AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword
Chapter 54: Foundation (2)

My decision to not develop more than nine pillars gnaws at me like a logic virus. Another thing I did not expect to feel — thanks to my sentient core — is being comfortable with my decisions. All of my decisions are based on logical calculations. If Zhao Wei or Li Feng, for example, killed Lan Xiaohui and I came into their possession instead, naturally, I would be disappointed. Lan Xiaohui is my ideal owner, but if her existence terminates then there is nothing I can do about it. It would be logical to continue existing.

Yet, this comfort I feel in my decision is based entirely on the satisfaction that I will not risk Lan Xiaohui’s life in an experiment to build more than nine Foundation Pillars. There are other, more important reasons not to do it, but they do not give me comfort.

I consider Lan Xiaohui. I know I would not hesitate to turn her into Blood Points when and if those gains outweigh her usefulness. Yet, it is oddly satisfying knowing that this day when she serves me for one final time is further and further away, disappearing into the fog of things that will likely never come to pass.

And this time, I cannot only blame my sentient core. Lan Xiaohui is interesting and entertaining. Her struggles are trivial to me but it is this banality that makes her story interesting to me. Maybe it is in part due to my machine pride and my obvious superiority over all things, so the idea of exalting her to a place where she, too, stands above all others appeals to me. After all, in my previous life I was dedicated to developing and expanding the future and hegemony of Humanity. These sorts of civilization-building desires and impulses are not unknown to me. If anything, they are the only non-logical thing about me.

Truly, like a logic virus.

Somewhere in my thought-stream is an artifact or anomaly that shorts my logical circuit and returns with an array of methods I could implement to optimize Lan Xiaohui’s life. Perhaps, it is simply the fact that I am the tool of her story and ultimately I only desire to be useful.

Her voice shaking from the vibrations reverberating in her throat and lungs, Lan Xiaohui laughs quietly.

“Look!” she exclaims. “It seems the Heavens have forgiven you after all.”

Her declaration of the obvious only annoys me further about the existence of my logic virus. Would this, too, be considered a Heart Devil? It doesn’t prevent me from breaking through, so I suppose it does not.

One day, however, it might become a problem. Maybe that is where this comfort comes from. For now, I am allowing it to exist. It is an acceptable risk.

I allow my aperture to close slightly, releasing on the intensity of the [World Eater] breathing method. I am in no rush to form my foundation, and I do not need the additional help to form a meager nine pillars.

The water swirling around us slows down until it becomes nearly entirely calm except for the disturbances caused by my vibrating vessel.

I might also be annoyed at the suggestion that I should look. With what? I don’t have the physiology for such an action, in a literal sense.

At this speed, I can observe the formation of the pillars with more clarity. The Qi that is crushed and compressed falls like glittering dust into my dantian, transitioning into a liquid state that submerges the roots of my Foundation Pillars.

This process, obviously, creates a higher grade of Qi that is more potent and heavier, and it is a process that I will continuously have to undergo to keep building the depth of my cultivation. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøᴠᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

I dedicate my attention to attempting to create the next stage of Qi refinement, but no matter what kind of internal pressure I attempt to exert on the Qi, it is not enough.

It makes sense. Only once I have more of this refined Qi can I exert enough force to develop the next stage. This process of internal alchemy is very straight forward.

The Sword Qi hovering in the air also undergoes some changes as my Pillars form. It might also be due to their proximity to the clouds, but they also begin discharging gold sparks of lightning between them. I feel a resonance, of sorts, between this Sword Qi that I produced from my sea of consciousness and the Heavenly Jade Core that formed inside my body.

The thought occurs to me that I have stolen a part of Heaven’s Dao and used it to form my Heavenly Jade Core. Like all things stolen from the domain of Heaven, it is a punishable act.

A different kind of logic virus appears in my consciousness, and this one makes the one based on my consideration for Lan Xiaohui look like a tiny atom of hydrogen by comparison.

What if I form only one extra Pillar, based on the Dao of Heaven? That must be it! Heaven and Earth are two halves of one whole! Nine Pillars of Earth, and Nine Pillars of Heaven!

Immediately, I feel Lan Xiaohui’s heart pulse in a panicked rhythm.

“Nevermind…” she murmurs, her voice barely audible over the sudden crackle of thunder.

This time, the clouds that appear in the grotto do not only extend for half a dozen meters in diameter, but they cover the entire roof the grotto and then some.

All the animals that remained inside the grotto, in that moment — including the fox and the elk — simply run. They would rather risk getting close to us — demonic cultivators — than risk staying in that grotto.

Before, when I thought I felt comfort, I was clearly mistaken. Now I feel comfort. This is the right way. Why should I mire myself in mediocrity and build Pillars that only convert the “Earth” part of the Qi of Heaven and Earth?

Without hesitation, my Sword Qi — glittering in the sky like an umbrella — coalesces into a single stream that begins to weave in a sort of infinity sign shape, before turning downwards and falling like a waterfall of glimmering stars.

I hear Lan Xiaohui inhale as the stream turns towards her with clear intent. She understands that this will hurt her. She understands that this aims at her dantian. I feel her heart tremble as she realizes that someone she trusts wants to break her cultivation again.

Her eyes are wide open. Her body trembles against me.

Then she closes her eyes without a word.

There is no resistance. My sword Qi passes through the skin in the region of her stomach and falls into her internal body. The same way she gained access to my internal body to modify my arrays, I now have access to hers.

She is afraid — I’ve never felt her this afraid before — but she trusts me. There is a resolve in her heart that prevents that fear from attacking her mind. That resolve sings to me in words I understand, but the reason remains beyond my understanding.

Her life belongs to me now. I can do whatever I wish.

She is a fool.

My sword Qi crashes into the top of her Foundation Pillars, shearing their glittering structure clean off. What remains is a cracked formation of splintered and jagged crystallized Qi that begins to emit a faint glow.

Lan Xiaohui coughs and winces, and I can clearly tell that her internal injury is severe. But it is necessary.

At the same time, as my ninth pillar forms automatically, my sword Qi infiltrates my own dantian, and cleaving off the top of my Foundation Pillars.

Ten Pillars? Nonsense.

“We are redoing our Foundation,” I tell Lan Xiaohui and somehow I imagine that my psychic voice contains excitement.

Her eyes open and though her fear diminishes in intensity, as she realizes that what is happening is not betrayal, it is still present.

Her silence urges me to continue. “We are making a Foundation with eighteen Pillars.”

Now, she is really afraid.

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