Chapter 22: Where Am I?

Chapter 22: Where Am I? The black spot disappeared, and I turned myself around as the colors rushed past me. I saw astral beasts glance at me, but they were too slow. Whatever that being was, it could alter speed inside the astral plane. Even elder cultivators could not do that. At least it considered me too weak and amusing to kill. I saw a rippling orb in front of me after traveling for about a minute at super speed. There appeared to be greenery and the physical world on the other side. I hit the orb and came tumbling out into a forest. I rolled along the ground and slammed into a tree. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I slowly got to my feet and looked around. It was a forest, but I had no idea where I was exactly. It didnt look like one of the local forests, but I couldnt be sure. I would need to find civilization. I removed my mask and breathed in the fresh air. I put the mask away inside my spatial ring and considered what direction I should head. Downhill and following any streams or rivers was my best bet. Once I reached the coast or a city, I could hire a carriage to transport me back to the sect. I set off with a smile on my face. Despite the impossible odds, I had done it. I had retrieved an astral shard, which was a shard of the seed of the Great Devourer. Well, that thing didnt seem that worried about using it, so I wouldnt worry either. I then paused and realized it had said a Great Devourer instead of the Great Devourer. That meant there might be more than one super monster with that name out there. Well, it wasnt my problem. Once I was an immortal and standing at the top of the continent, then I could worry about Great Devourers. Until then, that was someone elses problem. It was like worrying about the sun exploding billions of years from now. A pointless worry that would just waste my time. I trudged through the forest in the direction that appeared to be downhill. The trees were quite old and large. I only had a days worth of supplies remaining in my pack and a single Digestive Cleansing Pill. Minor issues. I could go for a while, and I just needed to find a stream. Eventually after a half the day when it was getting it dark, I heard some water running. There was a small stream, one I could easily leap across, but at least it was running water. I stopped to eat the rest of my food and water. I used my Digestive Cleansing Pill after that. I couldnt afford to be caught with my pants down right now. Once I was back in civilization I could relax. Also, I would take a break from cultivating for at least the next month. Based on my conversations with Elder Healer Meihui I should take a month off unless I took any medicine or went into a Soul Stabilization chamber after my stint in the astral plane. While the damage from astral winds and aligning multiple motes was different, she had called me foolish and told me I had better wait until I cultivated again. Then she had lightly slapped me on top of the head and told me to focus on other things. A month would allow the damage I had accumulated to fade away. The constant itching across my skin was still there, but it had decreased by a lot and slowly going away. The biggest problem was that very few cultivators below the fifth stage entered the astral plane, and even fewer returned alive.Visit for the best novel reading experience After finishing my meal of salted meat and water, I slowly made my way along the stream. It was getting dark, so I had to be careful of my footing. That was when I saw something glowing in the distance. I pulled out my sword that was on my back as a beast burst out of the woods. It was the size of a car and it raced towards me roaring, RAAWR! AHHH! I screamed and leapt forward with a lunge forward, sword held outwards. It struck the shoulder of the beast and just kept going. The beast turned its head to bite me, but it was too slow since I was diving forward through the air, sword outstretched and had tried to avoid it with the limited intelligence it had. Blood, muscle, organs, bones, the sword just passed through them all and kept going. Our momentum carried us past each other. I barely kept a grip on the blade and managed not to cut myself in half as I landed on the ground and rolled. The idea for a lunge like that came from my time on the astral plane. But it was not a real sword technique when there was gravity and three dimensional movement. I slowly got to my feet and turned towards the beast, bringing around my sword with both my hands. The beast had stumbled a bit more, but the blow I had delivered was excessive. A long gash had cut through the side of it and pieces poured out of the beast, leaving a mess. It had collapsed and was dying rapidly. I walked over quickly and got my right arm out of my sect robe. I then plunged my hand into the beast and ripped out a level 1 spirit stone before it could break apart. I then made my way to the stream and cleaned my arm, sword, and spirit stone off. I put the spirit stone in my spatial ring and the sword back in its sheathe. I set off again, I needed to make tracks before more beasts showed up to devour their kin. I hadnt brought any of the equipment for hunting. There was only so much room in my pack and my focus had been on the astral plane and astral beasts, not the regular kind of beasts. Night arrived, but I kept following the stream. It was hard and I was tired, but I needed to keep moving if I was going to get back to civilization safely. How stupid would that be, surviving the astral plane and getting an astral shard, to die by a to a regular beast just wandering about. The stream was getting bigger at least as I continued to follow it and it merged with other streams. Dawn came and around the middle of the day, I stumbled across a stone bridge and a dirt road. Roads between major cities were paved, but a dirt road was useful, but it ran perpendicular to the stream. The stone bridge was fused, which indicated a cultivator had most likely made it sometime, which was a good sign. I didnt know what direction to go. I was going to follow the road, but I had no idea which direction. I just picked right and went that way. Later in the afternoon, I came across a paved road it was connected to and let out a sigh of relief. It was probably a mining road, only without gravel and I had picked the right direction. Since I had found a road, I put away my sword. It barely fit in the spatial ring with the carrying case, but it was too valuable to just carry on me and visible to everyone. A rank 5 blade probably cost at least 50,000 sect contribution points. That represented decades of labor to purchase. I was not qualified to have such a blade or my low rank spatial ring. It would be too easy for someone to kill me and stael them. I got out my pouch of 100 tael and put 50 back into my spatial ring and put a single spirit stone inside the pouch. Nowhere near my total wealth, but a reasonable amount for a second stage disciple to have on them. Now which way on the main road. There were no signs, but I could see dirt being dragged to my left off the dirt road onto the main road. I picked that direction and stayed near the right edge of the road, keeping my eyes and ears open. It was getting dark, when I finally saw a wall ahead of me. Civilization at last, thank goodness. Time to find out where I was exactly. I moved to the middle of the road and approached the wall with confidence. I was a cultivator of a sect. Even if I was in a domain controlled by another sect, I would be politely sent on my way. I was just a disciple, and I didnt have anything that valuable on me at first glance. There were four guards standing outside the closed gate and I saw more on top of the wall. They watched me approach in the fading light. I didnt recognize the city flag or the symbol on their armor. Instead of a half moon it was a clawed paw. Greetings, I am Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect, I greeted the guards. They quickly bowed their heads and then one stepped forward. Greetings, Cultivator Yuan Zhou. I am afraid that Five Claw City has been closed by orders of the Thousand Sword Sect, the guard said. Closed? Why would an entire city be closed? I asked tiredly. I would not dare guess about the affairs of cultivators, the guard said. That was annoying but made sense. He didnt want to get into trouble. I let out a small sigh. Is there anyone higher up you can contact? I would be willing to pay them and you for the inconvenience. Five taels for you and five for your men. And a spirit stone to the person who can show up and deal with this, I replied. The guard looked pained at this. It was a hefty bribe just to get into the walls and we all knew it. I am sorry, but my orders were quite strict. No entry, not even from caravans while the Thousand Sword Sect has issued its orders. It would be showing my Cloudy Moon Sect great face if you could figure something out, I have been lost in the wilderness for some time and merely seek to find out where I am before moving on and returning return to my sect, I replied. I am sorry Cultivator Yuan Zhou. I do not have the authority to let you inside and was left with strict instructions. I frowned at this. So, you would have me camp at the side of the road like a beggar? I asked harshly. No, please forgive me, but if I let you in, then my head will be removed, he said and bowed his head. There was an older gentleman in the carriage with a young girl as well and they didnt appear to be cultivators and kept silent, since I would need to open up conversation first as their senior. I wasnt interested. I just wanted to find a decent place to sort myself out for a few days and just sleep and eat. I was exhausted from my adventure. Halt! A voice called out. Exit the carriage. The old man and young girl looked worried, but I would deal with this. I left the carriage and there were three cultivators with a Clawed Hand Sect symbol on their robes. In addition, they had large metal claws on their right hands. Junior greets seniors, I said with a slight bow. Who are you? one of them asked. I am Inner Disciple Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect. I was lost and ended up at Five Claw City. I immediately got a carriage to return to my sect since I have no part in your dispute or conflict senior, I said and bowed slightly at that. One of the cultivators came up to the carriage and dragged out the girl and old man. We have them. I stood off to the side quietly. The leader took the girl in his hands and then killed the old man with a swipe of his metal claw. He didnt have time to react as he was ripped apart and died. Dispose of them. We will return with her, the leader said and left. What?! That was bullshit. Two of the cultivators left with the girl, leaving me behind along with the carriage driver and the enemy cultivator. He moved and killed the carriage driver before the man could even protest. This was bullshit! I wasnt involved! I didnt see anything! I focused and reached out as the enemy cultivator raced for me. I grabbed onto the hilt of the sword and planted my feet to brace myself. The sword materialized in front of me, and his gut was impaled on the sheath. I stumbled backwards and he collapsed to the ground, wheezing heavily. I swung my hands to the side and the sheath went flying off the sword. I then stabbed forward as the cultivator tried to get off the ground. My sword pierced his head. He jerked slightly and then slid off the end of my blade. I looked around, but the horses had only slightly stirred. They were trained not to panic no matter what as carriage horses going between cities. I wiped my blade on the dead cultivators sect robes and put my sword and sheath away. Time to make tracks. Sorry young girl, but you werent my problem. Hopefully they didnt refine you or rape you, but that was life. Some people were born destined to die. I was going to live. I checked the man I had killed. A pouch of nine spirit stones, a sect badge which I didnt dare touch, his clawed weapon which I put in my spatial ring since it was clearly made of spirit metal. Sorry spatial ring, you were packed to the breaking point, but you just had to deal. I came across a leather pouch inside his robes. I carefully checked inside, and my eyes went wide. It was a book. I pulled it out and checked it. It was a basic book on body cultivation. I shoved it into my spatial ring, which was at maximum capacity now. I then tucked the leather pouch back in his robes and put two spirit stones inside the pouch. Hopefully that would make people question if he was really robbed and create confusion. I paused since I could see the core of the man inside of him. Before peoples cores were blocked out, but now I could see it like a beast. I pulled out my arm from my sleeve and plunged it inside of him. I felt something hard and pulled it out. It was a core of some kind, but instead of being smooth like a beast core it was bumpy. Once it was removed it stopped breaking down. I carefully slid it into my spatial ring, which I could feel resisting putting in the tiny core with how full it was. Wiping off my bloody hand, I then dragged the cultivators corpse off the road and then did the same for the corpse of the old man and the driver, tossing them on top of the cultivator. I had no idea what someone would make of this crime scene, but it was time to get the hell out of here. I climbed up on the drivers seat and picked up the reigns. I snapped them. Hah! The horses took off down the road. I was slightly richer than before with stuff I didnt know the value of. What was the value of a human core? I had no idea. But if I could use it to enhance my own cultivation I would. It was a resource after all and wasting resources was a bad thing. There were buildings constructed along the road travelers could use. They werent maintained, but it was a cultural thing to leave them just a bit better than one found them. I didnt bother stopping. The horses bred for inter-city travel were tough and the four pulling the carriage were no exception. After two days of traveling, even they were getting exhausted, and it was hard not to dose off. I pulled off in a rest area and uncoupled them to let them rest. There were supplies on the back of the carriage which I removed to feed them and got water from a nearby well. I slept that night hidden in the rest area, there was no one else there. In the morning I hooked up the horses to the carriage and set off again at a high speed. The next city in this direction was only six days away by carriage. I would arrive and then pay for another carriage immediately after getting a change of clothing. I had also added some more tael and two spirit stones to my money pouch from my spatial ring. No one caught up with me, but I wasnt going to relax until I was five cities away at the very least. Having an entire sect come after me was a scary thought. It wasnt so much about that disciple I had killed, he was too weak to be a member, but the fact that I had killed him to begin with and it would damage the reputation of the sect to let a killer go. After a certain point it just wasnt worthwhile and they could make up some story about killing me, but that meant I had to get past that point. I judged five cities to be a safe distance. In the third or fourth city, I would hire a body double just in case, and pay for them to go to another city. I might do that in both cities to make it even more confusing. Trying to trace my trail would become a nightmare. I arrived at the next city and was let through the walls without incident. I got some looks since I was a cultivator driving a carriage, but people just assumed someone more important was inside and didnt ask questions. I left the carriage at the depot and paid a fee for it to be maintained for five days for five taels. I then made my way into the main part of the city and found a tailor. After throwing ten taels at them, I got a new set of high end mortal clothing and packed away from sect robes into my pack. With that done, I made my way back to the carriage stand and hired an express carriage to the next city for twenty taels and immediately set off. I rested in the carriage as it made good time away from the mess. I had spent a lot of money, but sticking around was just too risky. Since I didnt have to drive, I took a look at the cultivation manual I had gotten. It just covered the basics which were very similar to the soul cultivation method I used. Except that the motes were aligned with a persons physical body, not their astral soul. In the later stages, body cultivators would be very hard to kill, but they couldnt use elemental techniques. It also appeared that the fifth stage was a result from imploding their core, instead of exploding it. I considered the core I had extracted from the cultivator I had killed. If I was reading this manual correctly, then he had been near the start of the second stage. The core had been physically made, but wasnt filled with energy. And there were no channels. No, his channels werent there. He had made his core first but no channels yet, so the start of the second stage. No wonder he was so weak. Using disciples to fight? The Clawed Hand Sect sure was desperate or didnt take me seriously. Didnt they know that the younger the cultivator the more dangerous they are? Maybe they thought I was just a brat from a sect, but why would I be traveling without a guardian> Clearly their intelligence was lacking. That was the joke I had heard a couple of times at the yearly celebration in the Cloudy Moon Sect, that body cultivators had muscles for brains. Still, this was a complete guide that I had picked up, just without specific technique details. To let such information outside of their sect written down was foolish. No wonder why the Clawed Hand Sect was kicked out of their own city. I felt a bit better but would still take my precautions and use decoys just in case. No sense in using half measures to conceal my departure from Five Claw City. But this manual gave me an idea about my secondary false core. When my four main cores detonated, I could use that explosion to create an implosion. It would let me advance to the fifth stage on the path of both body and soul cultivation. I would need to decide sooner than later since I was aligning motes. Hmm, instead of a sphere, I could use the design they had, which was this bubbly structure. There wasnt a clear reason in the manual, but the idea was to probably induce fracture points to the core. An implosion was triggered by surging the compression in ones core. So having fracture points would make this easier. Imploding a physical core would draw in energy as a vortex to enhance ones body instead of forming a true soul. But I knew that soul cultivators would look to draw in energy at the later stages and to perfect their understanding of a Dao concept. It appeared body cultivators did it the other way. They set up their future cultivation by drawing in energy from their core implosion. Then in the later stages sought to build up their true soul and perfect their understanding of a Dao concept. That implied there was a third cultivation method where one would use their core in some way to gain an understanding of the Dao. But it was all based on motes. One couldnt use both body and soul cultivation since their astral soul would destabilize. Then I realized what this entire trip had been about and smiled. It was to get the material for an Astral Soul Stabilizer. I could align my false secondary core with physical motes and the channels for that core with the physical side. Then when my core four main cores exploded, I would implode the secondary core at the same time! I had an image in my mind of Elder Li Fu screaming foolish and Elder Healer Meihui slapping me on the head and yelling at me. Still, it sounded like a great idea.