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It wasn’t completely healed from my past trauma, but it was on the mend. There were still frayed edges, but it no longer looked like the slightest breeze could tear it apart.

Sitting deep in the middle of my soul, a spatial spirit fire seed of the deep black waited for me.

I looked at the seed, and my mind drifted to everything I had been through to get it.

What had the System told me at the start of all of this? ‘If you are present in the capital of the Brilliant Sun Empire at the time of his death, and you have a connection with its ruling dynasty, it may be possible for you to claim this seed as your own upon his death.’

It didn’t say I needed to become a Pill King. It didn’t say I should master formations. All I was supposed to do was forge a connection. That was all I was supposed to do.

Instead, I had wanted it, needed it, so much that I put all my effort into obtaining it. I drove myself to madness and Mei to suicide. I couldn’t let that happen again. I had to find a way to be better.

It would have been easy to simply blame everything on my cultivation technique. Having a technique that dedicated me to a singular goal so much was far more dangerous than I had anticipated, and it was an easy scapegoat. However, I knew that wasn’t the whole story.

I had chosen my path. I had chosen to focus on that goal even before I started cultivating.

My thoughts drifted to Prince CaoHan. His cultivation technique drove him to his own version of madness, starting a war that would destroy everything he relied on. Was that only his technique’s fault? The prince had dedicated himself to that path before I even met him. His desire to rise above his position as a castoff scion had led him to make choices that were clearly against his best interests.

And I had just stood by and let him do it…

I switched tracks. The Formation Emperor Du XiongMing wasn’t any better. I didn’t know how his cultivation technique influenced him, but his goal of ascending to Sovereign had destroyed something he felt was precious.

Could I continue to simply blame cultivation techniques for this?

They were a factor, yes, and they seemed to only make bad situations worse, but there had to be a way to gain mastery over them. Long ago, the System had implied that the mental influences from cultivation techniques were a desire of the Heavenly Dao. Did the Dao simply force them onto cultivators to be cruel or was there a path forward that I couldn’t see?

I sighed. These were questions I couldn’t answer. I didn’t need to though.

I just needed to know one thing: What was I going to do?

I needed balance. I didn’t know how I would achieve it, and I had no idea what it would look like, but I needed to find some kind of balance in my life.

Set a goal, ‘get the seed,’ but at all times, remain balanced.

I must not allow my goal to be the only thing I am living for.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With or without cultivation-induced madness, balance would always be key.

I breathed in and out, centering myself. A small smile appeared on my face.

I needed balance, but that also meant I needed to acknowledge my wins, not just my losses. I had been able to achieve my goal, and that was still worth celebrating.

I could finally begin to proceed with what was important to me beyond anything else. I could begin to build a world beyond the horrors of the Heavenly and Earthly Daos, beyond the madness of cultivators, and beyond the nightmare of an eternal, unending time loop.

I could finally build something that would last. Something that was permanent. Something that was real.

It would take me time to learn how, but now I had the tools I needed to get started.

With the necessity of acquiring the fire seed behind me, I felt free. Free to go anywhere and do anything I wanted. There were many paths I could go down, and there were many debts I needed to repay, but everything would come in its due course.

Where did I want to go next?

I tried to make a plan, but I suddenly realized I wasn’t sure what my affinities were like. It had been so long, and my memory of some things was starting to fade.

I could have bought something like SuYin’s perfect memory from the System, but no, that was a road to hell. My journal was my permanent memory. It stored everything I needed to remember. Everything else could be allowed to fade.

Still, it would be nice if I had easier access to knowledge of past purchases.

“System, I would like you to change the information I receive when I die to include information about any affinities and aptitudes I’ve purchased. Include their permanent levels as well as any temporary boosts that remain in effect.”

Improved Status Notification. Cost 100 credits.

I laughed. The System needed to get its pound of flesh. “Confirm.”

Purchase confirmed. 125,761,675 credits remaining.

I waited.

I slapped my forehead. Of course, I wouldn’t instantly get the information. That wasn’t what I had purchased.

“System, give me that status notification now.”

Status Notification. Cost 10 credits.

I shook my head. It was a meaningless cost, but still, no reason to waste good coin. I might as well do something I hadn’t done in a long time, just for old times’ sake.

I exited my shack and went to the large red door that kept us from leaving the training area.

I pulled on it with all my strength.

I had forgotten how hard it was to move. My best efforts only barely budged it.

The door was yanked open, and the guard on the other side glared at me.

“What are you doing? No one is allowed out,” he said, glaring at me.

I punched him in the face.

He punched me in the chest.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple 1. 10 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 125,761,685

Affinities

Peak Six-Star — Earth

Mid Eight-Star — Water, Fire, Metal, Wood

Resistances

Mental Effects (Cultivation Techniques) – 25,000,000 credits

Mental Library

Capacity – Rank 4

Journal – Rank 3

Perfect Transcription – Rank 4

Touch Reading – Rank 1

Comprehension Boosts

Cultivation:

Cultivation Techniques – 520,000 credits

Qi Control – 20,000 credits

Nurturing Disciples – 500,000 credits

Professions:

Alchemy – 520,011 credits

Formations – 500,000 credits

Herbalism – 20,000 credits

Social:

Reading Emotions (True) – 25,000,000 credits

Skills

Enhanced Soul Growth – 20,000 credits

Pills Appraisal – Rank 1 (Comprehensive)

Technique Appraisal – Rank 2 (Yellow)

Language (Western Han)

.

End of Volume 2.