Although the Tri-sword mantra claimed to be a Xiantian technique, in truth it was barely any better than the Houtian techniques I already knew and practiced before.

  With a single difference, the qi manifestation. The Tri-sword name came from manifesting three energy swords of the same size as the sword held in hand, which could be guided to a target from three directions.

  Sadly, this ability only appeared once you Mastered the technique, until then your qi would only guide the metal sword, transforming it into a guided missile. Now, Xiantian cultivators like myself were stronger than Houtian realms, but they still couldn't fly, unless they rode on a sword.

  "Weeeeee!" I yelled like a child as I stood on my hoversword and flew around, faster and faster until my qi was exhausted, and I crashed into a pile of tree logs prepared for new furniture. It hurt, but not as much as I would expect. I checked myself and nothing was broken, proving I had become more durable.

  "What did you learn?" the old ghost asked, perhaps sarcastically.

  "...That I need more qi." I replied with a sheepish voice. Then ate another spirit stone. Sadly, the last one for this week. I am still so poor.

  Grandpa Heavengaze sighed loudly. "You have more than enough qi for a child, little Pef. No, it's your control that's lacking." the old ghost advised me with a sad voice.

  Control, huh? Of course, the old spirit was right. But I did enjoy my new childhood. I never appreciated my first one properly.

  Best use the second life to the fullest.

  "You know Grandpa, learning is faster and easier when you're having fun. As is anything worth doing in life." I answered in a wise pose, even tugging at my invisible beard.

  "Perhaps you are correct, you evil genius. That's why you will train in my new Combat Simulator Formation Array. But, using only this sword technique that you stole from a dead man." the old ghost declared in a superior tone, as a deadly battlefield formation surrounded me in a globe of ghostly enemies, each armed with a different glowing weapon.

  The ghosts attacked rather slowly and taking turns, instead of overwhelming me with numbers, but it still took an effort to slice them with my flying sword. It was a great workout too, jumping around and bending to avoid strikes from awkward angles.

  A few hours later, my energy and stamina was depleted, and I simply ran away to wash under a waterfall. "Tomorrow, we double the speed!" the ghost warned me as I jumped in my million stones bed.

  By the time a week passed and I refilled my spirit stones, grinding in the combat array resulted in achieving Small Success with my Tri-sword technique, making it far more responsive and easier to control the sword.

  A month later, I reached Big Success with my sword technique, which reduced the qi consumption by half. At the same time, I also reached the 9th level of Xiantian, which doubled my available qi pool again.

  This was proper cultivation, increasing my power three times in a just a month. And I told the ghost the same.

  "Grass can grow fast when it's young and fresh, but there is a limit to how tall a blade of grass will grow. You are at that limit, little Pef. One more level, and your cultivation will stall." the old spirit warned me with a serious voice.

  "Essence Gathering is not the only cultivation system, Grandpa. I can still grow with the Asura Body method. I only completed the first arm of the Asura Demon." I argued in the same tone.

  "Yeah, it's a pity your body sutra tablet is so damaged. A real Asura would have a body as strong as a Divine Realm cultivator." The ghost sighed with a sneaky glance at me.

  Hmmm. This guy. He wanted me to ask for help.

  "You are a good Artisan, Grandpa. Is there some Formation that could repair the Demon tablet?" I asked with childish hope.

  "Oh? You think repairing a cultivation sutra is that easy?" the ghost asked, a bit rhetorical.

  Well, for me it would be the work of a lifetime, but I was a 9-year-old child with limited knowledge. For an ancient monster like this grandpa, it was probably barely an inconvenience.

  "If you can't do it, just say so, Grandpa. Maybe Lin Fei can help when he returns in 3 years." I said with a careless shrug, and sat to down to eat my Spirit Feast. A growing child needed a balanced nutrition, so I ate the green stuff as well, not just the delicious shrimp and sliced beef. Most children wouldn't, I know. But I was a bit wiser.

  "Perhaps that Lin Fei could. He does seem a bit special, in his own way. And since you rescued him, your karmas are now linked together." the old ghost mused in a distant voice, looking elsewhere with his special gaze.

  Ha! I was right! The old ghost could indeed scan for karma links. "So, you can repair the tablet, right?" I asked to make sure.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The ghost sighed and began writing letters in the air, forming a list of materials needed for that Formation Array. As expected, most of them were precious materials barely available in any auction house, while others were already extinct if their source was destroyed and mined out.

  However, my treasure vault did contain about 80% of the required materials, even Six Yang Crimson Iron or White Refined Gold. I didn't have any Demon Blood Essence though, but the vault did contain some Dragon Scales.

  I opened my hand to pile up the materials from my ring, and made another pile of possible alternatives, like Dragon Scales and Obsidian Mammoth Tusks.

  "You keep surprising me, little Pef. Hmmm, we could substitute Demon Blood with these scales and tusks, and obtain Dragon Mammoth force instead of Asura Demon force. It would even be an orthodox cultivation path, instead of demonic." the ghost mused while examining the materials I offered.

  I raised a finger. "Is there such a beast like a Dragon Mammoth?" I asked quite curious. Some kind of chimera mixture?

  "Not anymore, because it was hunted to extinction exactly for cultivating that Dragon Mammoth force. I did tell you about a Golden Celestial with a Dragon bloodline..." the ghost answered with a strange voice.

  Right! The guy which also had the Body of a Reaction God, and could eat anything without toxic buildup. And apparently he ate an entire species out of existence. Damn glutton! Anyway, if someone else could do it, I could do it too.

  "Make it so, Grandpa!" I demanded in a petulant voice.

  The ghost glared at me for a long minute. Was I a bit too rude? Probably. So I muttered, "...please?" in a low voice.

  "Aha! You do know the magic word. I was starting to wonder if you grew up among beasts, not men." the ghost proclaimed in a winner's voice, then began his magic to create a special Formation for repairing my sutra. Of course, I kept my eyes wide open to record everything.

  But, even with my Perfect Memory, recreating such a complex array would take ages, probably because I lacked both cultivation and knowledge.

  Then again, I should compare myself with kids of my age, not old monsters.

  For example, Lin Fei was older than both my ages combined, even though he looked like a teenager. But in a few years, I will surpass him.

  My Brilliance was actually a perk, not just a guess.

  Anyway, in a few hours, the metal tablet regained its intact shape, while the image imprint on its face changed into a long Dragon with an elephant face. With my belly full of another Spirit Feast, I took the new tablet and began learning.

  After a while, it became clear I would need to redo my body transformation to incorporate both dragon and mammoth bits, like the scales and tusks in my ring. So I clenched my teeth and arranged a new ritual formation on the ground, then jumped inside to channel the new Dragon Mammoth force into my body.

  Somehow, this hurt even more than the Asura Body transformation, but it also didn't replace it completely. I still kept the extra Demon arm, like a spiritual add-on to my new Dragon Mammoth Body. My bones broke and reformed a few times, my skin flaked off, and my veins burned from my upgraded blood. It was bad. Children shouldn't go through such pain, you know?

  Barely conscious, I took out a spirit stone and ate it to recover my energy.

  "Well, you reached the 10th level of Xiantian already. Your grass roots are now over." the old ghost noted in a dispassionate voice.

  I waved my fist weakly at him, then fell asleep on the floor. Damn cultivation! Why was it so hard?

  But when I woke up, I felt like a new man. My body moved like floating, and I felt strong. Very strong.

  "Grandpa, what's happening to my body? I feel...like floating." I asked in mild confusion.

  "Well, your body has just entered the Saint Realm. Not only that, but you now have an incipient form of Dragon Mammoth force." the ghost said in a soft voice, then offered me a crimson metal sword with its guard glowing like white gold.

  I grabbed it from midair, and almost fell on my face. Damn thing was heavy. Very heavy. Probably the Crimson Iron metal inside it, if I wasn't mistaken.

  I focused my Discerning Eyes on it. 'Divine Crimson Sword, used to stab things and make them dead or more dead. Worth 500 million spirit stones.'

  "Whoa! A Divine Sword? No wonder it's so heavy!" I yelled a bit excited.

  "Crimson Iron is a bit heavy for a child like you, but with your new body you should be able to use it. But the main purpose is to kill ghosts and other undead creatures." my ghost grandpa said with a serious tone.

  I nodded slowly, while reviewing the description with my own eyes. More dead, for those creatures that were already dead. In a cultivation world, death was not the end, or even the middle road.

  "Would it work against decay qi?" I asked with no ulterior motive.

  "The sword would be fine, little Pef. But you're not a real Saint yet. Your own qi would get corroded by decay qi. It would happen even as a Saint, but much slower." the spirit ghost offered while tapping the sword in my hand, and making it ring like a bell.

  Wait a second. "Shouldn't your hand pass through the sword?" I asked a bit confused.

  The ghost just stared at me with its dead white eyes. Right. The Divine Sword was made to interact with ghosts as well.

  "The Combat Array...I can kill those ghosts now?" I asked instead.

  "If I make them weak enough, yes. So, ready to train against Saint Realm ghosts?" my strange grandpa asked with a sneaky tone.

  I channeled my qi into the sword, and it floated above my hand, like an eager floating puppy. "I was born ready!" I said confidently.

  ..........

  .......

  I was not in fact ready. Saints are strong, even if looking like ghosts. I got my ass kicked. Yet, still I learned.

  By the time I reached 10 years of age, my Tri-sword technique reached Mastery level, and I could almost fight evenly with 50 Saint ghosts coming at me one by one.

  Also, I could fly on my sword like a pro, without falling even at high speeds and turns.

  "Passable. Now the real training begins, little Pef. Ready to fight 50 ghosts at once?" my grandpa asked with a weird smile.

  I knew I wasn't. I wasn't even a Saint myself, how could I fight 50 ghost Saints at once?

  But still. My will was unbreakable. I will find a way. ""I was born ready!" I answered confidently.

  ........

  ......

  I wasn't. Even with three energy swords guided by my mind, and a Divine Sword in hand, I still lost everytime.

  But I was learning. A year later, I managed to kill one Saint ghost, before losing. Three months later, I killed two. Then three.

  By the time the Heaven Basin opened again, I could kill five Saints before losing. Not bad for a 12-years-old, right?

  "Lin Fei advanced another level. An entire Saint level in only 3 years is quite a miracle." the ghost told me as he scanned the outside realm.

  I nodded then waved goodbye and shifted outside as well. Back in the tunnels. Lin Fei would know how to find me.