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Immortal Freeloader 147
🕑 Added 2024-08-31 03:50:00 +0000 UTCThe structure of the mystic land was simple. I had created fifty checkpoints, and ten groups, each group progressively difficult. Each checkpoint could be cleared after practicing one obscure technique. And, one either had to reach Minor Familiarity in all five techniques, or Minor Accomplishment in one to clear a checkpoint.
And, with each checkpoint cleared, there were certain rewards. Mostly talismans I had drawn, occasionally techniques I had written in a hurry.
It wasn’t exactly an amazing, intricate design, but considering the hurry I had displayed while designing it, it was appropriate. After all, the whole point was to conceal Pearyin’s situation, the learning aura slipping from a multitude of formations I had in place.
A trick that had succeeded considering the lack of Golden Core cultivators, or even Inner Disciples around. However, it also meant that the aura of learning, at least in its diminished form, wasn’t as valuable as I had expected.
Or, it would have been abandoned to the management of six Foundation Establishment cultivators, none looking particularly capable — at least, in terms of sect cultivators.
Maybe it wasn’t too surprising. The System might have helped me to cheat initially, but even without it, I had discovered many methods to cheat, from using calligraphy to pills. Not expecting the sects to have similar tricks despite their long existence, ruled by cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage or even higher was the height of folly.
At least they let the outer disciples in. Hopefully, they would still know enough to make my detour useful.
The progress the outer disciples made reinforced that point. When I was creating the checkpoints, I was under the impression that they would require somewhere between years and decades to clear it. Aisnam was talented when it came to palm techniques, but without my initial assistance, she could have never cleared all the checkpoints in a lifetime.
I had designed the challenges on that benchmark, assuming that sect disciples would be ten times more skilled than Aisnam, meaning one could expect them to clear the whole path somewhere along a decade, split between practicing the techniques and their cultivation needs.
That assumption seemed to be woefully inadequate, as barely months later, there were teams that cleared seven out of ten checkpoints. And, their discussions and attitude made it clear that they were far from the top outer disciples.
I must have underestimated the potential of the sects significantly. No wonder they were so dismissive of the itinerant cultivators.
No one bothered to interact with me even as I stood at the entrance of the first challenge, their attitude gazes showing that they expected me to waste my limited time there before being kicked out.
Any other time, being dismissed would have been the exact outcome I had been hoping for. Right now, it was the opposite. After all, I was here to be insulted — or failing that, pitied — and both required a certain level of caring to start.
I stood in front of the first checkpoint, looking captivated by the technique, but my focus was on the talks of the cultivators. Most of them weren’t afraid of being overheard, as the section between checkpoints and zones didn’t allow the sound to pass, letting them believe that they were isolated.
It was even true … for the most part. I was the one exception as the creator of the formation, easily manipulating such details. The more paranoid ones used their Qi to block their voices, but even that was useless when they were in my domain.
Their numbers helped, as most of the discussion was idle gossip, talking about people and places I didn’t know, and discussing tasks that I had no idea about.
But, I had a general sense of their presence. Apparently, the rewards I had put weren’t as attractive as I had expected for the outer disciples here. Instead, their discussion was focused on Foundation Establishment.
That seemed weird at first, but when a few of them mentioned some kind of contribution point payout for the one that first completed all the checkpoints and revealed the ‘true reward’. But, the disciples cared less about the nature of the reward, and more about the contribution point.
Apparently, it was enough to pay one-third of the price for a Foundation Establishment pill.
That realization would have surprised me before I realized how sects were using that pill as a control mechanism more than anything else.
Yet, even with that, I was surprised by the anxiousness of the outer disciples as they all seemed young … of course, that was until one of them mentioned only having six months before some kind of time limit of being kicked out of the sect, forcing them to join a cultivation family instead.
Ironically, their anxiousness reminded me of my own before the injury, where hundreds of student-athletes competed to be the best, only for most of us to end up disappointed when we failed to clear some extremely challenging cutoff points.
I understood their anxiousness, but I didn’t feel very sympathetic. I might have if I wasn’t trying to potentially save the lives of billions of lives, but ultimately, it was an easy choice.
Instead, I decided to trigger their anxiousness in a very distinct manner. I raised my hands, and used the technique on the wall, showing a beginner competency. It went unnoticed, probably assuming that I already knew of the technique.
No one saw an itinerant cultivator that arrived late as a problem.
Three more attacks, and I reached Minor Familiarity, triggering the glow from the formation which signaled I had cleared the first checkpoint. That earned a few suspicious glances from the disciples surrounding me.
“Hey, didn’t he just arrive?” one of them asked.
“I think so. Maybe he already learned the technique before coming here. There’s a lot of cultivators scamming the gullible by selling the techniques outside,” another responded.
I ignored those as I continued to repeat the techniques. After a dozen attempts, I reached Major Familiarity. A minute later, I faked reaching Minor Accomplishment. Another, even more intense glow spread from the formation, informing everyone that I had managed to complete the first group of checkpoints.
That created a bigger commotion, but it wasn’t as big as I had expected. I was hoping to at least gather the free disciples around me.
It looked like I needed an even bigger commotion. Even as I started practicing the palm technique, I started adding several new features to the formation, including a nice arena feature, which bypassed the current peace field enforced by the formation.
I wanted to create an excuse to interact with them.
However, that wasn’t the only thing that I did. I also added several defensive formations against a potential intervention from Golden Core cultivators. However, those formations were merely there to control the area and distract them. Regardless of my level of expertise, I couldn’t rely on my formation abilities to capture Golden Core cultivators.
The real function was different.
It was there to dispense poison, one that I had refined based on my Alchemy Technique at Perfection, which was strong enough to incapacitate Golden Core cultivators. Admittedly, for all my greed, my objective wasn’t to capture them, afraid it would bring even stronger cultivators.
No matter how tempting was the idea of learning techniques from Golden Core cultivators.
No, I just wanted to create some distraction to allow me to escape in case my next action created an even bigger commotion.
Once the preparations were complete, I enhanced my display, showing my abilities to Perfection. The formation triggered once again, centered on me.
And, at the same time, the ruins started to shuffle. The checkpoints, which were spread in a straight line, moved to create a curved structure, while an arena appeared at the center.
“The first candidate has been selected. Defend the arena while only using the technique you have learned to receive the first key!”
“Yes, immortal master!” I shouted even as I ran toward the arena. Several disciples tried to interrupt me, but the formation around me protected me from them. I stood at the center, while the sect disciples watched me, their faces contorted with envy and frustration.
Though, regret was also visible in the eyes of many.
“You better think what you’re doing,” one of the disciples from below warned me. “You don’t want to know what might happen to your family if you take this opportunity from us.”
“Too bad I’m in disguise,” I said with mocking laughter and made a show of throwing my robe and removing a mask, only to show another illusion thanks to my formation, which they stepped on willingly. “Now, if you’re so confident, why don’t you come and walk inside,” I said.
One of them tried, only for the formation around me to not allow him.
“Only the worthy challenge,” the booming voice declared.
“How do we prove we’re worthy, great immortal,” more than one asked.
“By sacrificing knowledge,” the booming voice shouted once again, and a jade platform rose. “Show your techniques to earn that right.”
I couldn’t help but smirk at their shocked expression. “Come on, you pathetic sect cultivators. Fight me,” I called.
