Chapter 32: Life 58, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

I spent years practicing what I learned from the inner sect disciple. I could have advanced to Martial Master in a short period of time, but the consistency and uniformity of my meridians never felt like it was enough. I wanted to push for perfection, but I kept falling short. After years of effort, I couldn’t ignore the problem any longer. My fire affinity was simply too low to cultivate a Peak-Yellow Rank 2 technique. I thought that with enough practice, I could be able to surpass the limits of my affinity. That might indeed be possible, but how many more years would it take? How many more was I willing to spend? I was better at forcibly moving qi around than when I first started cultivating, but even having practiced qi control skills for centuries, I still wasn’t able to exert the fine control needed for weaving a perfect meridian. A low eight-star affinity was simply not high enough for the delicate work I was trying to do. A higher affinity would allow me to control qi with far more precision. I had the credits I needed to boost it slightly, but I didn’t know if it would be enough. A peak nine-star affinity had been invaluable when attempting to reach Peak Disciple with pure qi while using a Peak-Yellow technique. To cultivate to the limit as a Martial Master I might need a peak eight-star affinity. Paying for a peak eight-star affinity was going to be a problem, though. I could rush up to Peak Master with a weak foundation, grab the credits, and then use them to boost my affinity. But... that felt like admitting defeat. There had to be another path forward. Other people in the world managed to reach Grandmaster in a single life. Shouldn’t it be possible for me to do the same? Of course, they all had their own affinities and blessings to help them. Compared to them, I had started from a uniquely poor position. But at this point, my situation wasn’t so terrible. There had to be a path forward for me. So, I needed to increase my affinity, but I didn’t have the credits to do so. What should I do? A new idea struck me, and I cocked my head to the side in contemplation. I didn’t have anywhere near the credits needed to permanently boost my affinity high enough, but I could reach that level with a temporary boost. A temporary boost would raise my affinity for a single life, and then when I died, the affinity, and the credits I had spent on it, would simply disappear. Before, this had felt wasteful, so I had ignored temporary boosts and nearly forgotten they were an option. Now, I was starting to realize that they could be a useful tool for pushing further and earning more credits than would otherwise have been possible. That was a real possibility, but I wasn’t ready to rush into anything. There might be an even better way forward, and I didn’t feel any urgency to rush. Cao had told me that a Martial Disciple’s cultivation calcifies at age 30. While practicing as a Martial Master in Rudy’s workshop, I noticed a sharp decline in my cultivation speed at age 60. Improving to Martial Master had doubled my life expectancy, and it also seemed to have doubled the age of calcification. That meant that I had 40 years to reach Peak Master. This wasn’t an eternity. Last time, I had only reached Martial Master when I was nearly 90. But it was long enough that I could take time to see if there was any other way to cultivate successfully. Aside from practicing forming meridians, I spent a significant amount of time creating pills for Deacon Ma. As stipulated in my agreement with Elder Mu, he didn’t give me any reward for this work. Every week, he would just hand me a bundle of ingredients, and I would hand him the pills I had made using the previous week’s bundle. For anyone else, so much work with so little reward might have been demoralizing. Personally, I didn’t mind. It wasn’t any different than what I had done in Rudy’s workshop. Elder Mu was simply providing me endless resources to practice with. The pills my efforts produced were meaningless since they would disappear the moment I died. I did, however, hold back a few Qi Recovery Pills from each of my shipments. These pills were useful for keeping my energy topped up and allowed me to spend far more time practicing alchemy and cultivation. As I was using them to help me make pills for Deacon Ma, I didn’t consider these Qi Recovery Pills as any form of payment, but maybe Deacon Ma did? Was that why I didn’t get any other reward? Because I held back a few pills? If so, Elder Mu was far more miserly than I had expected. While the situation didn’t bother me overmuch, I also wasn’t thrilled by it. If things didn’t change, I wouldn’t consider working with the elder again in the future. I spent all my time forming practice meridians and concocting pills. Improving my cultivation and alchemy as I was proper. I didn’t improve much, but I did take a few small steps forward. After three years of this routine, Deacon Ma finally stopped me. “You’ve just turned twenty, right?” I wasn’t entirely sure. “I think so, Deacon Ma. That sounds right.” “The outer sect competition is in five months. You need to advance to Martial Master before then and move up to the outer sect this year.” His voice was firm and unwavering. “What? Why?” “You’re 20. After 20, if a Martial Disciple hasn’t advanced to Martial Master, the energy in their body begins to stagnate, wasting their potential.” My eyes widened in shock. “I thought I had another ten years. I was told calcification happens at 30.” He shook his head sharply. “While calcification happens at 30, stagnation happens at 20. At 20, it will become more difficult to advance. At 30, it will become nearly impossible to do so. So, while it is possible to wait another ten years, if you want to be successful, you must advance before you stagnate.” My mind began to race. “What about as a Master? What is the time limit after I advance?” “Every realm adds 100 years to your lifespan, so as a Disciple, Master, and Grandmaster, you will live 100, 200, and 300 years respectively. Stagnation sets in at 20% of this lifespan, so 20, 40, and 60 years old. Calcification sets in at 30% of this lifespan, so 30, 60, and 90 years old. However, once stagnation or calcification sets in, advancing will not reverse it. If you advance to Martial Master after 20, the effects of stagnation will continue to affect you no matter how quickly you advance to Grandmaster.” "So, I need to advance to Master by 20 and Grandmaster by 40... I can manage that.” Deacon Ma shook his head. “That will avoid stagnation, yes, but it isn’t ideal. To be treated as a true prodigy by the sect, you will need to advance to Grandmaster before 30. This isn’t crucial, and it won’t affect your further cultivation, but it will affect the value the sect places on you.” “I... I understand. I can advance now, but my foundation will be weak. I’m still not able to form perfect meridians.” “Yes, this is a problem the elder has considered. Your affinity is too low. Even if you become a Peak Master, it will be difficult for you to advance to Grandmaster, and even if you did, you would be at a significant disadvantage.” He paused to give me a moment to consider my situation. It wasn’t good. I was starting to feel I had made a mistake when I raised all my affinities to low eight-star instead of focusing on fire. The other affinities had helped my alchemy, but it was at the cost of my ability to advance my cultivation. Deacon Ma finally threw me a lifeline. “The elder has decided to give you an opportunity. The sect’s baptism pool will soon be opened. It is capable of greatly enhancing the fire affinity of anyone who enters. If someone with a low eight-star affinity were to enter the center of the main pool, they might be boosted to mid or even high seven-star.” Before I could reply, he continued, cutting off any premature dreams. “Of course, you will not even be allowed near the edge of the main pool. Inner and outer sect disciples have been competing for places in the pool for months. You don’t qualify. However, the elder has been allocated a spot in a secondary pool, and he has decided to give it to you. The benefits are not nearly so great, but you should still be able to advance your affinity one or two steps.” He gave me a meaningful look. “I hope you understand. The value of this opportunity far exceeds what you have given us so far. You have provided us with a large quantity of Rank 1 pills, but the value of even Perfect Rank 1 pills is limited. This reward is a sign that the elder has recognized your diligence. Be sure to repay him.” I didn’t know the value of an opportunity to raise an affinity, but I was certain the deacon was right about its value relative to the pills I had given him. Finally, we arrived at a cave opening. It looked just like the one that had led to the seed of the Cold Mountain Fire, but it couldn’t be the same one. The distances didn’t match. Several deacons and a few elders stood around the cave. Someone from our group went up to them, but they didn’t say anything. After a moment, he gestured for us to enter, and Deacon Ma guided me inside. While most of the group proceeded down the widest tunnel, he took me to a small branch path. At its opening, he gave me a sharp look and pointed down the small tunnel. “This is a straight path to the pool. When you get there, stay on the outside edge. You are not allowed to go any further, and you will only cause trouble if you try.” I nodded. I tried to respond, but I couldn’t force the words to come out of my mouth, so I gave up, turned around, and walked down the tunnel as ordered. The cave looked natural and had a generally musty smell to it. However, the further I walked, the more I began to notice an additional faint sulfurous stench. After I noticed that additional smell, it wasn’t long before I found the pond I was looking for. The tunnel opened into a cavern with a pond close to twenty meters in diameter. A group of young men and women were already sitting in the water, fully clothed. No one even opened their eyes as I moved to join them. I approached the pool and sat down in the water, staying right at the edge as I had been told. As I sat there in the water, I realized that I had never been told what to do to raise my affinity. Deacon Ma’s behavior had indicated that I would know what to do, but sitting there, nothing seemed to be happening. With no better idea on how to proceed, I looked at the water using qi sight. What I saw was shocking. I had never seen anything like it before. Large flecks of red energy floated everywhere in the water. They seemed to bubble up from the very center of the pool, and the disciples sitting there were pulling them into their bodies as fast as possible. Only a scarce handful of flecks escaped all the way out to the edge where I was. I cycled my cultivation technique to try to draw this energy nearer, but it didn’t have much of an effect. So, I reached out with my fire affinity and simply pulled on them with all the mental energy I could muster. This worked, and the flecks of energy started migrating toward me. The moment they touched my body, they disappeared. I kept pulling, trying to grab as many flecks as possible, but even after several flecks of energy had entered my body, I didn’t feel much different. Still, I had to assume that this was what I was supposed to do. The process went on for hours. As I watched the cultivators at the center of the pool gobble up the majority of the energy, I felt like I was only eating breadcrumbs dropped from the mouths of hungry vultures. I could only hope that the meager amount I obtained would be enough to improve my affinity. During this time, I didn’t have much to do other than think, and that made my mind drift to questions of exactly what this energy was and how it could improve my affinity. It wasn’t qi, I was sure of that, but that didn’t tell me much. In a way, it was like the medicinal energy in herbs. The red energy in some herbs was some type of fire energy, and my fire affinity could affect it, but it was distinct from fire qi and fire-based medicinal energy. This was a third form of fire energy. I wanted to know what it was. I needed to ask the System, but I didn’t want anyone to hear me, so I tried to ‘speak’ to the System by subvocalizing, making no sounds and barely moving my jaw. “System, how much to learn about the energy in this pool that’s capable of raising my affinity?” The cost of this information is not possible to calculate at this time. I ground my teeth slightly. I should have expected that answer. While I didn’t know where this energy was coming from or why it could increase affinity, I did have a new potential goal for the future. Once my storage space was large enough, could I store a pool like this inside? If I did, would I be able to quickly raise my affinities at the beginning of every life without spending any more credits on them? I wasn’t sure about the feasibility of the idea, but it was worth keeping in mind. All too soon, the fire energy in the pool dried up and no more entered. At that point, I stood and left to rejoin Deacon Ma. We took our leave from the group, and he led me back to the city. On the trip, I subvocalized a few more questions. “System, how much to upgrade my fire affinity to low seven-star?” Processing... Information on affinity pricing. Cost 500 credits. My steps paused at that response. Deacon Ma looked at me, and I hurried to fall back in step. “System, how much to upgrade it to mid seven-star?” Information on affinity pricing. Cost 500 credits. “System, why are you charging me to learn a price? I’ve never had to pay before.” The price of information depends on the degree to which it will affect the flow of karma and how much it will change destiny. If information from the System will affect the flow of karma, it must be purchased, even if that information is the price of a potential purchase. I think I understood. When we got back, Deacon Ma would likely test my affinity to see how it changed. The results of that test would affect how he and Elder Mu treated me going forward. If I saw that a low seven-star affinity costs zero credits, that would inform my actions between now and being tested. So, the knowledge of the cost of raising my affinity would have a direct impact on the actions of both me and Grandmaster Mu. That meant I had two options. Either I purchase the information, or I spend my credits blindly and hope for the best. I needed to shine as much as I could to set up my future as a Grandmaster. The more I was valued, the more resources would be poured into me, pushing me even further. A smile appeared on my face as I made my decision. I had already invested heavily into this life, and as they say, if the best choice is to not do something, but you do it anyway, then the second-best choice is to not stop doing it. “System, boost my fire affinity to mid seven-star as a temporary upgrade.” Purchase confirmed. Cost 2,500 credits. 790 credits remaining. I was now all-in on this life. How far could I go? Martial Grandmaster Peak? Martial Lord? Either would be a huge step forward. Was jumping from low eight-star to mid seven-star in one go a bit too much? In retrospect, the elder might not be completely sanguine about such a large change. It was possible, but this boost should at least justify the importance WuJing put on me.