Immortal Freeloader 143 (Patreon)

The idea of turning Forest Dance into one of the ancient martial arts as an experiment was tempting for multiple reasons. For once, it was already focused on nonlethal force, and I could turn its spiritual conception toward self-defense and pacifism even further.

However, in addition. The other martial arts were designed as a way to fight. Its combination with supporting aspects was auxiliary at best. That had been even true for the Volcano Hammer and Snow Blossom Apothecary techniques I had learned — though, now that I knew the true source of the two techniques, that was not a surprise.

I wanted to design Forest Dance as a method to raise spiritual plants first, and fighting aspects would be auxiliary. That way, the essence it would generate would be strong and dense, but far more fitting boosting the growth of the plants, and the fighting aspect would be secondary.

It was not exactly a simple process. Even creating the initial basis took a week. While that was an absurdly quick time from the perspective of the others, who spent their lifetimes to merely modify a mover two, I wasn’t working on the same basis.

Thanks to Aisnam’s assistance, I was an expert in hundreds of different cultivation techniques, and my martial talent allowed me to dissect the various aspects of martial arts. But, even then, without the constant inspiration from the constant glow of the Dao Gate, I might have failed to achieve my objective.

As I sat across the mysterious gate Pearyin was yet to return, I was able to comprehend the concept of palm far more deeply. Not just in terms of its delivery, but also the concept behind it, representing a willingness to adapt and protect over destruction.

Of course, like everything related to cultivation, that openness was a relative, adaptive concept. I had learned many palm techniques that turned adaptability into a series of deadly counter-strikes.

I went in a different direction, focusing on the aspects of harmony with nature and protecting the land, with the essence harmonizing with the world.

Even with all those advantages, the martial arts I created were useless anything but practice. It wouldn’t have even worked well as a method of farming, as embedding the sense of protection meant that the practitioners would feel connected to the grooves they maintained.

However, it didn’t matter. The only reason I wanted those grooves was the excess Qi they would let out, which then could be used to explore the misty mountains.

The revised forest dance was interesting. Highly specialized to the point of uselessness, it wouldn’t appeal to the young men and women. That alone would have killed any other school of thought, as the young people were the ideal target for martial arts, but I saw that as a big benefit.

After all, I was trying to save lives, and creating tens of thousands of martial artists eager to prove themselves was not a good way to create stability.

Ordinarily, targeting older people would have been an inefficient choice. The development of martial arts was highly reliant on the adaptability of the body, which dropped significantly as the target aged.

Luckily, I had a way to cheat on that aspect. The combined effects of alchemy and martial talent pills would reinforce their talent enough that achieving the Blood Essence realm was not impossible; particularly since I could start with a strong, solid concept to center the martial arts rather than slowly rekindle the faded aspect like Burning Blizzard.

Compared to it, creating the spiritual pillar was more complicated. The first part was to method of creation. I still didn’t know the method of creating a spiritual pillar that grew and developed. It was clear that there was some kind of technique behind it, one that required a deeper understanding of the essence I currently lacked.

Talent was useful, but it couldn’t rival the generations of gathered knowledge. The way that the spiritual pillar had been designed seemed to have a mysterious ability, one that couldn’t be easily replicated.

Luckily, that didn’t mean I couldn’t create a workaround. Admittedly, it was a solution that was far more complicated than a simple drawing, but since I didn’t know how it handled essence from so many different sources to create a singular concept, I had no choice.

My solution had three steps. The first one was to create — and not raise — a giant tree, which was essentially some kind of alchemical container with the conception of a tree rather than being a real tree. It also functioned as the heart of a formation, while every single leave it had was a local focus for the formation.

The martial artists would carry those leaves with them, which would constantly guide their inner essence as it would constantly share the essence with them. That was probably its biggest advantage, as it would mean the recruits didn’t need my supervision to maintain the cohesion.

The biggest disadvantage, every tree would have a limit of people it could support, and it wouldn’t grow alongside. It was a bit of a problem, but I was hoping that I would be able to find a solution for that once my Kartpa Alchemy technique broke through Perfection.

During the week, Janassa managed to complete her breakthrough safely, which gave me the hope to achieve it. Not immediately, as the multiplier difference wasn’t as high enough to justify the effort of breaking through, but I had seen the way Janassa studied the notes I provided about the Kartpa Valley Alchemy technique.

Reaching the Foundation Establishment realm increased her comprehension significantly, which in turn allowed her to understand alchemy more in-depth. And, the more valuable the original teaching, the more valuable the System returns.

And, she wasn’t the only one that was making progress. The hundred martial artists I was training were steadily progressing deeper into the Blood Essence realm, the combination of high-quality essence medicine to support their essence combined with their talent allowed them to improve far faster than it was supposed to be possible.

The occasional acupuncture treatment made it even faster.

Their improvement didn’t grant me any reward from the System, but that didn’t mean it was useless. Constantly observing the recovery of the spiritual pillar passively allowed me to further improve the design of the alchemical tree I had created, while constantly treating them allowed me to get an even better understanding of the Blood Essence realm.

The difference between theory and practice was radically different.

Once I had prepared the alchemical tree totem, the last remaining step was to create locations for the martial artists to work, and the best place for them was enclaves deep into the misty mountains, away from any ruin, isolated from the mist through my formation. Another formation was there to assist them tend and raise plants, but it wasn’t as intricate as the one I had used.

And, in each location, there was nothing but the giant tree and another crystal container that contained the technique. The formation even blocked the view outside, disguising the place as a mystic land.

For each location, I also created a huge batch of martial aptitude pills, though instead of trying to push it to Earth Grade, I focused on quantity, creating a truly mind-boggling number of Black Grade martial talent pills.

As for essence pills, I only created a few, as they could easily live off of the fruits and the other parts of the plants, not to mention their strength would allow them to raise savage beasts easily. The new Forest Dance was not good for farming, but enjoying the occasional essence fruit or Qi fruit from the giant forest of spirit plants and essence plants was not excessive.

The hiring process was even easier. The war in the mortal domain was still ongoing, which meant millions of refugees were currently on the move. Just like the conspiracy, I recruited from the refugees, but unlike them, I wasn’t looking for talent, skill, or age.

No, I was more than happy to take the old, the injured, and otherwise disfranchised who had been suffering during the war. I didn’t kidnap them, nor that I need to. All I needed was to create a mist around them and create the illusion of an immortal offering them an opportunity for a peaceful life, away from the ravages of war.

Ironically, it was even true. While I needed their assistance to expand the spirit plants, which in turn needed to move deeper into the misty mountains, there was no request other than to help the forest grow. In exchange, not only do I offer them protection away from the merciless dominion of nobles and cultivators, but also health.

Breaking into the Blood Essence realm would certainly help them to live longer. I didn’t know how long, but a couple decades should be the minimum.

However, as much as helping people felt good, I didn’t let myself distract from the real deal. My hiring process saved tens of thousands of people, which was true, but that number was a drop in the bucket compared to the people that would die if the conspiracy succeeded.

I still didn’t know what they were trying to achieve, and it scared me.