Path of the Ascendant

As Wei Yi left the brothel and wandered the streets, she wore only a faint smile on her face, but her mental self was absolutely ecstatic. Before meeting with Meng Chu, there were quite a number of things that she wasn’t sure about, including the strengths of those that were at the top within this crimson world, but during their interaction she had plenty of time to assess everything about the man, including his killing intent cultivation technique.

He was a step weaker than the woman that attacked her in the mountains, and he practised a technique similar to that woman, except for the fact that it was closer to the element of earth than fire.

‘If these techniques are named after the elements they are meant to be based on, then they would range between Violent First Pool and Violent Fifth Pool, meaning that it would be the Violent Fourth Pool… except for the fact that this one stores far less energy, but it is much more powerful. I wonder if there is some official list for me to consult. Anyway, back on topic,’ she stored her understanding of the technique in the library and brought back the book of Meng Chu, ‘If I am to ally with someone, he might not be the worst choice, seeing as he shows signs of intelligence and is rather straightforward when he needs to be. If he speaks the truth regarding the nature of the other leaders, then the least I could do is meet them, steal everything I can with my spiritual will, and then… Perhaps if I was presenting a false identity, then I could become someone’s underling, but that is not something that I will do as myself.’

She saw a person walking past her, so she grabbed their arm and pushed them against a wall, noticing only then that it was a feeble woman without a trace of killing intent cultivation, prompting her to weaken her grip the next second, “Tell me everything you know about the Beast’s Rest leaders.”

Although she didn’t utilise any of her killing intent or physique energy, the height difference between them caused the girl to be presented with an extremely muscular chest and abdomen, presenting a similarly frightening image. For a few seconds, she did nothing but tremble, shutting her eyes immediately, but when she realised that Wei Yi didn’t do anything to her, she narrowly opened one eye and managed to calm her trembling sufficiently to speak.

“W-Well, there’s… uh… Meng Chu, and… Ding Wen, uh, and Shi Luo Feng. They’re all tough, and scary, and… uh…”

“Calm down, girl. Just tell me everything you know, and I will let you go immediately.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

“Meng Chu practises the Violet Fourth Fall technique and is in charge of the town’s guards and brothels which he has inherited from his father and is at the second stage of the Searing Torch realm which makes him the weakest of the three but he is able to keep his position because the guards are stronger than all of the other forces under the control of the other two… hah…” the girl had to take a breath – or seven – before she could continue, “Ding Wen does all of the trading in the town, and manages the auctions, and so he holds most of the town’s treasures within his vaults. Then, Shi Luo Feng, she runs a number of training halls and a bunch of other buildings that deal with combat and competition. I don’t do much fighting, so I- ah! I’ve heard that none of her personal guard or close allies last for longer than a year.”

“Thank you for that information, I shall memorise all of it so that I don’t have to do this again. Now, get out of here, preferably by going to your left then turning right on the second turn.”

“Uh… okay…” the girl said, beginning to run the very moment that Wei Yi released her arm.

Obviously, she didn’t provide her with overly specific directions purely because of the kindness of her heart, for it would be difficult to say exactly how much of that kindness remained, but because her ever-present spiritual will caught the traces of approaching individuals who appeared to be bearing some degree of malicious intent towards their vague area.

The route led the girl away from the conflict just in time, for the ones in hiding appeared the next second.

Without any hesitation, they surrounded her, not bothering to search for anyone else in the area. Although that made it clear that they were after her instead of the random girl, there was no clear explanation of why there were after her-

“That’s right, boss, this is the bitch that took away your time with Ah Li!”

‘I would ask you to stop answering questions before I have the time to ask them, but that reason… I suppose it is to be expected from a world where it is common to kill one another for fun, if the Black Terror is to be believed, but it is still extremely immature and exactly what I want, for this will allow me to measure up how I fare against someone in what might be the first or second realm of killing intent cultivation, as well as a large group and people who are not as unprepared as the aforementioned Black Terror,’ she thought, drawing the black dagger from her pockets, ‘And since my killing intent is unlikely to gain the effects of my planar energy, if I can manifest any of it into the blade, I might be able to experience fighting with a proper weapon for once.’

“You, for ruining my Ah Li’s mind, I will strike you down!” the leader of the group, a balding man with a sphere of crimson light floating in front of his forehead, yelled, reaching up and grabbing a clump of that energy with his hands.

“I did sleep with her, but I did nothing to her mind. If you’re already planning to attack me, is there a point to accusing me falsely?”

“Don’t’ you lie to me, woman! I came to see her today, and she ignored me!”

‘Uh… Did I overdo things slightly, to the point of making her lose all interest in other people? I’ll keep that in mind,’ she thought, raising the dagger, “Go on, then.”

The bald man nodded to his underlings, prompting four of them, out of the total of eleven, to charge at her with two knives, one club and one long stick with a sword-blade bound to the top of one side. They had vague elements of coordination within their movements, but they were closer to being non-existent, for she was already able to see, just one step into their charge, that two of their strikes would collide with one another if they continued onward.

Since their tactics were clearly not too advanced, she decided to attempt a mental technique that she could have theoretically utilised long ago if not for the interference of the mental storm and conjured a small tactical table in the middle of the library’s third floor.

Atop it, she created a series of books regarding every single one of the fighters around her. Then, she focused and forced her mind to accelerate, pushing it until she could not go any further without the risk of bringing significant harm to herself via overexertion. The moments of the four figures slowed down, not to a complete halt like the time she faced the Black Terror, but it was enough for her.

From the beginning of her cosmic journey, she had thought that her best trait was her mind, and ever since she attained the Gilded Library, she had been wondering how to best put it to use. After plenty of consideration and deliberation, she came up with a technique that she tentatively named Endless Calculation, in the hopes of eventually creating something that rivals the likes of Storm Blade Wreathing and the Kong Mental Arts without relying entirely on the powers of cosmic energy.

Its function was simple – to take available information, typically the sorts of things that she can detect with her spiritual will and any prior knowledge about a situation or opponent – then predict every possible step that could occur in the next second, at the rate of the mental space.

Then, once the mental second passes, to repeat the process while eliminating possibilities that contradict the previous second. In other words, she wanted to create a perfect model of an encounter by learning from the actions in front of her, then devise a method to counteract those actions with minimal effort on her part.

This wasn’t something to be used on weaker enemies, nor on situations that can be solved via brute force, for that would be a waste of mental energy, but it could have two primary uses. The first would be when she is against the likes of the Great Families, which somehow surpass every cultivator in the same realm. As long as she can predict all of their movements and attacks, she doesn’t need to care how powerful they are, for she would be able to evade them all and strike at the weakest points of their bodies. The second could be used to substitute her lacking tactical experience and allow her to order others to perform certain actions without needing to involve herself. In that situation, she would create a model of the encounter, take in all information about the area and the threats that may be encountered there, then design a small number of plans and tactics to be used against them.

Both methods had not been used so far, as both would require a great deal of information to be gathered ahead of time against those that could resist her spiritual will, not to mention how her library developed a mental storm only a short time after being filled. Now that the twin malaise of the mind was solved, she finally had the opportunity to refine the technique into something usable.

Two mental seconds passed since the activation of Endless Calculation, but the number of possibilities was clearly still too large to be dealt with.

‘Right, I am only taking them into account, not considering what I could or should do. With my complete data, I can narrow down a method of approach significantly more quickly,’ Wei Yi thought, adding that into the manual and performing another set of calculations.

Out of the thousand or so books representing possibilities, several hundred vanished and half of those that remained moved backwards, as to demonstrate their low likelihood. Then, many of those vanished, and more of those at the front moved backwards. With each iteration, she gathered information on the thug’s movements, probable techniques and skills, and even where they looked in the hopes of understanding their intentions. Once any of these were confirmed, she could judge their actions far more reliably, and thus discard the things that they would be certain not to do.

The moment that she had less than ten possibilities for the actions of the club wielder, who looked to be rather simple mentally and was thus charging straight at her without any care for his allies nor surroundings, she decided to confirm their validity by acting out one of the predicted situations, stepping towards his right with a planar energy-free Dawn Light Step. The simple movements of the technique were not particularly fast nor extravagant, but they somehow confused the eye.

He reacted by… well, by changing absolutely nothing about his approach.

‘Indeed, that prediction was correct, but only because there was very little that had to be considered with him. Even the least intelligent members of the Great Families are bound to have more methods than simply running at me without a care in the world forcefully drilled into them, and the more intelligent will have a thousand different ways to make the mindless charge tactic become something far more complex. I know I would,’ she thought, taking another step and stabbing his armpit with the tip of the rock-like knife, ‘This man appears to be practising the water equivalent of Violent Third Pool, so, presumably, Violent First Pool. That’s three out of ten, or perhaps fifteen or twenty.’

She threw the club-wielding man into the wall of a nearby structure, instantly incapacitating him – and likely causing significant damage to the skull, but that wasn’t of any concern to her.

The books in the library vanished and were replaced by a far greater number of tomes, for her simple action had significantly changed her position and her appearance in the eyes of the thugs. Just as they began to reconsider the simplicity of their actions, so did her Endless Calculation have to process their new decisions. Thankfully, as she had completed several sets of predictions already, the total number of books that appeared this time was lower, for there were some things that she could absolutely rule out without a second thought.

Ideally, the technique seemed most suitable for use against close acquaintances, or those whose every move had been recorded somewhere for her to view and comprehend, for that would minimize the amount of guessing that she has to do, and thus increase how quickly she can act with confidence. However, such things would be risky in their own right if either source of information is unreliable, whether due to inaccuracies or the person acting in a different manner during their particular battle.

The gazes of the thugs were drawn to their leader, who opened his mouth to speak, “All of-”

‘He is the primary source of their non-existent tactics, meaning that if he is dispatched, the groups cohesion should fall apart completely. How convenient,’ Wei Yi thought to herself, lowering her body significantly.

Like a sprinter, she launched herself forward, through the gap between two men, and aimed straight for the leader’s neck. He was able to respond quickly, crushing the clump of killing intent within his hand to form a thick barrier in front of himself. It was inferior to anything that could be created with the externalised force of planar energy, but it was still sufficiently dense to slow her momentum to a crawl if she carelessly passed through it.

‘The other part of this fight was meant to be me utilising killing intent, which I ought to have enough of to activate the knife’s internal systems, much like an Energy Condensation cultivator can use lower-grade artefacts. Strictly speaking, I am closer to someone who hasn’t yet taken in any planar energy, but semantics are irrelevant for now,’ she decided, gathering all of the loose crimson energy within her mental landscape, which had grown to envelop the entire library with a vague red light, as if it had also moved into the prison realm.

She directed it into the knife, feeling an extremely unpleasant sensation as it passed through her hand and flesh, and quickly felt it being drained away as it entered the dagger.

Somehow, she felt as if the weapon was laughing at the amount she provided, for it had almost no response besides getting a little warmer in her hands. Although she could not be said to be impulsive, not when she had perfect control over herself like she did now, for an inanimate object to mock her was not a pleasant experience in the slightest, whether or not it was true.

‘Oh, so you don’t think that I have enough energy for you, do you? You think the hatred of an entire family system, the districts of the most powerful city in the world, and the world itself for whatever nonsense it is engaging in while this occurs, is insufficient for one simple knife?’

Her mental brows furrowed, and the killing intent around the library suddenly doubled in volume.

Once again, it flooded to the knife, but before it could be fully used this time, she caused even more to spawn within her mind, encouraging the constant development of killing intent via the combined powers of the Kong Killing Arts and the Augur’s Library, both of which could easily be combined to create an array to magnify and greatly enhance the quantity of killing intent within her mind. When combined with the fact that killing intent wasn’t a finite energy like planar energy, and it seemed that it could be generated within one’s mind infinitely so long as the user did not lose his will and hatred, whatever that hatred was.

To apply this infinite quantity of energy properly, something like the Violent Third Pool technique would be needed, and it ought to help greatly with storing more energy in the body, but what need did she have to store raw energy when she had the library to store it in a vastly denser, purer state?

Within a heartbeat, according to the regular perception of those around her, the killing intent within her body doubled, tripled and then magnified by an unknown quantity.

Before anyone could observe and understand it, that great mass condensed into incredibly thin threads, then the threads were woven into pages, and the pages were bound into a book that was placed on a shelf that stood apart from every other one on the third floor. This book contained all of the energy that should, according to some rough predictions from the Endless Calculation method, be enough to feed the dagger, which she intended to test right then and there.

‘I must say, I had assumed the mysterious characters to be my most powerful asset, but this ability to practically slow down time is very close to beating it. In theory, had I not been stifled by the four arrays beneath my home from the very beginning, I could have achieved something similar to the cosmic energy I now possess through raw calculation… theoretically.’

While another book condensed itself within the Augur’s Library, she removed that one and projected it onto the dagger, all while she was still in the process of lunging towards the barrier. It flooded into the black stone, and this time, there was no imaginary laughter from the blade, and the minimal warmth that had initially appeared within the knife grew to the point of being boiling hot. No visual changes appeared on its surface, but she felt the edge becoming infinitely sharp, almost like it could cut through the very fabric of reality itself.

Although it did not appear to do such a thing in her hands, it did cut through the barrier the very next real-time second, leaving a single long, deep wound on the bald man’s chest.

He leapt back, his eyes wide, and was about to exclaim something when he suddenly fell onto his back. Blood poured endlessly from the cut, which, despite all initial appearances, pierced almost all the way through, severing his heart, lungs and more in a strangely jagged and unclean manner, causing the blood to flow in vast, constant quantities.

“She… she has a hatred blade! She hit our boss! Get her!”

The situation did not play out exactly as expected, for the moment that they saw their leader fall, everyone, including those who had initially stood back, rushed at her with renewed vigour and dexterity.

Their movements were even simpler than before, but each one was clearly preparing to use the strongest method they had of attacking her.

‘Not that their attack amounts to anything more than a minor inconvenience. If I was to compare these with anyone, I would liken them to the common cultivators of the Planar Continents, people who had no guidance nor resources in their cultivation and were thus significantly weaker than anyone who practised a similar technique. However, they were incredibly helpful in my development of the Endless Calculation technique, and have informed me of a new term, so I’ll end them quickly.’

She employed the Earth-Shaking Step to cause them to stumble the moment they neared her, and then followed up with a twin Boulder Pushing Palm to dispose of both of the knife-wielders. While she could not display the full strength of her techniques without calling upon her limited planar energy, the basic principles of most of them could be replicated with sufficient controlled force.

A short but nimble woman armed with a sword approached her next. In her hands, the sword was used to stab at Wei Yi’s heart while she simultaneously released a wave of concentrated killing intent aimed directly in her direction.

The former was deflected by a simple swing of the black knife, followed up by a similar stab to the woman’s heart, while the killing intent washed over her and provoked no visible response at all. It had easily pierced her body and surged to her mind, but when it met with the crimson light of the library and the red pages of an actively assembling book within, it waned and disappeared into nothingness, incapable of even touching the foundations of the library.

‘So, this is the function of killing intent at lower cultivation levels? Her killing intent appears to be significantly more refined that of those around her, with only their boss surpassing her, so she is in the second realm while he is in the third?’ Wei Yi guessed, pulling the black stone knife out of her heart, ‘If that is the case, then wouldn’t I be at the first realm already? That explains why I can use the dagger with a little bit of effort and confirms that killing intent cultivation is much like planar cultivation, in that they can be started with pure luck, but require some semblance of technique to advance.’

She focused on her killing intent, and willed it to emerge from her body, targeting everyone around her. If her guess was correct, then even the first realm of killing intent cultivation allowed for the externalisation of energy, but it could not be as focused. The second should allow for a targeted wave to be released, while the third appeared capable of striking specific targets.

Indeed, as her killing intent burst out, it created a sphere around her that covered their entire area of conflict. One person fell to the ground instantly, their bodies incapable of handling the sudden shock, while the rest stumbled and struggled in place, their movements towards her stopping completely.

‘As for the other realms, I can study this later. All I know is that the fifth realm had something to do with empowering one’s own body, though not to the extent of making the user invulnerable.’

Without any resistance, it was incredibly easy to finish off her enemies, which she did with great precision, leaving only a single wound on their bodies after gathering everything she could about their killing intent cultivation techniques. Then, she also took a few things from their bodies, reading through them quickly using her spiritual will, then kept them on her for a while. Although most people appeared to practise killing intent cultivation, the matter of elements was still likely to be relevant, meaning that the right manual being sold to the right person could earn her a decent sum of motes of killing intent, which she probably should have considered when burning the Violent Third Pool.

The techniques she found were called Violent First Pool, Violent First Fall, Violent Second River and Violent Fifth Fall. As she had predicted earlier, there were at least three distinct varieties of techniques. The Pool series supported a larger quantity of energy, but it would be weaker. The Fall series stores less energy, but the explosive power it provides is far greater. The River series appeared to be a balance of the two, though it was inferior in both aspects.

‘Very interesting. However, this does mean that if I want to approximate some version of the technique from the mysterious characters, I will need all fifteen techniques in my pockets, so to speak,’ Wei Yi thought, departing from the scene with some haste. Although there appeared to be no strict rules about assault and murder in Beast’s Rest, it was better to be safe than sorry.

 

The next few people she randomly accosted in the street were not followed by a battle, allowing her to gather up all of the information she wanted – and a small map – within an hour, after which she headed for the location of the largest auction house in the town.

Besides common or uncommon killing intent techniques, which were apparently the most commonly sold commodities within the auctions, she wanted to have an opportunity to inspect Ding Wen, the user of the Greed Congregation technique, in order to steal it and to see whether his description by Meng Chu was in any way accurate. If it was, she would consider stealing from his vault later on, but if it wasn’t, she would see whether he would be more agreeable in negotiations.

Finding that auction house was not difficult, and she was sure that if she found someone who had no idea how to read or write, they could still find it.

It would be appropriate to describe the auction house as tower, standing amidst grass, for it certainly gave the impression of being absolutely gigantic despite having only three floors. In horizontal proportions, it was as large as a dozen brothels placed next to one another, both lengthwise and width-wise. Furthermore, it was all built with rare white stone, causing it to stand out from everything around it. At the front stood four guards, one on each side of the entrance and two in the way, obstructing any potential intruders.

‘My spiritual will can’t extend far enough, but I can sense the presence of other people inside, meaning that there might be an active auction going at this very moment. I wonder what the requirement for entry is,’ she asked herself, tidying her robes before approaching.

The moment she entered their sight, they blocked her path with their guandaos, but then, just as suddenly, they raised them again.

“Crimson Robes of the Third Arrival. You may proceed,” one of them said, making way for her.

She frowned internally, but she wouldn’t question a free pass like that, so she walked inside while examining the sleeves of her robes with her eyes, and the rest of them with her spiritual will, ‘Third Arrival, huh? To stumble onto a set of unique robes, a lower-grade hatred blade and a bunch of motes thanks to my first ever fight in this world, it seems that the strange luck that I had in the past hasn’t quite gone away.’

If only luck was something substantive, and not just a superstition, she could have devised some method of cultivating it, or perhaps of gathering it from others, but alas, no such thing was possible.

Even if it was, she wasn’t sure that it was a good idea, for no matter how powerful the force of fortune was, and no matter how prominently it appeared within various tales and legends, it was not omnipotent. And when one could not guarantee success, it was best to do things themselves.