Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 349

Changes (VI)

The new day started explosively--literally.

I rushed out of the tent as quickly as I could, thinking we were being attacked, only to be met by a sky-high plume of smoke, a charred face, and seared hair.

Lao Shun's state was in equal measure pathetic as it was comedic--he started to cough, yet, despite that, the look in his eyes was one of excitement rather than despondence.

"THIS THING IS BRILLIANT!!" he shouted, his voice hoarse, just as the kids streamed out of the tent too. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"More brilliant than you, since you blew it up." Long Tao tossed a comment before going back in. Hmm? When the hell did he get back to the tent last night?

"Are you alright?" I asked as the kids started their morning exercises--which was just them walking a few yards away and beating the shit out of each other for a while.

"Alright?! I'm the best I've ever been!" Lao Shun said. "This thing... tell me, you're a reincarnation of Dao, aren't you? You saw that I had amazing talent that this mortal plane could never properly utilize, so you descended to forge a path for me to realize my greatness?!"

"... looks like the explosion blew out what few cohesive thoughts you had left in that open space between your ears."

"Heh, deny it all you want. There's no other explanation for how someone like you could be in possession of this... this beauty!" He fell to his knees and hugged the still smoldering cauldron. "The way it burns, the way it holds the materials in perfect equilibrium, the way it manifests yang as though a Divine Vein... aah! She's the most beautiful thing in the world!"

"..." Yeah. This guy has lost it.

I mean, he's never really had it, but he's now officially gone insane.

"What were you doing to cause such a massive explosion, anyway?"

"Trying to concoct a batch of myth-tier pills," he said. "It was something that I tried a few times back in the Tower but couldn't really even remotely do. But now... I was so close. Just a momentary lapse of judgment toward the end. If that hadn't happened... I would have concocted at least three Soul Pagoda Pills."

"Right."

"Heh. It's clear you don't know what kind of a pill that is; otherwise, you would be hugging this thing with me."

"Even if you told me the pills can resurrect the dead, I still wouldn't hug it with you."

"Pretty close! Well, conceptually, at least," he said, finally standing up and miniaturizing the cauldron. There was a not-so-small of a crater left behind beneath it. "Do you know how Holy Lands maintain their status?"

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"That's a random question."

"It's not," he said. "The truth is that, every once in a while, a few minor sects would band together to try and oust the Holy Lands from their throne. On the surface level, they would have comparable strengths--but, well, they never do succeed. The reason? Ancestors."

"Wooow. You're telling me that Sects rely on their oldest, strongest cultivators to survive? Wooow. How unexpected!"

"You really can be a sarcastic bastard from time to time," he scoffed but quickly continued before I could get a quip in. "I'm not talking about some random old man that's a few thousand years old, no. I'm talking about figures that are tens of thousands of years old. It is rumored, in fact, that the Eternal Mountain's Ancestor returned from the upper realms and sealed himself as the last bastion of security within the mountain, and that he's a Quasi-Emperor!"

"Ah. I'm guessing those pills you mentioned would be like elixirs of life to them?"

"Hah. Hardly," he scoffed. "Soul Energy is one of the most elusive things in the universe. What Soul Pagoda Pills do is exactly as their name goes--they entrench the remnant soul force, temporarily, into a pagoda. Depending on the quality of the pill, the length can range anywhere from a few months to a few centuries. It doesn't restore Soul Energy, but it puts it in a suspended state where it's not being expended; that way, even if one's lifetime is 'merely' a few thousand years, they end up technically living for ten times as long."

"Hm. Fascinating. Is there some Ancestor of yours that needs it?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Then why are you making it?"

"Why? Hah! Because if I do make it, I can finally--"

"--why are you making it when the pills you've promised me haven't been concocted yet?"

"Uhm. It--it's all your fault!"

"Huh? How is it my fault?"

"I told you that I'd have to buy more materials at the Moon Market, but you went ahead and had your disciples blow up the entire city!"

"Ah, yes. We arrived at Moonlake City... and then immediately destroyed it! We weren't there for a week or two, not doing any destroying."

"Ugh. Fine. I'll have them made before we get to the mountains."

"... aren't you missing ingredients? Or... wait. Is there some overlap between the Soul Pagoda Pill and Flawless Foundation Pill?"

"..."

Ah, whatever.

We had a rather speedy breakfast--or, well, we were about to have a speedy breakfast before Long Tao proclaimed he would make us something.

While others were chattering about how bad it would be, I actually had some expectations toward it. That old woman told me that he badgered her to learn, so, maybe, just maybe, he picked up a thing or two...

As he was stoking the flames and chopping the ingredients, other kids set up a table, chairs, and plates. The scent soon began to linger, mellow and light. I watched as he tossed in chopped pieces of vegetable and the skinned pieces of a rabbit that he'd caught earlier.

It looked like he was making a stew, a strange little thing to have for breakfast, but, hey, I've never been the type of man to complain about food! Not since Yas blew her top off at me when I complained about her chicken and rice that she made after coming home from a murderous day of exams while I slept through most of it. That was also the day I decided to learn how to cook at least a few basic things.

... but the smell, though? Wow. It's actually tantalizing. The proof of it was that the kids had stopped their chattering and instead started drooling a bit.

Look at him, though, standing by the fire, twirling the wooden spoon and stirring the stew. So devoted to the craft. Yeah, right. He was just pissy that there was something others had to make fun of him.

Are all 'super duper strong' people so damn petty?

... did I really just think that?! Wow, I've grown. There was a time when I was terrified of even thinking neutral things about him since I thought he could read my mind. To think I've grown so much... it's beautiful.

"It's ready," Long Tao announced, whipping out sets of bowls for us and making the kids' cheeks redden since they prepared plates instead. "I hope you don't choke on how delicious it is!"

... wow. If his Emperor peers could hear him say that, what would their reactions be? Funny, I bet. Real funny.