Calculating Cultivation
Chapter 81: Going Up

“Welcome to the Elevator,” I could hear the capitalization in the term. Also, the thing was massive. It wasn’t at the center of the Forever City, but the structure was the size of nine towers combined togeather. “I am your personal guide, Xi.”

I was leaving the Forever City. After breaking through, I was leaving to find one of many objects from a list Qiang You had given me. The immortal cultivator had left me here at the entry way and wished me luck. While I wanted to deny the huge debt I owed him, there was no way I would be able to.

While he seemed cruel and uncaring, he had gone out of his way for me to survive my breakthrough and step onto a new path of cultivation. I still didn’t know enough about him to understand his motivations. The most I could work out was that he seemed to want to invest in me, since I had succeeded in the past.

There was no doubt in my mind that he would be able to find me if I ran away from the debt I owed him, but there was no time frame attached to it. The big obstacle now was reaching immortality and surviving. Apparently during my breakthrough, a monster had gotten a piece of my cultivation and was after me, a temporal hunter. That was the other reason I was leaving the Forever City to go up to the Mechanical Layer.

I also wanted to leave this place. It was not a nice place to live or to try and make progress. The oppression by senior cultivators and other factions was a lot. Almost all the opportunities had been squeezed out.

“So how does this work exactly?” I asked as my personal guide gestured for me to follow him.

“A hole between layers is created at precise intervals and the elevator is pulled through the hole between layers of reality. The lack of energy and the distance from the Astral Plane will be quite an experience,” Xi explained.

“I already know. My techniques and equipment will lose quite a bit of power and I will struggle, is there anything else?” I asked.

“No. The drop off point is one of seven points that the Forever City rotates between. You passage has been paid for as well as a return passage. The same rules exist at the drop off points. Do not bring trouble back with you. In addition a place has been arranged at Drop Off Point Number Five, where you can adjust for up to one cycle. Your stay has been paid for. After that you will be subject to the standard rates,” Xi explained.

“How much are these rates?” I asked.

“Ten thousand credits per cycle,” he said and that was an absurd amount for just a place to stay. A cycle was about the length of a year, but in Forever City lingo. To charge so much for just a room for a year was far more than some of the slightly nicer places in the Forever City. “The drop off points are quite small, and it takes quite a bit of effort to protect them. The usual methods do not work.”

Xi clearly meant formations and arrays, the foundation of all technology in the Forever City. Using symbols to shape energy to behave in certain ways. I had some understanding, but the study of such things was the work of a lifetime.

After being led through a corridor, we came to the interior of the super tower that was hollowed out. There was a very large cylinder waiting in the middle of the tower, just floating there. “A special cylinder ship,” Xi said. Cylinder ships were often used to go between locations of the Firmament, like the Forever City and one of the many continents that supported it. But they tended to be smaller than the one in front of me.

“Why so big?” I asked as I was led towards a walkway that led into the massive cylinder ship.

“Shielding, power cores, and other mechanical devices to survive the ascent. While there are cultivators with an understanding of higher-level technology, the production methods are not simple. It is easier to just upscale the designs to make it easier instead. Also, the traffic to the Mechanical Layer is fairly limited. Please, follow me on board. A private room as been prepared for your ascent.”

I followed Xi to a private sitting room. Food and beverages were laid out as I settled into a comfortable chair. Xi took up a standing position off to one side. I remembered back to how I arrived in the Forever City in steerage class. Now I was leaving in super first class. While I had obligations to fulfill, I was happy with the progress I made.

There was a soft chime. “We will begin ascending soon, once two more chimes sound. Is there anything you wish for while we wait?” Xi asked.

“How long will this take?” I asked out of curiosity.

“It depends, but it shouldn’t be long,” Xi said. After another hour of waiting there were two light chimes that sounded out.

“And everything is on track,” Xi said with a smile.

“Do things ever go off track?” I asked.

“Well, there could be a Cascade event, an attack, or several other things happening which would interfere. There is a limited window of ascent,” Xi said and I didn’t feel anything and could only tell that we were moving in some way by the traces of force energy lingering about in the air.

“What is a Cascade event?” I asked. I had some idea from the reading I had done, but it wouldn’t hurt to gather more information since I had been assigned a personal guide.

“When matter from the Material falls into the Mechanical Layer. Excuse my non-technical explanation, but when you have planetoids and other large objects impact the material already in existence, it can get quite hectic. Often times this falling of material breaks through multiple layers disintegrating apart. Fun fact, there is something called a star, a dense combination of gases. But after falling through the Mechanical Layer and into the Firmament and then the Astral Plane, there is nothing left but wisps of gas,” Xi said. I blinked a couple of times and took a moment to process what he had just told me.

“Things just fall through?” I asked. Wondering for the first time in a long time if Earth was still out there. My memories of my first life were quite distant, since it had only been a fraction of my total life.

“You would need to consult an expert, but once things start getting pulled through, everything in the Material bubble tends to get pulled along as well. And you get a Cascade where the denser objects just fall right on through. Some say that instead of layers existence is a circle as on the other side of chaos new bubbles in the Material form, continuing the cycle for all eternity,” Xi said.

“I was told reality was a cake from one of my seniors,” I said in a joking tone.

“That is another common interpretation. But no one can go through Chaos and survive,” Xi said.

“Not even powerful immortals?” I asked out of curiosity, to see what my personal guide would say.

“There are always exceptions that prove the rule. Unfortunately, I am not qualified to understand such things. I am merely a personal guide.” Another chime went out. “And that is it.”

“Already, that was smooth,” I replied and got up and then felt a bit dizzy. My entire body suddenly hurt and I collapsed back in my chair.

“Please take this moment to recover. Focus on breathing,” it was hard to focus. I felt like my body was being ripped in two. My soul was trying to pull away from me. The cultivation organ that linked by physical body and soul felt like it was going to rip out of my body.

“What…what is this?” I gasped out. I felt like my body was trying to pull itself apart. Each breath was a struggle.

“That is the pain from the lack of energy,” I glared up at Xi, but he merely splayed his hands to the side indicating that he had nothing to do with what was happening. “The link between your soul and the Astral Plane has been greatly stretched. The process to draw energy to reinforce your body is that much harder.” I knew that would happen, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

I tried raising up an arm or speaking, but it was a struggle. Before I could feel every movement of my body. I could feel each and every breath. The pulse of my heart. I felt super human. Now, all that was out of my reach. I felt like I just needed to stretch some more to be able to reconnect and it would be fine, but it wasn’t.

Slowly, I got my breathing under control. “That was worse than I had read about,” I muttered. My entire body hurt, but there was no constant tearing feeling beneath my skin. I focused on my cultivation, and it was like looking at it through a foggy glass.

“Take your time. We will be remaining here for quite a while, and the adjustment process can take time to get used to,” Xi said.

“That was terrible, and everyone has to go through this?” I asked.

“For cultivators who draw energy and use their soul as a cultivation medium, then yes. The connection to the Astral Plane is much farther away. Your body doesn’t have as much energy as before. There is a small trickle. The feeling should pass,” Xi said and I mustered a glare in his direction. I tried to lift myself up, but I felt so weak. My vision was beginning to go blurry.

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I collapsed back into my chair. “You are handling the process quite well. Higher level cultivators struggle much more than you,” Xi said. I ignored him and focused on my breathing. One breath, two breaths. Minutes went by as I continued to struggle to adjust, but it was slowly getting better.

At least I was no longer stuck with a child’s body. I would have felt even more helpless then. I slowly pushed myself onto my unsteady feet. “Well done,” Xi said and I couldn’t muster the strength to send a glare their way.

“Whenever you are ready to depart, please let me know.” I walked about the room I had been seated in. Occasionally my muscles would tremble, but I was slowly regaining control. I felt tired in a way that I hadn’t for a long time.

I went over and had some of the finger woods that were laid out. A leaf wrapped piece of meat was quite delicious. After eating a couple and having some water, I felt much more grounded, even if I still felt incredibly weak.

“I am ready,” I replied. Xi nodded and we left the cylinder ship. Exiting onto the walkway, we were in another structure, but it looked a lot more worn down compared to the super tower we had departed from and the massive cylinder ship.

“Drop Off Point Number Five is divided into three sections. The lowest section here is the docking station and external entry point. There are several shops around the outer edge of the docking ring,” Xi pointed out. Most of the shops were shuttered and closed. The few that were open had trash littered on the outside and there was graffiti with random symbols.

“This place seems…quite messy?” I tried to find the right word. Xi nodded at this.

“Well, it isn’t a very popular destination for cultivators. It isn’t often a connection is made. The above the docking area is the habitation and environmental level. Your fee there has been paid for one cycle. Above that is the defense level of this Drop Off Point.” I followed Xi as he led me to an elevator. I only saw a couple of other people lingering about. I got some stares, but everyone kept to themselves.

“Crime isn’t a problem here?” I asked as the elevator began to ascend.

“Criminals are cast out. A fate worse than death for many.” That brought up the most important question.

“What is outside?” I asked.

“That changes on a daily basis. The outpost is untethered, like all outposts.” The elevator shook slightly and then let out a ding. The lighting flickered slightly. The difference between this place and the inner portions of the Forever City was like night and day. It didn’t escape my notice that there was no one else getting off the cylinder ship.

The elevator opened. The habitation level was a circular design, where there was a vertical structure in the middle. There was trash littered about. “And you are room 238.” We made our way up a set of stairs and then to the room. Xi opened the door and there was a smell.

“You have bed, a water allotment. Beyond that everything requires that you make purchases. Your return trip is already paid for, you just need to show up just before departure to return to the Forever City. Good luck,” Xi said. Before I could ask anything else they had quickly run off. I was too tired to go after them and ask more questions.

The moment I was off the cylinder ship and had seen what a trash heap this place was, I was rushed along. “Fresh blood?” I turned to look at a run down older looking man. Half his beard was burnt off and he was missing one eyebrow. Instead of an eyebrow he had a horizontal scar in its place. His nose was slightly twisted as well.

It was a bit of a shock to see someone in such a state. In the Forever City, the ugly beings hid under cloaks for the most part. “I am new, my name is Yuan Zhou,” I replied.

“Well, I am your neighbor, 237.” He pointed at the room next to mine and then shuffled towards me with a limp. “Not often we get someone fancy coming out here from the Forever City. You can call me Hans. Used to be longer and more pretentious, but after a while here, you tend to let useless things go.”

“I wasn’t expecting a warm reception,” I replied. It was honestly surprising. From my time in the Forever City, only Rhiza came to mind as a person who went out of their way to talk to others.

“Mostly quiet around here. And if you die, I will be cleaning out your room. I handle cleaning around this place,” Hans said.

“I will try not to die,” I replied, and he chuckled like that was a joke.

“Grab the key card out of the door, that the guy left. That is your access pass around this place. Don’t lose it. You can’t afford a replacement,” Hans said. I took the key card out of the door that Xi had left and it slid shut with a click. “Now follow me. I will show you where you can get the slop.” I followed Hans as he limped away.

“I am surprised the Forever City has let this place fall apart,” I replied. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“No one comes here. Cultivators don’t know how things work and are weak. But occasionally a group passes through. And there is always the chance that something valuable falls our way,” Hans replied. We went back to the first level of the residential area and then into the center structure.

“Swipe your key card as well. You will get yelled at if you follow others around,” Hans said, and I swiped the key card through a reader on the side. The entire structure shook slightly.

“Should I be worried about that?” I asked as we entered a dining area.

“That happens all the time. We don’t have fancy arrays and formations like they do in the Firmament. All the protection is mechanical here, none of that fancy smancy energy. Grab a bowl, and get some goo. We have orange and green. The orange tastes better, but you can switch if you want variety,” Hans explained. I followed him and picked up a bowl from a rack and a spoon and followed him, getting some goo from a dispenser.

We then sat down. I tried a mouthful of the orange goo. It tasted terrible. “Keeps you alive,” Hans said when he saw my face. “Nothing else here.”

“There aren’t imports from the Forever City?” I asked.

“We do get supplies, but not much. This place is only hoping if word is sent back amount nearby material that can be grabbed. For the most part it is empty around here. Only me and a couple other long-term staff. So, who did you piss off?” Hans asked.

“No one,” I replied, and he gave me a weird look. “I came here for other reasons and to go out there and find useful things,” I waved my hand off to one side. Hans just shook his head.

“Well good luck with that. No one likes to come out here.”

“But aren’t there shops?” I asked.

“When this place is busy, but that only happens once every couple thousand of cycles, if something of interest comes up nearby. How’s the goop?” Hans asked.

“Like an orange mixed with old cheese,” I said, and he laughed.

“Well eat up.” I forced myself to eat. “No more of your fancy food here. Leave your bowl in the recycler, over there. It will get cleaned eventually.” Hans got up and I followed him. I would not turn away a person who was willing to explain things to me.

This place was much different than how I imagined. “Factions don’t send anyone here?” I asked.

“Better to send people out into the Firmament or other tasks. This place is only maintained to protect the Forever City from surprises. The outposts are supposedly arranged in such a way to detect anything headed towards the Forever City from this layer. Not that anything like that has ever happened.”

I followed Hans to the elevator which we took back down. “Credits aren’t used here? Energy bars?” I asked.

“Depends. Your stay is paid up, but you can do tasks to stay longer. The walls can always use a scrub. Most of the people here, are escaping justice from the Forever City. A great hiding place, if you can get here in the first place,” Hans explained. The elevator let out a ding and opened.

“What about you?” I asked.

“Long term contract. Also my mechanical parts would struggle if I headed down. But you don’t need to hear my backstory. Let’s take a look at the outside. Got to see what is happening,” Hans said.

“No body modifications?” I asked in surprise. They were quite common among the working and lower classes in the Forever City.

“Again, no arrays or formations. Ah here, the exit portal.” We stopped in front of two large metal doors. Hans slid his key card into a slot, and it opened up. I followed after him through the airlock to the far door. The one behind us slid closed and I heard locks click into place. I was slightly worried right now.

“See the display to the side. All green, except temperature. Its yellow, which means a bit too hot or cold, but survivable.” There were different lines labeled monsters, atmosphere, ground, gravity, and so on.

“Are they often green?” I asked.

“Attempts are made to keep things green.” Hans slid his keycard into a slot near the door and it slid open. I was hit by a blast of hot air. There was a lot of sand outside and floating balls of flame in the distance.

“What is all that?” I asked.

“Just a sand biome. Pretty common with how often things get shredded. Probably a star Cascading through, hence the balls of fire. You can stick your head out, but don’t step out,” Hans said. I did so. The outpost was made of reflective metal on the outside. Looking up at the sky, I felt a sense of vertigo and stumbled back.

“What is that!?” I asked in surprise and Hans took a look out.

“Oh a water biome is moving through. Going to get wet for a while. Hope we don’t get any leaks, but at least we can refresh our reserves,” he said after taking a look out himself at the ocean high up in the sky. “The worst are the high pressure gas biomes that occasionally come through. Void is fine, but high pressure toxic gas is the worst when there is a breach in the defenses.”

I shakily stepped back and Hans removed his keycard. The doors shut. It didn’t escape my notice that there was no card reader on the outside. “How do you get back in?” I asked and Hans chuckled.

“You don’t. Once you leave, you are on your own. Well, there are basic communicators you can get, but they struggle to get through the armor. And finding your way around can be a nightmare. That’s why most people explore the Firmament instead and live in their bubbles,” Hans explained. The outer door shut, and we made our way back to the inner one.

I brushed sand off my clothes. “But aren’t there people or beings to trade out there with?” I asked.

“Sure, if you can make it to them. Cylinder Ships can go through the Astral Plane to travel about faster, but up here, well you have to travel across that hellscape, and good luck not dying,” Hans replied as he led me towards a store.

“Smith,” he shouted.

“What?” a younger looking man with a huge bushy beard stepped out. “Oh we have someone new around this place,” Smith said.

“Hello, I am Yuan Zhou,” I introduced myself and gave a bow.

“Smith. General outfitter. So, fortune hunter, exile, or something else?”

“Fortune hunter would be the closest,” I said, and he nodded.

“Well, if you need anything, you can talk to me. Going to go check the filtration systems,” Hans said and walked away. The entire place suddenly shook and there was a loud horn that went off.

“The Cylinder Ship is leaving, come on in,” Smith said, and I followed him into his shop as the structure shook some more. I noticed a lot of equipment in various states of repair.

“Welcome, if you are looking to head out from the outpost, well I will make sure you survive for a bit,” Smith said. “Got vac suits, personal shields, material processor for food and water.”

“I don’t plan on leaving any time soon. I am still adapting,” I replied as the shaking got worse. “Should I be worried?” I asked.

“The shaking, is fine.” There was a loud bang and then no more shaking. “And the cylinder ship is gone. You came during a quiet time.”

“Are there other places out there?” I asked. There should be, but it seemed to be quite chaotic.

“Of course. But the real treasures come from civilizations that Cascade on down. That’s where we get a surge of people coming here to try and scavenge what they can. As for other places, good luck. Things shift about. While this outpost is anchored to an area with more material, there is a lot of void out there. But I have a material compass to track where there is a lot of density. Here let me show you,” Smith said while he began to show me the various items he had for sale.

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