Chapter 347 – Lives 88 & 89

Upon waking up in my room in the Su Clan, I wasn’t in any hurry to act. Returning through time signified closing the lid of the Eclosion Pot that was my inner world, and I needed to let things ferment before taking the next step.

Not wanting to waste this time, I decided to spend it learning what I could about one of the two professions that I had yet to master. Before doing so, however, I need to make a few purchases–both to mark the completion of my prior efforts and to shore up my foundations for the years ahead:

A locked-in improvement to Mei’s gu keeping comprehension: 10 trillion credits.

Enhanced comprehension of illusions: 15 trillion credits.

Locked-in improvements to Yan’s, Meng LuYao’s, and Cai XiaoYu’s comprehension of illusions: 30 trillion credits.

Purchase confirmed. Cost 55 trillion credits.

Then, since these ‘permanent’ comprehensions wouldn’t take effect until my next life, I took a pill to activate them.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple 1 – 10 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 153,737,587,576,496

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Next, I went to meet up with my colleagues.

“System, teleport me to a secluded spot in South Gate City.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 10,098 credits.

Once there, I recruited Yan and Meng LuYao like I had in the past, and we each began cultivating a dual-element light-dark technique in preparation for joining the Nine Rivers Sect.

This matched up with what I had done in previous lives–mostly. Unlike in the past, however, I had a memory orb for Ning ChenKun, my former teacher and Ning ZeKun’s descendant. So, the three of us were able to stay at his home in South Gate, and we didn’t need to worry about any outsiders interfering in our business.

From there, Yan led me on a thorough exploration of the world of low-level illusions. When it felt appropriate, we entered the sect and continued our studies on the Light Peak. Then, when Cai XiaoYu came of age, Yan went out and brought her to join us.

For us in the outside world, these years were peaceful. We took our time to study all the subtleties of illusions, and I worked with the others to better understand how we might be able to combine illusions with the other professions. Under the protection of the Nine Rivers Sect, we didn’t have to worry about anything other than improving ourselves.

However, the same could not be said for those living in my inner world.

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At the two-year mark, I placed a letter in the meeting room on the top floor of Chang’an’s central skyscraper. At that time, the council wasn’t in session, so no one was there to see it, but within only a few hours, it was noticed and taken to its intended recipient.

This is taking too much energy. The journey through time will take longer than expected. I will inform you once I know more.

The current Head of the Council was Sushou BaHu, a descendant of ShouLi’s branch that had chosen to honor the ‘founder’ of their lineage instead of her consort. When he read this letter, he smiled in anticipation as he sent a runner to inform the rest of the council.

The next day, I suddenly summoned Sutong TanYu from my inner world.

When he appeared, I had my hand firmly placed on a glowing golden orb that had been inscribed with formations that were brimming with power. “Su… tong… I need more energy. Prepare several portions of Emperor-level karmic energy, immediately.”

“Ye–”

Before he could finish responding, I pushed him back into my inner world.

Moments later, I pulled him and three of his assistants back out and channeled energy from their dantians into the center of the orb. Once this process was complete, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Then, I glared at the man. “Thank you, but remember. You must not share any information about what you have witnessed.”

Sutong TanYu and his assistants all cupped their fists and bowed. “Yes, Ancestor. Of course.”

I waved and sent them back inside.

Not an hour later, a meeting of the leadership council was called, and Elder Sumo, the current head of the crafters, activated a formation.

Sushou BaHu looked at him. “You are certain that this will block the Ancestor from listening in?”

“Yes, Patriarch. My family has been studying the portal blocking formation since the time of our ancestors. I am confident that no one outside of this room will be able to spy on us.”

What followed was a somewhat predictable plot to take control of the World Orb and its formation that allowed us to travel through time. Even if I had been blocked from listening in, because of the knowledge gap, such a plot would have been doomed to failure anyway. Since I hadn’t been blocked, though, I could use this information to further my own ends.

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During my last life, while everyone had been free to roam the continent as they desired, the tensions between those living in the core of Chang’an and those living in the bunker had calmed down. However, since the underlying issues had never been dealt with, now that millions of people were once more confined to a small space, things were starting to heat back up.

The leader of the resistance was a young man named Suliang JueXin. His small branch family had never been given access to karmic energy, so none of them had been able to live past the age of 300. Because of this, JueXin’s great-great-grandfather, the man who had led the resistance during the clan’s last stint in my inner world, was long dead, and all that anyone knew of those times were stories from ages past.

While not perfect, Suliang JueXin and the people who followed him were among the best that my world had to offer. So, I decided to give them a shove in the right direction. I applied some ‘heat.’

A little over ten years into the start of this timeline, I vanished into the wilderness, and under the protection of both an Anti-Portal Formation and Yan’s illusions, I broke through to Martial Sovereign. Then, immediately afterward, I returned to the Nine Rivers Sect. If anyone in power inspected me too closely, then they would know what I had done, but since I hadn’t sensed any random portals spying on us, I figured we were safe–as long as I didn’t go around showing off my new skills, at least.

However, while I didn’t intend to use my new Sovereign powers in the outside world, my inner world was a different story. By focusing my will and intent, I created a series of portals to connect my beast-filled elemental planes with key locations throughout Chang’an’s bunker.

Suddenly, the 100 rings of the bunker were swarming with deer, hawks, boars, and oxen. There were also bats from the Plane of Dark, wolves from the Plane of Dark Earth, ravens from the Plane of Dark Wood, and panthers from the Plane of Dark Woody Earth.

None of these beasts were higher than Rank 2, but there were no Rulers in the bunker, so the beasts were able to tear through the locals with ruthless efficiency.

When the leaders in Chang’an’s core heard about this, they chose not to immediately respond. Instead, they ordered the bunker's Grandmasters to deal with the situation themselves. According to them, the Rulers needed to remain vigilant in case more powerful threats emerged. However, it was clear to everyone that they were using this as an excuse to eliminate certain ‘undesirables.’

Luckily for the bunker's residents, Suliang JueXin was able to rise to the occasion and organized a group of Masters and Grandmasters to fight back against the invaders.

At first, this was simple enough since the members of JueXin’s group out-Ranked their opponents, but then, I enlarged the portals and shoved Rank 3 beasts through.

Facing a pack of five Peak Rank 3 boars, JueXin was in a tough spot, and several members of his group perished, but in the end, they were able to prevail. To everyone’s surprise, each time they killed one of these powerful beasts, its carcass would vanish, and a fist-sized memory orb would appear in the now-empty space. Then, even more shockingly, once the entire group of beasts was defeated, JueXin and his team received a burst of karmic energy.

I could have used my reserves on the Plane of Woody Earth for this, but I had instead chosen to give JueXin and his people energy from the storage formation beneath Chang’an. When combined with the techniques in the memory orbs, those who had contributed the most to this fight would be able to ascend to the Lord Realm.

However, when JueXin and the others tried to do so, it didn’t work since my inner world didn’t have Laws of Karma. I had to pull them out into an illusion formation that made it appear as if they were floating in an empty void. This caused everyone a bit of consternation, but they were excited enough about their advancements that they didn’t question it too much.

These ascensions lit a fire within the entire group, especially those who hadn’t earned enough energy for a breakthrough. They were all eager to find more beasts so that they could earn the energy they needed to advance.

Over the next several days, I continued ramping up the pressure, going so far as to pull out random beasts and infuse them with the karmic energy needed to push them into Rank 4. Then, when the fighting was nearing the climax, I pulled out the Peak Rank 4 boar that ruled the Plane of Earthfire. At first, the beast looked at me like he was preparing for a fight, but I stared him in the eye and exerted my will on him, forcing him to back down.

“I need you to do something for me. As long as you are successful, I will help you ascend to Rank 6, understand?”

The boar kneeled on his front two legs and lowered his head.

“Good.”

Then, I infused it with King-level karmic energy and forced him to ascend to Rank 5.

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When the boar reappeared in my inner world, he was trapped in one of my underground storage spaces. Following my instructions, he channeled his energy and crashed through the wall, creating a long tunnel all the way to the bottom ring of the bunker.

Upon hearing of the appearance of this Rank 5 monster, JueXin immediately led his warriors to deal with it. The fight that followed was bloody, and several newly-raised Lords perished, but through sheer grit, they were able to wear the beast down and cripple it. As soon as the monster fell, JueXin brought down his spear to stab it in the heart.

The moment his spear touched the boar’s skin, though, the beast vanished, leaving nothing behind but a memory orb containing a Rank 5 cultivation technique.

With the fight over, one of JueXin’s warriors had the bright idea to follow the boar’s tunnel back to its source. In other circumstances, this might have led to the entire group being slaughtered by a den of angry pigs. This time, however, it led to JueXin and his people finding a trove of Rank 5 and 6 refined weapons and armor.

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Satisfied with the boar’s efforts, I tossed a few specially-made healing pills into his mouth to help him recover. Since these pills were the product of demon beast alchemy and one of the core ingredients was the blood of a demon boar, this could be seen as a form of cannibalism, but I didn’t think the old guy would mind.

Once he was on the mend, I filled him with karmic energy, and shoved him back into the Plane of Earthfire.

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In the center of Chang’an, while the leadership council hadn’t stepped in to fight the beasts themselves, they had been following the situation as closely as possible. ‘Somehow,’ they had been blocked from learning that JueXin’s team was earning karmic energy from killing beasts, but they had learned of his group's advancements.

After hearing a report of JueXin slaying a Rank 5 demon beast, Sushou BaHu pounded the table in front of him and glared at Sutong TanYu. “What have you learned?”

“P… Patriarch, our reserves of karmic energy are only at a quarter of what they should be. The majority has… disappeared. Someone… Someone has been helping the rebels steal it.”

“That fraud who claims to be our Ancestor?”

Sutong TanYu shook his head helplessly. “I don’t think so. If he could access our energy reserves directly, he wouldn’t have risked exposing himself by having us feed to the time loop formation. It has to be one of the wood cultivators responsible for taking care of the trees. However… I can’t explain how they are able to ascend. It shouldn’t be possible in this world…”

BaHu ground his teeth together and shifted his gaze to the head of the clan’s enforcers. “Find them. Whoever is stealing our energy and that scum in the bunkers. I want their heads.”

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Even with their new arms and armor, Suliang JueXin’s team was not capable of fighting the Peak Emperor-Peak Rank 6 body cultivators from the core. However, they didn’t need to.

By this point, Chang’an’s disk had a radius of nearly 9 kilometers. Normally, hiding in such a small area might have been difficult, but the bunker was anything but normal. It consisted of a hundred independent rings, giving it a total land area of over 24,000 square kilometers–more than enough room to provide sanctuary to a group of a few dozen cultivators.

As the years passed, I continued draining energy from Chang’an’s formation, and JueXin’s teams had begun killing the groups that had been sent out to hunt for them.

The year I turned 57, things finally reached a breaking point, and the leadership council sent out groups of cultivators to tear down the bunker and slaughter anyone who resisted. This would cripple their ability to generate karmic energy in the next loop, but they no longer cared about such things.

JueXin was doing an admirable job, but his group was no match against the people who were coming after him. Unless I was willing to watch them all be slaughtered, I needed to change the environment. I needed to give JueXin and his people more space.

So, after a final conversation with Yan, Meng LuYao, and Cai XiaoYu, I swallowed a pill to initiate the next phase of my plan.

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: 353,737,587,566,398

Rank 4 Small World – 1,383/10,000 km3 (Earth, Wood, Fire, Dark)