Calculating Cultivation

The TripleX faction came through once again for a chunk of my remaining credits, directing me towards an individual who specialized in organ trafficking. I needed something to handle my body core when I broke through.

It was amusing how many problems I had to keep overcoming for my cultivation, but I didn’t mind. I had come to accept that my cultivation would continue to have problems over the centuries. As long as I could keep moving forward that was the most important thing.

Once I had my breakthrough, I had plans to make more credits in the Forever City, and I would start looking to leave as well. This place was a trap. The longer one stayed here, the more mentally unbalanced they became. Maybe the core regions weren’t as depressing, since I had seen the clear air of the first ring and the colorful towers, but it was still a depressing environment.

Making my way up from a lower open level, I climbed up the tower. I entered level 157,212 of the tower in the seventh ring, I had been directed towards by the TripleX faction when inquiring about someone who was specialized in cultivating using external organs or equipment.

This place was quite far from the center of the Forbidden City and the level clearly indicated that this wasn’t someone who was mainstream in the slightest. But looking for outside systems of cultivation, I didn’t expect them to have prominent locations. But this was quite far out.

“Oh, hello there,” a young smiling girl greeted me. She looked like a pre-teen but appearances could be deceiving. The level itself was much better than the level indicated. At least the lobby area was clean with some plants and non-descript artwork.

A sharp contrast for where it was located in the Forever City. I looked around, and this place set me slightly on edge for a reason I couldn’t place. I had paid to come out here, might as well ask some questions and hopefully get some useful answers.

“Hello, I am here to speak to the Organ Dealer and make inquiries as to their services,” I said.

“I can help you out. Don’t worry, senior. You can call me Liao. My father is quite busy with his research,” she said. I removed my hood and mask, since she had hers removed as well and I intended to do business. While questionable in such a sketchy place, I wasn’t overly worried since I had my observation blockers in place.

“You appear to be quite young,” I said while looking her over. She had no observation blockers, no mods, nothing. Liao smiled at me. I was unsettled.

“My father takes care of me, you don’t need to worry,” she said.

“My apologies for my rudeness. I haven’t seen any young people in the Forever City until you,” I replied. Mentally I had been caught off guard. Another bad thing about holing myself up for long periods of time.

“No worries senior. Now what are you looking for?” Liao asked me while smiling. I didn’t trust her cuteness for a single moment. Nobody was what they appeared like. Young girls were ancient grandmothers. Buff looking men could easily be cowards.

“I am looking for a transplanted organ to help with my cultivation,” I answered.

“Then you have come to the right place. Not many follow the path of adaptation.” She looked me over. “Claws or something a bit more complex?” Liao asked.

“An organ to bridge the gap between my soul and my physical body. It needs to be able to handle a tremendous amount of energy. Be able to process that energy. And connect when I use a body core to break through,” I answered.

“Very complex. A core pillar of your cultivation. The good news is that my father can help you. But the question is cost,” she said. It always came down to this.

“How much?” I asked.

“5,000 credits for a consult and afterwards, well that is up to you and my father.” I didn’t hesitate to pay that amount. Solving my cultivation issues with money would make things a lot simpler. Also paying a deposit gave me confidence this place was legitimate.

I was shown to another waiting room, that was more of a medical office. I noticed several tools and scanners on the walls and shelves. I sat on the elevated bed while I waited. It didn’t take long for an older man and Liao to enter the room togeather.

“Strip. Even those blockers you have on,” the man said. I only hesitated a moment before complying. While tempting to argue, it would just slow the process down. I did keep my spatial rings nearby, within easy grasp, just in case. He looked my naked body over carefully.

“What do you think daughter? Give me your expert opinion on this case,” the Organ Dealer said to Liao.

“The most complex cultivation base I have seen. Three paths. And five distinct core structures, with the outer cores having two layers. All filled with energy, practically overflowing. That will be the hardest part in any operation. The instability of the cores. One mistake and they will explode. With his request, he clearly is doing non-standard cultivation. A rare hybrid approach,” Liao said while examining me.

“Indeed. You can put on your clothes. I have seen enough. With your request, you clearly want to do something crazy. Explain this to me, so I can understand exactly what you are looking for,” the Organ Dealer told me.

While I got dressed, I explained my cultivation plan. “I need to unify all three paths, otherwise, even if I manage to survive my breakthrough, I will be able to go no further. I have gotten expert opinions on this. I started looking into other cultivation methods and developing my own.”

“I would use my soul cores to form a soul with a hard outer shell. The mind cores to link my body and soul. With the goal of drawing in energy to cultivate long term, building it up. But the issue is my body core and the implosion effect. I need it to be a bridge to draw in energy but tied to my body. I can’t just create a structure in my soul like the standard method, since I need structures to filter energy where my cores would have been,” I explained.

“So, you need an organ instead. The problem is immense. You need something that will handle your breakthrough and carry you forward. Since it will be a pivotal point of your cultivation, you won’t be able to replace it later either,” he said and then looked at his daughter. “What do you think daughter?”

“A seed of some kind. Any kind of monster or beast organ would crumble under the pressure. A plant would be studier. And it will have distinct stages. But the compatibility would be terrible, no matter what option we went with,” Liao said.

“Indeed daughter. Indeed. Well, I see two solutions. The first is to find a bio-manipulator and have them build you what you desire. It won’t be cheap a couple hundred million credits, but it would solve your problem nicely.” I shook my head at that. There was no way I could afford such a service.

“Which means the only option, is option two. A seed of the Garfafel Plant,” the Organ Dealer said.

“Father, such an option would be quite poor,” Liao said.

“But it is within our poor cultivator’s price range. Only 100,000 credits. But there are serious complications using the seeds of such a plant.”

“What complications are those senior?” I asked.

“First, it will disrupt your Dao, whatever it is. The Garfafel Plant consumes energy voraciously and outputs small amounts of plant-based energy. Its return is very poor. Like ten to one. For every ten parts of energy it draws up, it outputs one. Finally, it will grow and intertwine with your cultivation more and more, eventually taking it over, turning you into a Garfafel Plant,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Let me guess senior. There is a way to counteract it later on?” I asked.

“No.” I was surprised at such a blunt answer. “It is a parasite of the highest order. Once it is inside your cultivation, removing it will rip out your cultivation. Killing it will kill you. Often used on people factions want to cripple or punish long term. But that is the only possibility for what you need, unless you have a cultivator organ made from scratch,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Isn’t there anything else that can be done? Why breakthrough if I will be doomed afterwards?” I asked.

“No clue and not my business. If you came to me at the start of your cultivation, something might be possible. But now, you are too far forward in your progress. With all the energy in your cores. I can’t adjust your soul in the slightest. So whatever is put in has to be physical and transform and meet all your other requirements,” the Organ Dealer explained.

“Father, there is a third option now that I am thinking about this situation,” Liao said, and we all looked at her. “Cut the channels around the body core. Pull it out and replace it entirely.”

“Oh, but that would mess up his cultivation plan,” the Organ Dealer said.

“It is already messed up. Like a tower that has been shattered. Better to just rip out the old and replace what is there. We could use the Helix type body-soul linkage. Anchor one point to his physical body, another to his soul,” Liao said.

“He wouldn’t be able to use any techniques, if we do something like that until his breakthrough. The body core is the center of all the other cores,” the Organ Dealer said.

“But it would work. The real problem is the level of Helix type body-soul linkage we use,” Liao said. I kept looking back and forth between the two as they ping ponged back and forth.

“The pressure from the rest of his cultivation would be too much,” the Organ Dealer replied while stroking his chin in contemplation.

“But we use four Helix type body-soul linkages instead of one. One for each of his other cores. Pressure relieved and it would provide a direct flow of energy from his soul to his physical body,” Liao said.

“He did say he wanted to focus on building some kind of filtering structures, so that would make sense. How intriguing. The problem then becomes his physical body. That much stress. It is strong, stronger than most other people. But four linkages, will cause health complications later on,” the Organ Dealer replied. I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Yes there will be, but it would be the best option,” Liao countered.

“Very well,” the Organ Dealer turned back towards me. “We will extract your body core, put in four Helix type body-soul linkages. When you breakthrough, they should hold your soul and physical body togeather like you wanted.”

“What about the health issues later on?” I asked.

“Changing the energy to match your Dao will be problematic. But with your cultivation plan, it isn’t impossible. Also you will be incapable of using techniques once this operation is done, since your channels will be completely messed up,” the Organ Dealer explained.

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“The cost and what will happen with my body core?” I asked.

“The same answer. We will hold onto it for resale. Such a dense body core will be quite valuable, and it is filled with energy. There is always a market for such things,” Liao said, and her father nodded.

“Indeed. My little Liao came up with such a great idea,” the Organ Dealer said. I felt something was off. They were being far too helpful. Maybe it was just the atmosphere of the Forever City, but this entire visit was super sketchy. I had gone down a rabbit hole for a simple solution to my problems. But something about this was setting me off.

“This Helix type body-soul linkage, can I see one, or what is written about it first?” I asked casually.

“Sure, Liao, can you get one that has been grown. They come from an etheric type monster, but we don’t grow the monster, only part of it. A very rare find, but quite useful. No one else would have such a thing, I can guarantee you that,” the Organ Dealer said with a smile on his face.

“Etheric type? What exactly is that?” I asked.

“Oh, they have half a foot in terms of drawing energy from the astral plane. But there are other names for such a creature. The real trick is to find one that has a useful linkage, between both halves, and to be able to cultivate such an organ.” I kept my facial expression the same, but inside I was frowning.

They were too friendly and helpful. Liao brought back a tray on a cart with a finger sized helix shaped structure lying on it, hooked to tubes. The flesh was pulsing slightly as fluids moved through it. I looked closely at the item and there was no energy within it. For something that would be a link, the fact there was no energy inside of it undercut the explanations given by these two.

It was too well rehearsed and their answers came too easily. And one thing I had learned to trust with Bones was when something felt off, to trust your instinct. Instinct was the effect of picking up on small traces of ambient energy interacting with me. That’s where danger sense came from as well.

“This is one of the things you would want to put in me?” I asked.

“Yes. Well not this one specifically. The ones we use for you would have to be specifically grown,” the Organ Dealer said with a smile. But I could see the naked greed and threat behind them.

“Very well, I will let my escort know I have made my decision,” I said, and he nodded. His daughter wheeled it right back out.

“We will just need some blood first to get started,” the Organ Dealer said.

“After I let my escort know, then I will return right away. They are with a vehicle at the lower open level,” I said. The Organ Dealer frowned slightly and then shrugged.

“Liao will handle things then,” he said and left the room.

I quickly left as well, wanting to get out of here. This had been a terrible idea. I quickly reached the staircase and retreated back down the tower to one of the lower open levels and leave this place. I had become more and more desperate, looking for solutions where there were none.

If I had let them operate on me, I would probably find my cultivation yanked out of my body and my corpse used for fertilizer. I would make my own inquiries about this Helix structure, but my guess was that it was completely made up or used for a different purpose.

The fact that it had no energy, was the confirmation I needed, that they were just saying a lot of stuff to get me to buy into whatever they wanted to sell me. The way they presented my options felt sketchy as well. Just the entire thing seemed off. But that put me back to square one.

“Yuan Zhou.” I paused for a moment in shock, on the staircase when my name was mentioned. I looked down and there were five cultivators at a lower level. All of them were in the sixth or seventh stage of cultivation. They had the symbol of the White Lotus Sect on their robes.

I had my cloak on along with my other equipment. They showed up after I removed my observation blockers. That couldn’t be a coincidence. But locating me on the stairway wouldn’t be hard. There were only so many directions I could be heading in, and they were on a lower level right before an open one, waiting to intercept me. This high up in the tower meant that the tower master wouldn’t care unless we did a lot of damage.

“And what does the White Lotus want with me?” I asked hoping to get information before a conflict broke out.

“We weren’t told, but you can’t escape,” their leader said. They didn’t advance on me. I saw a cloud of energy drifting towards me in the air. I had another minute or so before I was in trouble and was forced to move, before the technique reached me.

“If you invite someone, it is only polite if a reason is given,” I countered, hoping for more information.

“And you think you can run away from all five of us? I would prefer to bring you in without any issues,” their leader spoke up and stepped forward. I stepped back and turned slightly.

“You won’t be able to catch me,” I flicked out a flash bomb from my spatial ring as I said this. It exploded and I was off up the staircase as the cultivators chased after me. I passed the level with the Organ Dealer, not stopping down for a single moment. They were on my heals, but I threw out the occasional flash bomb or explosive from my spatial ring, slowing down pursuit.

The other beings inhabiting the staircase were quickly excited and two of the pursuing cultivators were ambushed. This is why you didn’t start trouble in the Forever City. Everyone was just waiting to third party any kind of small-scale conflict.

That was why you just didn’t start fights unless you were sure you could win. The moment any kind of weakness was sensed, the beings just sitting around would act. They tended to blend into the background, and they would just be ignored. But that was the kind of mistake a new person to the Forever City would make.

Also, the cultivators didn’t have observation blockers, or other proper equipment on them. Another huge mistake. That was why even while I ran away, none of the beings bothered me. They didn’t know my strength. And while they might guess that I was weaker than the cultivators chasing me, they couldn’t know for sure. Better to target individuals they knew the strength of.

While I had my doubts initially when I had first arrived and teamed up with Bones, I would have been killed leaving the room without her. And these beings were purposely created as well, to clean up any riff raff inside of a tower. That was why the factions tolerated these cloaked beings.

Some were human, others monsters, and there was a lot of mystery. Bones explained, that different factions used different beings. Some people just went insane, but didn’t die, so camped out doing nothing for the rest of their life, waiting to target those weaker than them. The list was endless in terms of what these cloaked beings resting all over the Forever City could be.

Bones had joked that the only thing more horrifying than the Forever City was seeing what was under all the cloaks. From what little I had seen this had been the case. Still, whomever sent these cultivators after me was just throwing their lives away.

I reached an open floor, and left the staircase, racing for the edge of the tower. I dove off the side just as techniques were released. Beams of fire lanced where I had been as I tumbled through the thick yellow clouds and spatial turbulence.

I landed on the side of the tower and raced back down. I checked behind me and there was no pursuit. I let out a sigh of relief. Clearly the White Lotus was not content to leave me alone. But sending a greater force would only draw attention and start a faction conflict. Five cultivators like that was the limit based on what Bones had shared with me over the centuries.

Anything larger without getting permission beforehand or just transversing through would invite much more scrutiny. The White Lotus, while a faction, wasn’t anywhere near the top of the food chain to be throwing their weight around. The ambushed cultivators probably survived but with severe injuries. Ones that would cost credits.

I had no good way to estimate how much they had already spent, but there was no personal disagreement between the faction and myself. At least I thought so. It was hard to say when they would give up, but eventually they would have to when the cost exceeded any benefit I could provide.

All that remained now was to figure out what to do in regards to my cultivation. I didn’t want to align myself with any faction, due to the risks, but I had a better understanding of how to mitigate them going forward. I would have to sell myself to a faction in return for help. Any problem could be fixed with credits, the unofficial motto of the Forever City.

I had worked with the TripleX faction enough in the past, that I would be able to start there. These White Lotus members chasing after me were more an annoyance than anything else. They weren’t even faction members, they were disposable cultivators brought in from the continents to fight for the faction in whatever conflict it was supporting at the time.

I made my way a couple towers over to an open level and got a vehicle back to the TripleX faction’s tower. Trying to do this by myself was risking my life in an incredibly risky manner. Like a patient with a terminal illness seeking out more outlandish cures. I needed actual professionals and the investment of millions of credits into my development.

If that wasn’t an option, I would have to give up. It pained me to even think about such an outcome. But there were only so many things I could do. I had cultivated myself into a corner. I had been too greedy, and even with all the help I had received over the years, I didn’t not want to die on some surgery table in some remote level of the Forever City.

As I was thinking over all of this, the vehicle I had paid to transport me back suddenly jerked. I felt the force on me, and only my instinctive use of my force technique to protect my body, I wasn’t ripped apart. The seat I was on, and this part of the vehicle went one way, while various other pieces went different directions.

The piece I was in slammed into a tower, and another shock went through my body. At the speed a vehicle was traveling, any accident was catastrophic. I unclipped myself and pulled myself out of my seat. I leapt out and went through the air for a bit before landing on the side of a tower. Looking back, I saw a several tentacles bursting out of a tower in the distance, barely visible through the yellow haze.

I saw another vehicle strike one of the tentacles waving about. It was shredded instantly. That was the Forever City, there could be an accident at any time. No one was doing anything. The tentacle monster either was the tower master or had killed them. With no conflict, the tower masters nearby were hesitant to intervene or were afraid to. They were administrative positions normally, not fighting ones.

That meant they were waiting for a higher up from their faction or the Heavenly Alliance to respond to the situation. Either outcome was one I didn’t want to stick around. But I hesitated and looked back at the massive barbed tentacles coming out of the tower once more. Even if I wanted to try and get some benefits it was too risky.

There was getting in the middle of a conflict between factions and getting in range of that thing and the response that was about to hit it. I was circling the tower I was on, when I felt a sense of danger. I clung to the tower as wave after wave of pressure and heat struck me. The yellow clouds were forced away as the tower the tentacle monster had emerged from was hit with bright beams of energy that cut into the tentacles and tower the monster was using as a shell. Burnt purple tentacles, green fluid, and tower rubble were all blown away. I noted figures with highly concentrated energy moving in on the threat.

I felt the tower I was on shake and suddenly a massive tentacle burst out of the incredibly durable gray stone that made up the tower’s exterior. I noticed several other towers nearby suffering the same fate. I began to run even faster as debris began to fly everywhere. This wasn’t a small incursion, but a major push by another super faction.

I needed to get clear of the tentacle infested towers as quickly as possible. I crossed a tunnel between two of the towers and kept running. This entire area was being taken over, I noticed as the towers I was headed for had tentacles burst out of them as well. There were more vehicle collisions. This was really bad.

Bones had explained that a serious incursion like this was rare and often what was used as a measure of time for the factions residing in the Forever City. Whatever this thing was, it clearly had no interest in me as countless more battles broke out. I kept running as more sections of tower were destroyed as the conflict grew worse.

Three days of running, past hundreds of towers, finally let me escape the conflict area. I found a corner of a stairway in the tower I had reached that was unoccupied and collapsed in exhaustion.

When I woke up, there was a lot more activity. Thankfully I was ignored as people moved up and down the main staircase moving supplies and other goods. I made my way back out to the open level and there were countless vehicles. Listening in I managed to pick up what was going on.

The Heavenly Alliance had crushed whatever the tentacle monster was, and a faction had been wiped out. Weather the faction was wiped out from the monster or from the Heavenly Alliance being annoyed they allowed this to happen in their tower was unclear. Regardless, there was a huge swath of open real estate all other factions nearby were moving in to claim.

The tentacle monster was still present in some areas, but greatly weakened as cultivators continued to fight it across all towers and a perimeter was being put into place. Thankfully I had made it outside the perimeter before it went up. I wasn’t qualified to take part in such a conflict. Better to get out of here as quickly as possible before I got caught up in more of this drama.

In time this place would be like the spider area of the Forever City. It would be changed by an attack, but the Forever City would continue regardless. Grinding up cultivators and lives until it no longer did. That kind of time frame was beyond thinking about and it was hard to imagine how such a place would be destroyed in totality, when hundreds of towers being ripped apart from the inside out by giant tentacles wasn’t even a pinprick against the Forever City’s total power and might.

I managed to get a vehicle and left the area back to the TripleX faction. There would have been an opportunity back there with all the ruined towers and levels, but the risk was immense. It was time to consider alternatives, to make a change in how I was progressing. Bones had been helpful, but she hadn’t promoted a healthy mentality. I had been in survival mode for far too long and was spiraling. It was time to make a drastic change in how I handled my problems.

If my new approach failed, then I would be leaving the Forever City. I had some debts I could repay with my immense wealth. If I was going to die, then I would try and set things right first. An organ dealer, I couldn’t believe that I had honestly considered such a sketchy option in the first place.