“Cultivation art is what makes a mortal immortal, but what truly defines an immortal are ‘secrets’.”

Qai felt his mind spinning.

He knew what the word teleportation means.

But he only heard it before as an ability of the mages. And during his time in the empire, mages only existed in books—and even their very existence was considered doubtful.

But right now, teleportation seemed not just possible, it appeared to be something ordinary.

Old Bu saw the look in Qai’s eyes and decided to interrupt the latter’s thoughts.

“Boy, it’s not good for you to know so much. It’s best that you only know that there is a common understanding among cultivators not to harm mortals. It’s taboo. So you should be feeling happy that your village will be safe by the time the sect disciples come.”

Qai didn’t know whether to feel relieved or stupid.

The first time he met Old Bu, he was forced to hunt. It was then that the old cultivation warned him not to be stingy or else something bad might happen to his village.

‘What a bully!’

Of course, Qai neither complained a bit nor showed any expression of sudden defiance. He was still completely aware of his place in front of an immortal.

Somehow, his instincts told him that immortals might not annihilate an entire village, but they were not forbidden to kill a mortal or two if they wanted to.

“Alright, that’s a load of information right there. Next time I come back, I’m expecting no less than the same amount of beast cores.”

“Rest assured, senior!”

Qai replied with a bow.

“Good! Oh, by the way, that spear thing of yours and that hidden dagger, as well as the armor you’re wearing under your robe. They seemed to be crafted from Spirit Beasts’ body parts. You might not know it but they emanate a small amount of spiritual Qi energy.”

Listening to that, a sudden sense of alarm welled up in Qai’s mind.

They were his precious weapons from his father. But he was surprised, as well, to hear that even his Guandao was special.

“Don’t worry, stupid boy. In my eyes, they’re completely useless. They’re good weapons for mortals, and perhaps even acceptable to some Qi Condensation stage cultivators. It’s best that you take good care of them.”

After Old Bu said those words, he rode his sword and flew away towards the usual direction—to one of the lower peaks of the inner region.

‘No wonder, father told me it was made from unique materials.’

Qai sighed.

Day by day, he gained a lot of knowledge about the world. Previously, this was his goal upon coming into this world. But now, it seemed that the more he learned, the more he wanted to unlearn.

There were mixed feelings.

A part of him wanted to know more, to explore the world and become strong ultimately; but another part kept telling him that it was better to just stay home and live the rest of his life peacefully.

Of course, there was also that burning desire to become an immortal himself.

But how could he become one?

The following weeks, Qai once again collected more beast cores—and thus progressed with his skills by leaps and bounds. As a self-reward, he ate the Spirit Beasts’ meat and kept all the other parts he felt were precious materials.

Old Bu came and collected the cores but Qai unexpectedly never asked any question. He simply told Old Bu that he was reserving questions for later.

After a month since he entered the mountains, Qai decided to move his abode even further—a spot he thought was closer to higher-leveled Spirit Beasts, apparently.

By this time, Qai was a much better knight, or more exactly, a quasi-Master rank Knight. He was way stronger and way faster. And unknowingly, his Guandao Intent was getting more and more powerful.

However, after another week, he requested Old Bu to allow him to visit the village.

It was granted.

Old Bu felt that the reason perhaps why Qai never asked another question was to bargain for a visit to his family.

Qai’s true purpose, however, was to bring all the materials to his father. He requested the latter to make a further study about the materials and possibly craft a better version of his Guandao, his dagger, and his armor.

After knowing that they were useful even for Qi Condensation cultivators, he thought that with the new materials he got, his father would be able to come up with better crafts.

Of course, with how many materials his father received, the workshop, as a result, would have plenty of precious tradable items as well.

It only took Qai an entire day to travel from the inner ring back to the village carrying a bagful of materials.

During a meal with his family, he told his parents in passing that he met the immortal and that he worked as a servant. He told them not to worry but to keep it a secret.

This made his parents overjoyed and afraid, at the same time. They were smart enough to hypothesize the perks and danger of being acquainted with an immortal.

Aside from crafting materials, Qai also left his family with a good amount of Spirit Beast meat and requested them to regularly feed his little sister with a small bite.

The day after, Qai went back to his abode in the inner ring and began his hunt.

Another 2 months passed and still, Qai did not throw Old Bu any question. Once again, Qai delivered to his house all the materials he gathered that the immortal did not require him to surrender.

His father, on the other hand, was now getting used to hammer Spiritual Beast parts. Although he still could not come up with better weapons, the inferior results became hot commodities among the rest of the villagers.

At this point, even young children were wielding their own weapons, particularly spears. And their goal—to one day become part of the elite reserve squad.

Slowly, the village was becoming much livelier and advancing way better than in the past.

Another month went by.

Qai fought with a level 3 Spiritual Beast on one occasion and barely escaped.

It was a huge fanged Tiger. Of course, he didn’t know it was level 3, he just came to realize it only when Old Bu informed him.

“Oh, so you decided to ask a question.”

“Yes, senior. This humble one seeks advice.”

“Hmmn,” Old Bu mused. “As a mortal, you have already exceeded my expectations. The fact that you can kill level 2 Spirit Beasts is already a great feat that no Qi Condensation stage cultivator could even dare to dream of.”

Initially, Qai did not know the gravity of facing a level 3 Spirit Beast and simply decided to fight any Spiritual Beast around the area.

He was just aware that they were comparable to late Foundation Establishment stage cultivators—but the fight slapped him the reality that there was a huge gap between levels.

“Senior, how would I fare against Qi Condensation stage cultivators.”

“Well, it appears to me that your body refining method allowed you to reach a level that you can somehow unleash a sort of Intent. That is your advantage. But you should not be careless against Qi Condensation stage cultivators. In general, such cultivators are also like you, a mortal with a reformed inner physique. Their main technique lies in the manipulation of spiritual Qi energy. As such, they can infuse Qi into weapons, even to a part of their body, or to use Qi to speed up their movements.”

Qai started to imagine as he listened.

In his deduction, he could fight any Qi Condensation stage cultivator.

“However, In this world, there are plenty of secrets and millions of treasures. Cultivators cannot be bound by only using weapons. We have array formations, talismans, artefacts, medicinal pills and other sorts of mysterious treasures that can turn the tide with a flick of our hands.”

Qai was no longer shocked at any new thing Old Bu threw to him.

For some reason, he was getting used to it. And right now, his desire to know things he only bolstered his desire to get even stronger.

“Senior, can you teach me a Cultivation method?”

“Ah!?”