Cultivation Nerd (xianxia)
Chapter 263 – Arrival at Civilization

A month passed, and I was finally used to my new cultivation. Walking around without the constant fear of a monstrous beast ruining my day was... incredible.

Sure, beasts still came out of nowhere now and then, but a Foundation Establishment-level threat wasn't scary anymore. Not really.

"Oh look, another ruin," I said, pointing to a distant mountain peak where an abandoned temple clung to the stone like a forgotten crown.

Fu Yating sighed. She couldn't see that far but knew I wasn't lying.

"Can we stop stalling and visiting every damn ruin on the way to the Blazing Sun Sect?" she groaned.

Ever since my breakthrough, there were benefits I hadn't truly appreciated. Like having enough Qi to cover the entire team in a jade barrier and just… fly.

Yes, fly. Straight through the sky, like a one-man glider made of jade and pride. 

This journey was really turning out much better than I had thought. 

As for that whole "don't fly too often" thing? That was mostly because Qi Gathering Cultivators couldn't outrun flying beasts and didn't have the power to fight them in the air. But that wasn't my problem anymore.

So, with the travel time reduced to a fraction of what it used to be, I'd been taking a few detours. Exploring ruins. Poking around. Getting curious.

"Just because you don't care about history doesn't mean the rest of us want to be ignorant," I said, eyeing the temple in the distance. "A smart man once said, 'Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'"

"Maybe if you explained something about it, I'd care more," she muttered. "We could even make it like a date or something."

"No thanks," I said flatly. "If I have to explain everything while I'm enjoying myself, it'll take all the joy out of it. Besides, it's not my fault you never took the time to learn about history."

"I'm more surprised that you, a talented cultivator, bothered learning about a bunch of dusty old crap that doesn't affect anything today," she countered. "And don't call me weird just because I don't fit into your little box of what 'normal' is. Most cultivators don't waste time reading history. You're the weird one."

Okay. Fair.

But winning an argument didn't always mean being right; it just meant being louder. And I could be pretty loud.

Still, we didn't end up arguing this time. We were approaching a town, and I planned to stop and see what kind of news I could gather. There'd been so many rumors flying around lately, I couldn't tell what was true anymore.

I needed to know what was really happening in the Blazing Sun Sect.

That said, I was planning to push my return just to the edge of winter. By then, any lingering enemies of Song Song would be smart enough to stay quiet rather than test a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The sect was clearly in a state of disaster.

No need to walk back into a burning building until the fire had at least calmed down.

We kept walking in silence for a bit as I thought. But once again, my dear fiancée chose that exact moment to interrupt.

“Okay, are you quiet because you’re mad, or because you zoned me out and probably didn’t hear what I said?” Fu Yating asked, sounding uncertain.

“A bit of the latter. I heard you, just didn’t care enough to respond.”

“Wow. Even in something like this, you still find a way to be mean.”

“I’m not the one demeaning my dear fiancée’s hobbies.”

We continued bickering the rest of the way. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it was an easy way to pass time. Also, it worked as emotional control training. A part of me even liked the challenge, having to come up with new insults to try and hurt her feelings. Not that it worked. I could count the number of times I’d actually managed to offend her on one hand… and still have fingers left over.

By now, we were pretty used to each other’s bullshit.

“Shouldn’t we be traveling faster?” Fu Yating asked. “You were easily able to before. You even killed any flying monstrous beasts that dared to interrupt us.”

I turned and gave her a look, then sighed. We’d spent enough time together that we could often read each other with just a glance.

As for what she was trying to do now? Obvious. She knew I was stalling, and now she was fishing for answers.

“Wow. Straight to ignoring me again,” she whined in a mock-crying tone.

“Tell me your best guess why we’re exploring every ruin instead of racing back to the Sect.”

She didn’t hesitate. “My first guess is that you’re being cautious. Waiting until winter’s close enough that anyone thinking of making a move against you would stop to consider the bigger picture.”

I nodded. “Exactly right. What’s your take?”

While she could be annoying, I valued her opinion. Fu Yating was smart. Sharp. She caught things I missed.

“I think you might be a little too cautious. But it’s not a bad strategy,” she said. “Just weigh whether the risk of staying out here and maybe getting ambushed by a high-level beast is worth avoiding the risk of getting backstabbed inside the Sect.”

She glanced at me, eyes serious now.

“You’re a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. And a genius, no matter how humble or obnoxious you try to act. If the Blazing Sun Sect decides to throw you away, they’re the biggest fools on this side of the continent.”

As someone who had been part of one of the great sects, Fu Yating knew exactly how dangerous that world could be and how often someone talented could vanish just because they'd offended the wrong person.

It usually didn't happen to someone at the Foundation Establishment stage, but nothing was impossible.

Still, she also believed that the Blazing Sun Sect likely couldn't afford to keep wasting its talents or let the Sect remain a wild frontier where everything was fair game, so long as it was hidden behind the illusion of order and balance.

"Betting all our lives on the assumption that someone in the Blazing Sun Sect isn't stupid... would be reckless," I said.

"Yes," she admitted. "But if they're reckless enough to attack you anyway, I'd rather they do it now than during a monstrous beast attack. I would hate to be a widow at such a young age."

She looked down as she said that last part, her voice softer. Almost sad.

"We're not really married," I replied flatly. "So you wouldn't qualify as a widow."

Fu Yating turned toward me with a blank expression, crouched down, rummaged through the leafy ground, picked up a rock, and hurled it at my face.

"Read the fucking moment, you book-loving bastard!"

There was genuine anger in her voice. I didn't move.

The rock smacked against my nose and dropped harmlessly to the ground. With the Qi passively layered through my body now, I was basically immune to attacks that didn't come from other cultivators. The rock hadn't even touched my skin.

"You made some really good points there," I said.

"Really? Calling you a book-loving bastard got to you?" she asked, her voice dry, her eyes jaded and too innocent at the same time.

"No. I meant the part about reckless people staying reckless, just doing it during something worse, like a beast ambush. That actually got me thinking," I said. "Still, I'm a Level Four Array Conjurer. I'm not exactly going to be on the front lines."

"Well," she said reluctantly, "those were some good points you made too."

Huh. I had the feeling my words really got to her.

Strange. I actually felt kind of bad for saying what I did. Maybe I didn't dislike her as much as I thought. Or maybe... the thrill of annoying her had just worn off a little.

"Oh," I said, glancing north. "I can sense a city some distance that way."

I hadn't even spread my senses on purpose. But my range had grown massively.

Oddly, the map only listed a small town in that area.

Then again, maps age. Things change.

…

Half an hour later, we reached the city I'd sensed.

Though calling it a city felt generous.

From a distance, it looked more like a half-forgotten outpost. The town was surrounded by stone walls or what remained of them. Deep cracks split their surfaces like veins, and in some places, the stones had shifted, leaning outward like one good tremor might bring the whole thing crashing down.

But what caught my eye first wasn't the wall.

It was what lay outside.

Tents. Hundreds of them. Maybe more.

They were scattered in uneven clusters around the town's perimeter, their canvas flaps snapping in the wind. Smoke drifted lazily from makeshift fires. It was strange, Autumn hadn't yet slipped fully into winter, but that didn't mean monstrous beasts had just gone and disappeared.

"Let's go find a bookstore," I said.

The others followed. Wu Yan, compliant as always. Speedy didn't bother questioning anything. Normally, Fu Yating would've fired off a sharp remark, but there were people around. And for all her sass, she knew that reputation meant more than gold to a cultivator. She wasn't about to demean me in front of an audience.

We walked past the tents, and I kept my ears open for conversation. Most people didn't say much, but the way they dressed, moved, and carried themselves made it clear they were refugees.

They gawked at Speedy, of course. Some even started to yell insults before they caught how clean I looked for someone who just walked out of the forest. In a world of cultivators, noticing details like that was a survival skill.

When we reached the gate, the guards gave me a once-over. Several of them were dressed in metallic green-tinted uniforms, speaking with a small crowd of civilians trying to gain entrance.

One of the guards stepped forward and offered a polite nod. His tone matched the careful look in his eyes, calculated but respectful.

"Hello there, traveler. What can we help you with?"

Smart guy. He'd already pegged me as either rich, powerful, or both. Not someone to risk offending.

I glanced around before replying, "I'm just passing through. Looking to buy some books, maybe a few travel essentials. But… I don't remember Jade Ember Town being like this the last time I passed through. What happened?"

The guard sighed, eyes drifting off for a moment like he'd rehearsed this line a dozen times before.

"Young Lord, you might be feeling sorry for the people outside, sleeping in tents… but there's only so much we can do. They're refugees who came from nearby towns and villages that were destroyed last winter. We don't have the housing to fit them all. But come winter, we'll try to take as many as we can behind the walls. Maybe even arm some of the able-bodied men to help defend the town when the beasts come."

Wow.

This guy was impressive. Smooth, diplomatic, just the right touch of tragic humility. He even tried to preemptively twist my empathy into agreement.

He was going to advance quite a lot in his career.

"Did the situation with the Blazing Sun Sect affect even the towns out here?" I asked. "I've heard rumors… but there've been so many, I don't even know what's real anymore."

"We're not sure either," the guard sighed. "The Blazing Sun Sect sent enough food to help feed the refugees for winter, but they didn't send any cultivators this year. Even pulled the ones we had back in the middle of last winter."

His voice turned quieter. "From what I understand, the beasts cut a path straight through the defensive towns around the Sect. They hit the core grounds directly."

I gave a slight nod, then pulled out my Elder Token: greenish gold, carved with the flowing marks of the Blazing Sun Sect. Another thing Song Song had given me. I hadn't asked what she did to get it.

The guard's eyes widened.

"Right this way, Honored Elder," he bowed deeply. "We… didn't expect someone so young to reach Foundation Establishment."

I nodded again, walking forward with my team behind me. The guards gave Speedy a few wary glances, but none of them dared speak up. I walked straight through the gates.

Once inside, I spread my senses, trying to locate the highest population density and probably where the market district would be. Turned out I didn't need to. The town was so small I could just see it from the gate.

My vision was good. No offense to the town size.

We made our way into the market district, and the first thing I did was buy some local sweets for Wu Yan. We were still trying to get her to develop taste buds, and it was proving tricky. But I believed we'd get there eventually. One bite at a time.

As we passed the rows of market stalls, a bookshop on the corner caught my attention. It had one of those cheap signs advertising a Mortal Grade technique that "guaranteed you'd become a big-shot Qi Gathering Cultivator."

Sure. And if you paid double, it would make you a Nascent Soul powerhouse overnight.

What actually caught my eye was the title on one of the books in the window:

Monstrous Beast Encyclopedia: Autumn Edition

It wasn't even winter yet. That meant the book might contain insights or confirmed sightings I hadn't had the chance to verify myself.

I stepped inside. The bookstore owner was a pudgy man in a faded green apron, leaning lazily against the counter.

"How much for this?" I asked, picking up the encyclopedia.

He perked up. "Oh? You want that one? These have been selling like crazy lately, especially to the outsiders. They think knowing about monsters means they'll survive them," he snorted. "Nine gold coins."

Nine?

That was absurd. Even in the most expensive cities, these books never sold for more than a silver. Not like I was collecting royalties on them.

He expected me to haggle. I could see it in his eyes.

But I didn't have time to argue over coins.

I handed him the full nine gold without blinking. He stared at the coins like a confused owl as I turned and walked out.

I didn't even wait to get outside before cracking open the book. Flipping every page, I activated Time De-Accel with each turn. From the outside, it probably looked like I was scrolling through a book like an absolute idiot.

But inside, I was consuming everything.

Page after page blurred past. I read the entire thing in minutes, then quietly tucked it into my storage ring.

And I paused.

How was this possible?

The cataloging was flawless. The classification system felt oddly familiar. The margins, formatting, and even the descriptive language all resembled my style. A little too much, maybe.

Still, I wasn't mad. If anything, I was glad. Glad that cultivators were finally beginning to think, study, and treat monstrous beasts as more than an enemy they could punch harder.

But the paranoid part of me lingered on the author's name, Jiang Yeming.

That could be a coincidence. Or not. Maybe someone was plagiarizing. Or maybe it was someone I'd inspired without knowing it.

Either way, I didn't really care. I wasn't in this for money or fame. I had bigger problems.

Like figuring out how to bend the fundamental forces of my element into theory and techniques for my next Foundation Establishment Technique. 

Hopefully, this author will develop more than just being a copy and paste of my future books. 

For now, I had what I needed. We resupplied quickly, then stuck to the road.

…

Half a month passed, and we ended up travelling through forests, valleys, and the haze of distant smoke, before I finally saw them:

The outer walls of the Blazing Sun Sect.

But they weren't how I remembered them.

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