That woke them up.

“The difference is that Unparalleled perfection can only exist for an individual. For others, even if they have a similar enough physique, it can, at most, only work as a Black manual.”

“So, every Black manual was...”

“Yes. Most all were once techniques tailored to a single cultivator. You see, perfection can only exist in a vacuum. As soon as it’s exposed to other things, it becomes lesser.”

Ghosty’s eyes widened and energy seemed to surround him as he reached an epiphany. I wasn’t sure which of my awesome words made him realize something profound enough to gain the approval of the heavens but I hoped he used that energy wisely.

His projection crossed his legs and began to meditate while he absorbed the epiphany energy.

“Now, to start. Little Spring, go sit down.”

He did as I asked like the good junior brother he was. “First I need to inspect your body and make a hypothesis.”

I used the combination of my divine sense and cultivation to slowly inspect every cell of his body. I could have done it faster, but I couldn’t put any more strain on my body for a few hours.

After reviewing the Qi Condensation part of both techniques, I began to make highly educated guesses.

Hmmm. This. No this. Wait. Wasn’t this just my cultivation technique but mirrored? No. That would be... just what the dumbass author who wrote the original novel would think of and hide as an Easter egg. Fucking weirdo.

I glared at the author... well, I actually glared at Little Spring who looked uncomfortable and like he was about to cry but my glare was obviously meant for the author.

I ran my spiritual energy through his body in a pathway that was the mirrored version of mine. I could feel the restriction on his bloodline power unravel by a minuscule amount. Anyone but myself, who had created Unparalleled Perfection manuals before and was familiar with Bloodsword’s pre-ascension structure from the few times I helped treat his wounds, would miss it. Yep, this was pretty much his perfect Qi Condensation Technique.

I had a smidgen of hope that this would only be the case during this realm.

“You feel this?”

He nodded.

“Can you grab the spiritual energy in this space and cultivate using this method?”

He nodded, determined.

“In that case, this is what you should think while you cultivate. Breathe...”

After I told him, he reached the first level of Qi Condensation within two hours. He could have continued, but I stopped him because I didn’t want him to ruin his small space by consuming too much. That was the other issue with Unparalleled Perfection techniques, they needed way more energy for each breakthrough than a lesser technique. But cultivators who practiced them would end up stronger and have a more pure body... I assumed. This was the first time I was cultivating my own technique, after all.

Little Spring also needed to learn what the first level was like. Running through levels too fast at his age wasn’t good for him. That, and I felt like torturing him for a few days with the horribly thin spiritual energy of the mortal world.

“Alright. Good job. Now go soak in your spring while doing that, but without taking in spiritual energy. Instead, focus on consuming the water until you feel full.”

“Yes, Fairy Lin!” And off he went.

I moseyed over to Ghosty McGhostface. His image appeared more solid, and he opened his eyes only to move back in fright. Ah, I may have been too close to him, but whatever.

“Tell me about the person who put you in here.”

He didn’t say anything for a while and eventually sputtered, “I can’t.”

“Okay.”

He looked flabbergasted. “Just like that?”

“I know things about this world that you couldn’t even imagine. So when you tell me you can’t like that, I know you can’t.” Because the person who put him here was either a True Immortal or beyond, and they were most likely related to our dear main character in some way. Whoever that person was, they were not to be fucked with at our level. “Get ready, because we’re about to go traveling, and it’s dangerous out there.”

“At merely the third layer? You can’t be serious.”

I raised a brow at him. He didn’t say anything for a while, and we both stared out the window at Little Spring who sat submerged in water up to his lips.

Hesitantly, he said, “Are you at least going to tell him that you’re dying?”

“Heh, so you found out?” I took out a knife from the storage ring and started walking towards his soul gem, the thing that kept him alive as much as it kept him trapped.

“What?! No. I didn’t say anything! I know nothing.”

I stopped.

We sat in awkward silence and eventually I saw Little Spring start to walk back from his lake.

“I’m not going to die.” I grinned. “Just watch while I become more amazing than anyone, faster than you’ve ever seen!”

And I would do it using my own strengths.

***

When Little Spring returned, his once tan skin had turned as pale and smooth as a porcelain doll. He was starting to look more like an immortal child than myself!

Whelp, there was no hiding this. We needed to leave this village ASAP.

I had the little main character wear the soul gem with Ghosty McGhostface in it and use his will as the space’s owner to move us back into my room. Once I told him that we were leaving for the sect early we started packing up our things and putting them in my cheap storage bag, or into his space depending on the size of the object.

When I remembered my past and the beautiful space ring with literally cubic miles worth of space I’d created for myself, I wanted to cry. I went from that to lugging around a cheap second-hand bag like this that had —maybe— 5 cubic yards. It was so cheap, and well-used, that It surprised me every time I took something out and it wasn’t covered in this world’s version of glitter.

Whatever! I wouldn’t think about the past anymore.

I grabbed one of the stones that I’d used for my spirit gathering formation and a knife and started stabbing it while imagining Bloodsword’s stupid face. Huh? This stone wasn’t that bad... for something from the mortal world. It had absorbed a bit of the spiritual energy that moved through the formation. Hmm. I wonder.

While I’d never been a sword cultivator who made the sword a part of their cultivation, I did eventually come to understand a few levels past Sword Qi. I couldn't form sword quintessence at my cultivation level, but using Sword Qi with the ‘Any Blade is My Sword’ mindset was within my level.

I centered myself, breathed deeply, concentrated, and stared at the stone. Then, from a few inches away, I used a minuscule amount of the sharpest Sword Qi to cut the stone while my divine sense peered past the surface to guide the cuts within.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Little Spring peered at me like he thought I was crazy again. I sent him a smirk then blew on the stone. The surface, which had turned to dust under my ministrations, blew apart revealing the phoenix pendant I created.

His eyes grew wide and he practically jumped from his shock.

I placed a strand of my Will within the pendant, so I would know if it broke and walked out of my room. It was early morning, and the whole family had gathered for the morning meal. Some of my aunts looked shell shocked, and my uncles and cousins peered at me with suspicion.

I found my parents and bowed. They shared a look. Ah, they were really good parents. Not too strict or too lenient, and they really loved their children more than they loved themselves. For this reason, and because I had been a shitty daughter who hadn’t visited them once since I entered the sect in my past life, I decided to give them something, so, if the family was ever in dire straits, they could contact me by breaking the pendant, and I would help them if I could.

I explained that to them and let them know that my master wanted us to leave for the sect early so that we wouldn’t cause the mortals here any trouble.

At first, they refused to let us go saying that we were too young, but I lied and told her that immortals would meet us partway there and we had the great immortal’s protection.

They asked me if I needed any money, and I could tell by the look on my other lovely family member’s faces that they would get up in arms if I took anything, so I denied needing it. I had the loot from Immortal Flower Thief anyway.

And with that, we left the village. By foot. The last thing I wanted to do was freak people out after their scare the other day.

When I finally took out the flying sword and a spirit stone to power it, I ordered Little Spring to hide in his space and work on his reading and writing. The little idiot refused, believing that the two of us together would be safer. Which, of course, meant that, while I calmly flew the sword towards the nearest cultivator city I could remember, he clung to my back like a scared-ass koala. A quarter of the way there, while we still had light, I decided to stop and make camp... inside the space. Also, because I saw a good tree. Well, good for this low spiritual density area.

I landed and Little Spring left Ghosty McGhostface with me and rushed off to go use a sapling somewhere. Meanwhile, I stared at the beautiful massive tree. Ah, a Verdant King Birch. Perfect for creating low-level formation array flags.

As I used my divine sense to measure a million perfectly sized flagsticks, I took out the jade hairpin and turned it into a sword.

Hehehehe. This was going to be the most fun I’ve had in weeks!

If one cut can be two, then it can also be ten. And if one cut can be ten, then it can also be thousands.

I raised the borrowed sword above my head. “Thousand cuts!”

The tree shook but didn't fall. Ghosty McGhostface, hiding in his soul gem laughed.

“Hey, I’m not done yet.”

I slashed from right to left, moved around the tree, and, once again, made two slices that looked redundant. Then I repeated the process a few more times. Finally satisfied, I nodded. The tree seemed to still be intact.

“You ready for it?”

“For what?”

“This!” I grabbed my million sticks with my spiritual energy and increased the pressure from my divine sense to sever the last few parts that held everything together. As the tree came down around me, I used the last bit of energy I had to make a shield above my head to protect my body from the worst of the tree detritus. My nose started bleeding and I paled, but I managed to pile all of the flagsticks up neatly.

I grinned. “Pretty badass for a Qi Condensation practitioner at the third layer right?”

“Are you trying to kill yourself faster?”

I took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the top of my lip. “I know what my body can handle. I may be pushing it, but this is necessary.”

I sighed and peered at my dirty clothes. Even though I’d protected my head and body from damage, it didn’t prevent the tree gunk and sawdust from floating everywhere and getting into inconvenient places.

I’d need to take another dip in Little Spring’s lake. Fortunately, spiritual spring water was self-cleaning and took out stains like a champion detergent, or else I’d be upset. Ah, when could I use the cleaning spell again? 5th layer? Yeah. The 5th layer was pushing it, but it could happen. Thinking about all those days I could have been soaking in hyper-cleaning water instead of suffering like a mortal, I raised my fist to the sky and shook it.

“Ah, Fairy Lin?” Little Spring, who had just arrived asked. He looked like he was slowly approaching a crazy person. “What did the tree do that made you so angry?”

I froze. Let’s see. Demolished tree? Check. Angry expression? Check. Shaking a fist at a demolished tree like it had offended me? Double-check.

I coughed. Whatever. Let’s pretend this didn’t happen.