Cultivation Nerd (xianxia)

That evening, after the talent test, all the youngsters were in bed.

The house I had built within the Wisdom Hall grounds was made of stone and resembled a Western-style mansion. It had two floors, eight bedrooms, vines creeping along its outer walls, and a mysterious mist surrounding the grounds.

The whole place was supposed to have a Gothic horror atmosphere. Or at least I had tried to make it that way.

It hadn't worked particularly well.

Cultivators trusted their senses more than their eyes, and there was nothing genuinely frightening about this house. So it simply became one more strange building among the many unusual structures I had commissioned throughout the Misty Mountains.

I sat in a rocking chair on the porch with a cup of tea in my hand, thinking about the future while keeping an "eye" on the children upstairs. Liu Ma and Song Gu were fast asleep, exhausted after spending the entire day glaring at one another. Meanwhile, Liu Sha was quietly soaking his pillow with tears.

Fu Yating was in our bedroom. She wasn't asleep. She was probably thinking about how to comfort Liu Sha.

“This was... quite something,” Jiang Yeming said.

She was sitting on the porch floor with her back against the wall, and her head lowered. Looking like a melancholic emo teenager.

“We can't control how talented someone is,” I reminded her. “The best we can do is support him.”

Jiang Yeming hadn't been surprised by Liu Sha's result. But Liu Ma's and Song Gu's talents had clearly caught even her off guard. Comparison was the thief of joy.

Liu Sha was a remarkably steady child for his age.

But...

He was still only a child.

“How can you be so calm about this?” she asked. “You already know how this is going to end. Aren't you heartbroken?”

“Who says I'm not heartbroken?” I replied, looking up at the star-filled sky as the half moon cast its pale light over us. “When I decided to have children, I knew there was a good chance I'd one day bury both of them.”

Why was I even telling her this? She couldn't understand how I felt.

“They would wrinkle and grow old...” I mumbled. “While my own skin remained young.”

My voice sounded calm. But I truly was heartbroken.

“Mhm.” Jiang Yeming nodded.

Who knew what was actually going through her mind?

“How do you plan to deal with your damaged body?” she asked. “Do you have any way to repair it?”

“No. Not until I reach Nascent Soul.”

“The breakthrough will reforge and optimize my body. I know several methods that could help your recovery–”

“No need,” I interrupted. “Even injuries like these are valuable research material. I already have several experiments in mind.”

I smiled, leaning back, "For example, figuring out how to prevent a damaged body from interfering with future breakthroughs.”

“Your results would be substandard,” Jiang Yeming replied, slipping into technical jargon. “Your foundation is so solid that your injuries barely affect you. Most cultivators wouldn't produce comparable results.”

“Where did you get the idea that I do all this research to help other people?” I let out a dry chuckle. “Or out of the goodness of my heart?”

Jiang Yeming's gaze sharpened.

“I do all this because I want to know more," I smiled. “Because I genuinely enjoy it. Even creating Wisdom Hall was simply a way to gather geniuses together so they could develop techniques and combine ideas I'd never have thought of on my own.”

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

“Helping people is merely an afterthought," my hand unconsciously tightened around the teacup. “A fortunate side effect.”

She stared at me for several long seconds. Then she chuckled. The chuckle slowly grew into full-blown laughter, as though she had just heard the funniest thing in the world.

“I see,” she finally said.

She stood up and brushed the dust from her pants. Without saying another word, she walked away.

Leaving me alone with my thoughts.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

…

Months passed, with the warmth of summer slowly giving way to a wet autumn.

A great deal happened during that time. I developed several movement techniques based on the way Jiang Yeming fought. Then I spread them across the continent.

Well… Not exactly.

The members of Wisdom Hall learned them first, then sold the techniques to the larger sects in hopes of receiving better opportunities there. It wasn't a problem. Wisdom Hall had no rules against sharing its techniques. I also developed a method to sense another person's mental energy, allowing cultivators to detect even beasts hiding nearby.

That technique was distributed to everyone. Before long, it had spread throughout all Four Great Sects.

Those small developments eventually led to today's meeting.

I now sat across from a young-looking woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Streaks of silver-white hair ran through her otherwise black hair, making it resemble a chessboard.

Was it dyed? Or the result of some strange bloodline or cultivation technique?

We sat on my porch with a simple wooden table between us. Fu Yating brought over tea and a few snacks.

“Thank you,” the woman said politely, giving Fu Yating a slight nod. “Hall Master Liu is fortunate to have married someone like you. You've brought great honor to the Azure Frost Sect.”

Fu Yating had once been a disciple of the Azure Frost Sect, a sect composed primarily of female cultivators.

My wife returned the gesture with a slight bow, then quietly headed back inside.

The woman, despite being nearly two centuries old, merely smiled. She didn't seem offended by Fu Yating's reserved demeanor. Then she turned back toward me.

“I truly don't know what to make of a man like you, Liu Feng,” she said with an amused smile.

“What do you mean by that, Sect Leader?” I asked.

The woman before me was Ye Hunma, the Sect Leader of the Azure Frost Sect.

“You've caused quite a stir by creating an organization like this,” she said softly. “Then you went and began giving away techniques as though they were worthless. If we weren't currently occupied by the Beast Sect, many sects would've already come to test your mettle.”

Well, whoever came here was staying here. Nascent Soul cultivator or not. After all, it wasn't as though I lacked one of my own.

“The people who join Wisdom Hall come here to learn,” I replied. “What they choose to do in their free time isn't my concern.”

Ye Hunma's gray eyes narrowed.

She immediately caught the implication hidden beneath my words, and a slow smile spread across her lips.

She wasn't even three hundred years old yet. Nor was she as intimidating as certain other Nascent Soul Sect Leaders. But she was undeniably clever.

“Oh?” she asked. “So if one of my disciples were to visit Wisdom Hall to study... would that be a problem?”

“They wouldn't even need to leave the Azure Frost Sect,” I answered honestly. “They can come here, study whatever interests them, then return whenever they wish.”

In other words... I was practically giving every sect and clan on the continent permission to copy as many techniques as they wanted. There wasn't even a clause requiring them to defend Wisdom Hall in times of danger.

Nothing at all.

“Ha!” Ye Hunma laughed, her voice as pleasant as a singing bird. “I've never met someone like you before. What do you even gain from all this?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I replied with a shrug.

“It seems that girl, Ye An, chose someone she could place all her bets on,” the Sect Leader remarked.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Ye An was someone I only knew briefly, and she's probably dead by now. You know her condition, after all.”

This woman and Ye An technically belonged to the same clan. I didn't particularly care about whatever relationship they once had. But Ye An was under my protection now. If the Azure Frost Sect wanted a war... I'd simply ally with the Void Piercing Sect and destroy them.

Or at least cripple them.

With an immortal standing behind every Great Sect, complete annihilation wasn't realistic. I wasn't going to risk whether they were attached to the sects they created or not.

“Yes,” Ye Hunma replied with a faint smile. “Her condition was... unfortunate. That's why I decided the Azure Frost Sect shouldn't invest resources into someone unlikely to survive past her twenties.”

She spoke those cruel words as casually as though she were discussing the weather.

For someone like her, perhaps she was. No wonder Ye An had never had an easy life under a Sect Leader like this. This was the woman who had personally ended an entire generation that history later called the Golden Generation.

Many among them had possessed the talent to reach Nascent Soul. She had crippled some and killed others. Until in the end, only she remained.

“How about joining us instead?” she suggested. “The Azure Frost Sect would gladly welcome someone like you. I would even personally guarantee your safety.”

I leaned back in my chair and looked toward the trees glowing beneath the gentle autumn sunlight.

“Sorry,” I replied. “But as you can see, I've already got my own little project here. If it ever fails, though. I wouldn't mind becoming a guest elder.”

“Oh, you really shouldn't say things like that.” She smiled. “Allow this senior to offer a piece of advice. If someone else were sitting in my place today, they would already be secretly planning Wisdom Hall's downfall.”

I smiled.

For the first time during this conversation, I finally saw an opportunity.

“They're free to try,” I answered.

For the briefest moment, something flickered across her eyes.

This time, I was fairly certain it wasn't part of her carefully maintained composure.

What exactly did I mean by saying that? Simple. I was implying that Wisdom Hall had a Nascent Soul cultivator backing it.

I couldn't tell how much she actually believed that. But verifying it would require far more effort than simply leaving me alone.

Go on. See just how deep these waters really are.

“It seems Hall Master Liu is quite monogamous,” Ye Hunma said with a smile. “But with your generosity, no one would dare openly move against Wisdom Hall. They'd risk making an enemy of the entire cultivation world by destroying someone willing to share knowledge so freely.”

Huh? So she decided to back down? How boring. She wasn't nearly as intimidating as the previous Blazing Sun Sect Leader. Then again... Perhaps she hid her schemes.

Only time would tell.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!