Calculating Cultivation

Chapter 118: A Direct Path

“An interesting tale,” She Who Seeks Knowledge said after I gave an abbreviated version of my history. She waved her hand and two clear crystal goblets formed on the table. A branch lowered from the ceiling and a clear shimmering liquid poured into the cup. I could tell the liquid was incredibly energy dense. “A drink that many enjoy. Since the energy inside of it is completely neutral.”

I carefully took a goblet as the elf in front of me did the same. I carefully took a sip. If these people wanted to harm me, there was no need to go to the extent of poisoning me. Either I had enough trust of their intentions, or I didn’t, since I was entirely at their mercy.

A feeling of freshness rushed through my body as I savored the drink. “Thank you. This couldn’t have been cheap,” I observed.

“Our expertise is biology and energy. We have had countless ages to perfect such skills. Feel free to ask your questions,” She Who Seeks Knowledge said. The lack of facial expression was weird, but at least this being didn’t have tentacles or extra eyes.

“I am curious why you are so accommodating. Willing to pay me and to treat me as a guest. I know you said this is the philosophy of your people. But I would wonder how you manage to survive in the Firmament for so long,” I replied.

“A combination of our greatest strengths. While we do not claim a permanent location in the Firmament like many other super organizations, the folk of the Great Tree have scattered like seeds upon the wind. While the imagery of a tree invokes steadfastness, it is only our hearts that remain steadfast in our beliefs. And you are put one being drifting aimlessly. Showing kindness, is not the same as showing weakness,” she replied.

“Almost every cultivator would disagree with you,” I replied.

“That is their choice. Just as it our choice to understand the beings we come across. Also, it helps that there are very few things the folk of the Great Tree can be threatened by. And you, young cultivator, are not threatening in the slightest.” I didn’t know if I should be insulted by that comment or not. I took another sip of my energy drink. It took some restraint not to drink the entire thing at once, but I didn’t want to come across as rude or greedy. After being starved of energy for so long in the Great World, I appreciated every sip.

“I am curious about the Great Tree you have mentioned and how you are a natural immortal,” I stated. While this information wouldn’t help me in my cultivation, I was curious about these elves and their mastery over energy.

“It was a world unto itself. Seven suns orbited the Great Tree, providing light and nourishment.” Great Tree was apparently not an exaggeration. “The folk developed in the Great Tree’s shadow, nurturing and protecting us. Great ships, like the one we now reside on were built. So, we could transverse the rest of the Material safely while protecting our immortal souls.”

“Then came a war. A war to take our knowledge, our people, and exploit them by those who would only seek to enrich themselves. The war broke the Material bubble and the Great Tree was lost in the layers of Reality. Some say it disappeared into Chaos, others claim it is hiding in a pocket dimension. But we all know that it exists somewhere out there and we search for our home,” She Who Seeks Knowledge explained.

“I am guessing you have no method of tracking the Great Tree. Could you not try to grow another?” I asked.

“Some chose that path. To recreate our home. But such things are not done lightly and they were destroyed. Our strength now, lies in our ability to leave dangerous areas and protect ourselves while we search across the infinite layers of Reality.”

“I have not seen this Great Tree, nor have I heard any rumor of it,” I said.

“If you had, that would be most impressive. I personally believe that it has been lost to time itself. Succumbing to some plot of Chaos. That is the end of all things that exist forever. A fate that it is impossible to escape from. One might say it is the very nature of energy itself returning to its source,” she explained.

“I find trying to figure out the reasoning and logic of things from Chaos is a way to give yourself a headache,” I replied with another sip from the goblet. She Who Seeks Knowledge lightly chuckled at that comment.

“A wise insight. Too many forget that as they become more and more powerful over time. Thinking they are above Chaos or can outsmart it like you mentioned of the Soaring Star Society.” ṛαΝȮ𝔟ÊⱾ

“But can’t they get enough energy to eventually overcome any threat from Chaos? Isn’t that the eventual goal of all immortals?” I asked.

“For some. But it is like trying to find the end of the Firmament in a spatial dimension. It is impossible, since it is truly infinite. The stronger you are, just means the stronger the Chaos creature that will eventually come. It is better to live a life you are comfortable with. You seem to be partway to that realization, but you clearly wish to struggle further.”

“I have spent so much time reaching for immortality, that I cannot give up. People have invested their hopes and dreams into my future,” I replied while hardening my heart. So many people had sacrificed everything just for me to be here. Some I cared more for than others, but it didn’t diminish their sacrifice. “I am curious, what would your path be? Similar to that of cultivators or something else?”

“Our path is laid down from the moment of our birth. It is the path of the Great Tree, unique to us. While I can tell you look for guidance, we have none to give you. For us, we naturally beak through to our current state. Like most other immortals it is about collecting energy and utilizing energy at a higher density. That cannister you have is quite valuable. Probably the last cannister like it to exist, that isn’t consumed by Chaos or something else.” We sat in silence for a bit. She Who Seeks Knowledge was in no rush to speak with me since she had gotten the knowledge and answers she wanted. I was thinking about anything I could ask before I was dropped off and left to fend for myself. Helpful seniors were an incredibly valuable resource, especially one not on a path of cultivation.

“There must be some way for me to break through easily?” I asked.

“The simple answer is energy. Lots and lots of energy, Yuan Zhou. While you cultivators might create structures and other such things, those things are meant to help push your energy to higher heights. One could easily cultivate to immortality, if there was simply enough energy. That is why each new child that joins the folk of the Great Tree is so treasured.”

“Just lots of energy. No pillars? Daos? Or anything else?” I asked again. That seemed too easy.

“That hyper compressed energy cannister would get you about a tenth of the way there. And such a cannister is incredibly valuable. About ten thousand tokens. Just stuff yourself with lots of energy. About three times or twice as much as you would need if you built structures in your soul.”

“Is there an advantage to just stuffing myself with energy?” I asked.

“It is safer. Much safer. As you observed during your time with the Soaring Star Society, they focused on micro cultivation. Such a path will strain your mind. I won’t say it is impossible, but I will say that you will find no benefit there. Using energy on a small scale will make you weak in certain areas. Progressing with energy is like trying to bypass walls.” She took a sip of her drink before continuing.

“Cultivation seeks to build complex ladders and mechanisms to get over these walls. Micro cultivation seeks to go under these walls. Getting vast amounts of energy is barging through the walls directly. While it is much harder, it is safer. You can either get through, or you can’t. But if you climb up an impossibly tall ladder, you will run into trouble. That is why you are lucky for not having advanced your cultivation.” I considered her statement.

“What about going over the wall?” I asked.

“Then you would be a folk of the Great Tree, not experiencing any bottlenecks,” she said with a light laugh at the end even if it didn’t reach her inhuman face. “But that has its own problems. The struggle you are going through hardens your mind and spirit.”

“It just seems too simple. After everything I have heard about cultivation,” I replied.

“You think too little in regards to the amount of energy needed. And its purity. That is the real challenge. A challenge of wealth and resources. But it would separate your path from the systems that your Heavenly Alliance has put in place. Most likely some karmic debt tied to building that ladder to get over your bottleneck. Most organizations do such things to better control their members and conserve resources.”

The complexities of cultivation made a lot more sense when put into that context. “No one as weak as me would travel out through the Mechanical Layer and the Firmament,” I replied.

“It is very rare, but it happens. Anything that can happen, will happen, or has happened already. Reality is truly infinite. I once met another group of folk who supposedly did not come from the shade of the Great Tree. While their origins were unclear, they were different. That much could be determined from their history. The same with humans and other creatures. Understanding any of that infinite, is what keeps me moving each cycle,” She Who Seeks Knowledge explained.

“It is good to stay active. Too many cultivators just seem to give up once they become immortal. Content to laze their days away for all eternity,” I replied.

“Creatures who are not used to immortality often struggle with it. Creatures who gain immortality who struggle too much often over reach themselves and plummet to Chaos. There are many threats in the Firmament, but the most serious of threats kill themselves, since they seek to take too much.”

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“What of calculators? My seniors have warned me of such things. I am curious of your opinion?”

“Another type of existence that should never be trusted. Your seniors were correct in such a warning. Calculators, assimilators, ancients, and replicators are all things that are hostile to co-existence with other paths. They seek to monopolize energy in its entirety, which is ultimately what destroys such things. Unfortunately, such beings will drag everything else down with them. You seem surprised by my answer.”

“After speaking with you, I would have thought you wouldn’t put groups of beings into categories? There might be the possibility of understanding?” I asked. It seemed odd that a pleasant elf like this would speak down on other beings.

“Cultivators at least understand and will often speak. While your organizations are highly insular and defensive, they are not greedy to the point of ruin. Calculators want control. Absolute control. Assimilators do something similar and are one step removed from Chaos itself. Ancients seek only to benefit themselves, looking down on everything else. They devourer what is in front of them like a feral animal. While they have intelligence, they seek to consume. You cannot find common ground with your food. And replicators spread out like a tidal wave from wherever they emerge until they are eventually destroyed by Chaos.” She Who Seeks Knowledge took another sip from her goblet.

“I see. Thank you for explaining. Senior Yang Heng said similar things, but they were less clear. But he also advised me from quantifying my energy. Saying it would be a risk and take me down the path of a calculator.”

“An over exaggeration, but he is not wrong. There is strength in certain forms of ignorance and methods of understanding. Especially when fighting at the higher levels and utilizing energy. Calculators are incredibly weak in direct combat for a reason. They quantify what they do, focusing on perfect utilization. While their energy efficiency is high, their techniques will struggle when matched. Thought empowers energy. Take your blade skill. When you swing, you think only of swinging and attacking, correct?”

“Yes. That was the way I was taught,” I answered.

“That is why cultivators have incredibly high fighting potential. Your thoughts are simple and direct. If you quantified each bit of energy you used and other myriad calculations, you would save energy, the technique might gain a bit of power, but it would be brittle and easily disrupted. The same with your cultivation. If you just stuff your body with energy, that would be the absolute best way to break through. No structures, no complicated procedures, just pure energy and a desire to separate your mind from your physical body. You need nothing else.”

“But the cost is higher. Much higher as you pointed out.”

“Ultimately it is your choice, and you clearly desired this kind of knowledge. If you manage to breakthrough and run across some folk of the Great Tree, you might think kindly of us instead of trying to harvest our bodies and souls,” She Who Seeks Knowledge explained. I took another sip of my drink, and it was all finished. I set the goblet back down on the table. I wanted to ask for a refill, but didn’t want to be rude. The goblet was refilled as a branch came down from the ceiling. My eyes widened in surprise at that.

“Thank you,” I said as I took the refilled goblet.

“A small thing in order to have a pleasant conversation. A drop in the bucket for the energy you will eventually need. The trick is in the purification process. Separating out any residual thoughts while making it receptive to whomever drinks the liquid. Also ensuring a pleasant taste that can be enjoyed universally. One of the many things I have created over the ages,” She Who Seeks Knowledge explained.

I was impressed. Doing something complicated in a quick and simple manner was much harder than an overly complicated process. That was why the Infinite Ring Complex was so impressive. Something incredibly complex, broken down and made simple. The extraction of energy from Chaos.

I limited myself to a single sip before setting the goblet back down. I would drink through it too fast if I held onto the clear crystal goblet. “No one else wants to speak with me?” I asked.

“That is my purpose here on the Explorer Seven. Others seek their own pursuits or have their own duties. Many will review our conversation going forward, but there is no pressing need. It is another way we limit infiltration from Chaos. I am the most at risk inside the vessel. Also, most others would not like this separation chamber.”

“It is uncomfortable? I don’t sense anything,” I replied.

“Since we designed it properly, I would hope not. But for individuals highly sensitive to the flow of energy, being cut off from the outside can be disturbing. It is something I am used to. Since I regularly have to enter this place any time, we bring anything on board,” she replied.

“You made it sound like my situation was unique,” I replied.

“That was when a determination had to be made on how to proceed. We could have dropped you off at a closer location, with some cultivators, or left you on your craft and then just I would be here. But it is better to create a separation point between you and Chaos since we used the warning you gave to alter our course through the Firmament. Knowledge is dangerous and Chaos is always seeking ways to breach our defenses. A physic echo back through time would be quite risky.”

“But that can’t happen while I am in here. How long does this protection last?” I asked while picking up the goblet again. I couldn’t resist the clear liquid as I took another refreshing sip.

“Once you leave, do not count on it. But your immediate past is much safer. Also, short temporal loops are impossible now. This chamber acts as a breaking point in the flow of causality. The mechanisms of such a thing are incredibly complex. One might even call it the pinnacle of energy manipulation. I would put it on par with the Infinite Ring Complex you came from.”

“But others have this separation chamber?”

“Lesser versions. We have refined our defenses against Chaos for countless ages. While others seek to accumulate power for their defenses, we prefer a more different approach to breaking the flow of causality and dooming this entire vessel.”

“Would this have worked for the Soaring Star Society?” I asked.

“That is the true limit of any such defenses against Chaos. If you make a big enough mistake, this period of time in the chamber will mean nothing. But it will protect your personnel items and those you have met. It is often how things are saved when everything else related to them is consumed by Chaos. Again, the mechanics are beyond your understanding, but I would not count on such a thing in your future decisions.”

Basically, I was protected right now and around the period of time I had entered this separation chamber. But that protection would quickly disappear. I tried to think how that would even work. How would one break the causality with a chamber to protect from Chaos?

“How does breaking causality even work to protect me from Chaos?” I asked.

“Chaos propagates through connections. Those connections can vary, but that is how Chaos works. Most of the time these connections are through energy. Following the traces a being would be left behind. A separation chamber like this creates a container of that liquid you enjoy with filtration systems. Anything seeking you will just encounter a sheet of nothingness and be processed into nothingness. There are other factors as well, but that is the one you should be able to comprehend the best.”

I looked at the goblet in my hand. “There aren’t Chaos parasites or something in this?” I asked nervously. She Who Seeks Knowledge chuckled lightly at the question.

“No. The Soaring Star Society made its mistake by delving too deeply into the physics of energy. Their very fear of chaos breaking through, created the parasite to begin with, or allowed it to come into existence.”

“Wait?! What?! How would that even work?”

“Most beings when they think, have conscious thoughts, and then unconscious thoughts. Energy normally doesn’t react to unconscious thoughts. Only in very high densities. That is one explanation of how Chaos creatures come to be. Regardless, by focusing on energy to such an extreme degree, they created a weak point in its use. Using smaller and smaller fractions.”

“Like a calculator might,” I replied, and She Who Seeks Knowledge nodded slightly at that response.

“Indeed. Like a calculator might. You get far enough, energy will react to anything. Perhaps the collective fears of a massive super organization. I am sure they did not make a mistake in their filtration systems. Rather, it was their progression of their cultivation and that fear that created the parasite to begin with. One of the cultivators just had to come to the realization that something like that could slip through, and then it did. Energy birthed it into existence.”

“But they were all infected,” I replied in shock.

“Because they all believed in the same cultivation method. Their fears gave birth to a chaos parasite, bringing it into existence. All that hyper compressed energy, the perfect breeding ground. That is why the pursuit of even more and more power is deadly and ignorance is important. Going beyond the cellular level while using energy is asking for a disaster to occur.”

“But wouldn’t they know about this?” I asked. It just seemed so stupid and impossible.

“Fear is irrational. That is the real truth of Chaos and the higher echelons of power across reality. That is why when you look at the folk of the Great Tree, we do not keep accumulating. Eventually your Forever City will experience such an event when a top tier cultivator gathers too much energy and births an irrational fear.”

“That…but…what is the point of it all then?” I asked with a touch of despair.

“Point? Why must there be a point to reality? I can tell you that many look for such answers. But it is best to live a life you enjoy and are content with. It is not something you have to concern yourself with any time soon even if you do break through.”

“What about a calculator? Wouldn’t their thoughts be organized enough?” I asked.

“Like delicate glass. They shatter when confronted with the impossible. If they do not shatter, then they will fall to Chaos. Dividing by zero to get an impossibility, which will consume them. The great war for resources and space across the Firmament, it is ultimately a race to defeat. For there is something that has never occurred in the history of Reality. No one has passed through the boundary of Chaos beyond infinite energy to see what lies beyond.”

“Not even the Great Tree?” I asked.

“Most likely not. Some would like to think so, but that is their hope speaking, not objective observation. But that is why we folk of the Great Tree drift along. We have told this to any who will listen, but everyone wants more power. Thinking they will be the ones to defeat Chaos. To go past a threshold in energy and be able to protect themselves.” She let out a soft sigh.

“But once it is dense enough, a Chaos creature can directly be born. And they are destroyed.”

“What if they gather energy in a separation chamber like this? Build multiple separation chambers, one inside another?”

“It would only delay the inevitable as Chaos would find a way. Their fears would consume them. Even if they purged their fears, their thoughts would betray them. If they had no thoughts, then they would not be able to control their energy.”

I needed time to process all of this. I was feeling overwhelmed after everything I had learned recently. While I wanted to believe She Who Seeks Knowledge, this elf was ultimately not a human being and had an alien thought process. Her explanations differed from Nianzu and Yang Heng. Neither of whom had mentioned this fact about energy density at the higher levels.

None of that concerned me. It was interesting to know, and I appreciated the knowledge, but it was ultimately a distraction. I had come too far to give up on immortality now. I needed to keep moving forward. After that, well I would have all the time I needed to make informed decisions.

While She Who Seeks Knowledge spoke with certainty, so had the other seniors I had spoken with. Was she any more credible than Yang Heng or Nianzu? It was hard to say. While I appreciated the additional perspective, it was most likely colored by her experiences.

These elves clearly didn’t move to gather more power, more energy. Content with what they had. But they didn’t appear to have a large population. Only meeting with one elf and her comments seemed to confirm this. She said that her population was limited by the amount of energy available? So why not try and get more?

There were more complex questions that revealed cracks in what she had told me, but I had no intention of asking about. These elves weren’t carefree, but they had a completely different outlook on reality compared to anyone else I had met. I wasn’t going to complain since they were helping me, but if She Who Seeks Knowledge was any example, I didn’t trust them.

They would share knowledge, but they wouldn’t elaborate much on their background. Just drifting around the Firmament searching for their Great Tree? That just seemed contrived after a certain point. How long could a group even search for before giving up?

While they might be immortal, I suspected there were other reasons for what they did and how they acted. No culture was a single monolith, especially a group that that had reached the level of energy manipulation that they had. I wasn’t sure if they should be categorized as a super organization, but they were certainly contenders for such a label in my mind.