Chapter 67: Arduous Cultivation They can even apply mental pressure on anyone within that field that can manipulate their minds, and injure their souls. Their lifespan also increases to over 100 times their previous lifespan. As for immortal cultivators, they also gain an increase of over 200 times their previous lifespan, as well as other unique abilities of their will power. On average, the senses of an immortal cultivator at this stage are so enhanced that they can view and hear things thousands of miles around them. Their physical strength also allows them to move at over 100 times the speed of sound. This makes them very dangerous predators in a world filled with normal humans, and animals.” Hearing his words, Lain, couldn’t help but mutter in surprise, “You truly are powerful, sister Annette.” “She truly is. Over 80% of cultivators at the body and mind cultivation stages cannot even get to her current stage without dying of old age. That is how hard it is to evolve into a higher being, as a cultivator.” Hui Shi responded. “Not to mention, she’s only in her early years of life. You’re a gifted lady, sister Annette.” Lain, added with a look of admiration on his face. He couldn’t help but realize the difficulty of being a cultivator. “Thank you! But I’m not really that great. I just have a great cultivation book to rely on.” Annette replied with a look of shame written on her face. “You truly are. It takes a lot of determination and effort to get to your current stage, as every stage requires cultivators to acquire the right resources to nourish their bodies and souls. Many cultivators have even died during the process of cultivation itself, either due to using the wrong resources, not getting the right resources when they require them or just cultivating inappropriately.” Hui Shi said, because he didn’t believe the book could’ve truly helped her overcome the burdens of cultivation. Especially when she began cultivating at such a very young age all by herself, without any mentors or friends to help her get through its difficulties. “As for the next stage. I will not go into details on it. Because what I’ve already explained should be enough for you to understand sister Annette’s powers. I also do not wish to extinguish sister Annette’s desires, or place false expectations on her mind. As each person’s experience at each stage can differ greatly from one another. Food that cannot be eaten should not be worried about.” Hui Shi added, before looking at the expectant looking Lain, with guilt. “Thank you, brother Hui Shi, for your consideration. I truly would like to get to the next stage and figure out all its benefits by myself.” Annette said, with a look of appreciation in her eyes.

Chapter 66: A Wonderful Gift To Mankind “There are about 17 stages of cultivation, all together. The 17th stage is called the ascension stage. Cultivators at the ascension stage are all called true persons, due to the fact that they are all practically omnipotent, in places where true immortals and true celestials aren’t present. Now, let’s start at the beginning. The adept stage is where all cultivators start their journey, as previously mentioned by sister Annette. From what I’ve learned in school, immortal cultivators at that stage gain a stronger body, and have their lifespan increased from the average 50 years, to over 200 years of age. Celestial cultivators also have their lifespan increased by an average of 40 years at this stage as well, because celestial cultivators focus on nourishing their souls, while immortal cultivators enhance their physical bodies.” Hui Shi said slowly, after seeing the confused look on Lain’s face. He then continued. “The next stage is where immortal cultivation and celestial cultivation diverge, as they start to gain more abilities related to their specific will power. It is called the mind formation stage for celestial cultivators, and the body formation stage for immortal cultivators. At this stage, as I mentioned before, both cultivator types start to gain magical abilities related to their unique will powers, and on average have their lifespans increased by over 40 times. With immortal cultivators having an even greater increase in lifespan than celestial cultivators. Based on their unique will power, some immortal cultivators can even gain over 100 times their lifespan at this stage.” “Wow! Cultivation is truly a wonderful gift to mankind. Being able to extend your life to such astronomical proportions is magnificent!” Lain exclaimed in surprise, after listening to Hui Shi. “It gets better.” Annette added gleefully. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue his explanations. “Cultivation truly is a wonderful blessing. Now, let me continue to the next stage. The current stage that Annette’s currently at.” Hui Shi said, before he continued his explanations again. “The next stage for immortal cultivators is called the body perception stage, while for celestial cultivators, is called the mind perception stage. At the mind perception stage, celestial cultivators in general develop the ability to fly. They also develop a small mind field around them that allows them to view and listen to everything within the field, even to a microscopic scale.

Chapter 65: The Hidden Serpent Within a minute all the blood that the snake-like muscle had bled out had disappeared into thin air. The snake-like muscle then stopped bleeding on the floor before quickly slithering back onto the arm of Annette, and wiggling itself back into its previous position on the arm. Looking at Annette’s arm, Lain couldn’t even see a single thing out of place, after the snake-like muscle went back into position, and changed its color back to that of Annette’s skin. “You have such an interesting ability!” Lain exclaimed in shock and awe. “It truly is a wonderful ability, sister Annette. I wonder what will power you’re cultivating?” Hui Shi asked, as his mind began to ponder the possible will powers that he had read of in the past, that this ability could possibly come from. “My immortal will power is called the Hidden Serpent Immortal. It allows me to hide and traverse the world in secret like a hidden serpent. Being able to transform my muscles into various serpents is a subset of this power that helps me fight those who try to harm me, as well as rescue those in need.” Annette said shyly. She felt very blessed to be given such an amazing cultivation book, by the mysterious man that she met in the past. “Hidden Serpent Immortal? That sounds like a pretty amazing will power. Congratulations for cultivating such a wonderful power. It must’ve helped you a lot growing up.” Lain stated, with a smile on his face. “I almost lost the cultivation book many times after that mysterious man gave it to me as a child. I even threw it away many times. But each time the book was misplaced, it always appeared in my hands, after I woke up from sleep the next day, as if it was following me. The book has been a great mystery that I’ve been trying to uncover my entire life.” Annette added, as a thoughtful expression surfaced on her slightly beautiful face. “It seems the mysterious man who gave you the book was truly a thought-provoking character. Casting a spell of sorts on the book that makes it soul bound to you is truly a unique thing to do for a child.” Hui Shi said. He also felt slightly surprised by the ability of the book to miraculously appear on Annette, every time she fell asleep. After Hui Shi finished speaking, the light in the room slowly came back on, as the darkness surrounding the trio disappeared. The holographic screen that was previously hovering in front of Lain, that disappeared previously also appeared again, as soon the room fully regained its light. Seeing this, Hui Shi smiled and said to Annette. “It seems your blood is pretty powerful, for such a small amount of it to replenish the runes so quickly. “

Chapter 64: Snake or Muscle? “How do I get this blood? And what method do I use to replenish the runes, after acquiring the blood?” Lain, asked with a questioning look on his face. He even felt a slight chill every time he thought about using blood to replenish runes. “You can either go to a physical store here in the district, or order the blood online, through the Global Archives section on the smaller TV. Most beasts’ blood will replenish the energy within the runes, so you can also just go hunt animals outside the city or around the districts in order to acquire their blood.” Hui Shi said, as he also looked around the dark room. “Brother Hui Shi is correct. You can use any animal’s blood. But the more powerful the animal, the more energy their blood contains, and also the less blood you’ll need to replenish the runes.” Annette added in satisfaction, since she’s been doing this for years, and knew quite a lot more about this subject than the previous ones they’ve talked about. “In order to replenish the runes, you just need to place your stone key inside a vat of blood, or inside an animal, and it’ll absorb all the blood within. It’ll then slowly distribute the energy within the blood into the runes inside the house using invisible energy waves, while you're on the premises” Hui Shi, stated. “You can also dump blood on the floor, anywhere in the house, and the runes engraved on the floor will absorb them, and distribute the energy within the blood all around the house.” Annette added in glee. “Watch this!” She stated afterward, before a long, tiny muscle in her right arm started to wiggle around like a little serpent. After a few seconds of wiggling, it slowly separated from the rest of her arm, and slithered down from her arm towards the floor, as its khaki color, which resembled Annettte’s skin, slowly started to change into that of green. Scales started forming on its long, slim body before it made it to the floor, and large snake-like eyes grew out of its head. By the time its entire body laid on the floor, it resembled a vicious green snake, with the length of an arm. The snake-like muscle, after reaching the floor, quickly looked at Hui Shi, and Lain, with the eyes of a dangerous predator, before blood started to seep out from in-between its scales. The blood that seeped out of its body quickly landed on the floor, painting the floor around the snake-like muscle, blood-red in color. After a few seconds of watching the snake-like muscle bleed on the floor, Lain soon noticed the blood slowly start to evaporate, as the runes underneath it lit up.

Chapter 63: Completely Dark ‘Light weight?’ Lain thought, before getting up and double tapping on the sofa’s image inside the holographic screen. After doing this, he then grabbed the left edge of the sofa with his left hand before gently pushing it towards his right. The moment he pushed on the sofa however, he immediately realized how light the sofa really was. It was almost as light as the stone key in his hand, even though the sofa was much bigger. Just a gentle push caused the sofa to jeer sideways very easily. He even felt embarrassed of himself for using so much force. Feeling embarrassed, he quickly moved the sofa back to its original location. After letting go of the sofa, Lain then looked back at the screen that followed his every move and always hovered in front of his body, and double tapped on the sofa again, in order to lock it in place. After doing this, he then grabbed the sofa a second time in order to push it. This time, however, the sofa didn’t budge a single inch. Noticing this, he began adding a little bit more pressure to his left hand, trying to forcefully move the sofa. As he began pushing with more force, the runes on the chairs slowly started to light up. The more he pushed the brighter the light they emitted, until the runes in the entire room started shining in a bright, bluish glow. After pushing with more than twenty percent of his normal strength, the holographic screen in front of Lain started to shake, as it began to blink in and out of existence repeatedly, until it disappeared completely from sight. After its disappearance, the light inside the room also gave out, causing the entire room that he was within, to go dark. Noticing this, Lain immediately gave up pushing the sofa, and released his grip. “What an interesting magic. These runes have made the sofa almost immovable. I may need to use more than 50% of my normal strength just to make it budge.” Lain said out loud in wonder, as he looked around at the dark room which had lost all source of light. “It truly is. But as you can see, there’s a cost to this. The energy within these runes, that’s connected to the entire house, will be depleted if you use all your strength. You’ll then need to buy the right type of blood from the market in order to replenish the energy within them. Otherwise you will never be able to use the various features of the house again.” Annette stated, while smiling at the dumbfounded Lain.

Chapter 62: Pervite This time, only letting go, after the number following his finger stopped at 70. Seeing his curiosity, Annette couldn’t help but giggle a little, before saying. “Nifty, isn’t it? The temperature can change to your desired setting within seconds. That’s why only adults can change the settings on a key. Children are incapable of using these keys for safety reasons. There’s even an age scanner on each key that’s designed to scan its user, in order to make sure no underage children are operating it. I know this because my chariot and home also have similar keys.” Hui Shi eased into a smile, after hearing Annette. He then continued where she left off, saying. “Sister Annette is right. Children are truly incapable of operating this key, due to safety reasons.” “That’s a useful feature. It shows there’s been a lot of thought put into the designs of these runes and keys.” Lain added. He then took a moment to look around the screen in front of him before finding the sofa that he was currently standing in front of. After finding the sofa, he reached towards it, then swiped up on the sofa. After a second of swiping, he only stopped when the setting number that hovered next to his swiping finger reached 100. ”I forgot to mention what the rating numbers indicate for the sofa. Number 100 indicates complete firmness, and number 0 indicates complete softness.” Hui Shi added, in slight guilt. “I see. Thank you.” Lain replied. He then sat down on the sofa, in order to test what the words “complete firmness” truly meant. As soon as he sat down, he felt the difference. Before, the chair felt extremely soft and comfortable to sit on. Now, on the other hand, sitting on the chair felt like sitting on a hard rock. Lain, while feeling the texture of the sofa, reasoned to himself. ‘It seems after the rating number reaches 100, the chair will go back to its normal texture. And since the sofa was carved out of some sort of stone, I can only feel uncomfortable sitting on its rock hard surface.’ “The texture of the sofa actually gets firmer than its original texture, due to the runes carved on it. I heard the runes of most furniture can make them much harder than they originally were. They can even turn water into a hard, rocky material. But I’ve never been in a house that doesn’t use pervite as its building material. Since all houses in our district are made of it.” Annette said, after seeing the look of realization on Lain’s face. “Pervite is the name of the stone that all buildings and furniture are made of in this district, if you’re wondering. Even our city has many architectures made out of this stone, due to its light weight and great durability.” Hui Shi added.

Chapter 61: Temperature Change Lastly, if you find it cumbersome to hold your stone key, you can place it in your pocket or anywhere on you, and the virtual screens around you will never disappear. You can also place it away from you, and continue using the screens, but you mustn’t let anyone touch the stone key, otherwise it’ll switch users, and close down all screens in front of you.” “I see, brother Hui Shi. Thanks for the advice.” Lain responded, as he looked at the screen filled with games of all types in front of him. Not feeling the need to play a game, he quickly looked up from the screen and said to Hui Shi. “Brother Hui Shi, can you please continue showing us around the house. Lastly, how do you exit a screen? I do not feel the need to delve into games right now.” “Don’t worry. Just point at any screen inside the house and say the words ‘Exit this screen’ and the screen will disappear.” Annette responded. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue showing them around the house, patiently. “Got it! Thanks for the help, sister Annette.” Lain responded, before closing the smaller TV screen using the voice command that he had just learned. Seeing this, Hui Shi then took a short deep breath to clear his head, before pointing at the original screen that displayed the living room and saying. “Now that we’re done with the mechanics of the TV, I’ll tell you more about the house. Swiping vertically over the sofa inside the screen, or any other furniture in the house, allows you to change the texture of it. Swipe up, if you want to increase the setting, or down, if you want to decrease the setting. Just like you do with the temperature of the room. You can also make a furniture moveable or fix it in place, simply by double tapping its image on the screen.” Lain, hearing his words, first decided to try the first feature that he was told about earlier. Which was the feature that allowed him to change the temperature of the room. He quickly tried swiping down across the middle of the living room within the holographic screen. The moment he did, a temperature rating number appeared next to his swiping index finger that followed his finger down the screen. The lower his finger went, the lower the number declined as well. When he was done swiping down, the number reached -10. After he let go of the screen, he immediately started to notice the temperature of the room drop. Fearing that he may have made a mistake, as the temperature almost went below freezing within seconds of letting go, he immediately corrected his mistake by swiping up on the screen again.

Chapter 60: Gaming Archives “I see. Well, that answers my questions. I hope brother Hui Shi can continue teaching me about this remote key thing.” Lain finally replied, after a short sigh of relief escaped his mouth. “Got it. I’ll continue explaining the bank balances. After you have money in your bank account, a small menu screen will always pop up whenever you use an instrument that’s connected to the government’s technology grid that requires in-menu purchases. You can close or open that bank balance menu at any time by saying the words ‘open or close my bank menu’ but you must already have money deposited into a bank previously, for the menu to open or close at your whim.” Hui Shi said. He then took a short second to see if Lain, or Annette, had any questions before continuing. “All the menu sections on the smaller TV screen have contents within them that require the spending of Yearning Dollars. Some pages within the Global Archives section also have virtual stores that allow you to purchase physical items using Yearning Dollars that can be shipped directly to your home from wherever they are located within the empire. Now, let’s move on to the next section of the menu. The Gaming Archives section.” Lain quickly pressed on the Gaming Archives button in the menu section, after Hui Shi finished speaking, then looked at the canvas below it. In just a second, the screen changed as the pictures that were there before morphed into new pictures. The new canvas screen still had rows upon rows of pictures, but this time the pictures seen within it were different. There were more cartoon-like pictures on the new canvas than the old. Looking at the screen filled with pictures, Hui Shi continued speaking. “Each image on this screen contains a unique game created by game developers situated somewhere within the empire. Clicking on a picture, will either ask you to buy the game hidden within it, if it’s a game with a cost, or start the game, if the game is free, or have been previously purchased. Unlike the other sections, some games can be played on the screen, with a virtual keyboard, that allows you to control the in-game elements. While other games create a virtual world around you that allows you to play the game using your physical body. Many games that teach you martial arts, or cultivation techniques, require you to have enough room around you to maneuver, since they create a virtual world around you that you can practice within.

Chapter 59: The Corpse Race “It’s actually a national crime to use human blood to make runes, but only if the blood used to make the rune is not the rune maker’s own blood. Many cities in our kingdom even ban the buying and selling of instruments that are made using human blood runes entirely, just to prevent the harming of humans to create these types of runes. So most rune makers across the empire that use their own blood to make runes, tend to make runes that are for their own personal use. Other than human blood, rune makers tend to use the blood of various animals and creatures instead, due to the use of human blood being frowned upon and even banned by the empire. But there is an exception to the empire’s rule that bans the use of human blood. There’s actually a race of humans whose blood can be used to make runes without it being illegal. This race is so vile in their behavior that they’ve incurred great infamy across the empire, making them wanted criminals that must be arrested on sight, otherwise only an ill fate will befall anyone around them. This cursed race is called the corpse race.” Hui Shi said, as his face shifted into one of disgust at the mention of the corpse race. “The corpse race? I’ve heard of this race being gossiped about in the past. I heard from my friends, that the first member of this race was birthed after a deranged ghost raped a corpse. After the corpse was raped, it became pregnant and birthed a cursed being that became the forefather of the corpse race.” Annette added, as her face also shifted into one of disgust as well, at the thought of a ghost raping a female corpse. “That is true. I’ve read many ancient records mention that the corpse race was truly birthed from the body of a corpse, after a cultivated ghost celestial from ancient times revived and raped a corpse. After the birth of their progenitor, the corpse race have wrecked havoc all over the empire, doing many vile acts, which include the killing of people, cannibalism, and the raping of corpses, until they were all hunted down by the empire, and driven into hiding. The worst part about the corpse race is not only their ability to successfully impregnate female corpses, but their unique rune making technology that requires the blood and souls of human babies.” Hui Shi said, with his face turning even more gloomy at the remembrance of the records that he had read in the past. “This corpse race sounds pretty cruel. It’s best If I never come across such vile beings in the future. This world truly isn’t as safe as I once thought it was.” Lain said after listening to their conversation. He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of a corpse being raped by a ghost. “Don’t worry. The chances of you encountering a corpse race member must be pretty low. Since I’ve been working with the law enforcement agency of our district for years, and I’ve never come across a single corpse race member.” Annette said gently, in order to help ease Lain’s mind.

Chapter 58: Blood Runes Hearing her words, immediately brought to mind a question that Lain had in his head in the past but forgot to ask due to the situation getting out of hand earlier. After a moment to gather his thoughts, he voiced out his concerns. “Now that you’ve mentioned the gates, I was wondering, why are the gates opened completely, when the entryway is over ten miles in width? Isn’t the government afraid of people bypassing the guards and entering the city from a different location? I’m truly confused about this.” “The answer is actually very simple. The runes on the city walls have a mind-altering effect that forces anyone intending to enter the city by bypassing the guards to subconsciously line up in front of the guards at the gates patiently. That is one of the many reasons why the runes on the walls are always glowing, as they are always actively affecting the minds of those around them subtly. The runes on the walls also serve as a surveillance system that monitors the outskirts of the city.” Hui Shi said, after hearing Lain’s question. Dumbfounded by his answer, Lain couldn’t help but stay silent for a minute to process what he had just heard. He then said thoughtfully, “So that’s why I subconsciously desired to follow the crowd and line up, when I could’ve just walked through the opened gates?” “Yes. I heard all city gates, and surrounding walls in our kingdom have this technology. I also heard only very powerful people can ignore the mental effects that these gates have on their minds, but these people should be very few in number in our city, and may not feel the need to go against city rules.” Annette said, as she also marveled at such a wonderful use of runes by the government. “The technology of runes is widely used all over the world. Each city, kingdom, and empire all have their own unique way of using runes that differ completely from one another. Even the various organizations and people within these places all have their own unique runic technologies that others cannot replicate.” Hui Shi added, with a smile on his face. “Runes are truly a blessing to the world. But since they’re made using blood, I wonder how these blood are sourced. Can human blood be used in the making of these runes as well? Wouldn’t that be a bit barbaric to use human blood to make runes?” Lain asked, as he found runes to be somewhat creepy when he truly thought about how they were made. “It is a bit barbaric to use human blood. But since I’m not a rune maker, I truly have no idea about the rules of the empire or kingdom pertaining to rune making. Brother Hui Shi, are there runes possibly being made using human blood within our empire?” Annette said, as she started to feel slightly creeped out when she looked around in the room that they were in that was filled with glowing runes, that could possibly be made using human blood.