Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 268

Unforgiven (IX)

Long Tao stared silently at his happily snoring Master, turning his gaze over to the young boy next to him who was also happily snoring.

... it was impossible.

While changing one's talents and even physique wasn't particularly difficult, it should have been outright impossible in this particular realm, as the Laws of Heaven were impossible to dispute here.

And yet, the man had done it.

He'd reforged an ordinary mortal body into a Martial Body, a physique that wasn't rare, per se, but was incredibly versatile. On top of that, he'd also reforged the boy's ordinary roots into Heavenly ones. While not as exceptional as natural Heavenly Roots, they still were Heavenly Roots, too.

Someone who would have died without ever even knowing what Qi felt like now had the ability to become a Demigod, at the very least.

His gaze once more turned toward the man who seemed to always be capable of doing the impossible. Great-grandfather? Grandfather?

None of those were true, of course.

Long Tao had investigated 'Lu Qi' as soon as he noticed a few oddities with the man. Lu Qi's father was the Spirit Sword Sect Master, and that man had no ability to produce anything of this level. If he could, he wouldn't have died the way he did.

Beyond that, he had no connections, no friends, no loved ones--he was a 'stain' upon the Sect's image, with no positive qualities.

It was certain that somebody possessed the original body, not unlike how Long Tao himself possessed this one, though who... he could never come up with a plausible answer.

The initial instinct was that it was somebody like him--an old, ancient monster who'd already walked the path of Immortality—but that wasn't the case. His Master was far too ignorant of the world to have been an Immortal in any meaningful capacity.

The second instinct was that he was a child of an Immortal who, in his previous life, had one or another Null Physique and couldn't cultivate. Despite that, he wasn't discarded and was instead taken care of, which was where he picked up on so many things, but that wasn't... adequate enough of an explanation.

His Master could create things, conjure them up out of thin air--he'd seen things like this on occasion before, but never to this degree.

And now, it went beyond simply creating arts and methods.

No, Long Tao shook his head.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

His Master didn't create either of the imbuements--they were natural; he could discern that much. Wherever he got them from, they were made by nature.

Just the fact that he had them, however, suggested that the web of complexity surrounding this meek little Master of his was... massive. Perhaps as grand as the Divine Conspiracy itself.

Though it was fun to think about it, Long Tao wasn't truly bothered by the fact he didn't know--if things he didn't know could stack, it'd be an infinity. There was no soul alive or dead to have ever known everything, despite what many self-proclaimed prophets claimed.

Even in his past life, when he was roaming untethered, he'd come across things he was never able to explain--a river that would flow only when somebody was looking at it, an entire village that never experienced passage of time, a hummingbird whose song could put even Emperors into a state of perpetual sleep...

As much of an anomaly as the man was, he wasn't unique in that aspect, at least.

Long Tao sighed, seeming visibly tired; today was simply one of those days, he reckoned. For all his knowledge and understanding of the world, seeing Chimera talk and seeing his Master conjure up such heaven-defying tools from seemingly nowhere drained him.

Before joining Spirit Sword Sect, he'd laid out a clear plan in his head--practically dotting every one of his movements for the next few centuries. Which places he'd visit, where he'd go to take back the items he left behind, and even the order in which he'd kill his enemies.

... all of that had been thrown into a chasm, as his plans hadn't really mattered ever since the master gave him Heart-Stitching Art. It accelerated things well beyond his initial estimate, and ever since then, the shocks and surprises hadn't stopped.

He also overestimated his capabilities and regretted challenging the Sages a bit, at least doing so this early. Even if they couldn't really tell who it was, it was a risk he didn't need to take.

He'd thought they were merely a fallen-off group with middling strength, but from all the signs that he'd seen so far, they may really be one of the strongest forces of the continent. Even if the public viewed 'Holy Lands' as the behemoths, having seen firsthand their rough potential, they didn't quite measure up.

Master was the first to wake up, about three hours after passing out; he appeared momentarily confused as Dai Xiu, Xi Zhao, and Light climbed all over him to make sure he was fine.

"Ah, it succeeded. That's good..." he mumbled after glancing at the boy, nodding.

Though Long Tao was deathly curious and wanted to ask, he knew better than to; in the same vein that his Master never asked him certain questions, he had to pay back the same courtesy.

It wasn't long after that the boy woke up too, seeming in equal measure shocked and in awe of the strange new Master of his.

"Let the Master teach you your first cultivation method." It was the very basic one from the Spirit Sword Sect, and the boy listened to the 'lesson' without blinking, trying to soak up every word.

Long Tao tuned out, wanting to relax for a bit at last and rest, too. Though he'd never show it, he was tired and practically out of Qi.

It would have all gone according to plan if that annoying Master of his hadn't gone and done yet another annoyingly impossible thing.

Just after the lesson, it felt, he told the boy to close his eyes and then pressed a finger between his brows and chanted something--a moment later, a golden halo appeared behind the boy's head and began to spin, golden jets of liquid shooting out.

Long Tao's jaw slackened, as did Lao Shun's, while the others merely looked at the phenomenon with the look of awe, since they didn't quite understand what that golden halo entailed.

He turned to the side and faced Lao Shun, who looked back at him, and the two men stared at each other for a few seconds, happy to have found a kindred spirit to this madness.

Was there anything his Master couldn't do? Long Tao pondered.

Putting somebody forcefully into the state of enlightenment...

Long Tao sighed and looked up to the sky. With each passing day, he felt that all his previous years of life were worthless, as he kept being shocked by a seemingly ordinary man who didn't even know how amazing his abilities truly were...