CHAPTER 24

As he said that, Mir took one more paper and began drawing a complex symbol on it. Once he finished, he handed it over to Oka and told him:

“As an apology. Use martial ink to inscribe this pattern on your chest while you integrate a pellet’s energy. It will increase the speed and amount.

-Thank you, young boss! I will be cultivating diligently then!

-Call for me once you’re ready to try for a breakthrough.

-Yes, young boss!”

After he got the paper, Oka bowed respectfully to Mir and left. He was going to cultivate. He had enough pellets for some time. Elder Bu sighed. He could understand the reasoning behind the refusal but he wasn’t willing to accept it.

His herbal mountain finally earned a talented disciple that could earn them some wins at the challenging mountain yet he refused to go sparring? What sorts of martial artists do not spar?! This was absurd and too rational at the same time. Elder Bu could only sigh at Mir’s awareness.

Since he couldn’t do anything with Oka now that the teenager went to cultivate, he turned to Mir:

“Little Mir, what do you plan to do next? Surely not challenging a second mountain ahah.

-Well…Maybe later. For now, I must build myself some capital. And learn of some school rules…Maybe elder Bu could help me on this second one.

-Of course, this old man is after all a true elder of this school. State your questions, little Mir. It will be my pleasure to answer them.

-I want to know about those groups and alliances formed by disciples.

-Hum…It’s quite simple, really. Anyone can create a ‘faction’ in this school. They are divided in three types. Mountain factions, like our herbal mountain. Those are managed by grand elders and their only purpose consist in prospering in a single domain, all for the school. Next, we have the Outer Factions and Inner Factions. They are created respectively by outer and inner disciples. As for why they are made and their purpose, it varies from one to another. It is mostly a way for disciples to get stronger by surfing on other’s achievements. It is easier to do tasks and such as groups and so, they earn more resources.

-Then, there must be many of them.

-Not at all. While we encourage it, there is a restriction. We couldn’t have just any and every disciple making their own faction. It would be a great waste for both us and them. There are a few requirements prior to create a faction. One needs to own a Manor on a mountain and the Faction must contain at least two people for an Inner one and twenty for an Outer one.

-That’s quite a gap! And what is this Manor?

-The gap is wide because there are far more outer disciples. But it is the Manor requirement that is the hardest to reach. One would need to buy a piece of land in the school and build a Manor there, some sort of a faction headquarters.

-Isn’t it all about money then? Always is.

-No. While money is indeed needed, you would need to find a piece of land for sale. And there are none left.

-Since I am an inner court disciple, can’t I get one in the Herbal Mountain?

-No. it is not that we don’t want to. Rather, we can’t. All spaces have been bought long ago. And before you ask, we can’t create more. The rules are against it.

-Then how do I get one?

-Challenging a faction and defeating it. Battling against all the members in chain, without breaks. Only then would you be able to claim a territory and then, create your own faction. Obviously, it isn’t something you can do at present.

-You’re right. I will have to leave it for later then. For now, I will be going to make money. See you later, elder Bu and thank you for the lecture.

-Where are you going?

-To buy ingredients then make pellets. Until I can cultivate, there really isn’t much else for me to do besides preparing for when that time comes.

-Alright. But nothing higher than rank 2. It was ordered by grand elder Lan!

-Of course, elder Bu.”

Inside, Mir was laughing. As if he would limit himself to rank 2 pellets. And since when did elder Lan became able to order him again? He did not. Since Mir was now a core disciple, he wasn’t going to abide by any orders or bend to someone else’s will. Still, he wouldn’t sell any rank 4 medicines.

Since the herbal challenge, he proved his abilities with a rank 3 pellet. Everyone probably knew of that fact so it would be pointless to try to cover it up. At the same time, there were more disciples in the first rank so he would first test a batch of each type of pellets and sell those that brought in the biggest profits. Such is the way of the businessman.

The plan was set: make medicines until he was richer than rich and get himself a large stock of martial pellets to use as soon as his core fused with his body. He was already wealthy but he wished for more.

TWO YEARS and a few days LATER

Mir was seven. His core had not merged with his body yet and he was starting to despair about it. He knew it would happen without doubt but not knowing when was killing him. If this went on, he might lose more than just ‘time’ but also ‘status’. And while he couldn’t do anything but make money through medicines, Oka on the other hand became strong.Very strong.

He was now sixteen and had already reached the second rank first realm. This martial cultivation prowess earned him the right to become an inner court disciple. Coupled with his bloodline, if he showed a bit of his true strength, he would be deemed worthy of the core disciple’s mantle. However, Mir ordered him to keep low. Mir knew that he wouldn’t be able to have that go on for much longer.

As he was stressed, time flew by and a few days later while he was lazing under a tree as per habit, it happened. It wasn’t his core merging with his body but a new core was being born inside of him. This startled him greatly as he didn’t do anything for it to happen.

This phenomenon came abruptly and unexpectedly. For more than an hour, Mir suffered and felt the pain of a growing core for the second time. A pain he never thought he would have to relive. He did have to. When the pain faded, his whole body felt different but its exterior as well. The world in itself wasn’t the same anymore.

Mir could see more than before with his eyes. This was strange. Until now, there had never been any upgrade in his sight but this time, it happened. He could see mystical floating blobs of light of different shapes and sizes here and there. He knew they were the representation of the environmental energy. His eyes weren’t just able to see but enabled him to comprehend the sights as well after all.

He was going to return to his apartment in the Herbal Pavilion when his body started hurting again. He just got up to fell down. The pain came back, amplified. This time, it was so violent that he couldn’t stop himself from screaming and crying. Nothing can prepare you to endure such pain. Fortunately, it did not go on for too long. Just a dozen minutes…

This time, there didn’t seem to be any obvious changes to his ability to see. But were there? Mir ran back to his apartment. There was no more incident along the way except for a rush in adrenaline. As he entered his room that now contained a mirror, he saw through himself.

It was still impossible to watch further than his previous life so he gave up on that. He concentrated on his core area. There were two cores, linked together and to his body, merged with it. He could begin martial cultivation, he was finally a martial artist!

But that’s not all. He wasn’t just a martial artist, he directly reached the second realm of the first rank. Something that could have taken him a few days if not weeks were he to cultivate normally. Of course, this would have been the time considering his pellet’s stock and the use of inscription patterns to help digest the energy.

Now however, he didn’t have to and could start preparing for the third realm directly. This was a huge first step. But he wasn’t going to stop at that. He looked intensely at his cores until he grasped them entirely:

TWIN STARTER AWAKENED CORES

RANK 1 – 2nd realm

Bio: Cores are the origin of energy. Every being with a core can direct the energy from heaven and earth inside his body, cultivate it and become stronger through this action commonly referred to as cultivation. It is possible to awaken a second core when reaching the first realm and then once every five realms, provided the core balance* is not broken.

Starter Core: the first core to be awakened, the one controlling them all and active every time energy is used. Impossible to modify. Destruction of the starter core induces destruction of all cores and cultivation.

Twin cores are a rare genetic modification; the cultivator will have the worth of two cores strength as if there was one for his starter core. it becomes possible to deactivate half of the starter core’s power. As long as one of the twin core is not destroyed, the starter core is not and the destroyed part can be restored.

Twin starter awakened core counts for one unit of core.

This meant many things but all in all, it was something to rejoice at. Patience rewarded him greatly. Maybe he could have even created a third core and have a triplet core? Though experimenting on this was risky…And painful. He would leave that thought aside for some time since he himself would not benefit from it.

Now, he could start the next part of his masterplan. He rushed to the training center and rented the biggest room available. Then, he took off the clothes on the upper part of his body. He took out many rare rank 4 painkiller pellets he had created during the previous two years. Then, a few flasks. Each contained the blood of a rare (M)-rank beast.

There were seven of them. He reached the first rank and twin cores count as one unit of core so he could awaken a third core directly. And why would he deprive himself of this chance? While he was at it, why not awaken a bloodline core? Of course, he would. But now, he had to take this ‘balance’ into account. That is the reason he only took out seven flasks.

In this world, there are seven elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Thunder are the basics and with Light and Darkness, it makes for the seven. Keeping the balance means only a single thing: not have one element overcome the others.

If there are two cores of different elements, they must be of the same might or one will be devoured by the other and result in a weaker core being born, a weak version of the stronger core. Of course, right now, it didn’t mean that much to Mir as his twin awakened core were neutral and would not disturb any balance. Since he would only have one elemental core, he would be fine for some time.

But he would soon reach the fifth realm. He knew himself and his pellet’s stock… At that time, he would be able to awaken a fourth core and the balance would be crucial. So, he had selected seven beast’s bloods of similar might. If combined inside him as cores, they wouldn’t break the balance and could coexist safely.

But a choice remained to make: which one should be the first? Obviously, he had thought this through hundreds of times already but now that it was time, he felt the famous last-minute hesitation. But he was previously a businessman. A calculator. He already knew which one to take and he took it in the end. The fire element beast. This was the Burning Sea School and what kind of school was it? One with preeminent fire skills. It was an obvious choice but still.

He took back the six flasks and left only the fire elemental one. He breathed in and out a few times. He knew the pain felt when a core is grown, that he did, so he was quite reluctant to do it in a way. He had to brace himself.

And finally, he began. He drew strange symbols in the beast’s blood all over his body. They were different from the ones he drew on Oka previously. It was a different specie after all, the way to merge it was different and just as complex. If not for his eyes, he would truly have lived the life of a farmer…

He sighed at his previous life while drawing. The fatality of his previous life gave him a second chance. It was a blessing, truly. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and drank the blood. Then, it started. The flickering red lights, the absorption of the blood drawings inside a new forming core, the blood he drank being directed to this new core and the pain. It didn’t take long for him to reach for a painkiller pill and eat it. Then a second one and a third one…And a ninth one.

After the ninth one, while he still felt the pain, he could bear it. It was more of a burning warmth now. He was sitting down crossed-legged and heavily breathing as he concentrated. It took him three hours and ten minutes to finish the full process. And then, as always, he passed out. It had been rough on him, he was still a kid in body and this isn’t something the mind can get used to.

When he awoke, it was time to go. The renting time was almost up. But he was too curious. He rushed to the management elder and rented the room for one more day. As he went back, he noticed a few changes. He felt far stronger but by how much exactly, he didn’t know. That’s why he did the most rational action. He took out a small mirror from his space bag.