1 The Town of Neverkeep
The town of Neverkeep was waking up from a rare 3 full moon night. People were starting to wake up and go about their businesses as all the three moons in the sky were swirling out of existence as 2 suns slowly manifested themselves upon the sky.
Neverkeep was a town with a population of around Fifty thousand people, most of whom were regular civilians, and only a few, who were Alchemists, Mercenaries, or Weaponsmiths made the most profit in the town. The rest were managing lodges, architecture, maintenance, food, etc.
Today, there was an unusual increase in activity in the town as the very famous and sacred Sect; The Perpetuity Sect, was going to send it's representatives for recruiting disciples from their town soon.
The requirements to become their outer sect disciple were very strict but with it, the reputation one's family receives propels them to the peak of the town, even overshadowing the Mayor.
For the last five years, not one disciple was recruited from their town as the minimum requirement for entering the Perpetuity Sect was Transcendent Realm before the age of 16, but because becoming a cultivator was so rare, very few under that age in the last five years from their town could breakthrough from even the Qi Gathering Realm, much less the Transcendent Realm as the talent of the people who could cultivate was at the rock bottom.
The Neverkeep is ruled by 3 Major families predominantly, and all 3 of them compete with each other over the market share of the town but it all changed last month, when the Young Master of the Hun Family broke through the Transcendent Realm at the age of 15.
This news shook the hearts of the other two families, which were the Xiao family and the Yun Family respectively, and they have been very restless as once the Young Master of the Hun Family enters the Perpetuity Sect, the power dynamic of the town will shift in the favour of the Hun Family.
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In a secluded precipice of the Hun family mountain was the courtyard which belonged to the Young Master of the Hun family, known as Hun Lian.
Most people didn't know, but this precipice had twice as dense Qi as the normal locations and this was exactly the reason why Hun Lian's father, the Sect Master of the Hun Family kept his son here.
In the middle of the courtyard, Hun Lian was practising with a bronze spear but had a little annoyance in his eyes.
'I had a loving wife, brilliant kids and a relatively lavish life! I had everything! Then WHY!?'
Hun Lian was furiously practising his spear technique as he thought about how yesterday when he closed his eyes beside his beautiful wife, it was for the last time as he somehow got transmigrated into the Genius young master of this Hun Clan.
He was very paranoid at the moment as not only did he now found himself in this dangerous world, but through the memory he got from his predecessor, he came to know that his mother had actually dug out an attached Mystical bone from his sister's spine when she was born, and roughly attached it to Hun Lian's spine by simply stabbing it at his back.
This information confirmed his guess.
He had read the novel of this world, where this character that he found himself in, Hun Lian, was the protagonist.
'This will create so much drama in the future…I have to prepare!'
With a beautiful display of his spear technique, he came to a halt and soon came a beautiful maid with a towel in her hand and started wiping his sweat.
"Enough Rina. I will bathe now, you can leave." responded Hun Lian very gently as Rina blushed and nodded to her master.
Hun Lian took the towel from his maid Rina and started walking towards his bath when suddenly a ring he wore on his neck as a locket started to shine a little and soon went back to normal as Hun Lian entered his bath.
'So you have decided to show yourself, huh?'
Hun Lian obviously noticed such an obvious fluctuation and took off his ring, and stared at it for some time, trying to see if there was something odd about it.
'The last gift from "my" mother of this world to me; and the self-righteous Grandpa who was the golden finger of my predecessor.'
This ring was indeed the golden finger his predecessor had, as his cultivation fell from the 1st Stage of Transcendent Realm to the 3rd Stage of Body Tempering Realm just this morning.
No one in the clan knew about it, not even his maid Rina as he didn't want to go through the same routine of being stepped on for a few years where everyone ridiculous him, and then wait for this ring Grandpa to appear and guide him to face-slap those people.
According to the plot he remembered, he would be rediculed for almost 3 years starting today, after which Gu Wanhe, the grandpa in the ring appears and guides him to face-slap the Villains.
He hated this concept of being stepped on and looking weak or pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.
Hun Lian thought that it was rather cowardly behaviour and he wanted to solve this situation as soon as possible. He will not wait for 3 years…Because as far as he remembers, if he delays to keep up with canon, he will lose a very over-powered person.
'Pearl of Threads'
With a thought, a blue holographic screen came in front of his eyes.
[Ether Furnace] [Inventory]
This system-like thing was his golden finger which he got when he transmigrated to this world.
It was an unknown grade artefact which only had two functions,
One was a furnace which can smelt most things and give rewards, and the other was a 100 Cubic meters of Virtual space to store things.
He felt that once he is powerful enough in the future, the furnace and the inventory will receive an upgrade as the Pearl of Threads will grow with him, but what was available now was still enough.
With a flick, Hun Lian sent the ring in his hand to the furnace and a notification popped up.
[An Middle-Grade Earth Level Spatial Ring Detected]
Spatial Rings were only just a legend among the common folks of the Neverkeep and only four people in total were known to own them in the town, three of whom were the leaders of the 3 great families and the last one was the Mayor of the town.
[One Soul Detected, 1411 Martial Techniques Detected, 675 Cultivation Techniques Detected and 2 Weapon Artefacts Detected]
[Notice: The Level of the Ether Furnace is too low, and many resources will be lost after smelting.]
The notice did make Hun Lian's mood a little sour, but it was his only choice to get benefits, as he didn't want a voyeur spirit always with him, who would see his women naked with him. Hun Lian was a very jealous man, and he'd rather not receive any benefits than get a tutoring voyeur.
'Smelt the content of the Spatial Ring, but don't smelt the spatial ring itself.'
[Affirmative, Smelting Everything instead of the Spatial Ring]
'*Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh….. Who Dares attack I, The Medical Saint; Gu Wanhe. arrrgghhh.*'
Whatever the spirit wanted to tell him was cut short as his [Ether Furnace] went into overdrive to smelt the Soul of a high Medical saint.
Hun Lian's mind was working crazily as he was thinking what would happen if his [Ether Furnace] was not able to smelt the soul, but soon he calmed down as he saw the [Ether Furnace] starting to smelt all the Cultivation Techniques, which meant that the soul was successfully smelted.
After waiting for a while, he received a Notification from the Pearl of Threads
[All the Items have been Succefully Smelted]
[A Soul Body: Cultivation, Soul Strength, and Memories have been smelted together in an Ocular Orb. Many memories and much of Cultivation has been lost in the smelting.]
[1411 Martial Techniques: A Middle-Grade Earth Level Fighting Technique "Thuum" has been acquired]
[675 Cultivation Techniques: A Perfect-Grade Sky Level Cultivation Technique "Rule Pedetal Arts" has been acquired]
[2 Weapon Artefacts: Not Enough Items to Smelt together.]
Soon, Hun Lian saw a black ring, a bluish orb, one purple tome, one red tome and two weapon artefacts, one sword and one dagger respectively neatly placed in his system's inventory.
Soon enough, Hun Lian understood the workings of the [Ether Furnace].
It can only work when many items of one category are smelted together to create something of a higher tier.
For example, if he smelts five hundred sword techniques together, then he would get a sword technique which was infinitely more powerful than them.
But if he smelts many different kinds of techniques into one, then he would get a random technique.
Similarly, the Level and Grade or Tier of the item were also taken into account when smelting.
'Let's try this Ocular Orb'
With a thought, The Ocular orb made from the Soul of the Medical Saint Gu Wanhe from his ring disappeared from his System's inventory, and directly went into his mind and soon, a flood of information, experiences, soul power and cultivation was absorbed by Hun Lian.
A warm feeling seared through Hun Lian's body as he absorbed everything and the information he got from his memories, albeit corrupted was so astonishing that even he was surprised.
'Although I already knew his background, but now seeing the memories….This Gu Wanhe was from a different realm altogether. This world is so enormous….'
Most people thought that the Emperor Realm is the highest anyone has reached in this empire but according to Gu Wanhe's memories, Emperor Realm was but a starting point.
Gu Wanhe was himself From the Spiritual Tyrant Realm, which was above the Emperor Realm.
Rest of the information about the Realms and knowledge of Martial Techniques were lost in the smelting because the [Ether Furnace] was of low level.
But Hun Lian already knew what came after the Spiritual Tyrant Realm, as he had read this novel before.
Apart from that, Hun Lian also received the knowledge of Medicines, Diseases and other miscellaneous things, some of which were corrupted but some were complete.
'According to Gu Wanhe, the Realms in this world are:
Body Tempering Realm
Qi Gathering Realm
Transcendent Realm
Nascent Soul Realm
Golden Core Realm
Divine Illusion Realm [Can Fly]
Nirvana Realm [Mind Arts / Spiritual Arts]
Saint Realm
Emperor Realm
Spiritual Tyrant Realm
All further divided into 8 Levels, While the Tiers for the Artefacts are Iron Level, Jade Level, Earth Level, Sky Level, Heaven Level, Crystal Level and every Tier is divided into three subsequent levels, which are Entry Grade - Middle Grade - Perfect Grade.
Even such an accomplished Medical Saint doesn't know the horrors that lie after ascension.
People in the Divine Illusion Realm can start Flying with the help of their Spiritual strength and people in the Nirvana Realm can start fighting with their minds using their powerful and deep Spiritual Strength. My Soul is much more denser and stronger after merging with Gu Wanhe's Spiritual strength. I reckon I can start using Mind Arts in the Divine Illusion Realm itself if I can get my hands on a powerful Mind Arts.'
Hun Lian had a lot of plans in his mind, but he soon calmed down as he knew that he was in a backwater village of a backwater empire of a backwater continent.
This world was bigger than anyone could anticipate and he needed to get out of here if he wished to become powerful.
'I need to get into the Perpetuity Sect!'
The Perpetuity Sect's minimum requirement of a Transcendent Realm must be completed and although he received most of his lost cultivation, he needed to immediately practice this Sky-Level Perfect Grade Cultivation Technique called the Rule Pedestal Arts.
Hun Lian knew that his previous cultivation technique was just a Middle-Grade Iron Level technique, but even that was a highly sought-after treasure for many.
Again, with a thought, the Purple Tome from his inventory named the Rule Pedestal Arts disappeared and entered his brain and this time, Hun Lian finally understood the gravity of his situation.
This art gave its user a set of Spiritual Veins but for that to happen, he needs to go through excruciating pain.
Not Many people have Spiritual Veins as those are require special bloodlines, but the benefits of having them was insane.
'I was a blue-collar office worker in my previous life. There is no way that I can handle that kind of pain'
A part of him wanted to not practice this technique, but a part of him knew that it is necessary and must be done.
"Let's just get this over with," He said with a sigh as he stuffed a towel in his mouth and then dunked his head in the water so that he can't scream and all his wails can get muffled.
It was the evening right now as both the suns over the town of Neverkeep were starting to set in opposite directions and the atmosphere it created in the lush gardens of the Hun Family was serene.
But while everyone was enjoying the good weather, Hun Lian was suffering excruciating pain as the water in his bathtub boiled at an alarming rate and his flesh literally started to burn and rot.
Hun Lian didn't know what to think at this moment as a copious amount of information about the Cultivation Technique along with pain was coming to his head while his own cultivation strength was changing his body.
The known Levels of the cultivation techniques were Iron Level, Jade Level and Earth Level, all divided into three grades, which were Entry Grade, Middle Grade, and Perfect Grade.
All the other Techniques, like the Sky Grade, Heaven Grade, etc were simply a myth in these times, and hence the requirements to practice them were also strict.
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After a few hours, The excruciating pain finally subsided, and Hun Lian finally opened his bloodshot eyes weakly and rested in the bathtub.
The bathtub was filled with tar, puss, pieces of rotten flesh, black blood and dirt.
Hun Lian weakly stood up and washed away the filth from his body, after which he went to his room and took out a new dress from his closet.
"Rina"
He said and soon, his maid came in and bowed to him, but just as she gazed at Hun Lian, she froze.
She had served her master from a very young age and she knew how he looked and behaved very well. Although she did find her master's mood a little low since yesterday, but it wasn't her place to comment on it, but now she could no longer ignore the change of her Master.
She gazed at Hun Lian who was wearing a white Tang Dress with gold trimming while most of his jet-black hair was held together in a bun while his skin had a unique lustre which was not there before.
He also looked a little thin and sickly which bundled together with his pale skin was not giving a good feeling.
"Master you…"
"Don't worry. I just received a backlash when I was cultivating. You just go and clean my bathroom and don't tell any of this to anybody."
Rina worriedly nodded and walked towards the bathroom to be frozen again, this time due to the filthy smell coming from the bathtub.
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The night passed and soon an orange and a yellow ray of sunshine of the 3rd day hit the town of Neverkeep.
For the past 3 days, Hun Lian has been in closed-door cultivation while eating only Supplement Pills instead of food.
As he opened his eyes, a terrifying force exuded from Hun Lian as the cultivation alter he was sitting on trembled.
'2nd Layer of Transcendent Realm'
'This….The Rule Pedestal art actually made my Spiritual Veins around the Mystical Bone, unlocking the power of the Mystical Bone directly!'
Hun Lian looked at his hand and clenched his fist as he felt the unique power of his Sister's Spiritual Bone.
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"Rina, I need a bath. Come inside"
As soon as Hun Lian's voice sounded from across his room, Hun Rina, the maid immediately ran with shame on her face and entered Hun Lian's room, and knocked on his bathroom door.
"Master, May I come in?"
"Yes"
After listening to the confirmation, Rina timidly entered the bathroom where her Master was waiting for her.
"Drop your clothes and wash me thoroughly. I have a very important meeting today"
Hun Rina's face instantly turned red, but she still got naked and went to Hun Lian who was lathering himself with soap.
He had to release his pent-up stress from the last few days and what better way to do it than doing it with a beautiful woman? His Predecessor had no time to indulge in such carnal desires but he was different.
As the sounds of grunting and moaning stopped coming out of the bathroom, Hun Lian came out dressed neatly in a white robe with golden borders while tying some of his hair in a bun, as the rest of his hair just flowed with the wind.
Hun Lian's height was approaching 6", and as he would hit adulthood at 18, he would reach 6'3, which was good enough for him.
After getting ready, Hun Lian closed his eyes and sent his senses into his spatial ring, which was hidden near his chest and soon he saw an impressive size of 25 cubic meters. He grabbed a few of his clothes, daily necessities, cultivation pills, etc from his backpack and stored them in it.
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