Cultivation Nerd-Chapter 267: Indulgence

I sat cross-legged on the soft ground, letting the earth press gently against me. The grass was cool beneath my legs, still slightly damp with morning dew. It's clean, green scent rose with every breath I took, and the fresh air opened up my lungs.

Meditation was deeply relaxing when done in the right environment. But this wasn't quite as nice as I would've liked.

Still, I could sense it clearly now, as it was the first firm Qi pillar within my dantian.

I couldn't see it with my eyes, but its presence was undeniable. It stood tall and unmoving, radiating quiet strength like the trunk of an ancient tree rooted in the core of my being. There was a majesty to it, a kind of silent authority that made my entire body feel steadier, more complete. Just feeling it was enough to make me feel invincible. I could sit and meditate for hours, days even, just soaking in that sensation, trying to comprehend every layer of it.

But beside that proud, towering structure, something else stirred.

A silver-colored sludge. Dim, uncertain, and barely moving. It clung to the edges of my dantian like a sickly fog, pitiful and weak. But I knew what it was meant to become: the early formation of a second Qi pillar. My progress toward becoming a two-star Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Barely half a percent filled, if that.

And it had already been half a month since I'd arrived at the Sect.

But the progress I had made, strengthening the first pillar, refining my techniques, and sharpening my instincts, wasn't nothing. It wasn't fast, but it was real.

I sighed.

How many years was it going to take me to advance this way?

I was almost jealous of people like Song Song and Ye An, who made it all look so damn easy. Their overwhelming talent let them brute-force their way through the process. The only thing they really had to worry about was comprehension.

Even then, I doubted they struggled. Song Song had a deep, borderline obsessive relationship with blood. And while I knew nothing about what had happened to Ye An… if she was still alive, I'd bet everything her element was ice. Anything else would've been stupid on her part.

The only way to truly accelerate progress would be with pills or heavenly treasures to boost Qi absorption. But both came with risks. Heavenly treasures were usually safer and didn't damage one's foundation too much. Still, being spoon-fed power like that was bound to create weak spots.

I'd only consumed one treasure because the opportunity had been there, and I'd been curious. It was interesting, sure, but I was already leaning toward saving things like that for a later stage, when I could no longer advance normally, and didn't give a damn about my foundation anymore. When I'd be willing to throw everything into the fire just to see what came out.

As for pills… the less said, the better.

Unless the pill was made from heavenly materials, and I was an alchemist who could personally manage the risks, those things were practically a death sentence. A one-way ticket to permanent stagnation.

They'd make sure Foundation Establishment was all I ever reached.

I opened my eyes, taking in the lush green garden and the pleasant view that stretched only as far as my land allowed. Beyond that, the rest of the Sect was still stuck in autumn and scorched earth.

Next came the gentle pulse of the growth array I’d laid down to help the plants in my yard recover, the faint, steady brushing against the edges of my awareness.

This was still just the beginning of a new stage. Perhaps I was still adjusting, and it’d take some time for my cultivation to fully stabilize. But even so, I knew it was going to be a while before anything significant changed.

I already had a second technique in mind. But...

Oh well. For now, I could just focus on mastering the one I had. If I perfected it ahead of time, then when the breakthrough eventually came, I wouldn’t have to worry about the comprehension aspect. That was usually the wall that talented cultivators hit.

But as I enjoyed my peaceful morning with my only concern being a slow cultivation rate and I sensed the demon of my life, the black hole that sucked joy out of the world, approaching.

Well, that’s what I’d call her if she ever asked me to define our relationship.

“Hey! I’ve made some food that’s totally not poisoned! Wanna come eat?” Fu Yating, the darkness in my life, called out.

“At least I hope the food’s good this time,” I sighed, getting to my feet.

“All my food is good!” she insisted.

And she wasn’t wrong. Her cooking was solid, and getting better every day.

As I walked into the house, it was just me and Fu Yating. Wu Yan was in the other wooden house, keeping an eye on the egg’s progress.

My dear faceless friend still hadn’t broken through to Foundation Establishment. She was struggling to condense her element.

Speedy, as always, was asleep nearby, completely carefree.

We walked to the dining room, and I was greeted by the sight of smoked steak on a square wooden platter. It was surrounded by local dishes I didn’t even recognize.

“It looks passable,” I said.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to compliment my food,” she grumbled, though her eyes never left my face.

I shrugged and was just about to sit down when a shift in her expression caught my attention. A flicker of worry appeared.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

The way she said it, quiet and sincere, was the kind of tone that would tug at the heartstrings of a naive young man.

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“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I replied. “After all, I haven’t eaten your food yet.”

She slapped my shoulder, softly enough to avoid hurting her hand.

Fu Yating huffed, sat down across from me, and started eating like she hadn’t nearly confessed something raw a moment ago. Her plate was a bit lighter than mine, but looked just as appetizing.

Even as we started eating, she kept staring, eyes narrowing like she was trying to read my soul.

“I know it’s ironic for me to say this,” she said finally. “But if you need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“If this is your way of comforting me after what happened, you’re doing a terrible job,” I said, trying the steak.

The smoky flavor hit immediately. The meat was tender, practically melting in my mouth.

Damn. This was so good. But I wasn’t going to inflate her ego more than necessary.

“Yeah, like you did,” she said. “I mean, what kind of socially inept freak goes off to cultivate immediately after a girl finds out her clan is dead?”

“Oh yes, let the guy whose family killed yours comfort you. It’s like the thief who stole from you offering a pep talk about how wealth isn’t everything,” I said, taking another bite of steak. “What could I even do in a situation like that?”

“Well, if the situation were reversed and you were under my mercy, I would’ve consummated our marriage so hard,” she said.

I nearly spat my food out.

What the hell? Did she think her role as my wife would have been like that?

But I kept my composure. She was probably just messing with me, and I knew just how to respond.

“Ah yes, your family is dead? Let’s make some more,” I said in a mock-deep voice.

“Hey, no need to mock my coping strategy,” she replied.

“Wait, did your family actually dying put you in the mood for something? What kind of freaky woman are you?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about comfort. I know you weren’t the one who killed my family. And if you had the power, you’d have saved them all. But… Why else did you think I came to your room? To make you care, and do something that would show me you weren’t going to kill me the next day,” she sighed. “Whatever. Let’s move on.”

“Ah yes,” I said in an exaggerated villain tone, “your family is dead, let me push you against this table and do it.”

She covered her face with her hands and sighed.

Gotcha.

We all handled grief in our own ways. But perhaps I should apologize later. She was trying to be supportive in her own way, and to be honest I didn’t know how to handle that.

…

Another half-month passed, and surprisingly, Fu Yating never once tried to poison me, even though her phrasing when calling me over for meals remained as ominous as ever.

Every time she said, “Eat this and see what happens,” or “This one might kill you, might not,” I braced myself for the worst. But the food was always good. Sometimes, too good, which only made me more suspicious.

Still, I was alive. And there’d been no reaction from my poison-reading technique that monitored the contents of my stomach.

Meanwhile, the weather had begun to shift.

The air turned sharper and colder, biting at the skin during early mornings and lingering even through the afternoon sun. Leaves thinned, and frost crept along the edges of the wooden planks outside the Sect buildings.

That could only mean one thing: another monstrous beast wave was on the horizon.

It was always like this when the cold came. The beasts grew restless, more aggressive.

But this time, there was one critical difference.

We no longer had a Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the Sect.

No looming presence to suppress the tide. No Immortal will to terrify the beasts into caution.

And that meant… whoever had been orchestrating the attacks from the shadows by pulling strings, pushing monsters, hiding behind the chaos, might finally feel bold enough to step into the light.

It had now been a full month since I arrived at the Sect.

I’d grown somewhat accustomed to my new role as an elder and, of course, used it irresponsibly in ways I totally justified to myself.

I stood within a quiet stone room nestled deep inside my residence. The walls were smooth and cool to the touch, lined with shelves that groaned under the weight of scrolls, books, and jade slips. Every surface was filled, and every corner was utilized.

This wasn't a formal library. It wasn't a place of order or organization. It was a collection of curiosity and a room dedicated entirely to things that had caught my interest. Forgotten cultivation theories. Strange beast anatomy. Historical contradictions. Records of obscure arrays, dangerous techniques, and fragments of old sect philosophies no one spoke of anymore.

The air carried the faint scent of parchment, ink, and old wood. It was quiet.

This was where stray thoughts became obsessions and where questions found layers, not answers.

And I liked it that way.

This would've been my dream life if the old man and the librarian were still around.

Currently, I was reading a fragmented report on a lost Sky Grade Technique. It was called Soul Burning Cremation, a technique supposedly used to destroy souls. At least, that's what the records claimed.

I was also flipping through texts on Earth Grade techniques related to the soul.

Zun Gon had mentioned there would be discussions soon regarding access to the Sect's rebuilt library, once the arrays were stabilized and protective formations were in place.

But for now, everyone was too focused on finding the Blazing Sun Immortal.

I'd give it another month before I "checked in" on the scrolls myself. After all, I was the elder with the key to the vault that stored all of the Sect's catalogued techniques.

It wasn't stealing. I was just making sure everything was accounted for.

And if I were caught, I'd simply say I was doing my job. Inspecting things. Making sure they were safe.

Just as I contemplated new ways to abuse my position, there was a polite knock on the door.

It was Wu Yan. freewёbnoνel.com

"Come in," I said.

She opened the door and stepped inside. Her gaze wandered across the room, slowly taking everything in. But she didn't take another step forward.

I turned toward her as she lifted her hand and formed a mouth on her palm.

"The egg is shaking. It's hatching," Wu Yan said.

The voice from her hand was soft and feminine, the kind of voice that made people instinctively want to protect her.

But I didn't think much about that.

Instead, I opened the window, preparing to leap out. Some parchments fluttered from the gust of air, but I caught them with a flick of Qi and returned them to their places.

"Okay. We've got a bit of wind picking up," I said, glancing back at Wu Yan. "Take care of things here."

And with that, I leapt out the window, light on my feet, heavier in thought.

The moment my feet hit the ground, I bolted toward the wooden house.

I was more curious than worried. What kind of effects would staying in a storage ring for so long have on a monstrous beast? My best hope was that it had developed some sort of spatial affinity.

But realistically? The chances were close to zero.

When I reached the house and entered the room with the red-dotted egg, I immediately saw cracks running along its smooth white surface. It trembled violently, as if something inside was fighting to break free.

Then, with a wet, tearing crack, the shell split open.

A slick, glistening line formed down its center, and with a sudden convulsion, something burst out from within.

The egg collapsed in on itself like a deflated organ, its once-firm shape now sagging and torn.