Calculating Cultivation

I was already moving for my sword and pulled it free from the dead rank 3 beast. Spinning around, I kicked off the ground, staying low. Roaring Twilight was leaping down, but it was midair. It couldn’t change its direction. I moved under it and slashed my sword upwards. It tried to twist out of the way, but the beast couldn’t dodge in time.

Blood poured down upon me as I struggled slightly to cut through its flesh. It slammed into the ground past me and I spun. It was quickly back on its feet, and I brought my sword back up in front of me once more. It let out a massive growl. “Just a minor wound.”

“Fine, then I will deliver another minor wound!” I said and kicked off the ground. Roaring Twilight didn’t rush forward or leap at me. I closed the distance and its head shot out. I interposed my blade and slashed out, delivering a shallow cut on its massive face. It jerked back and I didn’t hesitate. I kept moving forward, leaping for its head.

The beast seemed confused. It had never experienced this situation before and had already been wounded twice. Roaring Twilight lived up to its name and roared as my blade stabbed into the side of its massive neck. I pushed the blade in deep, and kept a hold of my blade.

I then pushed off the beast and pulled my blade free. A massive paw came up at me. I twisted my blade sideways in front of me and moved my left hand behind the flat of the blade. I managed to angle the blade to intercept the massive sword like claws. The impact from the attack sent me slamming down into the ground. I was already rolling out of the way as a massive set of teeth bit down where I had been, shattering the stone. I quickly got back up to my feet and brought my sword back up.

If I hadn’t practiced for countless hours, learning how to position my sword exactly where I needed to, I would have never been able to react in time. Also, I was helped out by the fact this was a new rank 4 beast, and not an older one. Its lack of experience and poor reactions made this clear. I would never get a better chance than this.

“I could have cut open your neck completely by moving my blade to the side,” I said as Roaring Twilight growled at me. We stared at each other for over a minute. If it didn’t make down, I would have to go for the kill in my next strike and end it.

“RAAAWR!” Roaring Twilight brought its head up and let out an even louder roar as blood leaked down its neck and belly. It then landed back on the ground with a massive thud. “The shame,” it muttered out. There was silence and I didn’t say anything or lower my blade.

“Fine, small human. You have bested me. I will obey until you are wounded and will not give up my life to you. But I will listen and hold off from eating you until then,” it replied with as much petulance a massive beast could put into its words. I let out a small sigh of relief at that. My entire body hurt from that swipe I took. I had avoided being skewered, but I would bruise heavily and had a concussion, from the way my head ached.

“I accept your vow of obedience Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens,” I said officially with as much confidence as I could muster against this truck sized beast.

“I was overeager, and you tricked me. I will remember,” it replied in a sulking tone. We weren’t about to become friends now. One misstep and this beast would attack without mercy. If it had been more experienced, then I would have been in much more serious trouble.

“I will keep my blade ready for when the day comes,” I countered back. I couldn’t afford to show weakness here. Roaring Twilight was like a bully. It would sense weakness and pounce. I went back over to the rank 3 beast I had killed and got out the core. Thankfully it hadn’t broken apart yet. The higher the rank, the longer the core lasted after death.

I turned back to Roaring Twilight who was still watching me while it laid down to recover. “Can we talk safely here?” I asked it.

“Yes. No other beasts will come with me here,” it replied. I nodded at this. It could be lying, but until it showed itself to be untrustworthy, we would speak. Beasts didn’t have a notion of honor, but they also lacked the guile of words from their inherited memories from what I had read.

“Then, let us talk,” I went over and sat in front of its head far enough away it couldn’t just lunge and eat me. I wasn’t stupid and Roaring Twilight wasn’t stupid. One misstep and it would end me without hesitation. But I would use this beast to get information to improve my grinding speed.

“I need a lot of rank 3 beast cores. Can you call beasts to me one at a time?” I asked.

“No. They are driven by instincts. Only when we gather, would I be able to direct the horde,” it replied.

“Other rank 4 beasts or higher ranks, would they show up?” I asked.

“Maybe, if enough blood is spilled. But if they come, I will tell them to kill you so I can be avenged,” Roaring Twilight replied. Yeah, definitely not my friend, but clearly not lying or it wouldn’t have said that. Like a newborn with some knowledge, but completely lacking in others. “I will be laughed at and shamed, but such is my failure. Losing to such a small human. But perhaps you will kill them, and I will feast on their flesh,” Roaring Twilight said with no guile whatsoever.

“You want to eat that beast I killed?” I asked him.

“No. Ripping out the core like that ruins the meat and power within them. While lesser beasts will eat it, higher rank beasts like myself won’t care. I only found you since this area was in turmoil little human.”

“I need rank 3 beast cores, a lot of them. Can you help me?” I asked. Roaring Twilight was silent as time dragged on. A minute went by, then two, but still the beast was silent. I occasionally glanced around, but no other beasts showed up. I waited patiently and after five minutes it let out a small huff. It was clearly being difficult on purpose, like an unrulily child. Another bit of proof that this rank 4 beast had very little experience.

Inherited memories that rank 4 beasts gained were like snapshots or a movie. They weren’t ingrained and internalized memories. Just limited knowledge it could draw upon. The beasts would pass down fighting and violence for the most part, with the language. But there was no nuance or experiences to help it deal with this situation. It is not like beasts did business as far as I knew. If Roaring Twilight recently reached rank 4, then it could very well have the mentality and experiences of a child. Just a truck sized murder beast of a child, with some memories passed on.

“There are rules.” Of course there were heaven cursed rules. Even the stupid beasts had rules. I wanted to puke out blood at this statement. “I can’t hunt other beasts, but I can sit on this mountain and keep a beast tide from forming or another level 4 beast showing up.”

“And if I leave rank 1 and 2 beasts behind me with their cores inside of them for you to eat?” I asked, since I learned something that would give me leverage over Roaring Twilight. It wouldn’t hesitate to eat other beasts, but it couldn’t kill them itself.

“I could gather more energy to reach the next rank. It would be small, but I would get stronger. Why help me? I will eat you one day regardless of anything you do,” Roaring Twilight asked me curiously. I had to be careful here in what I said. No hasty words or foolish declarations.

“If you could point me in the direction of beasts nearby, I could go more quickly and collect more rank 3 beast cores. You are just waiting for a chance to attack me. If I don’t want to gather up the lesser cores, well that is nothing you decided. If there are no beast tides or rank 4 beasts showing up, well there would be quite a feast for whatever beast was just following me and suggesting directions I should travel in,” I replied.

Roaring Twilight considered this. My biggest hurdle was finding the beasts. Sure, I could see them if they got close enough, but actually finding them was a struggle. I had been averaging only 3 to 6 beasts a day. Only 1 or 2 of them were level 3 beasts. I needed to be killing at least 5 such beasts per day. Roaring Twilight could clearly tell where other beasts were located, and I could leave the lesser beasts for it to eat. That would motivate the beast to not create trouble for me during this hunting expedition.

I wasn’t about to capture it or tame it as a pet. That was pure idiocy. There was no possible long term cooperation between beasts and humans. Even the Sect Leader had said that maybe at the immortal level such things occurred, but he wasn’t qualified to ask.

Still, if I could leverage Roaring Twilight to find beasts faster, then I would quickly complete my hunting expedition and get the beast cores needed to trade for rank 6 refined beast essence. Now to see if I could get something even more important. “I am also looking for something special. A blue moon orchid. A blue flower that only appears during a full moon at night,” I added.

“A treasure. You also want a treasure.” The massive beast shook its head slightly and leered at me. “I might know where a few are. But they aren’t simple to get. Let us work on simpler matters first.” I nodded at this. At least I had a lead on the blue orchids as well. I would trade the beast its life and freedom for two of them.

“That is fair. I will release you from your service then. So, cores, can you move safely?” I asked.

“The wounds you have given me have shut, I am no mewling newly born cub. That way is a rank 2 beast,” Roaring Twilight raised up a massive paw and a claw pointed in a direction. I nodded at this and set off in that direction right away. A glance over my shoulder, showed that the beast was following me at a distance.

I soon came across the lesser beast. I killed it with one sword stroke and left the corpse behind, not bothering with the core. Roaring Twilight showed up. “Rank 3, that way,” it pointed and began devouring the beast I had killed. I set off again, making sure I kept track of where the mountain with the outpost was. I didn’t want to get lost or turned around.

After two days, I had killed 25 beasts. Of those 16 were rank 3 beasts. The rest were mostly rank 2, some rank 1 beasts, all of which Roaring Twilight devoured. I was forced to call a break and returned to the outpost to clean off the spirit stones and rest safely. No way was I sleeping where Roaring Twilight could lead another beast to eat me.

I wasn’t stupid, the beast was only helping me for its own purposes. Sure, it was gaining a bit, I had no doubt it would pounce on any sign of weakness. With my hunting speed picking up, I killed beast after beast, getting those all important rank 3 beast cores, increasing my average to around 7 rank 3 beast cores per day. A huge improvement from before.

After the third expedition out, I came out of the outpost in the morning. Roaring Twilight eyed me as I came up the steps. At least it was doing its business a distance away. It wasn’t childish enough to leave excrement all over the steps.

“You are early this morning,” Roaring Twilight said. While there was still no trust between us, it was time to get some more information on the beast side of things. I had been ignorant for far too long and this was a perfect time to get more information.

“I wanted to talk with you. I ask you questions about beasts, and you can ask me questions about humans,” I replied. It considered the question for a couple of minutes before replying.

“Alright little human, but I ask the first question.”

“That is fine,” I replied. I was willing to bend a bit over a small matter like this.

“Why do you need so many beast cores?” That was an easy question.

“My cultivation has issues that can only be resolved with powerful resources. While I don’t need them, they will help me quite a bit.” It seemed to consider this answer and then nodded slightly. It was my turn to ask.

“Is there anything beasts would like from humans that you would trade for? Food, alcohol, or something else?” I asked. It seemed surprised by that question, but I needed leverage if I wanted resources from the wilderness. And a longer relationship based on mutual self interest could be quite profitable. Asking about the beasts’ social structure was pointless.

The higher rank beasts were in charge with the beast immortal at the top. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. And going against higher ranked beasts wasn’t possible for me. That’s what almost all the other cultivators would think about. Killing more beasts.

For now, I could get by with killing lots of low ranked beasts. That was easy enough with my super sword, cultivation level, and their mindlessness. But anything with a bit more weariness that Roaring Twilight or a rank 5 or higher, then I would be dead. It was foolishness to think I could fight and win against something like that.

I knew beasts drew in the energy of the heavens and the earth naturally, but there might be an untapped market where I could trade with them. I would have to do it discretely, since I had no doubt the high ranking sects would not allow something like this, but I wasn’t entirely sure. I could claim ignorance if I never asked.

Roaring Twilight was thinking really hard about this question, so I decided to jump in again. “If I got stuff from us humans and brought it to you, would you be willing to look it over and consider trading instead of eating me?” I asked.

“Very well. I will see if any of your so-called human goods interest me. Something to make me stronger, so I can eat you one day. Now why do you wish to trade?”

“I need things only you can help me find like the blue moon orchid. And there must be something that humans can make that would interest you. Food, drink, knowledge, there has to be at least one thing you want me to bring?” I pressed Roaring Twilight.

It went back to thinking over this question. That was fine. I would let it think about what it would ask for. Armor or weapons made no sense. The beast’s body was both its method of attack and quite sturdy. I wanted some mortal goods I could foist off on it, and get a treasure in return. Less hassle than trying to constantly beat this beast into submission.

Roaring Twilight had enough weariness or respect not to eat me, or try to eat me right now, but it wasn’t an ally or a friend. That was why I had no issues exploiting its ignorance and trading something at the mortal level for a rank 6 treasure. It would be a learning experience. If I could get more off it, in time, then I would take this beast for everything it had and leave it with trash it couldn’t get otherwise.

“A helmet. Of good metal. If you can get me a helmet that can fit on my head and isn’t weak, then I will trade you a blue moon orchid for it. Something that can match my strength at the very least,” it finally answered. It clearly wasn’t completely ignorant.

“Alright, let us spend more time hunting. I will make a small wood carving of your head and record other measurements. I will go back, get the helmet made, and other goods. And will trade you for a blue moon orchid,” I replied with relief.

“It better be good little human,” it replied.

“I will make sure it is rank 4, so comparable to your strength and will deflect a serious wound. It will give you some protection from an attack,” I replied. I didn’t want to oversell things and there was no way I would be able to afford anything at rank 5 or higher. Rank 4 was pushing it and I would order a fake rank 4 item.

It would be rank 3, but with formations built into the metal. I had learned quite a bit about formations when having my extractor commissioned. Nowhere near enough to do them on my own, but enough to know what was and wasn’t possible. It would be possible to have the material enhanced with an array, and the effect would wear off over a decade.

This was one of many scams that was known to formation experts. A formation would draw in energy to enhance an item, but it would eventually break down from wear and tear. A true rank 4 item, would stay rank 4 regardless of time. A millennium from now, my rank 5 blade would still be rank 5.

It was a useful technique at the lower ranks, but people at the higher ranks, wanted other formations as part of their weapons. Not more durability and general power, since combat was about techniques for the most part, not about hitting another cultivator. True martial cultivators that were willing to risk crippling were quite rare.

“A beast that way,” Roaring Twilight pointed with a giant claw. I nodded and set off to start up the hunt again after our conversation.

During the hunt, I was doing the math. I had been out here for about two and a half months and had 180 rank 3 beast cores. My earning rare was about 8 per day, let’s call it 6 to be on the safe side. If I stayed out here another 210 days, or 7 months, that would net me 1,260 more rank 3 beast cores at least, and put my total around 1,420 rank 3 beast cores.

Of those, 1,200 had to go for the refined beast essence. Another 20 for the red sun rose, which was twice the price the Sect Leader had suggested since I knew there would be complications or a tax since I was from the opposite end of the continent. That would leave me another 200 rank 3 beast cores to commission a helmet of the size I needed.

That was the other problem. Since Roaring Twilight was the size of a semi-truck, I needed a semi-truck sized helmet. The amount of metal could probably make 20 swords at the very least. That was the cost of my low rank spatial ring. I considered this issue. A helmet I would have to commission and would be hard to hide. It would also make my trade with Roaring Twilight quite obvious.

I would stay out longer, another month so 240 more days. That extra 30 days would net me enough to buy another spatial ring, trade it to Roaring Twilight for another blue moon orchid. I would trade the helmet first of course, get one flower. Then trade the ring for a second, to get a mid-rank ring from the Sect Leader in return for bringing back the flower or some other prize. It was a rank 6 treasure after all.

If I brought back a second flower, he wouldn’t be able to refuse and be willing to give me more support. Getting a helmet made would raise questions. But the sect people wouldn’t argue if I threw rank 3 spirit stones at them. They would want to get such a thing made without questions and I could directly trade for the ring.

A low rank spatial ring wouldn’t be able to hold much, but it would let Roaring Twilight keep anything it found after killing a cultivator and trade it for other stuff. If the beast ever reached rank 5, it would be incredibly invaluable. I am sure it would figure out ways to use such an item or come up with something in time. That wasn’t my problem. I needed to arrange for this deal and get the helmet, which would be a massive headache, pun intended.

As the months went by, I killed more and more beasts. Roaring Twilight pointing out the ones in the area and me killing them without incident. When I asked why another level 4 beast or a higher rank one wouldn’t check on the area, it just said it was still alive and that unless I started killing twice what I was now, then no beast would look into the issue.

I guess it was a good thing for me, that this land belonged to the Cloudy Moon Sect, and that they weren’t a martial sect. There were no other cultivators out here. The Sect Leader had told me as much. One wrong move and their journey of cultivation was over, they didn’t want to risk it.

It was honestly sickening how many beast cores I was collecting. I had found an exploit. I had also been observing Roaring Twilight and its method of cultivation. The beast had no idea, it just naturally drew in energy over time and liked to consume sources of energy that were available to it. Just no consuming other beasts that were still alive, but there was an instinctual draw to their downed comrades.

During this time, I kept aligning motes diligently, the Astral Soul Stabilizer making it incredibly easy. As for other information, Roaring Twilight didn’t have much. I traded information about human society and learned beast society was exactly what I envisioned. The strong were in charge, the weak obeyed.

Roaring Twilight, once it became a rank 4, was given a section of territory to watch over and do with as it wished. Higher ranked beasts were much rarer than humans, and tended to be secluded for the most part, only rarely passing through if ever and not all of them were sociable.

Beyond the ingrained instinct of beasts to obey stronger beasts, there was nothing interesting about beast society. They were like some kind of bioweapon that had been used and now was just chugging along mindlessly to push back against humans and give them resources.

I asked about reproductive processes, and it was incredibly embarrassing when I had to answer in turn. I did learn that beasts didn’t have true genders, which was in the books I had read. Instead, they just became pregnant if there was an instinctual drive to. This often occurred in higher ranked beasts between ranks 5 and 8.

They would birth little rank 1 beasts, and the inherited memories would carry over. Something about the ability to shapeshift, allowed them to separate a portion of themselves to form children. The less beasts there were the stronger the remaining beasts grew, and the greater the drive to reproduce. The beast immortal above rank 8 was in its own category. This all but confirmed beasts were a cultivation experiment gone wrong, or possibly gone right. It was hard to say, but spontaneous parthenogenesis for such a creature was unheard of back on Earth, at least for mammals.

Beasts were incredibly efficient at collecting the energy of the heavens and the earth. More so than any array or formation. That was why sects didn’t bother making such things, and just hunted beasts instead.

One thing I picked up on was that Roaring Twilight didn’t want the older beasts to know that it was working with me. While it would escape punishment it would be told off or something bad would happen. I wasn’t sure what, but I didn’t care too much beyond the fact that Roaring Twilight had reason to keep our dealings secret. I said I would return in two months to the mountaintop, and it should be here to trade and end our partnership. It had agreed to that without any issue.

I wouldn’t be selling to the beast collective any time soon, but a market of one was more than enough for right now. Once I collected the beast cores I needed and then some, I returned to civilization. The first stop was the sect of course and to see the Sect Leader after getting some chests to put the spirit cores in.

Trying to go around him or do things without his approval would just be a hassle. Entering his office, I carried eight small chests balanced on top of each other, with 200 level 3 spirit cores each. I set them down to the side of his desk.

He checked one and only spent half a minute looking inside it before closing the chest. “Well done disciple. Very well done. And in less than a year. I count eight chests, I suppose you want some things in exchange?” he asked me.

“Yes Master. I have made an…acquaintance while hunting down rank 3 beasts. I would like to commission a large false rank 4 helmet with one chest and a low rank spatial ring with the other,” I said. The Sect Leader’s small smile turned into a frown.

“How big a helmet Yuan Zhou?” he asked me.

“Fairly big. About a quarter the size of your office,” I replied. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

“Of course you allied yourself to a rank 4 beast. That is now allowed.”

“By the high ranking sects?” I asked.

“Yes. What will it give you in return?” the Sect Leader asked.

“For the helmet, a blue moon orchid. I am hoping for a second in exchange for the spatial ring, to trade for another blue moon orchid, to then trade for a mid-rank ring from the sect,” I said with utter shamelessness. The Sect Leader rubbed his forehead.

“Those resources are critical. You may make the trade and I will commission such things, but the beast is not to survive. No matter what. You will bring me its core Yuan Zhou. I am taking a big risk in even allowing this. An official censure by the Imperial Sect is no joke. We cannot afford such an incident or the trouble it will bring.”

“A censure?” I asked.

“Our century tribute would multiply by ten for the next hundred thousand years. It would crush our sect. But such a treasure is quite useful. If an elder or another member goes with you, the beast will expect a betrayal. You will make the trade, then kill it yourself,” the Sect Leader said and I winced.

“I was kind of hoping for some long-term trade, or to use its help for rank 3?” I asked.

“No. The risk is too great. Beasts cannot lie to beasts stronger than them. You gave it your name you foolish disciple?”

“Yes, but it hasn’t used it,” I replied but that didn’t matter.

“Then there is nothing to discuss. A beast sized helmet would invite questions. Questions we cannot afford to answer. Beasts and humans are forbidden from working togeather. Kill it Yuan Zhou. This is a direct order from your Sect Leader and Master.”

I winced at this. While I wasn’t friends with Roaring Twilight or even allies, we got along. To betray it now after all we had hunted togeather left a bad taste in my mouth. But to disobey the Sect Leader would be courting death. He was a rank 8. While I might be slightly cheeky with him, since he liked insulting me, I couldn’t disobey him.

“I will bring back a rank 4 beast core, or die in the process,” I replied with conviction. The Sect Leader narrowed his eyes.

“Good. You have impressed me disciple. I will arrange for the refined beast essence to be applied to you when you return. Also request two cases for the blue moon orchids you are retrieving. I will speak to an elder to make this helmet myself in secret and withdraw a low ranked spatial ring as well.”

“Ah, could I get a mid-rank spatial ring to carry the helmet in? In return for an extra blue moon orchid?” I asked. Logistics were half the issue in dealing with this.

“Hmm, well you did succeed, even if in a way that brings trouble. Very well. A loan until you bring back a blue moon orchid for the sect’s use. Their rarity is impressive, but with our knowledge hopefully we can grow and market them. It would give us quite a bit of leverage in the centuries to come. Which is the only reason I am even considering this foolishness disciple.”