I requested a large amount of data from Database and combed through that for a couple of years. I concluded that my disciples are spoiled brats. Ket tried teaching the wonders of science but ended up making a cult. Bord turned out to be a horrible slave-driving dictator. Angeta kept running away from her problems, her eaten tail and her pursuers both.
Selis is turning into a straight-up psychopath and Lola is as lazy as ever. Vox… I don’t want to think about those horrible attempts at flirting anymore. Ares is still a wet noodle, her spine made from the softest substance known to man. Tess is the only one that’s pretty neutral. Except for her animal abuse, she does not appreciate all that feathered kitty cat has done for her.
My headache only became worse.
By now, the web of social interactions and relations had become a gigantic clusterfuck that even I couldn’t make heads or tails of anymore. Following a single strand works fine, but any form of overview is lost when zooming out even slightly.
More inconsistencies came up when I took a wider look at my surroundings. The entire dungeon in Capital city doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, to be honest. Every single person with a lick of common sense and working eyes would be able to deduce that only a fraction of the food consumed by that city is imported.
Then there are the dragon attacks, both the one on Tower City and the one my students fought off while I stepped into the foundation realm. First, I thought that my mana tornadoes attracted the trio of attacking dragons, but how did the Flight sense it from so far away? Rhea cannot sense mana fluctuations with such high sensitivity and Flight Mountain is far enough that a massive sensor network or antenna would be needed to receive such disturbances.
And the dragon fleet that attacked my students must have left from Flight Mountain before I started my breakthrough to get there that quick. And why did the massive air mana-storm Rhea caused while singing not attract any dragons?
No matter how I looked at these problems, I felt like I was missing a large part of the puzzle. So, I decided to not think about these irritating things anymore.
I distracted myself by querying Database for an update on how the real world is doing. The beast hordes that used to cover the foothills east of Tower City were all pulled into Tree at this point. The large majority of students had been evacuated to the moon, with only my original students and a small community to the south of Tree holding out against the raining beasties.
I frowned as I saw that nobody was missing any limbs. Then I noticed that Database had lowered the evacuation injury level, lowering it from ‘absolutely life-threatening’ to merely ‘threatening.’ On the one hand, I was glad that Database showed some initiative. On the other hand, my threatening speech about missing genitals and limbs had lost its edge. I asked for Database’s reasons, and it showed me some interesting data it had gathered about the qi ecosystem of the entire dimension.
That’s when things started to click. The qi generation had spiked tremendously. All the beast remains had brought some much-needed energy variety to Tree’s dimension, and the fighting had generated enough energy turbulence to kickstart several qi generators. No longer was the revolving sea the only substantial source of new qi; now small eddies and streams of power revolved around large battle sites. The large variety of powers and elements used in the chaos were helping the circulation of energies through Tree’s lands.
Having people permanently injured would only cause them to spend large amounts of qi and food in the regrowing of limbs, Database had ruled this as inefficient and prevented these injuries.
I also sensed some other form of energy influencing the dimension as a whole. I would have called it something like faith energy, had I not known better. Maybe a collective consciousness? I didn’t sense it before, but maybe Tree’s dimension now has enough occupants to start forming something like a will of its own? Planets are influenced by its occupants, so there is no reason this wouldn’t happen in this space also.
It felt youthful, full of vigour and vibrant powers. Pure potential and enthusiasm. Also a faint feeling of pressure, of urgency. I wondered what that was about for a long time, but couldn’t come to any clear conclusions. I tasked Database with alerting me when a clear message could be transferred. This Will is still too faint to form coherent sentences.
Headache gone, I wanted to run a battery of tests on this phenomenon. But how do you test something like this? I tried to come up with ways to find out the mechanics that drive such a will generation but kept getting stuck on how to measure it.
It is the soul conundrum all over again, I concluded. A consciousness is needed to measure this amalgamation of all consciousnesses inside a defined area. I ended up shrugging my shoulders and deciding just to see how this thing will play out.
Then I faffed about with rocket design for a bit. I even spent a couple of decades theorising on how to make qi-powered self-replicating spaceships. I churned out a couple of viable designs in the end but kept getting stuck on how I could prevent mutation down the line. Accounting for a couple of thousands of generations is rather easy, but a cultivator needs to take a longer view of things.
All safety measures will break to brute force attacks, and time is the most brutal of forces there is. My safety percentages went down the drain after a million generations or so, and I’m not willing to let this universe turn into a singular mass of dumb, self-replicating machines just because I didn’t do my engineering homework properly.
Having spent several dozen years by myself, satisfying my introverted side, I decided to bring things to a close. I took all the data I had accumulated and condensed it into a usable format, trying to get an overview of all my mental efforts.
So that’s where I am now, trying to form some sort of conclusion from this hermit-like thinking effort I just did. I’ve got to say though, nothing like a self-imposed exile that lasts a few decades to clear my head. I’ve immersed myself in practical problems for so long that I barely remember the reason I closed myself off in the first place.
Ah, the stupid decisions I made, right? Those mistakes that don’t really matter in the long run? They seemed pretty damning, but put into perspective they don’t mean shit.
Anyway, now I need to make some decisions. So, I want to continue my devil-may-care attitude concerning my small sect? I might call it a school, but it’s turning into a sect, I must admit. To be totally honest, I want to put some sort of system in place and then watch it grow. I don’t want to be bogged down with all of the minutiae that comes with ruling over a large group of people.
Yeah, so let’s just not! I turn to Database and see how it’s doing. It is absorbing any and all power that comes near the moon, allowing it to steadily grow in power. It being my qi clone, it still has a long way to go before it reaches similar power levels to me. It’s at the level of a top-tier solid core cultivator right now.
It has the thinking capacity of a small child or a smart animal. That should be enough, right? I give it administrative rights and put a process in place that sends me daily updates on all it does. I form a self-reflection process next. That should allow it to change and grow in a manner which proves the most efficient. Allowing it administrative rights to the rule sets and quest logs already in place completes that job.
Then I line up a new set of tasks for the mass production plant under Tree’s roots. First, it will start making the new drones I designed. That should give me a heads-up on any world-destroying catastrophes before they become a lot of trouble to fix. I schedule a series of rockets to be produced after global drone coverage has been achieved.
Checking on Database, I see that it has scheduled a large list of quests, varying from the gathering of new types of plants and herbs too finding the dragon that ate Angeta’s tail. I green-light nearly all of them. I then add a new rule to Database so it will stop spying on people and generating quests based on random comments it overheard.
I wanted to poke my eyes out when I read some of the things it had generated.
I do not want to know about my student’s fetishes and deepest, whispered wishes and desires, after all.
And then I find myself without any new tasks to do. For the first time in relative decades, I have no big problems to think about. Firming up my will, I decide to return to the real world. I have shut off my senses like a big baby, running away from my problems, so I’m slightly curious about what’s been happening.
Two bouncing globes jiggle in front of me. The ceiling is stone, and I’m covered in sweat.
pant “Oh, hey Drew, you’re back” pant
This is an interesting way of waking up…
“Hey Rhea, whatcha doing?”
pant “I was feeling an itch and you were available?” She stops for a moment to smirk at me. “You unlocked this urge, after all. Take responsibility.”
I mentally shrug my shoulders and flip us over. “Bad dragon, you need to be punished.” I then spend a few hours educating Re-Haan.
extra Chapter
Bonus
This is an April fools’ chapter. It is optional and can be skipped.
I ‘ve realised my mistake. It’s almost as if my experiences in the cultivation world have taught me nothing. The strong rule the weak and might make right after all. If the victor decides what is true and righteous, I’ll just have to be the victor. How difficult a concept is that to grasp?
All my mistakes, every error in judgement and oversight I have made will be forgotten if I can simply survive the last person to witness them. I can easily accomplish this by slaughtering the last person to witness them. I forgot to include a third of all power available in this world in the attraction formation inside Tree? No problem, I will just have to beat up Tree. Giving those below me the freedom to do as they wish? What foolish folly, I will subjugate them and rule with an iron fist.
Suddenly, the energy between heaven and earth comes gushing towards me, almost as if the universe has recognised me and is now giving me its power willingly. No longer needing to transform the qi into my own through hard work and meditation, I feel my cultivation base skyrocketing.
My foundational cultivation base solidifies once again, forming a pillar. The energy keeps gushing inside my fleshy body, forming another pillar. And another. Nine pillars form in total, all filled with a majestic air, brimming with absolute power. A dragon forms, which roars to the heavens. A majestic and mystical and mysterious air surrounds the dragon, which curls up and goes to sleep.
I open my eyes, rays of light piercing the skies as my eyes glow with mystical mysticism. Looking around, I see that I am laying across Tess’s mount, the last few savage mutants disappearing as they are sucked into Tree. I stand up, my robes flapping majestically in the breeze.
Wait, I’m wearing robes? Yes, black robes with majestic dragons embroidered in mystical patterns. My long hair flows in the wind, and I glimpse the law of air currents inside my flowing flows of flowing hair. Enlightenment pours into my mind, causing the dragon in my core to also flap around as a tornado forms around my nine pillars.
“Teach, you okay?” asks Tess.
What disrespect is this? “HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS ME, YOUR BETTER, BY NAME? CALL ME MOST HONORED REVERED SENIOR TEACH, YOU INSOLENT WHELP!”
The cat below me explodes into a fine bloody mist under the sound of my voice. Everybody freezes. I see Ferah, Tess, Ket and Rhea looking at me with horror in their eyes.
“Noooo! Blacky!” calls Ferah.
“KITTY!” Tess falls to her knees.
“Teach, what’s going on?” Rhea is looking at me with wide eyes.
“Address me as revered senior Teach. I will not repeat myself.” I stare at my disobedient subordinates with a piercing glare. Tess, Ket and Ferah spit out a mouth full of blood, unable to resist my killing intent. Rhea stumbles as she barely resists the mental pressure.
“I have seen the Dao. Truth is a grain of rice while lies are flowing water. The beginning of all can be read on the back of a shampoo bottle while the end is foretold in the eyes of children.” It all makes sense now.
Rhea looks very confused as she struggles to stand. I release the pressure and put my arm around her. “Be still now, darling. I will only love you and be faithful forever. Unless you agree to me having a few side-hoes, of course. No, I don’t need your agreement. I will stand above all things, after all. That includes your opinion, the opinion of my readers and all the harem-hating faggots out there.”
I spit on the ground, my saliva forming profound patterns. I lose myself in the flowing water as I sense my spit dribble down my chin, gaining enlightenment on the truth and Dao of water. Rhea has fainted by now and is foaming at the mouth. I stuff a mystical healing pill between her soft as jade-like lips and put her head on my chest.
Rising into the air, I call forth a mystical sword from my ring. Standing upon the blade, I soar through the skies as I transform into a multicoloured prismatic streak of light. The area behind me explodes as I suddenly move many times the speed of sound.
I cast a glance backwards, only to see the mountains behind me exploding. Maybe moving so fast that the air transforms into plasma was a bad idea? I cast my spiritual sense backwards and sense no life. Ah well, I can get more disciples later, I guess.
“Fwwububueurueu, fbabawawwwuwuwuw!” Yes, that is what I must do. I sense the wind roaring past me as it flaps my cheeks to and fro. I gain enlightenment in the profundities of air for a moment before I become bored.
I appear above Tower City, a stain on my honour. They dared to lay hands on my disciples. Also, that shopkeeper dared to try to scam me. I must cleanse this blight; they gave me no face so now I will give them no face.
I snort, the dragon roars and my nine pillars transform into a perfect golden core. The shockwave of physical force emanating from my nostrils flattens the entire city. That should teach them a lesson. How dare that shopkeeper try to make a living.
“I will not rest until all my enemies are slain and lie dead before me; that is an oath I will swear to the heavens.” The heavenly Dao descends, confirming my oath. Mysterious, profound and mystical light descends, marking me as a chosen of heaven.
Cool!
Now for those shitty nobles. Nobles are always evil. Everyone knows that. The poor folk that follow those evil nobles must therefore also be evil. With a mysterious glimmer in my eye, I speed onwards, travelling on the sword as I employ the Soaring Skies Swift Traversal sword technique.
Mere moments later, leaving another massive trail of superheated and exploding plasma in my wake, I float above the Capital. “I’M HERE FOR REVENGE! I WILL SLAUGHTER ALL MY ENEMIES UNTIL THE NINTH GENERATION, THIS I SWEAR BY THE HEAVENS!”
More golden light descends, and my perfect mysterious heavenly golden perfect core transforms into a multicoloured nascent soul. I pour in all my understanding of science and my nascent soul transforms into a nine-hundred and ninety-nine petaled heavenly lily.
Each petal is a different colour, representing a unique element. The red petal represents fire. The lime green petal is nuclear power, the mauve one is the earth while the ochre petal radiates an earthworm energy. The teal petal is the smell of freshly cut grass, the blue one is ice-nine, the black one represents my hate for poorly produced rap music and the purple one is the power of friendship. Naming all of them would take too long, but each one holds a profound and mystical light, shining brightly.
I grasp the sword under my feet in my hands and swing lightly. Two hundred million thousand sword beams shoot from my sword, glittering with a sharp aura, obliterating the massive city below. My evil and wicked enemies scream in terror as I ruthlessly cut them down one by one. I don’t even spare the puppies and kittens.
The city now in ruins due to my totally justified and righteous wrath, I feel happy knowing that another possible threat to my existence and immortality is now gone.
Then the entire world shakes as a wave a trillion metres high comes from the sea. I swing my sword again, this time infusing the enlightenment of waves
I just gained enlightenment on into my strike. The wave dies screaming and coughing blood as it explodes into a fine mist.
A massive dragon, three million thousand li long emerges from the earth. It opens its massive maws as molten lava drips from its scales. The sea boils as the city-sized chunks of molten stone fall.
“WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLU-”
Knowing an enemy when I see one, I ruthlessly squint at this new foe. It seems a bit sleepy still, so now is the best time to strike. Circling the ninth path of the Divine Viagra Path Of Heaven Threading With Big Steps through my fleshly body, I kick the massive lizard in the gonads. It squeals like a little girl as it soars into space.
The moon-sized dragon crashes into the moon, shattering it into a quadrillion pieces. I knew that dragon was evil, after all. In its rapid departure upward, it took the majority of this planet’s atmosphere with it. The moon’s fragments are now raining down around me, turning the entire world into a hellscape.
I knew that dragon was evil, I should have killed it earlier. “I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, YOU FOUL BEAST. THIS I SWEAR ON THE HEAVENS!”
More golden light pours into my core, turning my hyper-polished awesome perfect golden core nascent soul flower in a Dao seeker path. I walk down the path using the mighty technique of power walking and reach the immortal gates. Profound energy pours from between its opening crack, so I kick it lightly.
The immortal gates crumble under my mighty kicking Dao as immortal energy gushes into my core.
So that’s how I finally achieved immortality.
The end.
Afterword
Thank you for reading the second book in the Dao of Magic series. Teach’s adventures will continue in the third book, out now!
If you enjoyed the book, I’d appreciate it if you could leave a review. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, I’d love to hear why. Reviews are vital to independent publishers, so either scroll through to the end of this book and leave your thoughts on the book page, or you can follow this link:
The Dao of Magic: Book II Page 54
