Adam stretched, then went back to his notes.
Training the kids had been delayed. By two weeks now.
First of all, these kids were NOT as advanced as he assumed. His first guess was that these kids were around Forth Order to Eighth Order Houtian Warrior... Some looked pretty old after all.
Uh. No.
He brought his initial concerns to the Lead Guard and Sister Quan after the medical scans, his concern that these absolute babies were somehow wounded in an undetectable way. That they were clearly crippled.
Because these kids ranged from Second Order to Third Order. Only two of the oldest children had broken through to Fourth Order, passing through the first barrier of cultivation.
But... they were so old!
...His concerns were shot down pretty quickly by the older cultivators.
Sister Quan, being Sixth Order, was a prodigy. It was why she was allowed to travel with Adam in the first place, her astounding progress was a blessing to the Sect.
Because... those barriers, the ones Adam basically ignored before and was about to face again?
They were a BIG deal to other, NORMAL cultivators. Outside massive Sects like the Burning Sword Sect, reaching Seventh Order? It was enough to become a King.
A leader of a nation. One individual, able to FOUND a nation... stories of Seventh Order children of only 13 years old or so creating a kingdom? Yeah, those existed.
Sister Quan hadn't even reached twenty years yet, and she was Sixth Order... but a good portion of her progress was her position. An orphan at a major Sect was more blessed than a Sect Primary Disciple being carefully raised by those weaker and smaller organizations and kingdoms.
Sects like the Blazing Sword Sect or the Frosted Tiger Sect had better cultivation pills. More Spirit Beast Cores. Access to cleaner, more concentrated spirit energy. Advanced cultivation techniques, and Senior Sect Brothers and Sisters to teach them.
So these children having such restricted bases was... sort of understandable.
Adam held back a sigh, continuing to review the medical results.
No, the real problem he found? He had assumed someone had poisoned the whole lot.
Cancerous growths, atrophied meridian routes, hundreds of tiny wounds, curses, trash traces, and of course foreign spiritual energy pollution.
It was sobering how hurt these little ones were... and how little they knew it.
They couldn't even FEEL the knife at their throat, the fangs on their spine.
Again, bringing up these concerns to the others in his group? They just... showed how much he didn't understand normal cultivators.
Poisoning yourself? That was the basis of cultivation.
You spent most of your youth and beginning shoving anything powerful inside, hoping your useless fractions of cultivation method would hold your corpse together until breaking through to the next Order level... using the advancement of your skills and the gain of knowledge along the way to purge some of the taint from your system as you go.
This... this was why powerful Sects had more powerful kids... more 'talented' children.
Because normal cultivators, if such a thing exists, started by drowning in filth and tainted power. They forced gunk into their soul... and struggled to find themselves enough power to eventually clean it away, becoming more powerful in the process.
The rich and powerful just bathed THEIR children with powerful medicines, rare treasures, rich herbs and Spirit Beast meat... some even forbid their children to eat or drink anything but pure spiritual energy infused water, to reduce impurities as much as possible when establishing their foundations.
Yet even THOSE children had to accept the non-perfect medicines. They build up immunity to the astounding potions and pills, lowering the effectiveness of the resources as traces build up in their bodies.
But these kids? They were 'normal'.
They were filthy. Corrupted. Hurt.
And Adam refused to accept that as 'normal'.
So... it had been two weeks.
One week? Creating healing and cleansing techniques. New ones, heavily restricted versions that were impossible for anyone without Rockette to perform.
Step one, shift your internal Battle Qi to match the patient... or generate a custom mix of free Spiritual Energy to do so. Cleanse it heavily, merge it with the patient.
Step two, force the patient to activate techniques using that donated energy but under Adam's absolute control.
Step three? Now that Adam was actively controlling someone else's internal Qi with HIS level of spiritual sensing... he could apply the hundred other created techniques.
There were benefits to doing things this way. Big ones.
First of all, it wasn't inserting Adam's cells or body parts into the target... which was good for many obvious reasons. No concerns that he would convert these kids into overwritten clones of himself, for one.
Secondly? If someone examined these children, they would only find conceptual records of them healing THEMSELVES with impossible skill. No evidence that Sister Dian or Adam did anything... another layer of deniability should problems occur.
But most importantly, this forced the cultivator patients to FEEL their own body doing impossible tings. Controlling their power in impossible ways. Obtaining unimaginable results.
In short? This would create a memory that could inspire these young ones to greatness... especially if they paid close attention.
The second week was a heavy work load.
During the day, the new 'class' drank 'normal water', ate spiritual rich foods (Still taste testing, it was going well!), and then simply rested in customized Cultivation Circles that Adam carved into the resting camp area.
Each one was designed by Adam to match the most compatible energy mix for that child... and the energy density was HEAVY. To the point where the youngest kids had trouble sitting still from the weight.
And that pure, unclaimed energy that so heavily pressed upon their bodies? It forced out impurities. It saturated their flesh. Flowed through their spiritual network, even without cultivating.
ESPECIALLY without cultivating.
After all, these kids had followed weak instructions... well, weak cultivation techniques when judged by Adam. Techniques that sacrificed stability for rapid growth. Methods that destroyed the foundation for powerful bursts of energy for last moment attacks. Skills that tore the Soul to condense their potential ever more quickly.
To Cultivate was to defy the heavens, sure... and from what Adam could tell, at least PART of that act of defiance was being able to survive the wounds you gave yourself while searching for power.
So the children bathed in power (No really, those tubs are only full of 'normal' water!), they consumed rare treasures (Only existed in the Soil Grid), they meditated while guided by a young woman of power and skill every day...
And every night, Adam forced raw power that matched them on a personal level to flow through their flesh.
Today? The children were so full of energy that, if they dared go against orders and allowed themselves to cultivate, all of them would easily break through to their next Order. Even before taking action, their bodies had gone a baptism, a cleansing.
Adam set down his notes, and nodded to the guard. "Bring the first one in."
A nervous young girl, not even 8 years old, walked into his tent. "Sir?"
He waved at the couch. Sister Dian thought it would be less scary to lay down on one of these than on a bed, considering the other connotations beds might suggest. "Please lay down, I promise this won't hurt at all."
She hesitated... but followed orders. He nodded. "Any questions before I begin?"
The child bit her lip. "What... what is going to happen?"
Adam leaned on one arm. "First, I will ensure you feel no pain." Not everyone could endure what he had, after all. "Then, I will guide the energies you already gathered this last week and use them to heal your body."
She still seemed slightly skeptical. "But I don't feel hurt."
He nodded. "In your case, you damaged your spiritual network... your internal meridian routes as well. It wasn't even from improperly cultivating your technique..." He had collected copies of ALL of these trash methods so far, most methods were just rubbish with enough working bits to fool people. "But we will cover that later. Finally, once your wounds are cured and your spiritual network cleaned of any irreverent energies, I will use the remaining energy to tune up the rest of your body to be a bit stronger."
She clearly bit back further questions... and the trust shinning in her eyes was a bit much for Adam.
Thankfully, he WASN'T one of those bastards who set up elaborate plans to steal souls or cultivation bases or what not. Lucky for the child, especially.
He would reward this trust.
A touch and she was unconscious.
It was the best Adam could do... to ensure that no memories would be saved from his next tortures to her body. Because the spiritual network was built into the Soul, and Adam needed to mess with stuff... if she was awake, or sedated, the pain would STILL ravish her mind and possibly cripple her.
He initiated his own soul transformation process. Thin crystal scales began to surface under his skin, his face locking up into a peaceful state as his body hardened. Cracking showed that his limbs were shattering... then sliding against each other, rocks tumbling in strange patterns.
This combination process was something Adam rarely did. His Recursion ability was already good enough of a defense normally, there was no reason for him and Rockette to work together.
Normally.
His crystalline fingers tapped the tiny girls forehead... and her body twisted as she unconsciously tried to scream.
Blue fire ravaged her body, her mind, her Soul... her spiritual network.
Even as he felt the impurities light up into embers and vanish, he felt Rockette inject raw energy patching her Soul Signature into her body... not yet... NOW!
Gripping the power that was even now combining with the surrounding Qi, Adam got to work.
Unrelated concepts... consume. Medical residue. Consume. Tainted energy. Consume.
Damaged meridian routes?
Consume.
Her body jerked as over half her pathways, cracked and fragile... future sources of pain and weakness to be discovered when trying to break through to Fourth Order... they were ground down by the Blue fire. Destroyed completely.
Now...
"Flesh of the Avatar."
Using her body, her Qi, her wounded flesh... target yourself. Find yourself.
"What is the Flesh?"
The bindings and trappings of life. The restrictions that hold us back, but encourage us to grow. Our past, but also the guidelines that shape our future. A wounded body.
"What form should Flesh be?"
Not just the DNA or the heritage of the parents. This young girl was a cultivator... one whom defines herself, one whom fights against the heavens! She should be bound by her faith, supported by her focus, and driven by dreams!
"How does Flesh regress?"
The blue flames consume. Her Qi consumes. Her body demands the wounds be devoured and used as fuel for rebirth! Would THIS hold her back!?
"How does Flesh move?"
By will. By choice. By drive. She will not be denied.
"How does Flesh heal?"
By sacrificing the weakened fragments to build a more perfect whole.
"How should Flesh progress?"
She would decide the future, Adam would decide the now.
Like a river, her body twitched and mutated. Raw flesh grew... and died. Bones cracked and grew anew. And fragments of a Spiritual network grew together... wider... stronger... more open. Even paths previously ignored and left to atrophy were rebuilt powerful and healthy.
The changes were obvious.
Her hair was longer. Her skin more fair. Her limbs slightly longer, her back slightly more straight.
Pity her entire body was covered in filth being expelled in massive quantities, the impurities being forced to evacuate her system.
An idle wave of Adam's hand had blue flames evaporate both the gunk and the gas it tried to become... and again, his crystal finger tapped the young girls forehead.
Most of the energy had been consumed. Especially regrowing her spiritual network, that had annihilated her reserves. A solid week of advanced nutrition and spiritual power, vanished.
But... there was SOME left over.
His face slowly grew a grin as he began making... slight changes.
More efficient lungs. Stronger organs. Denser bones. Resistant skin. Healthier immune system.
Just... a few, tiny enhancements. Nothing big.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sister Dian let out a massive breath as the little girl exited the tent. Slightly lost, clearly confused... and from her growling stomach, VERY hungry. "Are you alright?"
The child blinked. "I... don't know?" A massive growl made her blush. "I'm very hungry, Sister Dian."
Sister Quan was ready, handing over one of the more dangerously powerful cultivation dishes that Adam had prepared earlier. "Eat this slowly, and if ANYTHING feels wrong I want you to stop instantly and tell us. Alright?"
Her nod was... distracted, all focus on the delicious smelling omelette glowing with sprinkled Fire Salt on top. The thing was stuffed with spiritual herbs. "YES!"
The older women chuckled as they continued to try and scan the girl with their spiritual senses. While Sister Dian was more powerful, Sister Quan had dozens of techniques DESIGNED to determine health and safety... and was using them all. "Go sit and rest a bit."
Both watched with concern as the little one ate away with no worries.
Sister Dian glanced at the little boy who was now entering Adam's medical tent. "This is... so nerve wracking."
The other woman nodded. "I trust Brother Adam very much... but on the other hand, he DID make Four Eye Flame Bull Chickens."
Xe Dian blinked. "What?"
She nodded. "Don't let Adam get bored when messing with something. Or someone." She waved at the tent. "I told the Guard to watch and make sure that if Adam looks... distracted... then she will force a break. Give us time to make sure he doesn't do something... to helpful."
...Sister Dian leaned in. "Is that why his Disciple has bright green hair? I think it glows. And might have small flowers in there."
Sister Quan blinked. "Huh. Wonder how I missed that." She nodded. "And maybe. Hard to know."
The pair glanced at the waiting group of children. Dian sighed. "I got more than a few little ones who would LOVE to have glowing hair."
Sister Quan nodded. "The guard will ALSO call for intervention if the children get Adam excited to try something." She sighed. "That's what I'm MOST worried about. I still remember wanting to have a wings when I was a kid... would I have been smart enough to NOT ask for a set if a guy like Brother Adam had wondered along?"
Sister Dian blinked. Hadn't she wanted to be a unicorn as a child? Or at least to have a cool horn?
An old urge suddenly wondered if she could ask... no, if nothing else it would be a bad precedent in front of the kids.
...Maybe later.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Damn. That... that took forever.
As the last kid walked out of the tent, Adam collapsed onto the 'operating couch', mentally fed up.
It would have ALL been easier if he had just made more Cultivation Cells. It would have been SO MUCH EASIER. Drop in the cells, convert the rest, shift everything... done.
No, he wanted to ensure that no one outside his Sect could make those. At least, not until he knew more about the Frosted Tiger Sect leadership's corruption situation.
So he basically used mind control on something WITHOUT a mind. On the children's internal Qi. USING that control, he forced their fragile systems to rebuild themselves.
Theoretically... Hopefully? Their repaired spiritual networks would 'remember' this action later on. Use the process as a template to make future cultivation breakthroughs less dangerous, more productive.
At the very least, since all the modifications were done by 'their' own power, the changes wouldn't be rejected by their future cultivation progress. Hopefully.
Adam mentally sighed... Give the kids another week of spiritual energy saturation to rebuild their emptied energy reserves? All should be able to easily advanced to the next Order level. No problem.
If he let them use that shit.
No, seriously, at least the cultivation methods at the Burning Sword Sect were all found on the lowest, trash tier of the pagoda. Adam EXPECTED those to suck, you needed contribution points to see the easier to train and more powerful things higher up the levels.
These kids though.
Absently, Adam held jade slips in his left hand... and began to work.
Part of the medical checkup way back then was letting Adam review the cultivation methods of the kids... far too many being way too willing to SHARE those methods without even giving a complaint.
Maybe they also knew it was all trash?
First, summaries.
Adam began reviewing each child's cultivation method... and started ripping out data.
First, a summary of the ACTUAL results of their cultivation, not what it SAID it would do.
Second, Adam reviewed the stated GOALS of the individual methods... and started testing stuff to see if he could fake the desired results with the provided techniques if he just shifted a few things around.
...Damn this was tricky, annoying work. Would be faster to just make a new thing from scratch. Safer and stronger too, no doubt.
Still, progress was made. Over the rest of the night and during the travelling next day, Adam was absently progressing through the many methods the kids were following.
Third, now that he documented the results, the goals, and had finally made some progress? He marked down the modified methods to achieve those goals, documenting what was still lacking if he couldn't figure out some random fluff statement in the method.
A quick check... Rockette?
Ding!
Good, the kids were being forced to recover and relax, he had lots of time to get this done.
Fourth, on these jade slips... improvement.
Not improvement in power, or flashy abilities, or to further improve the stated goals of each method... no.
Foundational improvement.
The fourth chapter on these slips in many cases weakened the results of the cultivation methods. Attacks were more restricted, defences less flashy, refinement or energy attraction from nature? Slower.
But the energies gathered would be cleaner, more refined, more processed. The meridian routes would include a 'maintenance cycle', a cycle designed NOT to improve cultivation but to ensure the other meridian routes would not atrophy or decay again.
It would vastly lower the difficulties breaking through the future cultivation barriers.
This wasn't quite his Houtian Realm Essential Cultivation Method, though it may have stolen a few hints from there. Instead, Adam heavily based this 'maintenance cycle' on Sister Dian's customised cultivation method.
This way, her Elders would (accidentally) assume that the improvements taught to these children came from her brilliance. Oh my, who saw this coming? Give her more rewards!
Hopefully.
And if his own Essential Method got a bit of refinement in this process? Well, he was improving it all the time anyway. The idea of a cycle dedicated to restoring the cultivation user's base system seemed useful and easy enough to include... sort of a companion cultivation method, one used to restore foundational support rather than to enhance or advance your network.
But Adam was running into an issue.
What he had here? It was good enough. Heck, it was probably amazing to some people, no doubt. But... he was lacking data.
After all, he was only Sixth Order Houtian Warrior. Seventh Order was the next Martial Spirit Evolution, the second barrier to cultivation.
And he felt he needed to know more before finalizing these lesson plans.
Adam tried to subtly glance at his guard... she seemed distracted enough. "I'm going to meditate a bit, could you come get me in an hour or so?"
A nod, and he was alone in the tent.
Excellent.
Quickly his Domain impressed a series of Formation Patterns into the carpet... and below it, into the stone far beneath.
A spiritual energy boundary.
He fell into a meditative stance, his mind focusing. "Rockette?"
Ding.
Power.
POWER.
Blue energy filled in the bounded column, spiritual gas thickening... denser...
Not quite liquid.
But close.
Outside, it forced itself into his flesh. Through his skin, into his muscles.
Inside, all seven meridian paths PULSED with his heartbeat. With his life pulse.
Rockette and 'Research' watched closely as the seven cultivation paths within his body... began to carve a conceptual cavern in his heart.
If he was a normal cultivator, this would form his Qi Sea. The depth and width and length determined by his actions and the strength of his foundation.
However.
Adam had seven routes... one for each limb, one to his head, one in his torso... and one that was tied to his heart, the conceptual core.
And now, a massive cavern was being dug into his spiritual network.
Deeper, wider... the hole became a lakebed, a bottomless pit... the mysterious ocean bed.
This... this was the spiritual ocean.
His internal Qi Sea.
This boundary was important... now, cultivators could use this massive reservoir to vastly outlast the energy reserves limits of lower fighters. This was still a gaseous sea, it wasn't the concentrated and more powerful energies of future realms... but it WAS a major step.
Adam watched with fascination... and more than a little confusion.
Where was the boundary? Had he already crossed it? The restriction he was supposed to struggle and beat to advance this far?
His thoughts were thrown into disarray further as his OTHER six meridian routes connected to his Qi Sea.
The deep, bottomless Sea... now had six other deep pits being carved in around it.
Like connected lakes... though they grew deeper and deeper, wider and longer.
One acted like a ring, surrounding the Qi Sea itself. This was his chest route, and it acted like a moat... he could FEEL it acting like a spiritual barrier, the first to defend his inner energies.
Four acted as regulators, as buffer zones. They would ensure that heavy energy use by his limbs wouldn't lower the power available to his actual attacks... that simple reinforcement and attack resistance using only his arms and legs wouldn't affect his own attacks or defences.
They would drain those four Qi Lakes FIRST, before draining his Sea.
Finally... a thin but impossibly deep steam lead to his mind. Easily missed, and with a focused purpose... His mind Qi Stream was not meant to attack or defend.
It was to ensure he wouldn't lose focus, wouldn't fall to mental attacks... a dedicated Qi Stream that supported his consciousness.
Seven Paths.
Four Qi Lakes, that allowed his limbs to fight without restraint.
One Qi Moat, that protected his internal energies from injection attacks.
His Qi Sea, the reservoir of his spiritual network.
And his Qi Stream, protector of his consciousness.
As the Seven Paths stabilized... as his Seven Pulse Cultivation Method produced this new, Seven Path Cultivation Method result... Rockette formed before him, vibrating.
Cracking.
With a shatter, crystal shards flew in every direction... and Rockette's evolved form began to sparkle.
DING!
...Adam blinked. "Uh. You got little hands."
Ding!
Rockette had... an itty-bitty body. About the size of her head, she now had... floating crystal shards, that led to smaller floating crystal shards... that led to recognizable, organized tiny rocky fingers.
No legs, her torso looked like a stalactite really, floating there... but she now had two arms and hands. And of course, her floating head.
She raised both hands in the air. "DING!"
...Daw, she could change her facial expressions! Sort of. It looked like an illusion within the crystal rather than a sculpture now, and each new image was less like an animation and more like seeing one of those holographic posters, where you just managed to change your viewing angle and could see her cute smile.
He gently patted her head. "Good job! I'm glad we were able to safely break through!" But he was going to research the HELL out of why it didn't match ANY of the stories told by other cultivators. What the fuck.
Leaning back, using Blue flames to get rid of his impurities (Sigh), he examined the changes in Rockette. HIS changes were straight forward... he gained his Seven Paths and Qi Sea (Plus extras!), and this time the conceptual reinforcement aspect was focused on his flesh, muscles... but mostly on his skin.
Seventh Order Warriors had skin like strong leather at the very least, on top of everything else they gained along the way... it was puncture and stab resistant, and the first step towards mortal weapon immunity. Eventually, weapons without Qi reinforcement would just... fail. Even an arrow to his eye would just be ignored. Conceptual defense of the boundary between self and the world.
Well, he could ignore it now ANYWAY thanks to Rockette's innate ability. Recursion was awesome!
Speaking of which...
Adam watched Rockette as she twirled around the room, swinging her arms everywhere. And then looked deeper.
As expected, 'Recursion' was improved. It was common for older abilities to change as other Order and Realm levels were reached... but it wasn't an obvious shift in this case.
Adam didn't gain MORE recursion, not more layers at least... he gained expanded functionality.
Using 'Recursion', he could not just absorb damage by passing it within... now?
Now his inner Adams could send damage OUT.
When Adam attacked, his inner Adams could now join him with a slight delay... for no additional Qi cost.
Each attack was half as strong as the layer above it, of course... but if he used a bolt of fire, the 'echo' attacks would almost add up to a second, equally powerful strike.
Free, extra damage during all fights? Yes please! Especially if he could learn how to have each Adam focus on different effects rather than just duplicate his efforts.
Grinning, he focused on the second, most recent, NEW innate skill.
'Mass Creation', the ability to convert spiritual energy into matter.
By default, it would create more Crystal like Rockette. But, for an increase in spent energy? He could duplicate any matter he had a full spiritual scan of! It would take a bit of practice before he could duplicate complicated objects with lots of parts or whatever, but if he had the power to burn then he could create raw material.
Problem was, the energy costs were staggering. And not just staggering to normal people, the massive energy costs were expensive to ADAM as well.
If he used up ALL energy reserves right now, INCLUDING the energy generation rates of his Poison Cave and the Yin Yang Cycle Pond? He MIGHT make a hundred pounds of raw crystal.
If he wanted basic copper? Maybe a few ounces.
There was a reason for this stupidly high cost though... this wasn't just 'good' copper.
This was conceptual copper. Copper with a history, with the proper reactions one would expect from a metal untainted by outside influence or society, or even nature!
But Adam had needs for his spiritual energy collection. Sacrificing the Soil Grid gardens was not an option, MOST of his energy reserves were not optional at this point.
He frowned. Was... was he going to have to wait? To let this skill be black listed until he could advance his cultivation base further? That seemed... so wasteful.
Rockette spun as she floated to his side. "Ding?"
Adam mentally listed his thoughts to the Spirit... and her face was replaced by a smile. "Ding!"
He felt his Crystal Caves shiver... and something shift.
Ah.
She had attached the concept of 'Mass Creation' to the Material Caverns. Specifically, to a new cavern she designed... the 'Quarry Cavern'.
Even as he watched, trace amount of ore began to slowly spread like roots into the newly designed floor of the room.
He grinned. "And the costs?"
She waved both arms back and forth. "Ding!"
...Damn, that was basically free. Slow, but free... and eventually profitable.
And considering his energy storage was... Damn, 10 quadrillion? A lot. Wait, what was his domain range now? Holy hell, 0.7 kilometers? As a RADIUS!? He could restrict that, right? He didn't want to FEEL that much all the time! That would be gross!
No, stop. calm.
He took a relaxing breath. Good. "Rockette, keep our domain from expanding more than I previously used. Can we concentrate it or something?"
She bounced with a smile. "Ding!"
Good. "Right, thank you. Now I can finally get some stuff done... I'm sure I can finish those jade slips with this extra data at this point!"
A quick glance. Awesome! The formation held up! Not even a little of his cultivation breakthrough was exposed! Finally, he was able to get something useful done without freaking everyone else out in the process!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The guards and Sister Quan and Dian all stared at the tent.
One of the guards fidgeted. "I can't feel anything. Like a maw has consumed the world." His eyes widened. "It... it hasn't right? That thing didn't follow us, right?"
A more reasonable guard was glaring at it. "I hadn't realized how much energy the young Sage gives off unconsciously... but now that it is gone, the difference is very clear. Like trying to sleep in the wilderness for the first time after living in the Sect for years... all expected noise is missing. It feels wrong."
Sister Dian felt confused. "Why not just ask what is going on?"
She flinched at all the pitying looks she got before the lead guard gave a sigh. "Best case scenario, he is fine and tells us all about it later. Worse case, we disturb some horrifying ritual and it kill us all... just because we are curious about whatever the hell is happening in there. "
Sister Quan sighed. "Rockette told me he is fine, but even she feels... different somehow. It's probably best for us to wait a bit."
The tent violently shivered.
Everyone stepped back.
Sister Quan nodded. "In fact, better to wait... from a bit farther away."
Everyone agreed.
