Cultivation Nerd

When I looked at the book, my eyes were glued to it. When I realized what had happened, my heart began beating faster, and I wondered whether I might have been staring too long.

A soft shadow washed over my feet, the low light barely making anything visible.

I peeled my gaze away from it, but I had a sneaking suspicion just by the title alone. This place housed some of the rarest knowledge, and either that book was about devils from some hellish realm, or it talked about…

I should read this book here and put it back.

No! I had to think calmly. If someone was spying on me right now and I only read a book here and put it back, it would seem like I had something to hide and come off as suspicious.

With my mind made up, I walked toward the book I had my sights on. My feet pushed the shadowy ground aside like a fluff of smoke.

"I'm taking this book too," I said as I opened it.

'The first records of Otherworldly Devils appeared around thirty thousand years ago. Though that was the oldest record I could find, there were likely many before that. The Clocktower Queen, leader of the grasslands in the Eastern Continent, is assumed to have been the first female leader of her tribe. She likely earned that position due to her many miraculous inventions…'

I skipped some parts about her early childhood, which could be roughly summarized as showing that while she had no talent for cultivation, she was known as a miracle worker. However, the book never mentioned any of her miracles.

I was about to turn to the next page but stopped myself. Otherwise, I would spend hours just sitting here reading this book.

So, I put it in my storage ring and turned toward the floating book, which looked at me curiously.

"This is amazing. I was just thinking about how there might be other people from different worlds," I said truthfully.

But the face in the book still didn't look impressed. The pages flipped to another drawing of him where he was still unimpressed but now had his mouth open. "You must definitely be a kid from one of the smaller clans."

"Actually-"

"If it can't compete with the Song Clan, it's a small clan," the book interrupted me, and as if to prove his point, he said. "There are records of a rabbit monstrous beast traveling through time. It was injured in the future and returned with those injuries to the past. Nobody has injured the rabbit yet, and it is bound to happen in the future. People from another world who can't even make things levitate with their minds are boring compared to things like that."

I was happy that truly knowledgeable people might not consider my situation exciting or important enough. Though… he was definitely right that the time-traveling rabbit was way more impressive than my situation. I'd never heard about something like this.

"Are there any books about this time-traveling rabbit?" I asked. "Also, what even makes a rabbit able to travel in time?"

However, I was surprised some cultivators were solemn enough to follow and catalog something like that. Perhaps one of those immortals had made an enemy of the rabbit. Also, it could all be a very elaborate plan by someone.

Something like time travel would break the balance of the world and everything I knew so far. Or there should be some strict limitations on that kind of power. Also, someone had injured it, so it wasn't as overpowered as it sounded at first.

"Well, humans aren't the only ones who can become immortals. Also, it isn't like that weakling can attack anyone, it just goes through time like a lost rabbit. We all know that when humans become immortals…" Whatever he was about to say next, the book stopped and flipped to a page showing the face of an expressionless man. Then it flipped again to a page with an open mouth. "Anyway, the world is a big place. Even though we haven't had contact with the other continents due to the monstrous beasts taking over the central continent, just this White Tiger Continent has many wondrous sights of its own, like the Cold Ice Time Palace and Space Breaking Point where people can travel to other realms. There's even a place where people can go insane seeing things no one was meant to see."

Was he supposed to be telling me all this? It sounded like this was all secret knowledge. If I had learned anything about hidden knowledge and Sect conspiracies, it was better to act like I heard nothing. However, if I ever got the chance, I would have to go on a journey and explore this world. It had many incredible sights.

However, with the cultivation I had right now, there was a better chance of dying at the doorstep than reaching any of these places.

"See you later, Honorable Leader," I bowed down to my waist and walked up the dark stairway.

"Very good! At least the younger generation knows to show respect to their elders!" The book said, and everything became eerily quiet as I took my first step on the staircase leading out of there.

No illusion made it feel like I could see anything this time, so I was left in perpetual darkness as I climbed up the staircase.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Once at the top of the stairs, I walked through the wall and was back outside. I was on the snowy ground, and the cold permeated through my clothes. The sky was cloudy, and snow was falling. Nobody lived close to where the Song Clan Leader lived, so there wasn't that constant feeling that the Song Clan members were looking at me.

I concentrated and took out the book on Otherworldly Devils and erected a barrier around myself to protect myself and the book from the falling snow.

There was nothing I had to hide. Why wouldn't I read the only book in my storage ring that would require some practice to use as arrays did? Obviously, I was just interested in this and not some Otherworldly Devil.

At least, that was what I wanted anyone who thought of me as important enough to spy on to believe.

I didn't bother with such things anymore and returned to reading as I walked back toward the compound where Song Song was. This time, I took a longer route on the outskirts of the Song Clan. It was uncomfortable having them staring at me so much.

I flipped past the page describing the Clocktower Queen's short life.

'There are three types of Otherworldly Devils. The first type is those who travel here with their original bodies. They have no spiritual roots, are usually physically weak, and have no potential to cultivate. But that doesn't make them any less dangerous to mortals. These types of Otherworldly Devils carry many strange diseases that kill mortals in droves. This was the type that the common people hated the most, and they started calling these otherworldly humans Otherworldly Devils.'

Judging by the context, the writer implied that this first type of otherworldly devil was known even by ordinary people. But it seemed like this knowledge had faded over time; nowadays, it was not considered common knowledge even amongst cultivators.

It was interesting that some people came here with their physical bodies. They were doomed since they were without the ability to cultivate. But clearly, the mortals in this world and other worlds seemed to have enough in common in their DNA that diseases could transfer.

I flipped past the page and read about the second category, and this one made my heart skip a beat.

'The second type of Otherworldly Devils are those who take over a dead body, or at least a body where the soul is still alive but the consciousness is gone. There is little known about these beings since they are undetectable unless someone could somehow perceive souls. Even then, it is only for some time until the two souls fuse seamlessly. They integrate themselves into society quite well, though often they die young due to searching for greatness… Some of the lucky ones end up crippled for life. What a life that is… Anyway, the soul is often stronger than normal since two souls fuse together. Often, they're good with arrays or alchemy due to previous knowledge. It is unknown if there are any advantages to having a soul twice as powerful as normal.'

Yeah, this was it. This was my type, and I didn't know I had a soul stronger than most. Some things even said I would be better at arrays or alchemy. I should give alchemy a try. It wasn't something I had planned anytime soon, but it sounded cool.

But for now, such thoughts were put on the back of my mind as I continued reading.

'The third type of Otherworldly Devils are those who are reborn into a baby or take over its body in the womb before it can form a soul. It is not known how this process happens. For Otherworldly Devils, this is considered the best start they can have. They are born with the ability to sense and, in some cases, perhaps even circulate Qi. They do not suffer from spirit root degradation, and their young bodies can even use Qi to an extent before they become Qi Gathering Cultivators. Though their bodies often have to catch up with their cultivation, their soul is the same since they just reincarnated and didn't take over a new body.'

This sounded overpowered. They got at least a twenty-year head start against the average cultivator. However, the writer seemed to be looking at only the positive aspects of this kind of rebirth and not considering the negative aspects.

For example, as a baby, they could be born in a village that was about to be slaughtered or a city that was about to fall to a Beast Wave. They were powerless to defend themselves for at least the better part of a decade.

'There were only three recorded people who have revealed they were Otherworldly Devils. They did so only when they reached immortality and no one could touch them. Certain historical notes reveal they were all from the third category of Otherworldly Devils.'

Oh? Some otherworldly people actually reached immortality? Well, it would be weirder if none of them had. This was often a numbers game; eventually, someone was bound to check all the boxes needed to reach that unprecedented level of power.

'The Lustfully Eternal Immortal, from the Eastern Continent. The man who had the largest recorded harem with eight hundred women. He lived around 13,000 years ago. Lustfully Eternal Immortal didn't bother hiding that he was an Otherworldly Devil once he became an immortal, as he had his women often wear outfits that clearly revealed that. Like maid outfits, cat girl outfits, and...'

With that harem, there was a good chance that a large percentage of the population in the Eastern Continent where this guy came from might be related to him. Did he get inspired by Genghis Khan or something?

'The Beautiful Dream Immortal. A kind man, like a saint. He was from the central continent and died when the monstrous beasts took over. Most say that it was due to betrayal of some kind. He lived around 1,000 years ago...'

Oh, now that was a timeline point I could measure. I read in a historical book that the central continent was taken over four thousand years ago. So, this book was written around three thousand years ago.

'The Blood Step Immortal. A murderous man who lived on the Western Continent. A man born with a poor talent for cultivation, he was known to participate in mass sacrificial ceremonies that helped with cultivation and developed more such demonic rituals. He lived around 23,000 years ago and died soon after becoming an immortal. His life was relatively short but filled with violence. In every step of his life, he fought against fate…'

Oh, this guy was from the same continent as I was. The White Tiger Continent was also known as the Western Continent. Nobody called it the Western Continent since we lost contact with the other continents.

Also, it was telling that only these three people revealed they were other-worlders. They only did so after they became immortals; otherwise, it was like asking a demonic cultivator to just try a ritual on you. Fuck, me actually having a stronger soul than usual probably made me a good ingredient in a sacrifice. However, I had no idea what qualified as "good ingredients" in a demonic ritual.

As I approached the latter pages of the book, the author stopped discussing the lives of those three immortals and instead addressed another topic.

'Otherworldly Devils rarely ever get to meet another one of their kind. Because compared to the general population, they're too rare, and coming from another world is not a common occurrence…'

On the last page, the author's name was written.

'Written by: Chaofan Tuosu'

I finished reading the book and was close to my temporary house. Song Song was still waiting atop the wall. I closed the book and waved at her.

"Took you long enough," she said.

"Yeah, because I took the long route back. Your clan members like to stare," I responded, putting the red book in my storage ring.

As I leaped past the wall, the cold that had hung around me on my way here disappeared, and I felt the comfortable warmth of spring within the barrier. Song Song's presence disappeared from atop the wall, and she appeared sitting on the wooden porch.

I turned toward her. "You didn't tell me about the man in the book."

"The man in the book?" She looked at me, confused.