Sage’s Cultivation: Mage in Cultivation World - Chapter 186

[A village in the Eastern Region, on the Eastern Continent]

‘It has been months, and I am somewhat liking the results of my efforts. I became close with the village leader and my neighbors as well. Hence, the human bank I have in mind is near. I will have my minions after they truly trust me.’

‘To use the mind-bending magic with less mana usage, I should be close to the subject and they should trust me with all of my words. To easily bring them under my control, and to have an indefinite time of control, they should be soft towards me.’

‘Humans, especially average people, in this world aren’t that hard to play. For them, just an average, caring face is enough for them. And with sweet words, it is a hundred percent attraction for them.’

‘When they become my minions, they will move for me. Kidnap people and bring them to me. With different methods of kidnapping in my head, there will be an infinite number of humans.’

‘They were not technically robots or golems that were under my control. They will still have their thoughts and they will be able to act normally. But they’ll have to rely on me. The decision will be on me and their goals will be just to please me.’

‘That is not hard. I wonder why the previous Lucas didn’t think of that. Magic is way better than cultivation. To perform a mystical art, which is equivalent to magic, one person should reach a specific stage of accumulated energy.’

‘I can’t just ignore the fact that they were stupid. They don’t know the essence of having people under you and the world in your palm. Just imagine the greatness I could achieve if I was that person.’

Those thoughts were from Lucas, rampaging and circling around his head while observing the villagers from his hut. They were doing their everyday routines, but they were not aware that they were due to have their own life.

Lucas had played with their emotions. He had attracted them and made them trust him, allowing him to easily convince and brainwash them. It was his plan, and as it was a perfect one, surely this village would be done.

Yet, even with it, he still has more time to prepare.

Three weeks later, it was finally set. Lucas had become too close with them and they were treating him as if he was part of their family. He could just eat anywhere. They would share their secrets with him, and everything about being relatively close.

To get their affection, Lucas acted as if he was a good person. And after doing it, he came to everyone’s face, gathering them for his grand finale.

His human bank was on the way!

“Everyone, I wanted to thank you for being nice to me,” he simpered, then lowered his head slightly and added, “Literally…” Then a wide smile came afterward.

His hands started glowing white and a plate of transparent light formed. Then, slowly, he raised his head, and his eyes turned white as well.

With that, everyone’s attention became blank. They paused, standing still while Lucas was casting his spell. He was just in front of them, then, everyone’s eyes turned white as well.

After their eyes became white, Lucas’s eyes turned back to normal, but the transparent plate of light was still on his hands.

Their faces twitched, their eyes blinked, their heads tilted, and everyone slowly looked at Lucas, facing him directly without any extra actions.

With this, Lucas was already content. He knew that this was a success, and just like that, he knew he had everyone under his control.

His smile couldn’t be removed, and before the night came, he ordered one of them to kidnap someone that no other person could see.

***

Months later, Lucas started seeing greater results from his human bank. Every day, he could accumulate a one core level amount of energy. It is equivalent to 3 levels of Apprentice Spirit Realm; not that surprising and plenty to get, but at least it was a sign.

He then gained plenty of time to assess his body and how he could use magic without overusing his mana. He also tried to learn how he could negate any spiritual energy. It was absurd, but for a scholar-inspired personality like him, magic spells would be easy for him.

And after becoming a master of magic in no time, he was prepared to move and expand his human bank.

‘This is quite amusing. I am enjoying every bit of thrill my minions do just to kidnap someone.’

‘I can see their movements inside my brain. Even though it is not literal like monitors, I can still see their emotions and will.’

Lucas knew that their bonds could not be destroyed. He knew that they were affectionate towards him.

‘But how will I start the expansion? In one city below this mountain, I could start there by working as a secretary. I saw that they were looking for one, and acting smart is not that hard for me.’

‘Wow… Has it been that long? I felt that I was just talking to myself even though I had already erased every personality, including those pests the previous Lucas called Second and Third Brother.’

‘Anyway, I should be starting now. These minions were already perfect for infiltrating that city.’

Lucas stood up from his seat and went outside. It felt like he was a vampire that didn’t like the sun, as when he got out, his eyes blinked and he flinched from the brightness of the sunlight.

However, just before Lucas could start his expansion, a group of weak cultivators visited their village with the ill-intentioned intent of the villagers. They were wearing heavy robes, but they were slightly less luxurious to see. But, their robes were not average.

Their swords were in their grasp as they posed no vigilance when they marched to the village. Just looking at it, Lucas couldn’t help but be dazed by their bizarre actions.

“Hiya!!! In this village, our dark sect will rebel against the Five Great Families!”

They didn’t have any vigilance in them. They were acting like bullies in front of a target with their plans, unbothered by their targets’ existence. They walked down the street as if they were on their own territory as if they knew there would be no one to fight them.

“This village doesn’t have cultivation. A perfect target, as I said, Sect Leader.”

Lucas looked at the person they were calling “Sect Leader.” For Lucas, he looked like a dullard as his eyes were wide and he had a wide grin on his face. His facial features were even grotesque, with round dark circles and a face full of scars.

Just as Lucas watched them enter their village, his eyebrows couldn’t help but rise.

‘Are they that stupid? Can’t they see that my minions were not alarmed by them?’

Just after Lucas thought about it, the cultivators that trespassed the village started to notice that everyone was just looking at them with a blank expression. They were treated as insignificant while they walked with pride.

For another time, Lucas secretly scoffed as the two chatted with each other.

“Something is weird with this village. How could they not feel threatened by our presence? Were they stupid? I didn’t see anyone in my life that would not be afraid of dark sect disciples.”

Lucas scoffed again, but this time, it was loud. All of the villagers followed his scoff and laughed out loud.

“Dark sect disciples, or more like bandits?” Lucas said out loud that all of the cultivators reacted to.

“W-What?! How dare you say that? Take it back!” An immature cultivator blurted out.

‘These cultivators were just weak. Meaning, they don’t have much profundity in Qi, which is useful as well. They still have mana in their bodies, and this time, it will not be a problem to use my magic since I can control much of my mana now.’

Lucas had his assessment and stepped forward. When his face became serious, the villagers became serious as well. This incident made the cultivators alarmed and baffled by the event.

They flinched, but when they just didn’t feel any spiritual energy from Lucas, they all had their confidence back. They raised their chests and confidently threatened Lucas.

“Are you the leader of this village? You are now under our name and our authority. If you want to fight, we will give you the honor, but you must sacrifice one villager.”

Lucas stopped stepping forward. He was disgusted. But they saw it as an act of retraction.

“Pfft! That is the reaction we are looking for! You succeeded at it, puny mortal!”

But Lucas didn’t continue to move forward as more of his disgust towards them continued to rush through his system. Then, as his interest disappeared as well, he raised his hands and then chanted.

“Useless.”

When he discovered that a large percentage of their population had corrupted mana, or to be specific, their mana was simply unusable, he lost interest in keeping them all alive.

He had to kill the corrupted mana from them to make sure that he wouldn’t be infected by it, as corrupted mana is a disease that could nullify any talent a person had in magic.

“Die,” Lucas said, and blood started to splatter.