Cultivator’s Path to Infamy [Progression | Cultivation | Villain Lead]

‘W-where am I?! Is this a cell?’ He realized he was in a cage. Cold stone walls, a thick, rusty grate, and water dripping from the ceiling.

Hearing the water, An lowered his head and spotted a small puddle. Even though his high vitality meant he didn't really need food or water, he still dropped to the floor and started drinking from the puddle, trying, in some desperate way, to calm the panic still burning inside him, mixed with heavy doses of adrenaline.

He gulped greedily, only stopping when he nearly threw up.

Breathing heavily, he saw his reflection in the puddle.

His face was burnt. Several layers of skin had peeled off. In some places, there were even black, charred patches of his flesh. His head was completely bald, with a cracked scalp.

He froze, staring at his reflection in horror. The water began to cloud over with the blood still dripping from his head and face.

Squeezing his eyes shut until it hurt, An barely managed to turn over and lean against the wall. With his eyes closed, he drifted into a strange state, shaking uncontrollably one moment, feeling his entire body break down the next, tears streaming from his eyes without warning.

After sitting like that for some time, he finally managed to calm down a little. Immediately, he decided to check himself using Qi.

His dantian was almost empty, but unharmed. The 30% volume he had developed before the fight hadn't shrunk.

His physical condition was much worse.

Burst blood vessels throughout his body. Some organs pierced by his own broken bones. A fractured and warped ribcage. Completely shattered shoulder.

Just as panic began to consume him again, so strong he nearly convulsed, losing control of his body and mind, he ‘saw’ his body starting to heal.

"Ha~ Ha~ H-healing factor... M-my vitality..." An, mouth wide open, breathing greedily, let his head rest against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

"Am I stuck here forever?" The thought stuck in his head, and the shaking started again. He began banging the back of his head against the wall. He twisted his head around, trying to see something, find something, not even understanding what he was looking for.

"G-get a hold of yourself! You coward!"

Smack! Smack!

He slapped himself a few times, then pressed his entire body against the stone wall behind him, trying desperately to regain control.

"C-calm down! Calm down! Please!" But just as he felt himself starting to settle, a flashback hit him: the entire fight, all the pain he'd felt in the moment, all his thoughts, all the fears he'd experienced during the battle. And just like that, all his progress in calming down unraveled.

He went back and forth like this for a while. Eventually, he just got tired of the emotional rollercoaster.

With an empty stare at the ceiling, An let his head drop. He placed his hand on his chest, over his heart, feeling and listening to his heartbeat.

His Qi had recovered during his emotional turmoil. He could finally move again, still in pain, but at least his limbs were responding to his commands once more.

'How long am I going to be in here? No! That doesn't matter!' Cutting off any thought that might send him back into that spiral again, he tried to distract himself.

'I need to keep myself so busy that I don't even have time for those thoughts!' Just the memory of the panic he'd just experienced, the feeling that death was coming, that his life wasn't even his own, pushed him to find the only solution he could think of. He dove deep into cultivation and Qi practice, completely ignoring rest. Headfirst into a new routine.

After 57 cultivation cycles, An felt that his dantian walls had strengthened enough. Qi was now pushing into a new section, opening up 31% of the total volume.

Focusing, An broke through to the next layer without any problems.

Immediately he felt lightness. All the remaining pain that had been sitting inside him since the battle was gone.

Opening his eyes, he noticed his vision had improved. In this dark stone cage, he could now see everything clearly, even without weak light seeping through the few cracks in the walls.

He immediately understood this was due to his body evolving during the breakthrough to the fourth layer.

"Fourth layer of Qi Condensation, the middle stage... If only I knew how much time had actually passed..." An took a deep breath, the joy of breakthrough giving way to his melancholy.

Before, An had never done cycle after cycle. He alternated things, did other activities. But here, behind the grate, the only thing that kept his thoughts at bay was cultivating, practicing Qi until his head hurt after each cycle, and analyzing his past fight, but only the battle itself, completely distancing himself from the feelings and emotions.

He quickly concluded that he was only alive because of his opponents' inexperience and poor combat coordination. If they had fought with proper timing, he was absolutely sure he would have been dead in seconds.

He shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. He'd drifted from analyzing the fight into the very territory he was trying to avoid.

An lowered his head and closed his eyes. He decided to examine his body, as he now did after every cycle.

Checking his physical condition, he realized only the shattered shoulder remained. At first, he'd been very worried about how the bone fragments stuck inside him would heal, but the result surprised him: the fragments simply dissolved, becoming material for new connections and bone growth. His left upper arm had regrown the bones, but the tendons hadn't fully connected yet, they were only just starting to stretch toward each other.

Opening his eyes, An began manipulating energy. He continued training with Frequency Control. This technique amazed An with its versatility: defense, offense, movement. He decided to train on the speed of enveloping different body parts, switching from hand to hand, to legs, to his entire body, thereby accelerating activation and the speed of Qi movement through his system.

108th cultivation cycle.

"Thirty-three percent of dantian volume. With each percent, I feel my body's strength increasing... Evergreen really is the ideal cultivation technique for me." An sat in a lotus position, head down, eyes closed, constantly muttering to himself.

All his wounds and physical problems from the fight had fully healed.

From time to time, when cycles ended, energy waves of different speeds began spreading out from An, each wave crashing against the walls and grate of the cell. But thanks to the formations, they caused no damage.

During his Qi training, he released energy outward, each time changing its density, training his control over energy output.

163rd cultivation cycle.

An learned to float by layering Qi on top of itself and finding the right frequency. Another branch of his Frequency Control. He could hover in the air for a couple of minutes. At first, he could only float for a few seconds, the short duration was due to the massive Qi consumption.

By layering multiple Qi sheets with different vibration frequencies and adjusting the timing, each layer repelled the others, allowing An to hover above the ground. The hardest part was the first layer closest to the ground. In the end, he figured out that the last and second-to-last layers should not only repel but also attract each other, that became the final piece that made hovering possible.

While sitting and training, he decided to categorize Frequency Control by its purpose:

• Hovering : 'Qi Clouds'
• Enveloping his hands for combat techniques : 'Qi Fists'
• On his legs : 'Qi Legs'
• Full body envelopment : 'Qi Armor'

By the end of the 163rd cycle, the Qi volume in his dantian had reached 35%. An noticed that after reaching the fourth layer and repeatedly doing cycles, each cultivation cycle took longer, before his head started throbbing. Before, he could attract a few hundred Wood-element Qi particles from the environment. Now, each cycle pulled in several thousand.

After his training, An looked at the ceiling, remembering the bird back at his plot.

"I hope he didn't starve to death..." An exhaled and resumed training with Qi.

213th cycle.

Dantian volume stopped at 37%. An had stopped lifting his head or opening his eyes, sitting like a statue in a lotus position without moving. Only the echo of his breathing, or his frequent muttering, bounced off the walls and escaped through the grate into the deep, dark corridor.

Suddenly, a small point appeared on the ceiling and began glowing brightly.

An lazily opened his eyes and raised his head to check the Qi flow emanating from it. He sensed the same chaotic energy as from the altar that had brought him here.

For the first time in a very long time, he stood up and moved to the center of the cage, afraid of missing a chance to escape this place.

Immediately, a bright light blinded him, and a loud hum deafened him.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Even through his eyelids, he could feel the brightness burning his eyes. But the sound, unlike last time, wasn't as painful on his eardrums.

He took a deep breath as something pressed against his chest. In an instant, the Qi flows around him changed.

Opening his eyes, he realized he was standing on the same altar deep in the Hall of Justice.

Raising his head, he saw two cultivators in front of him, a girl and a guy. The guy looked about twenty, the girl seventeen or eighteen. Clearly outer disciples, like An, just much older.

He read their Qi flows and understood: the guy wasn't far past the fourth layer, probably fifth, the girl was only at the early stage of the fourth layer.

"Ahem! Outer disciple An... An! In accordance with the rules of the Sect and the Hall of Justice, you have been released upon the expiration of your prescribed term of isolation!"

Having said this, the guy raised his head slightly higher, waiting for An's response.

An glanced around and simply walked past them toward the door.

Approaching the door, he felt two stares drilling into the back of his head.

He walked through the door and let it slam behind him.

"Hmph! I don't understand why he was released after only fifty days. A beast like that should be locked away forever. Attacks his own brothers and still acts so high and mighty! Ha!" The girl snorted and turned her gaze to the guy beside her, staring intently, expecting his support.

"Ahem. Don't worry. He's already slipped up once, and that means he'll slip up again. And the Hall deals harshly with repeat offenders! Everyone knows that!" The guy flared his nostrils, raised his chin high, spun around sharply, and marched toward the staff door.

Seeing this, the girl ran after him.

Exiting the Hall of Justice, An stopped.

"I rushed and forgot to ask how long I was in there... Whatever!" He went straight to the Outer Hall to collect his monthly distributions. There, he’d find out how many days had passed.

As he walked across the Outer Platform, everyone turned to look at him. Some openly laughed. Some even spat, not forgetting to throw a few insults his way.

The reason? He was wearing only torn pants, more like shorts. His entire upper body was bare. One pant leg was completely gone, the other came down to his knee. Barefoot. Walking around like that: skinny, dirty, disheveled, covered in rags.

Everyone just pointed at him, like a clown.

Entering the Outer Hall, An went straight to a window where an old man sat, around seventy years old, with a long beard. His bald head gleaming, he examined some journal with dark green eyes, constantly wiping his hands on his gray robes.

"Good... morning." An glanced outside to make sure what time of day it actually was.

"Senior Brother... I'm here for my monthly distributions." An held out his plaque, the only thing that had survived the fight intact.

"Is this some kind of fetish of yours, Junior Brother, or...?" The old man looked An up and down and raised an eyebrow, nodding as if this wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this.

"I... I was in the dungeons for some time and came straight from there." An exhaled and answered calmly.

"What for, if it's not a secret?" The old man asked with a smirk, glancing at the brand on his neck.

"Because of my background..." An scratched the brand absently.

"Hmm. You're not the first and won't be the last, Junior Brother." The old man exhaled, took the plaque, and checked it. He turned around, then placed six Summer Dew pills and twelve spirit stones on the counter.

An looked at this and realized: more than a month had passed, but less than two.

"When's the next distribution?" An asked, simultaneously tearing off the remaining part of his pant leg to wrap the items.

"Heh. Ten days from now. That'll be the first day of the month of Blossoming, year 4609 since the birth of the 'Fallen Star'." The old man said with a knowing smile.

"Thank you, Senior Brother." An nodded.

"Jo Oju." Senior Brother Jo smiled.

"Senior Brother Jo, I'd like to exchange all the Summer Dew pills for contribution points." An nodded and quickly said.

"Ten points per pill. Does that work for you?" Senior Brother Jo asked.

An nodded and slid all the pills toward Brother Jo. The old man took the pills and the plaque.

Taking his plaque back, An checked his balance: 65 points now.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Jo." After tearing off the remaining pant leg again, he wrapped the spirit stones in it, nodded to Senior Brother Jo, turned around, and headed for the exit.

Jo Oju shook his head. Pity could be read in his eyes as he watched the retreating silhouette of a miserable child.

An exited the Outer Hall and walked straight to where he'd last seen his spatial pouch.

Arriving at the clearing where the battle had taken place, An noticed that the grass still hadn't grown back in some spots, and the tree trunks were still shattered.

Looking around, An located the pouch by the Qi flows that still carried his energy signature. He walked over, bent down, and pulled his pouch out of the bushes. Opening it, he was relieved that everything was fine.

He put all the new spirit stones into the pouch, took out his last set of clothes: underwear, shirt, pants, sandals, and changed right there. He tossed the old clothes on the ground, converted his Qi into fire, and burned them.

Watching the ashes smolder, he decided to go back to the Outer Hall, gather some Kavana fruits, and buy more spirit plants for alchemy practice.

An sat near the trading area with his pouch full of fruits and new spirit plants, on which he'd spent ten spirit stones. All of a sudden, he remembered the lectures and pulled out his makeshift calendar. Marking fifty days on it, he calculated that the next lecture would only be next month. He decided to go home and lock himself in until the day of Elder Shoa’s lecture.

Arriving home and passing through the formation, An opened the gate.

"Cluck! CLUCK!" A gaunt rooster shot out of his burrow, ran up to An, and started running circles around him, clucking at the top of his lungs.

After screaming himself hoarse, he collapsed on the ground, exhausted, breathing heavily.

An picked up Baldi and carried him to the stove. Laying him on the ground, he took out ten fruits and placed them next to him.

"Sorry. I was locked up somewhere I couldn't escape from. This is your compensation." An scratched Baldi's head.

Catching the scent of the fruits, the chicken immediately jumped up and attacked the nearest fruit with the fury of a hungry bear waking after a long winter.

Smiling, An sat down in a lotus position and decided to start with a cultivation cycle.

After finishing the cycle, An decided to start refining Qi Enlightenment pills. His last attempt had come out with an 18% effect loss. This time, he was aiming for better results. He was confident that his training with Qi control would help him better sense and interact with the flows during pill forming.

Taking out all the spirit plants for Qi Enlightenment, An prepared them into sets. In the end, he had over forty attempts. After laying everything out and preparing, he began the first batch.

Over the next two weeks, An made pills, ate them immediately, and sometimes fed them to the bird. Even though Qi Enlightenment required mental focus to use, An hoped it would still be beneficial for the chicken in some way.

During this time, An made significant progress in Qi manipulation. His activation speed, his response time, decreased. Now, using any technique in his arsenal was almost instantaneous. He also managed to improve and reduce Qi consumption for Qi Armor and Qi Clouds. He also improved energy output for Qi Legs and Qi Fists.

Every day, eating Kavana fruits and catching first-rank spirit fish, An pushed hard toward the fifth layer. His physical strength reached 41%. He could feel that the gain from each fruit had dropped significantly.

His daily schedule grew tighter and tighter.

Returning from imprisonment, realizing that his emotional problems weren't fully resolved, An decided to throw himself completely into his tried-and-true method: his routine. Only this time, even denser. Trying to occupy every minute, every second, hoping, somewhere deep inside, that the problem, the emotions that had nearly drowned him, would just go away on their own.