Disclaimer:

Mr. Mad Snail, Don't be Mad, this is my first try on a Cultivation Fan Fiction, I fear that it will be as slow-paced as a Snail, See the wordplay? Meh, who cares, I do this for free after all.

Previous:

Nothing here yet…

1 Glory City!

A ten-year-old boy, handsome, a 15.6 on the scale of 10 handsome, Me, by the way, is taking a stroll through the City. What City might that be you ask? A bloody… Xantia, Xuanhuan, or Wuxia, I never could keep those apart City.

You guessed it, that handsome bloke isekaid, transmigrated, reincarnated, or traveled to another dimension. I am not sure which one of those I got, I just remembered my previous life when I woke up this morning with a splitting headache.

Once my headache was bearable, I shouted, "System! Gasha! AI activate! Stats! Inventory! Load Game! Show Quests!… …. Shit. No Golden Finger? No starter package? No OP Skills?... I am fucked."

Sigh, I even missed out on the talk with a ROB or a Master of Death, nope, I got shoved here without an explanation, I can't remember how I died, I suppose Truck San or Ex-Wife San did a number on me.

The silver lining? I am a Silkpant! Grand Uncle is Grand Master Mu Yang, from the Alchemist Association. Gramps, his junior brother, is an Alchemist Master too. Dad tried to be an Inscription Master for a while like Mum, but returned to his roots, he is studying for his Alchemy Mastery at the moment and is making up for his lost time. So we are quite well off, I got named after Grand Uncle as if that would help me to get better in Alchemy, Mu Yang… Meh, it is a name.

To get over my disappointment, I took a walk to the Market with my Nann… Servant! What do Silkpants do when they are in a bad mood? No, they do not pick a fight, I did not bring enough guards for that, this Silkpant is shopping! The first thing that came to my mind was that clear Soul Crystal to find out what my Soul Attribute and Soul Form are, I already knew my Soul Color, My parents could not stop bragging about it to everyone who stood still in front of them long enough to tell them what a genius I am.

If you must know, the Soul Color Coding goes from Red, the weakest, to Orange, Yellow, Green, that is mine, to Cyan, Azure, and the legendary Indigo, although it was ages ago someone got Azure or Indigo, so I got second best, it is still a rare color to have, Mum said so in an argument with a neighbor who was tired of her bragging.

So this one is a Green Genius, and my Soul Attribute is… Pouring Soul Force in the Crystal... A red Blob? No, it is a bloody red bird on a sea of green? Grass? That should be good, no? Firebirds are powerful tokens in Chinese literature, at least in the Wuxia and Xantia ones. Now that I know that, I still have no clue what to do with it.

I know in what world I am in, Tales of Demons and Gods, a fucked up World, to say the least. A guy, Nie Li, returned from the future to give it another try, instead of keeping a low profile and building his strength up, he follows his pecker and starts trouble in the first minute of his return, in the end, he chases everything with tits as a horny dog and made more problems than he solved.

There is good news and bad news, I am the same age as Ye Ziyun, the City Lord's daughter, so I know the plot starts in three years, the bad news? I have no clue where to begin! All the cultivation techniques in this City are crappy ones, all the Alchemy Recipes are poor excuses of copies from the originals, and the Inscription Patterns are a pile of rubbish too. The very bad news? I don't remember much of the story, most of what Nie Li did in the upper realm is a blur, the events here are a bit better, but not by much.

Anyway, I have three years to prepare. What I do remember is the Purple Grass herb Nie Li used to get rich fast, MINE! I'll take that as compensation for getting shafted by the guys upstairs. Too bad this Silkpant's budget is spent, that Crystal costs a thousand Demon Spirit Coins, that was my pocket money for this month… I never said I am a rich Silkpant, pouting, I went home.

Back home, I decided to take a look at the Family Library. To make a chance of surviving this story, I need to learn the old languages and reclaim Ancient knowledge, be it Alchemy, Inscription, or Cultivation techniques, although I have my doubts about those cultivation techniques. A chant they call it, it is just a silly rhyme in my opinion.

Hmm, maybe I have to imitate those Monks from our world, the ones that seek the meaning of life or something like that. Ah! I remember! They discovered the meaning of life and wrote it down in one book, then they condensed it more into one page, the page condensed into a line, and finally into one WORD! OHM! That can work, or it will destroy my Dantian or Soul Core or whatever it is called. Well, I better not risk it, this Silky pants is not tired of living yet.

Hmm? Gramps is here? Maybe he can help me out, "Grandfather? I would like to try to learn the language of the Snow Wind Empire and the Sacred Empire Era. Do we have translated books with the original in our library? That way I could get a grasp on the language."

Surprised, Gramps looked at me, I admit, I was not a bookworm before I woke up this morning. "How did you come up with that idea, Yang'er? The library was not your favorite place to be in."

I shrugged, "I want to impress my family, but that is hard with Grand Uncle and You, Mum is an Inscription Mistress, and Dad is well on the way to getting his Mastery too. If I can learn the Sacred Empire language and discover some Ancient Lore, that way I can contribute to Glory City and impress you. Even if I can not learn the language, then I at least read some books. The Holy Orchid Institute is three years away, I already can read and write, and know my numbers."

Gramps frowned, thought about it for a minute, and gathered some books from the shelves, he put them under his arm, then motioned me to follow him. At a door, he said, "This door is locked with an inscription lock, here let me key you in… Now you can enter the restricted area. See these six books? Those are from the Sacred Empire Era, the originals of these six books." Gramps got serious, "Mark my words, Yang'er, any damage to these old books will be punished. I am taking a big risk to allow you to try this, do not take this lightly."

"I won't let you down, Grandfather," I said with a bow, "No food and no drinking in this room, and lock up behind me, is that right?"

Gramps nodded, "I am counting on you then, let me know if you have questions."

Xxxxx

In the following months, I got into a routine, waking up early in the morning, a three-mile run, an hour of workout, breakfast, and studying until dinner. After dinner another two-mile run with some Parkour, and some Alchemy discussions with my Dad.

Soon the books began to make sense, and I started to notice small details that the previous translator missed. It is in the details, like Ally and Alley is just a letter apart and it means two completely different things. One book had it bad, it was as if an early Google translate did a Japanese novel into English, the structure of the language is completely different, if you translate it word for word it gets unreadable, it gave me the structure on how the ancient language is made up.

Once I discovered that, translating became easier, soon I could make corrections. Hey, I am good at this! I expected to struggle for a year or two, not a half year. I made Puppy eyes at Gramps, the sucker fell for it, he delivered two books that were not yet translated.

One book was about Alchemy, the other for Inscriptions, what are inscriptions you ask? Those are some scribbles in blood on paper that can do lots of things. The arrays or diagrams are basically Magic spells, activate it with Soul Power and it goes boom.

While translating the book I noticed that the Inscription arrays are not complete, there is always something missing that makes them useless, I found the solution, a decoder key, on the last pages, with the decoder key I, with the help of Mum, could complete the translation.

Mum hugged me, "You did a great job, Yang'er, but we are keeping the decoder a family secret, ok? There are some very valuable inscriptions in this book that will make us a lot of money."

I nodded, "We are not done yet, Mum, we have to cross-check the herbs that they named, we could have given them different names over time. Some of the Demon blood needs to be mixed with specific herbs, if the herb is wrong, that could blow up in our face."

Mum looked conflicted, finally she said, "Translate the other book first, I'll let Father-in-law search for herbal books in the Alchemy Association."

By the time I was done translating the Alchemy book, I was fluent in reading and writing Sacred Empire language, and a year had passed. The Alchemy book was completely about theory, how and why to use the heat, the different cauldrons for different results, even the array inscriptions on the cauldrons are mentioned. Dad devoured that book, not long after he got his Master title.

Xxxxx

I am on a roll! Grand Uncle got in on my skills, took me to the Alchemy Association, and introduced me to Yang Xin, the freshly minted Grand Master Alchemist at the tender age of 22, a total Babe! Too bad I lacked the hormones, so I just appreciated the scenery.

"Miss Yang, this is my Grand nephew, Mu Yang'er, he is the one I talked about, he spent last year translating books from the Sacred Empire Era, and is the one that detected the flaws in those four Primary Apprentice books and the two Intermediate Apprentice books I showed you a few months ago. More so, when you read the book he finished translating last month, your skill will improve, I'll guarantee it."

Miss Xin studied my face, then she smiled, "That is high praise from your Uncle, Young man, well-deserved praise I might say, the changes you made in the books are tested, the overall success rate went up by 15%, and the quality of the pills improved from 5% to 35%. Those are impressive numbers."

She looked up at Grand Uncle, "But he is not here to listen to my praise, what do you have in mind Senior Grand Master Mu?"

Grand Uncle put a hand on my shoulder and said: "Yang'er will go over the Herbal books from the Sacred Empire Era and compare them with the current Herbal names, some of the recipes are not complete because we could not find the herb the translator wrote down."

Miss Xin understood, "You want to keep the boy a secret, but the books are not allowed outside the building. You want to make him my apprentice?"

"That is the idea," answered Grand Uncle, "That way you can test the new or improved recipes without raising suspicion, you are an Alchemist Genius, improving Recipes would not raise suspicions."

I raised my hand and asked, "Ehm, if I find a useful cheap herb, like for instance Black Pool Grass, am I allowed to buy them up in bulk before we release the recipe? The price of that herb will rise substantially, and I could gain some pocket money. What if I find a new useful recipe, one that doubles the effects of the current pill? Is there a bonus?"

Miss Xin chuckled, "My, you are quite the entrepreneur aren't you, already you are thinking of making money for the family. I will allow it if it is ok with your Grand Uncle, I don't know what he already paid you."

By the blush on his face not nearly enough! That cheapskate is exploiting me! "I allow it, that last book Yang'er translated will raise our production by at least 20%." he finally said, I will let him regret those words.

Xxxxx

Miss Xin became my Master, to the envy of all the male apprentices and Masters, Miss Xin rubbed it in by being extra cuddly with me in public, doting on me as if I were her little brother. Not that it mattered, Little Dude was not active yet, but if she keeps on putting my face between her boobs that will change soon.

Currently, my Mum is on a secret mission, she is buying all the Purple Haze Grass that she can find, at the moment she is filling all her storage rings with it. Yes, I found plenty of uses for that herb, the translator named that herb completely wrong. I made a deal with the Association, any new Recipe will get me 15% of the net profits, I am going to be loaded!

When Mum bought all the Purple Grass she could find, I presented the recipes to Miss Xin, "Mistress, try these Recipes, the Sacred Soul Enhancing Pill, Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill, Empire's Soul Nurturing Pill, and the modifications for the Recovering Pill and Enhancing Pill."

Mistress Xin looked at the Recipes and asked, "Is it a coincidence that the main ingredient of all these Recipes is Purple Haze Grass?"

I grinned, "Purely a coincidence, Mistress, a one-in-a-million coincidence. Mother must be a Seer, just last month she bought all the Purple Haze Grass she could find. You see, I discovered a potion that can restore old Inscription patterns, and that potion needs Purple haze Grass too."

Then I showed three small books, "These are my own findings, Mistress, three recipes that Apprentices of the Primary level can easily make: Soap, it is a cleaning solution that removes almost everything, even fat stains. The first is for the house, the second is for the human body, the third is for washing your hair. It is easy to make and everyone will want it. I will split with you, 15% of the net profit for me and 5% for you, do we have a deal?" I remember reading that in a Fan Fiction and wanted to try it out.

Mistress Xin sat behind her desk and studied my face, "There is more to you than what your Uncle thinks isn't it? I noticed that you are acting more mature than your age."

I shrugged, "That is your fault, Mistress. Putting my face between your breasts every day kickstarted puberty, one of the books I translated had some explicit descriptions of the human anatomy and what to do with it.

And watching Porn in my previous life helped it start. Hah, I got her blushing, now hinting she is a cradle robber, and I can do whatever I want.

Mistress Xin defended herself, "That was on orders of Senior Grand Master Mu. I had to show my affection as if you were my little brother."

I raised my eyebrow, "You don't have a little brother, do you? The last three weeks I have been walking around with an erection after every hug of yours, not that I am complaining, far from it, I am the envy of every male in the Association when my face is between those orbs."

"And yet here you are talking like an adult again." Said a blushing Mistress Xin. I just shrugged, I mature fast, live with it.

The new pills are a blast! Mum made a killing with the Purple Haze Grass, twenty-fold profit! She was humming all day, Dad had a silly grin on his face every morning, I was glad I slept in another building, anyway, this boy was getting rich, I let Mum keep the money from the Grass, my Soap was a big seller, millions of citizens got to know the soap and everyone wanted it. I was getting rich while sleeping! Too bad we didn't have books about cultivation.

Xxxxx

By now I am eleven and a half, and a hot commodity, somehow the City Lord found out who was after the new pills and soap, and guess who got engaged with his pretty purple-haired daughter? Tadaa! Here stands the new and improved Silky pants! My fortune is nearing eight figures, the Alchemy Association built a Soap factory to meet the demand. Shen Yue missed his chance to bag my Ziyun, he never had a chance to begin with anyway.

The benefits? I have a new library to browse through, the Library of the Snow Wind Family, this time I found the motherload of Cultivation manuals, the book describes the Soul attributes and soul Forms in detail, it is a thick book with small print, but it is a goldmine of information. I was glad I started with the Sacred Empire language, it was the top of Human civilization before the downfall, and all the cultivation techniques were refined to the top.

I bet Nie Li got most of those Cultivation techniques from that Era. Those books were in the Temporal Demon Spirit Book no doubt, well, I don't need that obnoxious dud anymore.

I found an ideal Cultivation technique for me: The Heavenly Fire Phoenix Vortex, I know, it sounds posh, it probably is posh, but I better not say what the chant is, it sounds embarrassing like hell.

Well, the Library pass was my foot in the door with Ye Ziyun, my lovely fiancee, I visited her, with a chaperone of course, both our Nann… Personal Servants were attending. The talk came up on cultivation and I took my chance.

"You know, Miss Ziyun," I softly said out of our chaperon's hearing distance, "I discovered something, and the ancient books proved me right, the color of your Soul is not the only thing that defines what you are, there is your Soul Form and your Soul Attribute. Here, push your Soul Force in this clear Soul Crystal… now look closely, what do you see?"

"I See… it looks like a blue sleeping bird. It seems to sleep on a bed of ice." Said Ziyun while studying the Crystal. Then she handed it to me, "What can you make out of this?"

I made sure it was the Ice Phoenix before I said something, "That is the Ice Phoenix, a legendary bird, come with me, I will show you the book that describes that Soul Form."

At the Library, I took her to the Sacred Empire Era section and pulled the heavy book from the shelf. I opened the book and paged through it until I found the Ice Phoenix, "Here, it said it is an ultra-rare Soul Form that with the right cultivation you get nine rebirths, Nan, can you get me some pen and paper?"

Nan is always prepared, it took twenty minutes to translate the text and to point out the details. Slowly I explained to Ziyun what to focus on and how to cultivate.

"Finally, show me your favorite place in your courtyard, the place where you are feeling the most relaxed and at ease," I asked.

Ziyun showed her porch with a view of her garden, "I loved to sit here in the evenings with Ning'er, too bad those days are gone."

I cleared a space on her porch and took a template out of my storage ring, I put the template on the floor and put Array stones in the designated spaces, once they were all in place I activated the Array, the stones glowed and sunk into the floor.

With the Nann… Personal Servants out of hearing range, It was my turn to explain, "This is a Soul Force Gathering Array, if you cultivate in the middle, you can get more than double of the Soul Force than normal. My mother made this one, it works, I have one at home too. We can not sell these to everyone, the Soul Force has to come from somewhere, fights will break out between neighbors if they suck too much Soul Force away from them. Keep this a secret please."

Ziyun giggled, "Father will complain for sure if he finds out, I'll bet he wants one of his own. Mr Yang, What Soul Form do you have? Or is it something private?"

"My Soul Form is a Fire Phoenix, It is a more common Soul form and a bit easier to Cultivate," I answered.

Ziyun gasped, "We match with our Soul Form!"

Yeah, but she better not say she will build a nest or hatch some eggs, well, I have one of Nie Li's victims away from him, now I need to liberate the other one. By the time Nie Li returns to his past, both girls will be out of his reach. In the story he was after Ziyun like a stag in the rutting period, then he began to sniff at Ning'er and every female he got within reach.

In the story the girls were drifting apart, Nie Li scored points with Ziyun by reuniting them, I'll try to get them back together before that.

"Who is Ning'er? A friend?" I asked, "You seemed sad when you spoke of her, did she die?"

Ziyun shook her head, "She stopped coming over the day she got engaged to Shen Fei."

I swore, "I would get depressed too, according to the rumors he fathered a bunch of bastards already and caused some girls to suicide. She must be jealous of your freedom… ah! Maybe now that you are shackled down she'll come back."

Ziyun looked sideways at me, "You are one to talk! Rumors about you and Director Yang Xin are all over Glory City. They all wonder, who is keeping who?"

I shrugged, "Grand Uncle pushed for it to mask that I was translating all the ancient books from the Sacred Empire Era at the Alchemy Association. I was supposed to act as her apprentice and she had to treat me like a little brother. Her problem was that she never had a brother and went over the top with it. Meh, the people may think what they want."

I grinned at Ziyun, "That doesn't mean I did not enjoy her hugs, I am a growing boy after all, and we were not engaged back then. Mistress Yang stopped hugging me after our engagement was announced." a pity in my opinion.

"You know what?" I suddenly said, "Try to cultivate your technique first, if it gets you good results, invite your friend over and let her use an empty Crystal, I will search for a cultivation technique tailored for her. That will get you back together, don't you think?"

Xxxxx

The next day, two girls visited the Library, Ziyun spoke up, "Yang'er? That Cultivation technique you gave me is worth a fortune! I broke through the Bronze Rank already! Ow, where are my manners, Ning'er, meet my fiancee, Mu Yang, Yang'er, this is Xiao Ning'er my best friend."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Xiao, Miss Ziyun spoke highly of you," I said and made a small bow, "Miss Ziyun? Is you being here with Miss Xiao an indication she used an empty Soul Crystal?"

Ziyun nodded while she handed the Crystal to me, "It is a bit confusing, but we think there is a dragon in it."

I examined the Crystal, from what I remember of the story, Ning'er has Lightning as an attribute, by the looks of it she has Wind too. Meh, I'll bullshit this through, I already know what cultivation to give her.

"Congratulations, Miss Xiao, Your Soul form is the Winged Dragon, and your Soul Attributes are Wind and Lightning," I commented, "I have the ideal Cultivation technique for it, I hope you have not started cultivating yet?"

Ning'er shook her head, "Grandfather told me to wait until I enter the Holy Orchid Institute to cultivate."

I took the book from the shelf and paged to the right page, "Here, look at this drawing, that is your Winged Dragon, let me write it down… here, the book said that your cultivation will rush through the first stages and slow down at the Black gold stage, while Miss Ziyun's cultivation will be slow at the first stages and speed up after the Black Gold stage."

Stunned silence, when the girls heard my explanation, Ziyun asked, "You are telling us we will reach Black Gold Rank Demon Spiritualist? Most of us will be ecstatic when we reach Gold rank!"

I nodded, "The cultivation techniques I gave you are tailor-made for you, they will allow you to break through to Legendary Rank. That will bring me to the next topic, keep where you got your Cultivation technique a secret, there are a lot of Dark Guild spies. Know that I am taking a huge risk by giving these cultivation methods to you both."

Xiao Ning'er whispered, "I can break free with this."

I heard her and said, "You can, but don't rush it, I bet your marriage with Shen Fei is planned after he graduates, isn't it? Then you have a few years to build your strength up, there is no need to make a run for it."

Xiao Ning'er escaped her marriage by running away from Glory City in the first Timeline, her faulty cultivation method made her disfigured. In the second Timeline, Nie Li got his claws on her by curing her and giving her a better Cultivation technique, the one I am giving her, no doubt.

Anyway, the girls got together and cultivated in Ziyun's courtyard, Xiao Ning'er got permission to be the Handmaiden for Ziyun until they entered the Holy Orchid Institute.

Xxxxx

Cultivating was a blast! With Mum's array, and a shitload of pills, my level went up like a rocket, at the moment I am Bronze Rank three, by the time I am twelve years old, I'll be silver ranked, at thirteen I'll be Gold rank.

I kept the herbal bath a secret for when I need a favor, so is the Boob Enlargement Potion and Aphrodisiac potion. My biggest secret is the Berserker potion, throw that potion in a bunch of Demon beasts and they will go berserk, attacking everything in reach, the down part? It works on humans too, if the Dark Guild gets their hands on this recipe, then Glory City will be doomed.

My focus was now on the books of the Snow Wind Era, if the language of the Sacred Empire Era compared English grammar to Japanese grammar, the Snow Wind language was Ancient Egyptian to English, a total headache.

Well, I must have gotten some kind of Golden Finger after all. I call it Language Comprehension, all I have to do is focus a few months on translating books of a certain Era and I get the key to translate the books perfectly. That puts me in a position of power, I can skip over parts that can damage Glory City like the Berserker potion.

When I was reading a book about Inscriptions, I heard a voice behind me say, "Why don't we have a serious talk, Son-in-law?"

Crap!