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

After finishing his cultivation, An finally opened his eyes after a full nine hours.

'So it's not just the First Step of Body and Qi pills that increase cultivation time so dramatically, it happens even without them... Does this mean that when I advance to Foundation Establishment, I'll spend over twelve hours on a single cycle without any boosts? But then again, to cultivate in a new realm, I need a technique for it first and foremost...' Realizing this, he immediately remembered the novels he had read in his first life. Those stories of cultivating for one to two hundred years turned out not to be such an exaggeration after all.

'I won't lie... sitting in a cave for decades, gathering dust and moss... might not be so bad.' He immediately began recalling how, inside the dungeon, he had cultivated for months without moving a single muscle, overgrown with vines on all sides, completely immersed and devoted to the cultivation process.

'Those times were truly the most peaceful and the most productive. Even though I strained both my mind and body, it was worth it.' Just remembering such secluded cultivation made him smile.

"Oh?" An sensed three people approaching him again, one of them bald, from the group of the muscle-bound brute who had started a conflict with Mo Fan and his group.

Approaching him, the bald one of the three wore a smirk on his face. "Hey, you."

Raising his gaze, An saw arrogance oozing from them. Their faces were so twisted it felt as though each of them had eaten a lemon.

"What?" An asked in a neutral voice, tilting his head slightly.

"What do you mean, what? Don't play dumb... The boss wants to see you!" The bald one's eyes turned dangerous, his crooked smile widening.

"You heard what he said! Move your ass!"

"Get up and walk, now!"

The two behind the bald one, twisting their faces even more in an attempt to look more threatening, began radiating their Qi, showing off their ninth-layer cultivation.

After a moment's thought, An put on a simple, slightly foolish expression with a light smile. "Can you let me finish my cultivation first? Then I'll meet your boss. As you can see, I can't interrupt this process without consequences for myself."

"Are you stupid? You were told the boss wants to see you, so he wants to see you! Move!" The bald one crossed his arms and began activating his Qi, the three of them together trying to pressure An.

'What kind of supreme idiocy is this? Why and how did I end up in this ridiculous situation. I need to think of something to get them off my back, at least while we're on the ship...' An stared at these three idiots.

"You do realize I'm a Master Alchemist, and right now I could stand up and walk over to one of the three core disciples and ask to join their group. I wouldn't even need to offer anything in exchange, I'd receive their protection as a gift." After thinking, he finally found a way to get rid of the three without a fight, and possibly prevent similar situations in the future.

Hearing the threat, the two became even more enraged, on the verge of starting a fight, only waiting for a command from their senior brother. The bald one, however, hesitated slightly, realizing that An's words made sense.

"Do you think it would be difficult for me to ask for help in dealing with you... I mean, for example, burying the three of you in the Sacred Land, or simply feeding your cold bodies to some beast to hide the traces of your existence?" An's eyes turned cold, his voice growing quieter and quieter, as if dropping to a whisper.

"You little vermin!"

"Maybe we should cut out his tongue? An alchemist only needs his hands!"

The two had already activated their Qi to full power, scattering the remaining curious disciples around them.

With faces red from rage, they both took a synchronized step forward. But at that same moment, the bald one, with trembling hands, blocked their path.

Looking with wide eyes of surprise, but more from fear, the bald one understood that everything the alchemist sitting before him had said was true. He really could ask someone influential for help, and even their senior brother, Core Disciple Mighty Horn, wouldn't be able to save them if he decided to help.

"Ugh, let's go!" Not knowing how to properly exit the situation, the bald one simply turned around, grabbed his two lackeys, and began dragging them back, trying to leave as quickly as possible.

'Sigh... Even though it looks like I solved this problem... the blockhead leading them will most likely get angry and do everything to cause me trouble in the future...' Turning to watch the three retreating backs, An exhaled deeply and rolled his eyes slightly.

'Already two of the four core disciples hold a grudge against me, and it's been less than a day. Not bad... Maybe I should kill them all... while we're in the Sacred Land?' Though the last thought was a joke, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

….

"What is this? I gave you an order. That means you were obligated to carry it out!" Sitting on a throne he had pulled from his spatial ring, with two female disciples in his embrace, Mighty Horn cast a dangerous glance at the three who had returned.

"What excuse do you have for your latest failure?" Pulling the two girls tighter until they both gasped, Mighty Horn smiled with a bloodthirsty look.

Seeing that terrifying face, all three immediately dropped to the ground and began kowtowing.

"We, we're sorry! But we couldn't! Senior Brother, he-" The bald one, gathering his courage, began speaking, trying to get everything out in one breath.

Sitting and listening, Mighty Horn, in his anger, began squeezing the girls tightly.

"Ah!"

"Ugh! Senior Brother!"

Both cried out in pain and began trying to escape his embrace.

"Hmph!" Mighty Horn merely snorted and shoved both to the ground. Leaning forward slightly, he continued listening to his subordinate.

The more he listened, the tighter he gripped the armrests of his throne.

"How dare that lowlife even open his mouth! Right Hand! Come here! Now!" Sitting on his throne, he began to tremble from the rage overflowing within him.

Immediately, a figure rushed over from his right and bowed slightly, simultaneously waving a hand to activate a barrier so that people around would stop listening to what was happening, so no one would hear their senior brother's words.

"Here, Senior Brother!" Bowing, Right Hand, in blue robes with a lowered hood, stood before Mighty Horn, awaiting his instructions.

"Bring me that insect's head! Now!" With burning eyes, he pointed across the deck at the cultivator sitting by the stern railing.

"Senior Brother, now is not the right time!" Right Hand objected, shaking his head, though still speaking in a respectful tone.

"When we're inside the Sacred Land, that's when we'll have every opportunity to do whatever we want with that ungrateful alchemist!" Bowing once more, Right Hand tried to calm his senior brother.

"B-boss! Right Hand is r-right! We can't attack him now, the elders won't let it slide!" The bald one, still kowtowing, raised his head slightly with wide, frightened eyes.

Gripping the armrests of his throne, Mighty Horn twisted his face so violently that purple veins bulged on his bald head. "Fine! Let him live a little longer! I wanted to make him my personal slave of his own free will, it would have been an honor for him! But the little vermin doesn't know gratitude! Then we'll do it the way I like!" Grinning, Mighty Horn released the armrests and leaned back into his throne.

"Once you fall into my hands! First, I'll cut out your tongue and your legs! And if you turn out to be a mediocre slave... then I'll feed you your own genitals! Hahahaha!" Laughing loudly, his face reddened from rage, he cast an angry glance at the two girls sitting beneath his throne, afraid to raise their heads.

"To me, now!" Reaching down, he grabbed them and seated them on his lap.

….

'Even through the barrier he erected, I can feel his killing intent directed at me... Damn... Looks like I really will need to find an opportunity, at least for him, before he and his crew start ruining my life...' An, watching through his peripheral vision, saw everything happening inside the barrier, which only blocked sound, not the Qi flows emanating from it.

Lowering his head onto his hands, he exhaled, 'Sigh... I'm becoming too cold-blooded...'

'I don't even know the reason for this detachment anymore... In the cave with Rollo Por and his gang, I was only looking for an excuse to break through that so-called wall... But while it helped, it also created more emotional problems inside me... And the more time passes, the more I distance myself from everyone and everything, the less... how should I put it, the less human people seem to me? At the moment when the Dao of Death chose me, and I passed that trial through the Dao of Wood, I gained an inner peace that is almost impossible to shake. I finally understood.'

'Being in this environment, among people who don't consider you human either, I become exactly like them. Cold-blooded, egocentric, distrustful. And the more I cultivate, the more my body and mind change... the less connected I feel to them, the more it seems to me that the people around me aren't really people at all, they're not my equals. Even though this mindset is too arrogant, and I even sound strange in my own head right now... But it's not the kind of arrogance where someone looks down on you and snorts, trying to push the filth away from themselves.'

'No. It's arrogance like understanding, like realizing that we are different, that they and I are two different evolutionary branches from ordinary humans. How strange that sounds in my own head... And who to blame for this, myself, my actions, the people around me, the world itself? And am I on the right path? Have I already made mistakes that have destroyed my future, the future of my path?'

'No. Doubting myself is the first mistake. I shouldn't doubt my actions. Yes, they're sometimes stupid, impulsive, and even incomprehensible... But isn't that the path itself? Every step, every misstep leads me forward. Every push moves me further along my path. This is my path alone, the path I walk to survive, to learn, to understand this world... to understand myself.' An lowered his head and closed his eyes, fully analyzing all his actions since arriving here. He understood how many mistakes he had made, but each mistake was part of himself. If he didn't accept those mistakes and acknowledge them, he wouldn't accept himself, the one he was becoming, the one who was no longer An from Earth, but An from this terrifying yet wondrous world.

'All those lives I took... At the moment it happened, it frightened me, even though I suppressed it... But now, remembering their faces, I feel nothing... nothing at all.' Running through his mind all the deaths for which he was the primary cause, he recalled his attitude toward death and killing in his first life on Earth.

He had always believed that no one had the right to take another's life, since only the person themselves had the right to decide their fate, no one else. For him, killing was something vile and cowardly. Even when he was alive and several wars were happening around him, the only thing that saddened him when reading the news was the wasted lives, regardless of which side they were on. So many lives lost simply for others' gain, it deeply affected his soul.

But finding himself here, in a reality he still found difficult to comprehend, where human life was cheaper than a wooden coin, over time, as he adapted to this environment, his worldview changed radically.

But the main reason, which he had realized only recently, lay in cultivation itself. The more you cultivate, the further you advance, the more you detach from reality, from your old self. Along with cultivation, your mind evolves and changes you in a direction that an ordinary person would find repulsive.

The more he devoted himself to cultivation, the more that cultivation consumed him, distancing him from the world around him.

As if without realizing it, he was creating an invisible wall between himself and other people.

Just observing the people around him, like a spectator rather than a participant. Watching how their outer masks hid their true nature from others, but not from him. This only strengthened that wall, pushing An further and further away from people, his perception of whom had long since begun to change.

'Perhaps this is what cultivation is? Completely discarding your environment, emotions, relationships? Just trying to climb up the steps, constantly trying to evolve, both in mind and body? Sealing yourself inside a dark cave and cultivating in peace for decades, centuries, in attempts to reach the next step, until those steps run out?' Without raising his head, his eyes suddenly opened, but they had lost all luster, becoming empty.

'Sects? Conflicts? Status? None of it means anything. Just a way to survive, a way to stay on this ladder, a way to find the strength to take a step forward and climb to the next rung.'

'Friendship? Love? Relationships? This is a world where everyone climbs upward, stepping on the still-warm skulls of others just to be higher. In this world, there is no equality, no goodness, no peace. Every smile, every kind word is just a way to gain advantage for oneself... In a world where a single swing of your fist can destroy entire cities, kingdoms, continents, what is a word worth? What is friendship worth? Anyone, for just a fraction of the power of that fist swing, is ready to sacrifice everything and everyone.'

Sitting with his head lowered and an empty gaze, An forgot where he was, completely absorbed in his thoughts.

Pop!

His entire body shuddered. 'Again... That feeling of loss and relief again... I still can't understand what it is.'

He once again felt something inside him tear and disappear, and immediately he was washed over by a sense of satisfaction, of relief. Having encountered this situation not for the first time, he reacted quickly and began searching through his entire body, physical and spiritual. Trying to find the source, or at least the cause.

'Though I feel the loss, at the same time I feel lighter. My thoughts flow a little faster, my muscles react quicker, my Qi moves more easily... And the Qi around me seems to have become... closer?' Closing his eyes, scanning again and again, trying to understand something, An only noticed that he had somehow grown closer to Qi itself, to the very nature around him.

'What if...' He retreated into his inner world and immediately moved to where the Dao of Wood resided.

'This puddle has grown larger, even a bit deeper... But at the same time clearer...' Hovering over the green puddle, he began reading the Qi, trying to understand the detailed changes in his Dao of Wood. Studying the energy, he realized he could now understand and recognize slightly more than before.

Trying to extract new information, unfortunately he still hit the same limitation that wouldn't let him go further. Resigned, he raised his gaze and looked at the black cloud above him.

'Death Qi has also increased, become more concentrated... As if on the verge of precipitation.' Flying up to the cloud, An ran his hand through it, feeling a strong, penetrating cold. Looking at the cloud itself and sensing its energy, he truly felt as though it was about to rain.

'If Death Qi rain begins to fall into the Wood Qi puddle, won't there be conflicts? Won't that become a big problem for me?' Looking between the cloud and the puddle, he pondered. Knowing his knowledge was insufficient to understand what to expect, but his intuition, his gut, whispered that everything was fine, that this wouldn't become a problem for him, "I hope my gut knows what it's talking about..."

Shaking his head, he looked everything over one more time, confirming all was well. He opened his physical eyes, returning to the ship's deck.

Bringing his slightly open palm to his lowered head, An activated his Qi. Concentrating a small clump smaller than a peanut, he first transformed it into Water Qi, then into Fire, Air, Metal.

'Transformation now takes much less Qi effort... Heh, does this mean that someday, the power after elemental transformation won't be diminished?' Examining the Metal Qi, he transformed it into black energy, Death Qi.

'Interacting with Death energy has become significantly easier, it no longer overloads my body in seconds. Even the power of the energy has increased, though only by a few percent... But the feeling this energy gives me...' Examining the black clump of Qi, An smiled slightly.

'Closeness? As if we've become closer... Like my neutral Wood Qi, they've both become closer to me, as if they're increasingly recognizing me as their master?' Thinking of Wood Qi, a matching sphere appeared on his palm beside the black clump, only green in color.

'...Why, when I see my Wood Qi saturated with the Dao of Wood, can't I shake the feeling that it resembles the element of Life more... Just like the element of Death, it's a third-order element, a Dao Element...' Dispersing both energies, he slightly clenched his palm.

'...Most likely, I'm drawing similarities between my Wood and the element of Life because of my lack of education and my low cultivation...' Shaking his head with a light smile on his face, he decided to put it aside for later and focus on what was truly important right now, training.

Sitting more comfortably, An relaxed his body and began manipulating Qi. First inside himself, circulating, summoning, dispersing it within his muscles and even his cells.