Chapter 253 – Shoot for the Moon?NewJust now
Yuan Yaozu was having a hard time thinking straight. He'd lived for almost a thousand years and thought he'd seen it all. Sitting in the sand of an arena, he realized there was much more to the world, including the man in the meditative pose next to him, his new master Chao Su. The fact that the man was so beyond comprehension was not an easy revelation to adjust to.
The sect leader had so far demonstrated five impossibilities. First, the Trial Pagoda. Its ability to facilitate the breakthrough from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core and Golden Core to Nascent Soul was extraordinary. A total game changer. Once news of its abilities spread, the Rising Tide Sect would become the target of every faction on the continent and, eventually, beyond.
Second, the sect leader casually produced a seemingly infinite supply of top heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques. A major sect might—might—have a handful of those to be distributed to the best and brightest of their members. The Rising Tide Sect gave them out to F- trash. The very idea of peasants being handed such treasures was truly mind-boggling.
Third, the sect leader had defeated two Nascent Soul cultivators while still in the Golden Core realm. Prior to yesterday, Yuan Yaozu had been absolutely positive that fighting up a realm at that level was truly impossible. Sure, the sect leader had apparently used formations to kill one of them, but that feat was an accomplishment in and of itself. And he'd had to survive long enough for the trap to work. What could the man accomplish now that he'd actually reached Nascent Soul?
Yuan Yaozu shuddered at the thought.
Fourth, the sect leader apparently had the ability to advance to Nascent Soul at will whenever he had wanted to but had held off for some reason? Maybe that wasn't as difficult to achieve as the other factors, but it was just as weird. He'd wanted to take on the Nascent Souls as a Golden Core for the sake of the challenge? Or something? The decision made no sense to Yuan Yaozu, making it something of an impossibility.
Finally, the sect leader's knowledge of Aura exceeded everyone else's on the continent. As someone who was recently a Golden Core. Which meant he couldn't be much more than a thousand years old. Where did he come from to gain such expertise?
Regardless of how the sect leader had gained access to all those impossibilities, it made him and his sect a formidable opponent. Yuan Yaozu had been greatly worried about how he would defend the Rising Tide Sect against the enemies that came for the Trial Pagoda, thinking he would somehow have to be the main deterrent. It had become clearly obvious that he wasn't the primary guard or even the backup. He was just a babysitter to keep an eye on things when the parents went away for the evening.
And that was just fine with him.
"You've been staring off into space for several minutes," Chao Su said. "Are you okay?"
Huh? Oh. Yuan Yaozu admitted to himself that he had gotten a bit lost in his thoughts. "I am fine, Sect Leader."
"Good because as your master, it's my responsibility to get you an appropriate cultivation method."
Yuan Yaozu's main motivation for becoming the man's disciple was to gain some measure of his trust, but the possibility of a top heaven grade cultivation method was a bit of a carrot, too.
Chao Su's eyes moved back and forth like he was reading something. "Okay. There are no surprises that come with the Nascent Soul realm. I mean, the cost is onerous as expected, but I think the results will be worth it."
Yuan Yaozu had no idea what the man was talking about, so he just nodded along. Best not to interrupt the eccentric person who was about to present you with the second greatest gift of your lifetime.
"Tell me," Chao Su said, "if you could customize your cultivation method in terms of Ease, meaning how easy and thus fast it is to cultivate; Power, basically the amount of qi each stage adds to your pool; and Foundation, governing how likely it is for you to advance to the next major realm, how would you distribute these categories?"
Yuan Yaozu's first thought was that the question was an interesting way of looking at cultivation methods, definitely a good conversation starter between colleagues. He couldn't help but wonder, however, if the question implied that Chao Su could actually create a cultivation method with those aspects distributed in any way he liked.
As impossible as the latter seemed, Yuan Yaozu had to treat the chance as real. "All three have positives and negatives, Sect Leader. Smoothly and quickly advancing through the minor realms holds appeal, but on the other hand, I am a patient man. As long as I'm making progress, the speed of that progress is of a much lesser concern to me."
Chao Su nodded.
"Power… That holds even more appeal," Yuan Yaozu said. "What cultivator doesn't want to have access to even more qi? But age and experience has taught me that true power lies in advancement, not in adding more qi per stage. Which leads me to Foundation."
He sighed. "As a young man, I was confident in my talent. That me would have told you to disregard Foundation altogether as my own ability would advance me through the realms. The me that I was a few short days ago would have told you that Foundation was the only one of those three categories that held any importance whatsoever because I was so desperate to advance. The me that sits here on this sand right now is a different person, someone who has long thought of Nascent Soul as the pinnacle of cultivation. Which I have just conquered. Sure, Nihility realm cultivators exist but only as rumors. Some sect far away in a distant land might have one as an ancestor, but I would never expect to see one, much less become one. So I must ask you, Master, do you think I have the potential to reach that high if I were to maximize Foundation?"
"That is a good question, and the correct one to ask. But it's one without an easy answer. Do I believe that I can get the twins to Nascent Soul? Yes. They are supremely talented and will have access to only the best cultivation methods, techniques, and resources. Even with all those advantages, I cannot be one hundred percent confident that I can bring them to Nihility. You obviously have not had access to the same advantages, and you reached Nascent Soul late in life. Is it possible for you to get there? Yes. Is it probable?" The sect leader waved his flat palm back and forth. "I just don't know."
Yuan Yaozu had been expecting to hear a flat no in response to his question, so the fact that there was even a small chance was well beyond his expectations. For all he could tell, though, Chao Su was being honest with him. "What do you advise, Master?"
The sect leader grimaced. "It's a tough call, really. With your talent, I don't see you getting stuck due to age, and there are no pressing reasons for you to hurry through the minor realms. Thus, Ease seems to be of minimal importance. Your available qi is around average for what I would expect for the factions I've seen on this continent, which means it's at least five times lower than I anticipate the twins having when they reach your level. So I guess it depends on your goal. If you want to shoot for the moon, go heavy on Foundation and try to get to Nihility. If you don't think that is a realistic possibility, invest in Power."
That advice gave Yuan Yaozu a lot to think about. He cupped his hands. "May this lowly one consider Master's wise words for a while?"
"Of course. Take all the time you need."
Yuan Yaozu closed his eyes and sunk into a meditative trance. Foundation or Power? Did he truly wish to challenge the heavens or was he content with what he'd gained already? The Poison Claw Sect had tens of thousands of members at any one time. Around a tenth of a percent, one out of a thousand, made it to Golden Core. Even less, slightly over one out of ten thousand, made it to Nascent Soul. He was one of the few. The elite. And he'd bought himself thousands more years of life with his advancement.
He could easily sit back and rest on his laurels. Be feted by his sect as a Revered Elder. Enjoy his power.
Or he could aim for the pinnacle. Nihility. A realm that existed only as rumors of legends.
Without the aid of Chao Su, the choice would not be in question. Advancement would be an impossible dream. With him, though… He already would presumably be gifting a top heaven grade cultivation method and access to the Trial Pagoda. Who knew what other miracles he'd be able to provide?
The truth of the matter was that one did not become a true cultivator without being willing to challenge the heavens, and one did not reach Nascent Soul without being a true cultivator.
"I choose to challenge the heavens, Master. I choose Foundation."
The sect leader remained completely calm at the declaration. "Understood. Do you want the method to be one hundred percent weighted to Foundation, or do you want at least a bit of the other two represented?"
Yuan Yaozu almost answered in affirmative to the former but stopped himself. "What do you recommend, Master?"
"Hmm. Though I understand the desire to maximize a strength, I prefer versatility myself. If it were me, I'd put a small amount, maybe five percent, in Ease and a bit more in Power, say ten percent. That still leaves you with eighty-five percent for Foundation."
Yuan Yaozu began to get excited at this new impossibility. Instead of Chao Su having a ridiculous number of cultivation methods and techniques in his ring, he apparently could simply create them at a whim. That ability was just as improbable, if not more so, as him having looted them all somewhere, but it was even more practical. Any technique. Any cultivation method. The possibilities were endless.
The Rising Tide Sect was sure to become the dominant sect on the planet given time to grow. Yuan Yaozu was supremely thankful that Kang Ya-Ting had sought friendship. That act, which probably seemed like such a small thing at the time, was likely to become the most important event in the Poison Claw Sect's existence.
Yuan Yaozu cupped his hands. "This lowly one accepts Master's guidance."
"You're positive? All through and all done?"
"Yes, Master."
Chao Su's eyes moved about rapidly again, and a moment later, he pulled a jade slip from his ring and tossed it over.
Yuan Yaozu easily caught it and doze his consciousness into it. With his years of experience examining thousands of methods and techniques, he was able to analyze details better than most cultivators. To begin with, it was a Nascent Soul cultivation method as he'd expected and one ranked at the top of heaven grade as he'd hoped. His eyes went wide as he delved into the qi element of the method. It was easy to detect that it was aspected to Venom.
Poison aspected cultivation methods were relatively common. Venom, not so much. So that discovery lent weight to his conclusion that the sect leader created the method. Then, Yuan Yaozu dug deeper into the method's aspect. It wasn't just Venom; it was Venom that decays the flesh and spirit. His aspect. The cultivation method was uniquely aspected just to him.
The benefit of using a top heaven grade method was hard to understate. The benefit of using a method uniquely attuned to one's qi aspect was even greater. The benefit of the two combined was incalculable.
Yuan Yaozu was struck with a compulsion to bury his face in the sand, kowtowing to the sect leader, but he didn't seem to be one to appreciate such gestures.
Instead, Yuan Yaozu simply cupped his hands again. "Gratitude, Master."
"No problem. Anything for my disciples."
The man was truly an enigma, barely a foot into the Nascent Soul realm and already possessing access to such miracles.
Wait. He'd just advanced the previous night. Which meant his Aura technique should still be at Small Success, right? How had he suppressed Yuan Yaozu, then?