third stage, but Bones had told me, I would have died without techniques to shield me from the environment. So, it all worked out in the end.

As I got closer to absorbing the last drops of energy, the pressure on my cultivation was large, but it was holding togeather. The special channels were doing their job along with the icosahedron multi-layered core structure to keep everything togeather. If I was poked, I was scared about the amount of energy I would release. I felt it would be a large explosion. No wonder why Bones had said I couldn’t breakthrough in any random location, due to the risk my breakthrough presented.

Such an occurrence would shatter the tower I was in and possibly the nearby towers to some extent without proper preparations. I could feel the immense amount of energy contained within me. The rich kids in the Forever City really had it easy if their parents paid for everything. But seeing Bones, that help came with strings attached.

Not having a faction backing me was a weakness, but also a strength in many ways. I was not beholden to anyone but myself. Now that Bones had left, there was no one else to worry about. It felt lonely and freeing at the same time.

I counted down the drops as they entered my soul cores. I had a very good sense of the density of energy within me after spending all this time absorbing energy and using it. I pushed off the lid of the coffin, sitting up. The energy fluid left behind was mostly drained. There was some left, but I didn’t need it anymore.

Pulling off my mask, I took a deep breath. I felt stronger and more powerful than ever before. I almost felt weightless to a large extent. Exerting a force technique to leverage me to an upright position was easier than ever before, consuming a smaller fraction of energy than it would have before this cultivation session.

I could almost see and sense the forces acting upon everything in the room. From the table, coffin, and tank pushing down on the floor, to the floor pushing back up on them. To the currents of air that circulated within the room from a vent. There was a mental clarity that was hitting me in terms of understanding all the forces acting upon each other.

When I looked down at my own arm. Beyond sensing my cultivation, I could feel the forces acting on me. My blood, my cells, and my bones. I focused a bit more, but I couldn’t sense the forces of my cultivation, only some vague aftereffects. I couldn’t sense the force of my thoughts and actions. The more esoteric meanings of force were still beyond me.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my entire body ripple with force acting upon it. Even with how much stronger I felt right now, that meant nothing. I would not let hubris consume after coming so far. I got out of the coffin and used the shower in the room. It had been paid for, for quite a while. For ten cycles at 500 credits per cycle. But it came with fresh air, and pure running water.

While I would be checking out early, that was fine. It was important to have peace of mind while everything had been done in here. I went into the shower and cleaned myself off of the remaining fluid that left behind a sticky blue residue. I stayed under the shower for quite a while.

Once I was done, I put on a clean martial robe I had prepared for this occasion and pulled out a meal. I enjoyed eating the meal I had saved up for this point. I had eaten during my breaks, but that was a quick thing so I could go back to cultivating. Now that I was done, I was going to relax and mentally recover. I had done the impossible. I had made it the end of the fourth stage of cultivation.

It was surreal how so many people had doubted me. But we were all frogs in a well, country bumpkins, with no idea about the true scope of cultivation society and the Firmament. My thoughts drifted to my reincarnation, the one thing I had never shared with Bones. She had never brought it up either, so I could only assume she didn’t know. I didn’t even hint about it with a question.

Also, I thought of this life as my life. Compared to my time on Earth, I had spent far more time cultivating and in the Forever City than anywhere else. After finishing my meal, I slowly got up and stretched, feeling my body effortlessly move and sensing the forces acting upon me. It was tempting to use some stronger techniques Bones had taught me over the years, but I resisted. It would not due to draw attention to myself here.

It was easy to think that I was the center of everything, and not a mere speck. While I had superhuman abilities before, I fully felt superhuman at this very moment. I went to my bed, it was mine, since the room didn’t come with one. I slept for a long time.

When I woke up, I was surprised five days had passed, but felt much better. Sleeping inside a fluid filled coffin for years was not a good way to rest. My head felt clearer than ever before. The only thing that was missing was Bones’ presence. I let out a small sigh at that.josei

It was time to move on, and go to this Broker. Perhaps they would have a solution for my breakthrough issue. The future cultivation issue was something that was still up in the air. Even Ming Jiei had no suggestion there, since my cultivation was unique. What came after my breakthrough would determine if I could advance forward anymore. It was very possible to breakthrough and while surviving and reaching the fifth stage, being unable to cultivate any further.

Regardless I would push forward. I pulled out the white metallic coin. It was smooth, no ridges, or iconography. But there was energy inside of it. It was the densest source of energy besides a cultivator I had ever seen. Time to see if Bones’ last gift would allow me to move forward or not.