Calculating Cultivation - Chapter 70: The Broker

I carefully moved up the outside of the tower. There were chunks missing. Larger chunks the further I got up. The spatial turbulence and the clouds of yellow death also increased as I went up the tower to where the broker resided. I checked my improved compass, confirming which level I was at.

Past floor 100,000 the inside of the tower quickly became a mess, and there were a lot more questionable characters. That was why I went outside to climb up instead. Experience I had picked up from Bones over the centuries.

Once I got past floor 150,000 I could see cracks in the gray material that made up the tower. I had to carefully navigate my way up as I continued to ascend towards my destination. At around floor 200,000 I ran into the first gaps. It wasn’t just missing chunks, but much larger portions that were missing. I also sensed several strong presences that weren’t concealing themselves in the area as well.

My progress slowed to a crawl. I finally reached floor, 222,222 and the entire floor was intact. I found an open floor on 222,225 and made my way to the staircase. There was some minor trash scattered about and a couple of cloaked beings just resting in various areas on this floor. I reached the main staircase and descended three floors. No one stopped me or challenged me. I got off on floor 222,222 after confirming the location I had been given.

The entire floor was pitch black, the only light coming from the flickering illumination from the staircase. My eyes couldn’t see through anything. I pulled out the coin I was given. “I was told I could speak to the Broker with this and negotiate?” I said out loud.

“A token of my favor. No harm shall befall you, since you have arrived with such a thing. I swear this upon my existence. Close the door behind you. You are letting in a draft,” the voice was like nails on a chalk board. Pressing down on my mind. I closed the door and was stuck in pitch dark.

“Greetings senior, a friend gave me this token to come to you. I am looking to break through to the next stage of cultivation, but the biggest issue is that I need time to manage my break through and the sheer size,” I said.

“I see. An intriguing problem and I am the seller of solutions. For that is why I am called the Broker. Bringing some small semblance of order to the chaos of the Firmament.” I felt my eyes begin to water from listening to this being.

“I was offered a couple of solutions, but none of them were practical. What do you suggest senior?” I asked.

“I might be senior to you, but I require no respect. For I only work in the currency of deals. Your problem is not simple. But no one comes to me with simple problems. Now that would be amusing. It is the impossible you want. For your cultivation breaks the rules,” the Broker said.

“I am curious what you mean, but isn’t the knowledge valuable? Will I have to trade for it?” I asked.

“Not at all. Consider it the sales pitch for the solution I will soon present and the cost of the solution. Based on your question, you clearly know nothing about cultivation tied to the Forever City. There are other cultivation societies out there, the Firmament is infinite after all. But what matters in your situation, is that your cultivation exceeds the boundaries put in place by the masters of this place,” the Broker said.

“I don’t feel like there are boundaries. Or do you mean the cultivation system as a whole?” I asked.

“Indeed. All cultivation is merely a construct of lesser beings, trying to become greater beings. Some cultivation systems are narrow, but they struggle with compatibility beyond their creator. Other cultivation systems are too broad and cannot progress. You have gone outside the bounds of your cultivation system,” the Broker said.

“But there were others who walked this path and there were possible solutions to my cultivation issues,” I said.

“A road shared does not mean it won’t diverge. You cannot cultivate the later stages of your cultivation system. Anyone who claims otherwise is ignorant and lacks true understanding of what cultivation is. Multiple paths cannot cultivate beyond the point where you now stand. Even if you survive a breakthrough, you will hit a dead end,” the Broker said.

“So, you know, but other people are wrong?” I asked.

“They have no idea how you will cultivate the later stages, do they? They might say things, offer advice. But they have no idea. Since there is no way forward.” That was a severe mental blow, but I remained firm. I had made it this far and this being that I couldn’t see was clearly going to try and sell me a solution.

“And you have an answer?” I asked.

“Many answers. The easiest one is to submit before a higher power. They would lift you up. Or to get modifications to adjust your physical state. Or you could have your cultivation erased and start over. Or you could do countless other things. But that is not what you want. You want to advance on your own and retain the power you have cultivated, is that correct?”

“Yes. After all this work, I don’t want to go backwards,” I replied.

“A cultivator answer and expected. A new system of cultivation will need to created. One that unifies all of that inside of you. That is what you must achieve during your breakthrough. Not three separate cultivations, but a single cultivation, a single path,” the Broker said.

“And how would that work, where would I start?” I asked.

“And now we come to the part of the conversation, where we shall make a deal with each other. I have in my possession, the Book of the First Dao. It was written by an ancient cultivator, describing his path. I suspect it would give you powerful insights on how to advance. I could allow you to read it. As for your breakthrough, once you are ready, I can arrange for a location and a temporal chamber of significant power as well. Three significant favors.”

“And this coin won’t pay for them?” I asked.

“It could pay for one, but its value for visiting me is immense. For it guarantees you will safely leave. If you wish to use it on your final request, that can be arranged,” the Broker said.

“And how are you asking me to pay for the rest of what you are offering?” I asked.

“I do not allow beings to owe me favors. For they disappear and never return. I have long since learned the futility of collecting on unpaid debts. That is why the favors must be completed first. Here are three tasks, you may replace one with that coin you possess.” I listened intently to what was being said, even if each and every word this being spoke was like a knife to the head.

“The Black Lotus of Eternity. Guarded in one of the central gardens of the Forever City at its core. I desire one. The age does not matter. An energy filter. There is one built into the very foundation of cultivation continent protected by the cultivators managing them. It must be working, some minor damage is fine. The final thing you could get me, is a single cannister of gray fluidic matter. Such a thing can be found under the control of a replicating super-organization, which they will not easily part with and it cannot be stolen.”

All of those things were utterly impossible. I had done fetch quests before, and I knew when it was utterly insane. The first item, The Black Lotus of Eternity was located in the core of the Forever City. That area was heavily guarded and watched.

While I might be able to maneuver through it with enough credits, I wasn’t going to be able to steal a priceless flower and get away with it. While I had stolen from the outer towers before, that was like stealing from an industrial sector of a city with warehouses that were rarely patrolled.

Stealing from the core of the Forever City would be like breaking into an incredibly secure bank vault, with guards, cameras, and other forms of active surveillance. It just wasn’t possible. There was even a chance that asking about such a thing, would lead to negative attention on myself. I made it in the Forever City by staying below the gaze of important people. This would be going up and poking them in the eye and hoping they don’t crush me with a glance.

The second item while better, was equally as impossible but for different reasons. I had talked with Bones about the continents and my home. They had ambient energy from energy filters that drew up energy and dispersed it for general use. That was where motes of Qi came from, since they were clumps that were released.

Different continents might have slightly different filters to be optimized for different styles of cultivation. But the filter itself was the beating heart that kept everything running. But even that wasn’t the problem. The problem was size. The thing was at least the size of a small town. At least the central part. And they only got bigger. They also used spatial components which couldn’t be put into spatial rings.

Trying to get one back would be a hundred times harder than the heist itself. That was if the cultivators guarding it didn’t instantly murder me. If the filter was destroyed, the energy gathering efforts on a continent would stagnate and people would be in serious trouble. It was one of the few critical points of infrastructure that would be targeted by hostile cultivators looking to take over.

That left item number three. Trading with another super-organization. The first issue was that I didn’t have the qualifications to even speak directly to a super-organization. But lets say that I found a sub-faction, I didn’t have anything of value to trade for what was clearly something incredibly valuable.

“All three are impossible for me,” I replied.

“You have things that you value, I have things that I value.” That was the problem with being weak. I just wasn’t qualified to make deals with more powerful beings. I just didn’t have anything they might want. I looked at the coin in my hand.

“I will trade the coin, after I have been given time to read the book and consult with you on it,” I said. Whatever Bones did in the past was clearly a massive hassle to get this coin. No wonder why she kept it even after losing her body.

“Very well,” the Broker said, and a single light shown down onto a table just off to my side with an old worn book on it. There were two thin wooden sticks next to it. “It is beyond valuable. Do not touch it. Use only the wooden sticks provided to turn the pages.”

“I understand,” I replied and went over. I picked up the wooden sticks, one in each hand and opened the cover. I then began reading as the words were translated for me by my equipment.

There is no beginning or end, only the Dao that one walks across the primordial turmoil of the Firmament. While others might say that all cultivation has a beginning, souls exist in eternity. Rising out of chaos and sinking back down to start once more in the cycle of reincarnation.

I record these thoughts so that others may experience the same enlightenment that I did while considering the immortal nature of one’s very soul as I searched for understanding. The balance of conflicting energies. The immaterial and the material. The ying and the yang. This balance is key to all things that wish to exist and not be dragged down.

The first step of cultivation is to gain an understanding of one’s soul. Without an understanding, only conflict and inner turmoil will result. To understand every facet and to shape it in the image of yourself. Only then will your will be immutable and take the first step on the path of the Dao.

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The second step of cultivation is to step onto the path of the Dao while maintaining one’s soul. To deviate from that path is to deviate from the Dao. For understanding begets understanding. It is not enough to merely wish or think, but one must understand the facets of the path they walk. A gem where every face is cut and polished to reveal its true potential.

The third step of cultivation is bring forth this understanding in the world around you. Not through imposition of will. But through one’s Dao. To harmonize with existence itself and to bring this understanding to completion.

Beyond this, there is only achieving a greater understanding and honing that understanding to flawless perfection. For that is the path of cultivation, of balance, of ying and yang. Where one transcends the physical, and then eventually comes back to it on their path of enlightenment.

Thoughts On Dao Of Cultivation

Each page had sprawling symbology and characters as I slowly went through it. After reading it once, I went back and read everything again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. “I am in the first step, about to enter the second step?” I asked.

“Indeed. The stages that cultivators use are but merely smaller portions of the greater whole that have been designed for convenience while cultivating,” the Broker answered.

“How did the first cultivators cultivate? There weren’t motes and while this place is called the Forever City, it had to start at one time,” I said.

“Indeed, which is why this book is so valuable. It is one of a handful of objects that is dated to before the Forever City was first created.” I looked up in surprise. “Uncountable cycles. The Firmament is forever, but everything is pulled down into Chaos eventually. To survive this long is a rarity for anything,” the Broker said.

“I can sense my soul. Every facet of it, very well, but it sounds like I need a way to understand the Dao in the next stages of cultivation. Which is what the regular stages do. But it doesn’t explain the technicalities. Of constructing pillars, conduits, or anything else like that. This isn’t a step by step guide,” I countered.

“It is not. But I have lived in the Forever City and seen countless cultivators. Let me share my insight. You need to create a system that can progress to the third stage, your immortality. A system that cultivates understanding of a concept. In your case, Force. In the end, cultivation stages are a mental construct meant to aid your feeble mind in the process of changing what you are,” the Broker challenged me.

I took a while to think over his words and the Broker was content to wait while I thought things over. I reread the book for a third time. I needed to create my own system. But how would that occur with what I had already built? Soul cores cleared the soul, allowing one to establish a soul. Body core drew in energy to strengthen a soul. And mind cores harmonized to draw in understanding. What kind of system would unify all three things in a single conceptual whole?

That all important step was missing. But instead of nine cores, I needed to think about it as one. “How much influence does a cultivator have when moving to the fifth stage?” I asked.

“An immense amount. You have more than enough power to get through any transformation. And your soul is strong enough to withstand almost any changes. The question is what do you create. You understand yourself. Then you must understand your path. Then you must enforce that path upon the world, sharing that understanding. Even violence is a form of sharing,” the Broker said.

“If only it were that easy,” I muttered as I thought over the issue. “You have no suggestions on practical applications?” I asked.

“And give you something that might fail? While I am not affected by karma like cultivators, it is not a deal I can make or information I can share. I have offered advice and guidance. You seem disinclined to acquire things to get my support. But I cannot hold your hand,” the Broker said.

It was infuriating, but at least I had an idea of what I needed to come up with to have a solution to my issue. “Any other advice before I leave?” I asked.

“When you breakthrough, don’t do it near me. I do not want that kind of attention and would become annoyed. And when you do breakthrough, the consequences will be immense. Not just from the energy within you and the scope of your cultivation, but it will be carving a new path. Separate from any other cultivation system that has been created,” the Broker said.

“So, there is no one else who can help me?” I asked.

“The beings that could help you, scare even me. The words you read from that book are the best advice you can possibly get.” I nodded at this. It was unfortunate but there was nothing else that came to mind that I could ask. I pulled out the coin and set in on the table next to the book I had read.

“Thank you, Broker, for answering my questions,” I said.

“Once you leave, you will only be welcomed back if you bring something interesting to trade. And you know my desires. If you find something of equal value, then you may visit me and we shall discuss things,” the Broker said from the darkness. A light appeared above the doorway I had come in illuminating it.

It was tempting to ask one final question, why powerful beings like to hide in darkness, but that would be rude. Better not to risk offending the super powerful being hiding out on the edge of the Forever City. While it was tempting to think it was like the Wizard of Oz, a lot of bark and no bite, Bones had made it clear that was foolish.

Beings like the Broker only hid out here to slowly build up their strength while sheltering in the Forever City. The effort to get rid of them was not worthwhile, since other things would slink in from the Firmament. Better to keep the beings in place who didn’t cause a fuss or a mess. There was no formal agreement, but that was the understanding that beings such as the Broker had with the Heavenly Alliance.

No one wanted to clean out the sewers when they would get dirty again. Only if there was a blockage or something else that required attention would these beings be dislodged. The more violent ones had succumbed to natural pressures and had been killed off. The real danger was that their strength could vary wildly as well their methods of combat.

Bones had explained that was the biggest danger. You never know what one of these beings might be able to do if they were put into a corner. That was probably why they hid in darkness. Some sort of technique to obscure their presence from anyone or anything that might be looking for them and to protect themselves from being observed. Not everyone could use the equipment that cultivators made for themselves.

I left the room, and went into the stairway, the door swinging shut behind me. I then realized that the lights had shown down from three floors above. Whatever was hiding in this tower was massive. I hadn’t picked up a single clue and there was no large yellow cat-like eye staring at me this time.

Making my way up to the open floor, I wasn’t bothered. The real question. Was what now? I had followed Bones’ directions for so long I felt lost. I needed to come up with a new system of cultivation, find a way to bridge that, and then breakthrough in a way that didn’t draw lots of attention or kill me.

I felt a sense of danger from the side. I quickly pulled out my sword and pointed it in that direction at the cloaked figure and they froze. “Don’t,” I said and slowly backed to the edge of the tower and went outside. They didn’t pursue me outside the tower.

This entire place was a nightmare. I looked up. How far did the tower extend? At what level did it no longer exist? Bones said most towers stopped having any kind of existence around floor 300,000. There was just too much damage. But there was the occasional tower that went to level 500,000. Islands of existence is the spatial and atmospheric turbulence.

Well, I wouldn’t be breaking through near this tower and pissing off the broker. I descended to around level 120,000 before I found a connection to a nearby tower. I went over the tunnel, which I thought was a bridge. Like using cycles instead of years. The Forever City populace had some weird quirks. I made my way further out into the ring before ascending a tower to see how far it went.

It was risky and stupid, but I was curious. I had been in the city for almost a millennia and had not done real sightseeing. I made it to level 281,281 before there was nothing beyond that level. Just swirling yellow clouds of gas. They were so thick I could not see the nearby towers either. I went back down and tried another tower. I got up to level 272,128 before there was nothing more.

I checked tower after tower, until the 37th tower kept going up and up. I crossed level 300,000. There was damage, but the tower still continued. It went up to level 421,121. I could barely cling to the side of the tower when I reached the final level. The wind shifted constantly and I felt like it was grinding down my clothes. Gravity shifted at a whim.

I made my way onto the ruined level and there was no one. Reaching the exposed staircase, it was flooded with yellow gas, and I felt a sense of danger coming from that direction. I backed away and picked a corner on top of the tower to sit, looking out at the swirling clouds above me.

Very rarely was there a brief lull, letting me see a bit further in the oppressive haze. It was a good place to think and try and sort out what I would be doing. There was no tranquil waterfall to sit under and meditate, I just had the top of a tower while being buffeted by the hellish environmental conditions. The only thing this place was missing was acid rain to be complete.

“What now?” I asked out loud, but there was no response. I missed Bones. Her company had allowed me to focus. Now I needed to figure out a completely new system of cultivation, to walk a new path and then breakthrough to that path.

Cultivation was about the soul. I closed my eyes and could feel every inch of it. My cultivation was extensive enough that the triangular lattice in the interior and the hexagon pattern on the edge were portions I was intimately familiar with. The channels, the meridians, the gates, and the cores. But beyond that there were the space in-between. The solid portions of my soul.

What would the end result look like. To know what to do I needed to know what kind of ending I would reach. I tried to think, really think on everything I knew about cultivation and myself. That was the moment, I had an epiphany.

My soul would be in the shape of my physical body. They would overlap, one empowering the other in an endless cycle. Two halves of one whole, ying and yang. I would draw energy in through my soul and filter it into physical body and the rest of my soul.

That way there would be nothing complicated in the later stages. As my understanding increased, so would my strength. Eventually I would step gradually into immortality. There would be minor complications, of that I had no doubt. But conceptually it was a sound idea.

Unfortunately, my enlightenment only went so far. I had no idea how to get that end result with my current cultivation. I needed to figure out a way to use my breakthrough to undergo a fundamental transformation. This wasn’t something I could consult with someone else about. While before I might have been slightly charting my own path, there was still a dirt track to follow. This would be blazing an entirely new trail.

The Broker had been right, and their guidance was sound. A truly outside perspective had been needed to see the problem that I was faced with. Now if only getting there was so simple. I would need to put some serious thought into this issue of changing the end result of moving to the next stage of cultivation.

The bottleneck, wasn’t a bottleneck. Well, it was since many people failed. But it was also a qualitative transformation of one’s cultivation. The same with the second bottleneck. The difficulty came from creating a stable threshold for one to continue advancing.

As I continued to sit on top of the tower, keeping myself stuck there as spatial eddies tried to pull me off, I slowly began to think how I needed to transform my cultivation. It was tempting to want to get something out to write on, but I wanted to keep the lingering feeling I had from my split second of enlightenment as long as possible.

My thoughts were as free as the toxic yellow gas that whooshed past me. A waterfall somewhere serene would have been nicer, but for some reason this place in the Forever City felt strangely appropriate. I couldn’t explain why, perhaps I was going crazy, but it was probably the techniques I was using.

My outer body would be a barrier, like the technique I constantly used so I wasn’t melted and ripped apart. A barrier to separate me from the world. To separate my soul from everything else. To define me, to define my soul.

The channels would not survive in any form inside my body once I broke through. But my cores would become repositories of energy and places to filter it, back into my body. I had no idea how that would work on a technical level, but that was what made the most sense.

The rest of my cultivation, would be the anchor tying my soul to my physical body. To link both halves in harmony. Even as I worked this out, I realized it would require a lot more thought. Also I needed to work out the exact method before hand that I would make the transition. I wouldn’t need a long period of time. Since there wouldn’t be multiple cores.

There would be a single unified cultivation system within me that would be built as I broke through. It would be complicated though, so maybe the problem wasn’t solved. Regardless, I had a way forward. I just had to reinvent cultivation in a way that was unknown in the Forever City. Did my mentors and masters realize the path they had set me on? I didn’t think so, but I was not upset about the position I was now in.

I had chosen the path of defiance, and now I was defying the standard cultivation path that the Forever City and all its tributaries used. I would need to spend a lot of time thinking on this. I also wanted to wait for a second reason. While being in a child’s body had its advantages, it felt off. I was an adult, now some creepy child.

Being in tune with myself was important. To bring everything into harmony. It was time to write my third thesis. The first one had been using Artificial Intelligence for traffic patterns. The second one had been my initial cultivation plan. Now it was time for a third one. The future cultivation plan and how to make that leap from where I was currently onto that new path.

At least I had the credits to get a place to stay and nothing on the earlier stages of cultivation were confidential. It was just a matter of paying for access with the right person. It was time to make my way back to the TripleX faction and pay for everything they had on the first bottleneck and the later stages of cultivation to inform my decisions.

While enlightenment was a great starting point, proper research and a methodical approach was far superior in the long run. Using past data to inform future choices was the proper way to solve any problem. Still, I wouldn’t say no to the inspiration I had already received.

I slowly got up and moved to the edge of the tower and began to descend. If these towers weren’t connected at the top or the bottom, and the tunnels were incredibly small, what kept them in place? Another mystery and one Bones would have just told me to not worry about it, since thinking on the issue would just give me a headache.

I smiled as I made my descent. It was good to have a direction to advance once more.