Chapter 11

Elder Yui seemed to finally come to a decision. “I’m assuming that you wish to keep the fact that you have an ability hidden?” He asked me.

I nodded. “I can’t imagine that the clan that destroyed my clan would be happy if they learned I had an ability. Potentially they would demand my death.” I said.

Which was actually true. Depending on my ability it was possible I could create quite a bit of trouble for my enemies. None of the central clans would ever forget that the fall of one of the central clans had been set into motion by a single cultivator that had a rare ability. The man had been able to turn invisible. Despite only being a rank six cultivator he had wreaked havoc among the clan. He stole items. Killed everyone among the younger generation. And even set fire to the buildings whenever he could get away with it. It took nearly a decade before the clan finally caught and killed him. By then they had been weakened so much that their enemies took advantage of the situation. Over the course of a century they continually weakened until they were wiped out. Those events had happened thousands of years ago. Ever since then the central clans never let an enemy survive if they had a rare or unusual ability.

“Very well. But in return you must keep my secret also. I don’t want anyone in clan Ashton to know that I’m a level nine cultivator.” Elder Yui said.

I couldn’t help but frown a bit. “I’ll keep your secret. But surely the other elders already know? Or they will learn eventually when you don’t age.”

Elder Yui smiled. “You’re a bit smarter than I thought. The older among them do know. You are right that it’s impossible to hide that I’m older than they are. The clan head and most of the elders do not know though. I’d like to keep it that way. The more people that know the more likely the secret will get out.”

I nodded in understanding. “So tell me about this ability you have.” Elder Yui said. “No matter how unusual it is, I promise I won’t tell anyone about it. Even the other elders. You already said you came to visit my garden because of your ability. Surely there is a reason you sought me out.”

“It’s really not that useful. My ability grants me an area of spatial storage that only I can access. From what I can tell it can store even living things. I came to the garden to see if I could test the limits.” I explained.

Elder Yui rolled his eyes. “That may be part of it but it’s not a full explanation of your ability. Obviously your ability has something to do with you being a level two cultivator despite having a shattered core. There is also the fact that you absorbed energy from me. Simply having access to a spatial storage location doesn’t explain all of that.”

I had to revise my opinion of Elder Yui a bit. Despite his mistake earlier his ability to quickly analyze a situation was impressive. “I’m able to absorb life and death energy in order to increase the size of my spatial storage. It also seems like a small amount of that energy increases my own strength.” I admitted.

“That’s at least closer to the truth. You are still holding back some information but I suppose it’s understandable. Sharing the details of your ability with a near stranger is often unwise. And I’ve never heard of anything like your ability. Although you are going to have to explain a bit more about what you were looking for in the garden. If you just wanted to test the limits of your ability I can think of dozens of better places to go.” Elder Yui said.

“I can absorb the life and death of energy from anything stored inside my spatial storage. And the more powerful it is, the more energy I absorb.” I said.

A look of understanding crossed the elder’s face. “That is why you were so surprised when we shook hands. You were probably absorbing far more energy than you had expected.”

One again Elder Yui had surprised me. “I couldn’t tell you were a level nine cultivator. Although I probably would have realized it later if I ever absorbed energy from a level eight cultivator.”

“Do you have to be touching someone to absorb energy from them?” Elder Yui asked.

I hesitated for just a moment too long before answering which gave away the answer. “Very interesting. How close do you have to be?” Elder Yui asked.

I wasn’t quite sure of the conversion between inches and the local measurement. So I simply stuck out a hand until I got close enough to the Elder to start absorbing his energy again. “That’s close but not completely unreasonable. I’ll let you absorb more energy as we talk. Since it’s drawing on naturally produced life energy it costs me nothing.” The elder said and then moved his chair to the side of the table so that our knees were about a foot away from each other.

That hadn’t been something I had thought about. I didn’t have to get my hand within inches of someone in order to absorb energy. I could get any part of my body that close. Including my foot. While sitting at a table that was remarkably easy. People often had their feet inches away from each other without ever thinking about it.

“I think I understand why you came to my garden. You were hoping to find a plant, or multiple plants, that produce a large amount of life energy. How much can you store inside your spatial storage?” Elder Yui asked.

I had to take a minute and think about it. “I’m not sure.” I admitted. “Although with how much energy I’m absorbing from you it will probably be three or four times as much in only an hour.”

“If you had to guess, could you store my bed in your space? Or is it larger?” Elder Yui asked.

I shook my head and then pointed at one of the small casks the elder had gotten his tea from. “I can probably only store something around the size of that cask.”

“That explains why you didn’t go to the stables. I was wondering why you didn’t try to store a tamed monster in your space. Most plants produce less life energy than animals. But there aren’t many powerful animals that will fit in a space that small. I’m going to have to give some thought about what you should store. There are a few possibilities but the best are also the rarest and most expensive herbs.” Elder Yui said.

For about five minutes I sat in uncomfortable silence with Elder Yui. Then he gave me a look that was a cross between annoyed and curious. “Did you know the range you can absorb energy increases as you absorb energy?” He asked.

“Ummmm. Yes.” I said feeling a bit nervous as the curiosity disappeared on the elders face and now he seemed to just be annoyed with me.

“And you didn’t think that was important information?” He said.

“It’s important but you never asked. Besides, it's not a linear increase.” I said, trying to defend myself.

Elder Yui’s expression turned a bit curious again. “If it’s not linear have you figured out how it increases?” He asked.

“In order to multiply my range by ten times I have to absorb a hundred times more energy. So the more energy I gain the slower my range will increase. If I want to increase my range by a hundred times I’ll have to absorb ten thousand times as much energy. My range should eventually plateau.” I explained.

Elder Yui shook his head. “That just means you need to find better sources of energy. You are underestimating this ability of yours. In fact it’s a bit frightening. I must admit, I’m tempted to kill you simply because of how powerful your ability is.”

I couldn’t help but move a bit further away from the elder. “Don’t worry I won’t kill you. I’m a firm believer that violence should be the last resort. However, I’ve never heard of such a powerful ability. I know we haven’t tested it yet but you said you can store living things in your spatial storage.”

The elder paused for a moment and then continued in a more serious tone. “What about people? If you stored a level nine cultivator, like me, in your storage space would they be able to escape? And if they couldn’t wouldn’t you continue to gain life energy from them? I’m guessing you don’t have to touch something to store it in your space. If that is the case once your range is large enough you could simply travel around and store every level nine cultivator you find. Even if they die you will still benefit and gain death energy. Eventually you will become a level nine cultivator. You may even break through and become a level ten cultivator.”

Elder Yui was right. I hadn’t thought about how strong I’d eventually become. Part of me wondered if Angelos had thought all of this through. Did she want me to become a villain?

Elder Yui gave a sigh of relief. “Someday you are going to have to learn to school your expressions. For now I’m just glad that you feel the gravity of wielding such power. It’s obvious that you don’t wish to become evil. From now on I want you to remember a few things. First, talents and abilities are simply tools. They aren’t inherently evil. A sword's only purpose is to kill. Despite that nobody would say a sword is evil. The owner decides whether to use the sword for good or evil.”

I couldn’t help but nod in agreement. This was a concept that I was familiar with from Earth. Elder Yui continued. “Next I want you to understand that often what people call evil is subjective. For instance if you involve yourself in a battle between your clan and another clan I’m sure your clan will call your actions good. Meanwhile the enemy clan will revile you and call you evil. Most actions that people call evil are people taking actions that are to their detriment in some way. Often it’s just morally grey. True evil exists, but it’s more rare than you would imagine.”

I actually had to think about this concept. It wasn’t a philosophy I had heard voiced out loud in either sets of my memories. And yet the more I thought about it the more I couldn’t help but agree. People liked to see everything as black and white. Yet the world was mostly grey. It was rare that you encountered something that everyone agreed was obviously evil.

“Next I want you to understand that power will change you. That change is not something simple. Very few people become wholly better or worse when they gain power. For many they become worse in some ways and better in others. I’m sure you don’t fully understand this yet but eventually you will.” Elder Yui said.

He was right that I couldn’t fully grasp what he was saying. On the face of it what he was saying seemed obvious. Yet I didn’t know how having power would change me specifically. I probably wouldn’t understand until I was powerful. Perhaps if I was still Zhao I would have had a better understanding. Zhao had power. Both in his clan and even more so when around those not in his clan. I just hoped that power wouldn’t turn me into the man that Zhao had been.

“Finally I want you to understand that there is a possibility that having power will corrupt you and you will become evil. It’s almost certain that you will be faced with choices between doing something good and evil. It’s very likely at some point you will do something evil. Even if that happens I want you to remember that doesn’t necessarily make you evil. What will make you evil is when you decide to stop wondering if you are evil. When you lose your conscience and simply do what is best for you. No matter what the consequences are for others.” Elder Yui explained.

At least this concept was a bit easier to understand than the last. A single action didn’t define the entire life of someone. This was especially true when dealing with cultivators that had the power to destroy mountains and lived for thousands of years.

“It seems like this is something you have given a great deal of thought about.” I finally said after I had spent a few minutes thinking about what the elder had said.

Elder Yui smiled and shook his head. “When you have lived as long as I have, you think about a lot of things. Although this subject more than many others. I haven’t always been a good person. That's why I’m a pacifist.”

I nearly laughed. “I’ve never heard of a level nine cultivator that is a pacifist.” The idea itself almost seemed crazy. The primary reason people cultivated was to become stronger. So that when they fought they had a better chance of winning.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t fight. I may even kill my enemies if it is necessary. However, I’ll always try to find a peaceful solution first. Many of the greatest regrets in my life are because I resorted to violence first.” Elder Yui explained.

I wasn’t sure what to say in reply. Luckily Elder Yui saved me from thinking of anything. “That is enough doom and gloom talk. We should focus on figuring out what to put in your space that will gain you energy.”

“That reminds me of the reason I originally wanted to see you. Who does the landscaping for your garden? It's amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.” I said.

Elder Yui gave me an intense look. “I may be willing to introduce you to them. They are very private though. I’ll have to give it some thought first. Meanwhile we should test your ability.” He said while handing me his mug.