Chapter 349 – Life 91, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Upon waking up in my tiny house, I took a moment to decompress and then got to work. Suliang JueXin’s takeover of Chang’an signified a fresh start for my Su Clan, but that’s all it was, a start. If we wanted to make the clan everything that I knew it could become, then there was still a lot of work ahead of us.

Before anything else, I first used the Expanding Realms Fire to create a large vault beneath Chang’an that was only connected to the disk via a thin, 1-centimeter-wide tunnel. For added security, halfway down this tunnel, I expanded it to be just large enough to fit the sheet of Rank 8 metal that I had acquired back when I was in the Nine Rivers Sect. During the fight with the Rank 5 boar, I had shown JueXin and his people one of my underground storage areas. I wanted to get the rest cleaned out before anyone got any smart ideas.

Then, I decided to make good use of some of my credits:

Upgrade of all my basic elemental affinities to high three-star: 250 trillion.

Upgrade of all my existing comprehensions to a total of 20 trillion credits: 157.699 trillion.

Comprehensions of talismans: 20 trillion.

Deletion of previously purchased knowledge of talisman artistry: 50 billion.

Upgrade to my ability to resist the effects of cultivation techniques: 20 trillion.

Upgrade of my technique appraisal ability to Rank 6: 50 trillion.

Upgrade of my appraisal abilities for crafted items to Rank 5: 7 trillion.

Cost 504.7 trillion credits. 48,985,612,449,973 credits remaining.

Next, I implemented a few changes to my inner world.

While SuLiang JueXin respected me as the Ancestor, over time, that respect would fade. Even if JueXin himself remembered what I had done, as generations passed I would be forgotten. So, as Emperor Li had taught me, I needed to make my presence known at all times.

I decided to do this via the clan’s technique libraries.

First, I removed all of the existing libraries. Then, I built three new ones—one of each of the core’s three levels. Within these libraries, I stored books and manuals containing every technique in my mental library. I also spent a trillion credits copying all of the important ones into jade slips.

Once this was done, I then created a larger-than-life statue of myself in front of each library. A formation ensured that before anyone would be allowed to enter, they would first need to bow and pay respect to their Ancestor.

Additionally, as I had noticed that overreliance on jade slips could cause problems, I laid down a set of rules to limit their use. A person would only be allowed to access the jade slip repository a single time. If they did so as a Disciple, then they would be allowed to access slips up to the Master level, but no further. If they did so as a Master, then they could access slips up to the Grandmaster level.

After setting this up, I took my time to wander about the Nine Rivers Continent.

I met up with Murong NaYun, and he took me on a tour of the places that he had visited in his youth. As we explored, he taught me everything he could about talismans, and I taught him about formations. While the two had many surface-level similarities, the differences were far greater than I had expected.

During this time, I keep an eye on the clan in my inner world.

The Su Clan remained in charge of Chang’an, but it was no longer as dominant as it had been in the past. Sushou BaHu’s uprising had caused a significant decline in the Su Clan’s population, and it was now not much larger than any of the other clans. The others were smart enough not to try overthrowing the Su Clan, but they did push for more representation in Chang’an’s leadership.

While I could have stepped in to oppose this, I didn’t. The development of Chang’an had been reset, and the old power structures no longer existed. JueXin needed to build something new, and pulling in the other clans was a solid step toward making that happen.

What had caused my Su Clan to decline and become so much like the original Su Clan? With memory orbs, jade slips, and Legacy Orbs, they should have been able to develop the most optimal way possible. Yet, even as their skills and cultivation bases advanced, their attitudes and culture had regressed.

In part, this could be explained by the fact that, with every new life, the clan was sent to mingle with members from the original Su Clan. Even if my people disdained the attitudes of the original clan, over time, they would still become infected by them.

More importantly, though, neither my clan nor the original Su Clan ever faced any real challenges. Both clans were masters of their domain. For the original clan, no one outside the Wastes bothered them. For my clan, no one on the entire continent could bother them. This had caused both clans to lapse into a state of preserving the power they had instead of fighting for more.

This was something that I had learned from Emperor Li. If a keeper wanted to create a powerful gu, then they needed to consistently pressure them. Letting a gu wallow in an Eclosion Pot without any challenges didn’t do any good.

In the past, I had failed—both because I didn’t know what to do and because I didn’t have the resources to do it. But now, with Emperor Li’s lessons drilled into me and half a dozen planes filled with vicious beasts, I could provide the external pressure that my clan needed. Similarly, by allowing the other clans to assume positions within Chang’an’s leadership, I would be providing them with a form of internal pressure.

New problems would arise—they always did—but with time and effort, we would be able to meet them.

As I wandered the world with Murong NaYun, years came and went. By raising him to Martial Emperor, I had been able to grant him a few extra centuries, but eventually, that ran out, and I was left to wander the world alone.

Every few decades, I opened a few portals between Chang’an and the other planes to let demon beasts invade. At first, Chang’an was able to fight them off with ease, but over time, JueXin and the other Rulers passed away, and there was no karmic energy to raise new ones. The demon beasts, in contrast, were able to advance to Rank 4 simply by eating the flesh of cultivators, so as Chang’an weakened, the beasts grew stronger.

Finally, when the world was at its breaking point, I constructed a massive statue of myself in the center of Chang’an with a plaque that explained its use. Once every 50 years, the clans could select five people. I would imbue these people with karmic energy and then pull them outside–into an illusion–so that they could ascend to Martial Lord. Importantly, though, thousands of people would need to be present and show their respect to the Ancestor for this ceremony to be effective.

This appeared to solidify my position in the hearts of my world’s inhabitants, but only time would tell how effective it was.

Eventually, I decided to ask a question that I had been holding back for far too long. I had asked it once before, but I hadn’t gotten an answer. Now, I knew that I would.

“System, how much would it cost for you to teleport me to the nearest town on the Central Continent at the start of my next life?”

Cost 10,000,000,000,060 credits.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that number, certain of what it represented. “Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed.

Finally, at 700 years old, I did something new. Something that I had never done before. I died a natural death.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Sovereign Peak – 100 trillion credits awarded.

You died at Peak of Rank 7 in Body Cultivation – 100 trillion credits awarded.

Total Credits: 237,985,612,449,913

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Complete Status Page

Rank 4 Small World – 2,033/10,000 km3 (Earth, Wood, Fire, Dark)

Affinities

High Three-Star – Earth, Metal, Water, Fire, Wood

Low Three-Star – Lightning, Wind, Light, Dark

Peak Four-Star – Karmic Energy

Peak Five-Star – Space

Resistances

Mental Effects (Cultivation Techniques) – 20 trillion credits

Mental Library

Capacity – Rank 8

Journal (with Mental Input) – Rank 8

Perfect Transcription – Rank 8

Touch Reading – Rank 8

Scribe – Rank 8

Comprehension Boosts

Cultivation:

Cultivation Techniques – 20 trillion credits

Body Cultivation – 20 trillion credits

Soul Techniques – 20 trillion credits

Energy Control – 20 trillion credits

Teaching – 20 trillion credits

Professions:

Alchemy – 20 trillion credits

Formations – 20 trillion credits

Herbalism – 20 trillion credits

Refining – 20 trillion credits

Beast Taming – 20 trillion credits

Gu Keeping – 20 trillion credits

Illusions – 20 trillion credits

Talismans – 20 trillion credits

Martial – 20 trillion credits

Social:

Reading Emotions (True) – 20 trillion credits

Skills

Mastery of Cold Mountain Fire, Expanding Realms Fire (seed)

Mastery of Immutable Mountain Fire, Eternal Grove Fire (spirit fire)

Memory Implantation — Rank 1

Soul Formation Concealment – Rank 7

Enhanced Soul Growth – 20,000 credits

Pill, Formation, Herb, Talisman, Demon Beast, Refined Item, Illusion, and Gu Appraisal – Rank 5 (Comprehensive, Detailed)

Technique Appraisal – Rank 6 (Earth)

Fire Seed Appraisal – Profound

Language (Western Han)

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End of Volume 5