"What do you mean by 'Worst'? My 'Eternal Seeker' will not cause any side effects." Immortal Lu didn't fully grasp his disciple.
"This cultivation technique is considered the lowest of the lowest and can be bought very cheaply even by poor people of the continent. I saw this manual once and remember that the people call it the 'Snail' technique.
"The what?" Immortal felt fury for disgracing his technique.
"Even though it's cheap, not even 1% of the common people can cultivate this, and most of those cultivators won't make it past Qi gathering before they reach the end of their lifespan. This technique is slow and hence the name." Zhao Yao looked at his Master weirdly as he wasn't sure whether Immortal Lu was serious. "It is regarded as one of the oldest and basic techniques developed in the Ancient Era, but people deemed it as inefficient in the current Cultivation Era."
"I only used this cultivation technique and reached my current realm." Immortal Lu said.
'Maybe it's due to your talent."
"No. I wasn't special without any special affinity towards cultivation, and no one cultivated at my time. This was one of the first proper cultivation techniques of my time. Even the Zhao brat used this technique, the last time I saw him." Immortal Lu explained as he rubbed his jaw.
"Founder Ancestor used this technique?" Zhao Yao also started thinking.
"I understand why Eternal seeker is considered slow, but only idiots think it as a bad." Immortal Lu was unaware of numerous changes, but he believed that the essence of cultivation remained unchanged after all these years. "Eternal Seeker only benefits strong-willed and devoted cultivators. It focuses on the foundation, and each cultivator can mold it to suit their goals."
"Mold it?" Zhao Yao questioned.
"Yes. This cultivation technique is broad and it can be used to build yourself as you see fit. The technique I just burned focused mainly on the Qi and ruined your other aspect's potential." Immortal Lu explained.
"I will not force you to cultivate any technique. You are free to build your own path, but I will not allow you to cultivate a technique that ruins your potential to reach higher realms." Immortal Lu said adamantly.
"So, there are benefits from cultivating this?"
"Try and see for yourself. You can cultivate this now or wait until you find one technique that gets my approval." Immortal Lu said with a smile.
"This...I need to start cultivating already, or I will not be able to beat him." Zhao Yao was in a dilemma. "Once I start with this technique, I won't be able to change?"
"No, you can change."
"Then, I want to cultivate Eternal Seeker." Zhao Yao bowed.
"Go ahead." Immortal Lu watched his disciple. This disciple of his was a skeptical one, always doubting and double thinking everything, even his Master's own words.
Zhao Yao grabbed a mat and started cultivating.
Eternal Seeker wasn't an easy technique to begin because it requires the person to actively sense the Qi through their own soul sense.
Only after a person meditated for a long time can they sense the Qi in the surrounding and manually use it to cultivate.
The Zhao clan's low tier technique circumvent this difficulty by burning one's body and soul to attract the Qi and force the person to sense the Qi.
Immortal Lu knew his technique may not give a normal person instant result, but his disciple, Zhao Yao, had a soul that was more than 500,000 years old. It had layers that Immortal Lu didn't want to pry, and he believed that it will help his disciple in cultivating.
The problem is, Zhao Yao had to find a way to control his soul powers.
*********
The sun had set, and darkness enveloped the land. The stars guided the navigating birds and lulled the mortals to sleep.
Someone tried to spy on Zhao Yao. But Immortal Lu from the moment he arrived had already and blocked all sounds and senses from outsiders.
Zhao Yao sat in lotus position trying to cultivate.
Immortal Lu sat in Zhao Yao's small kitchen and cooked the rest of the rabbit meat. This time, the spices and utensils he found in the house helped him to make different and tastier meals. He used all of the vegetables and leaves remained in the kitchen, and materials he gathered to cook different dishes.
Immortal Lu unapologetically used up every bit of Zhao Yao's food to cook. He wasn't afraid of cooking too much as he could store them in his Inner Dimension with their freshness intact, more like time froze around the food.
Beast Rabbit Fry. Rabbit sour ribs. Rabbit meat curry. Rabbit meat with veggies...so on.
Immortal Lu, who was petting Merry's head, felt the fury filled stare of his disciple.
"Yao'er. You finished already?" He teased.
"Master. You already know the answer." Zhao Yao walked towards him, and he got angrier when he saw all the dishes in front of his Master. "While you are thinking about your stomach, your disciple was struggling without any results. Do you have any suggestions? If you had enough fun, can you now give me your real cultivation technique?"
"You still think I have other cultivation techniques, huh?" Immortal Lu shook his head. "I only have this technique, but I will try to make a special technique for you later. As for suggestions, I have a couple: Search yourself and find yourself."
"What do you mean?" Zhao Yao asked in puzzlement.
"Who are you?" Immortal Lu looked at his puzzled disciple and forced. "Just answer."
"Zhao Yao."
"The idiot that got humiliated and jumped off the cliff?" Immortal Lu teased.
"No. That's the Original Zhao Yao, and I replaced him." Zhao Yao was quick to refute.
"Is that so?" Immortal Lu smiled as he reached for oil fried Rabbit meat. "This meat is so oily."
Immortal Lu used the sleeves of the white robe Zhao Yao gave him to wrap the meat and absorb the oil.
"No...No. Master, what are you doing? Don't ruin the dress." Zhao Yao yelled in panic.
"Why?" Immortal Lu ignored his disciple kept using his robe to absorb the oil.
"That's my father's dress."
"Your father?"
Zhao Yao's hands froze in midair.
"Haha. Don't worry." Immortal Lu opened the cloth, and there was no meat inside. There weren't any oil stains, it was spotless and clean.
"Zhao Yao, you and the 'Original Zhao' are the same, more than you think. That's why you have the same emotional attachment to these clothes." Immortal Lu put his hand on his disciple's shoulder. "But you also tend to differentiate yourself when it comes to anything weak or embarrassing. You blame it on the 'Other Zhao' so that you can feel better."
"But we are different. The other Zhao Yao is weak-willed and naive. We may be getting combined into a single person, but both of us are different." Zhao Yao tried to justify.
"Different? To me, the Zhao brat and both of you are all the same." Immortal Lu said as he smiled.
"Why is that?"
"You are all emotionally the same...Adamant, focused, and self-injuring." Immortal Lu watched his disciple, who shook his head, refusing to believe his words.
"You don't believe me?" Immortal Lu questioned.
"But Master, I wouldn't jump off a cliff..."
"You just stabbed yourself." Immortal Lu interrupted without letting Zhao Yao finish.
"Master, that..."
"Still can't accept it? Why did the 'Other one' decide to die?" Immortal lu questioned.
"Because he got shamed."
"Because he was shamed in front of Su Ruo." Immortal Lu shook his head as he corrected it. "From what can I see, he loved her the most. She was the reason he lived. If she asked for it, he would happily walk around the town, Naked."
"Yes, it's because he thought he lost her." Zhao Yao appeared to be in a trance.
"You from another world must have something you loved the most, something you cannot imagine losing."
"Yes." Zhao Yao replied, but he was lost in his memories.
"Even the Zhao brat was the same too."
"Master, you are saying, even Founder Ancestor?"
"The Zhao brat and his mother lived in this land bordering the forest. His branch of the clan was tasked to protect the border. They occasionally had to face demon beast tides."
"And?"
"One time, a large demon beast tide hit them. Lives were lost, the village was destroyed, his branch Zhao clan ended. And..." Immortal Lu sighed as he continued. "he lost his mother."
Zhao Yao didn't speak, but his eyes showed that he understood the pain.
"He loved his mother more than anything. He was devastated, but he was also stubborn like you. He swore to make this land safe from future beast tides so that his mother can rest in peace. He came up with the idea of a wall. But it failed. Then..."
"Then?"
"He heard about me, and it gave rise to another plan that only I can do."
"Which plan?" Zhao Yao was brimmed with curiosity.
Immortal Lu didn't answer him but instead pointed towards the hilly pasture.
"The cliff?"
"I told you that I created the cliff. Do you know why? It's because the Zhao brat pestered me without giving up." Old memories made Immortal Lu smile.
"Pestered you?"
"I was a high-level cultivator who was in closed-door cultivation in my residence. The Zhao brat had nothing to offer me to do his bidding. He couldn't wait either. So he nagged me to help him."
"You were strong 500,000 years ago?" Zhao Yao gulped his saliva.
"I wasn't going to come out of my cultivation to help him. But he was stupidly stubborn, refusing to give up." Immortal Lu ignored his disciple's question and continued. "He loudly yelled and begged outside my residence. Every day for more than a year until I came out."
"Haha." Zhao Yao laughed as he found it funny.
"It's not a funny thing, kid. Disturbing one's cultivation is taboo. If it was anyone else, you wouldn't even have a soul now."
Immortal Lu didn't like the Zhao brat for disturbing his cultivation, but he also could sympathize with him. With his powers then, raising a cliff wasn't an easy task. It took him months to do it without rest, but he did it because it could save lives and also avoid the pestering of the brat.
The Zhao brat disturbing his cultivation made him afraid of others following suit. And, it was because of this reason that he found a barren volcano in the North for his breakthrough in secret.
"My dear disciple, I have known 3 of your reincarnations, and all of them are stubborn, persistent, focused, and risk-takers." Immortal Lu paused and pointed to Zhao Yao's chest, indicating his act.
"If you don't fully understand who you are, how can you make use of your specialty. Your soul is experienced with many realms. If you are not one with yourself, you will not get access to your own soul and what it has in store for you."
"Yes, I can use my soul for faster cultivation?" Zhao Yao asked.
"Zhao Yao, unlike anyone in the world, you have built yourself a soul with 500,000 years of experience. If you get control over it, you could cultivate faster than anyone else."
Zhao Yao's eyes brightened.
"Now that you understand the first part, I will explain the second part - Search yourself." Immortal Lu explained with a gentle smile. "Cultivation is like a journey. You can travel without any aim, but you will end up lost. But if you travel towards a goal you set up for yourself, it will keep you going. In this tiring journey of cultivation, that goal will drive you, push you to move forward without giving up."
"That Zhao brat focused on the soul, and look at yourself to know what he created." Immortal Lu realized now after seeing his reincarnated soul what the Zhao brat's goal was. He even lent his Spirit garment so that that brat can further understand the mysteries of soul and spiritual beasts.
"Yao'er, what are you cultivating for? What do you aim to achieve with cultivating?"
"Why do I cultivate?" Zhao Yao whispered as he sat and closed his eyes.
'My dear disciple, Search and Find yourself.'
Immortal Lu happily watched his disciple take his first step of an endless journey.