Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Anyway, the Beginner Academy.
As I thought about it, countless possibilities came to mind—things I could do thanks to the cheats embedded in this AI-like system.
But the problem was the Heavenly Tribulation.
Seriously, what the hell? Even if I just walked around normally, it would suddenly decide to smite me for using cheats. What was I supposed to do?
[Avoid the Heavenly Tribulation through cultivation.]
[Current estimated safe period: One day.]
The cheat system, ever so helpful, decided to chime in unprompted.
It was convenient, so I didn't turn it off completely.
One day.
I was about to get PTSD just thinking about it, but knowing I had at least one day to catch my breath was a relief.
Sure, it was only a single day, but...
Only those who've been through hell would understand.
Even just one day without anything happening would be an unbelievable blessing.
But then, a voice shattered my fragile peace like a hammer through glass.
"Lost in thought all of a sudden? What kind of nonsense is this while conversing with your master?"
"What the hell? Who do you think you are, trying to act all high and mighty?"
"You insolent brat! You barely lasted a second before collapsing, and now you dare talk back?!"
I stared silently at Bojieong, the gloomy old hag.
Under my gaze, she quickly backtracked, her tone shifting.
"Ahem... I've said all I needed to say. Is there... anything you'd like me to do?"
The way she groveled when intimidated was almost impressive—no wonder she'd survived this long.
"How old are you?"
"One hundred and eighty..."
One hundred and eighty years old!
Cultivators really did live ridiculously long lives.
"Granny."
"Gr... Granny?!"
Her face cracked like shattered porcelain. Ignoring her shock, I continued.
"Clean up this place. What, dementia kicking in? It's a mess. This whole damn house looks like a garbage dump. Get to it."
"A garbage dump?! Do you have any idea how many priceless cultivation treasures are in here?!"
She meant all those so-called "divine artifacts" used for cultivation.
Those pieces of junk?
"Clean. It. Up."
"Ugh..."
Bojieong, who had originally intended to make me clean, scowled.
"B-But... I've reached the Foundation Establishment stage! I have the potential to ascend to the Upper Realm—I can't waste time on trivial things like this! Besides, I know exactly where everything is. If I tidy up, I'll just lose track of it all!"
Typical excuse of someone who never cleans.
Even if that were true, I wasn't putting up with this level of filth.
"Confiscated."
"Huh?"
"If you don't clean, I'm taking everything."
An idea struck me, and I started tossing everything into my inventory as I walked around.
"W-Wait! Those are things I worked hard to collect! Some of them were bought with loans! Master! Master, please stop! I was wrong! Aaah!"
Once the place was spotless, I incinerated the items marked as "trash" in my inventory.
The rest—glittering treasures with fancy names—I kept safely stored.
"Now this is more like it. How could anyone live like this before? Not even a single piece of proper furniture."
"Why would I rely on such vulgar, worldly objects?"
"No fridge? No computer?"
"Why would I depend on such lowly, inferior science? Those things crumble every time the world's laws shift. Tch. Typical of a Lower Realm dweller."
"You keep looking down on me. You wanna get wrecked?"
"N-No, that's not... What kind of Spirit Root were you even born with?! Ugh, must be because you're a spirit I created. Haah, trying to boss me around when you can't even control yourself properly."
Bojieong seemed convinced I was her creation.
She kept throwing around terms like Lower Realm and Middle Realm, so I figured I should get some context.
"What's the Lower Realm?"
"What do you mean, 'what'? It's the world where mindless organic lumps scurry around, barely better than beasts. Most don't even have properly formed spirits—they're lucky if they're treated as wandering ghosts. A place where the lowest of the low live."
I mulled over her words.
So, the "grade" of one's soul was important here.
From what I gathered, the essence of existence was the soul, and beings in the Lower Realm might not even have proper souls.
Wait, so did that mean people like my old department head or that sleazy manager were literally just organic lumps?
Those pigs who leered at the new hires—were they even human?
I stopped myself there.
Ranting about them would just lower my own dignity.
People were people, right?
They deserved a chance to become people...
I felt my morality—or maybe my humanity—wavering, so I let out a deep sigh.
I'd just learned a truth about the world I hadn't wanted to know.
"What's the Middle Realm?"
"It's a higher plane than the Lower Realm, reached through cultivation or elevating one's grade. If you reach the highest realm, you become no different from a god—your very name becomes a law unto itself."
Bojieong explained, still sulking from having all her possessions confiscated.
But it was still confusing.
"Name"?
Probably something like a life thread tied to one's essence.
This was why Chinese characters were such a pain.
I could've used the cheat to understand, but... it felt like accessing the Akashic Records.
Sometimes, just brushing against Heaven's Secrets made me reluctant to translate.
Some things were better understood naturally.
What was the point of a cheat if I had to figure everything out myself?
But if I was frustrated, the only solution was to raise my cultivation.
Even the Absolute Obedience and Hypnosis cheats I'd used in a fit of rage after the Heavenly Tribulation were already broken enough.
If I could just abuse those, my future would be smooth sailing.
"Haah."
As someone with a strong sense of justice, I had no excuse for committing crimes. But Bojieong didn't seem bothered—no threats of reporting me or anything.
Did she just see it as something inevitable?
The memory of our earlier encounter surfaced, and I let my gaze wander over her body with a hint of lust.
"Tch, you beast. How did someone like you even get the chance to walk the path of cultivation? It's obvious how you lived in the Lower Realm."
Watching Bojieong insult me so freely, I doubted I'd resort to force even if there were no laws.
Or would I?
"If it helps cultivation, anything goes"—wasn't that the natural order here?
Maybe I was just too soft, feeling guilty afterward.
Ah, but even this hypocrisy was a step toward understanding the principles of a virtuous nature.
Enough pointless thoughts.
Since I was stuck in this Xianxia world, I might as well adapt by thinking like a cultivator.
Time to address another curiosity.
"You said you created me. How?"
"I prepared a Magical Tool to guide your spirit from the Lower Realm to this higher plane. Hmm, I don't know where you got that Storage Pouch to take all my things, but could you take out the Mirror of Lower Observation? I'll show you which Lower Realm you came from."
I pulled out the mirror labeled "Mirror of Lower Observation" from my inventory.
Bojieong adjusted the tool, and soon, an image of the world below appeared.
"Look."
It was Earth—the world I'd lived in!
But it looked... cheap. Like a 2D or 3D game with bad graphics.
Was it the resolution? The art style?
Now that I'd ascended, both my flesh and soul seemed pitifully low-grade. I sighed.
I'd been mixed in with that?
I finally understood how arrogant cultivators could be.
"Normally, you'd have to elevate your grade to be reborn here or obtain the secrets of cultivation to ascend on your own. But you... I fated you to become my servant and brought you up easily when the time was right."
The specifics could wait—I'd study them later. For now, I kept staring at the Lower Realm.
Cultivators were said to devour people, and now I understood why.
Even if they were the same species, could those things really be called "people" if they had such feeble spirits?
If not, then even if they were human, they weren't people.
No, that wasn't it.
Would you feel guilty melting sand to make glass?
That was the level of difference here.
Not just a metaphor—it was literal.
They were no different from grains of sand.
Occasionally, there might be a gem among them, a true hero, but most were just... that.
"Do you understand now, roughly, how the Lower and Upper Realms work?"
"You called this place the Upper Realm, but also mentioned a Middle Realm. Is there an even higher Upper Realm? How far up do I need to go?"
"Until distinctions cease to exist! Become an immortal who embodies divinity, a supreme deity where nothing opposes your will. Then there will be no more 'up' or 'down'—no need to ascend further."
After glimpsing the layers of the world, I found this Xianxia setting oddly fascinating.
Maybe one day, my story would flow into some Lower Realm as legend—no, as myth.
With the cheats I had, it was possible!