Cultivation Nerd
Chapter 281: Old Monsters

But in the end, I still decided not to say anything. Not yet. We needed to be alone to speak freely, and if her father really was trying to take over her body, there was no way he’d leave her unattended.

Just as I thought that my heart almost stopped. I felt a hand settle on my shoulder.

No presence. No warning. Just… a touch, cold and quiet as a corpse’s breath.

My entire body flinched inward.

Whoever was touching me had no presence. It was like being touched by death itself. It was a sensation so unnatural it made my skin crawl. Goosebumps erupted across my arms, with a cultivator’s senses of hearing, smell, sight, and touch. I should’ve felt the air shift behind me and sensed the approach.

But I felt nothing until the hand landed on me.

“I’m happy my daughter has a friend like this,” said the voice behind me.

It felt like a cold hand clamped around my heart.

I’d only heard this voice once before. It was a distinct, chilling, mechanical sort of voice. Not monotone, but emotionally hollow, like a puppet playing a human. The way he spoke was unsettling, like no matter the words, the tone was incapable of warmth.

It made my bones itch as if my instincts were screaming to run. But I couldn’t move.

This was the man I had been dreading.

The Song Clan Leader.

Song Song’s father… was here.

A chill ran down my spine and then came the scent of lavender. I could finally smell him.

And strangely, my first thought was how odd it was for a man to wear something so intensely floral.

Instinctively, I activated my Foundation Technique. It bought me some thinking time. Enough for thoughts to blaze like wildfire.

Song Song was frozen in place. A smile lingered on her lips, but her eyes, those cold and sharp blue orbs, were locked onto her father.

The lavender. A strong scent like that was often used to mask something, such as poison, typically. But I doubted this man needed poison to get rid of someone like me.

Not perfume. Not at all. More likely, it was used to mask the smell of blood. The scent was quite challenging to eliminate.

And now, with my thoughts moving in overdrive, I could detect it: faint, metallic, the scent of copper under the perfume’s veil.

His cloaking technique, or whatever he was using to conceal his cultivation, was slowly unraveling as I continued to use my Foundation Technique. I could sense his presence now. Feel the weight of his Qi.

But I still couldn’t discern what stage he was at.

That shouldn’t be possible. We had physical contact, and my sensory powers were better than average. Even Song San with his cloaking technique, I would be able to sense his cultivation if he touched my head.

If I touched the Song Leader’s head and sent a mental probe, I might still be able to get a read on it.

But doing that?

It’d be suicide.

If he had stronger mental energy than me, and he probably did, that contact would give him a direct line into my consciousness. He could slip inside my mind, see my memories, maybe even wipe them if he wanted to.

So I stood still.

“I’m honored to be her friend, Lord Song,” I said.

My entire thought process had lasted barely over a second, so my response shouldn’t have seemed delayed.

He removed his hand from my shoulder. It felt like the Grim Reaper had finally stopped resting his scythe on my neck.

I turned around, meeting his gaze.

His eyes were just as I remembered, two domes of darkness that could pull in even the strongest minds. His long, dark hair floated unnaturally, drifting as if he were underwater or gravity simply didn’t apply to him.

Song Song’s father was... unsettling.

My mind kicked into overdrive again, running through possibilities. Why was Song Song here in the first place? Not that I was unhappy, but her unknown location had been one of the biggest gaps in my plans. I’d built entire contingencies around finding her and preventing a body takeover.

But maybe I was jumping too far into worst-case territory. I had to focus on the more plausible options.

He likely didn’t know I suspected him. He might not think anyone suspected him. If he truly had been around during the time of the Blazing Sun Immortal, then he’d been playing this game for a long time.

Now, with the Sect Leader missing and no one in a position of absolute authority, it made sense he’d come out of hiding.

“Song Song,” he said softly, “look after your new friends. In my long life, I’ve encountered only a handful like this one.”

His voice was calm yet carried something ethereal and heavy as if it didn’t quite belong in this world.

As his last word faded, a shadowy mist began curling around his feet, slowly winding upward like a tide of darkness. The world around us fell still, the wind ceasing, the air itself tightening.

He looked at me one last time, his gaze devoid of warmth or sorrow. It was cold. Deeply cold. The kind of stare that lingered long after you’d looked away.

And then, his body vanished into the mist. No sound. No light.

Just gone.

Even though I understood logically there was no way he could know what I was thinking, my suspicions were locked inside my head, and a part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d read me.

Just by looking.

That was… terrifying.

“That bastard father of mine has a Sky Grade Technique he flaunts like a party trick,” Song Song muttered, breaking the silence. “And yet, he never once bothered to give his daughter one.”

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She still didn’t have a Sky Grade Technique?

That was a glaring flaw. For someone with her talent and growth potential, a Sky Grade Technique would bring out another level entirely.

She turned to look at me, and despite all my effort to stay unreadable, she studied me like a hawk.

“Something bothering you?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “Just thinking about how to get you a Sky Grade Technique. After all, as a Core Formation Cultivator at your age, you deserve one.”

“Since when did you get to hand out Sky Grade Techniques?” she asked, a teasing smile on her lips.

Even as she joked, I realized my palms were still clammy. My nerves hadn’t caught up to my mind. But I tried to play it off, for now.

I raised a questioning brow at her behavior. “Since when did you start doubting me so much?”

“I’m not doubting you,” she said, her smile widening. “But I do know you wouldn’t bring something like this up without a reason. So, what have you been up to these last two years?”

“You’re looking at the new Martial Technique Elder,” I said, spreading my arms like I was announcing the arrival of royalty. “And the guy managing all martial techniques and the Inner Sect library.”

“Really?” she blinked. “So the other guy croaked? I knew the previous elder. He was a Core Formation Cultivator. Looks like people are finally recognizing your talents.”

“Well, I’ve got a Core Formation powerhouse watching my back,” I said with a shrug. “That evens the playing field a bit.”

“Right,” she said, flashing me a grin.

We turned and began walking toward the Sect’s gates, sharing what we’d been doing these past two years. Song Song’s story was simple on the surface; she’d spent most of the time in secluded cultivation, but the start of her tale caught my attention.

She’d traveled to the far edge of the Western Continent. That was insanely far. Even after months of travel in one direction, I hadn’t gotten close to the edge. Which meant only one thing.

That meant her father had used a teleportation technique. Probably the same one he used to vanish into that swirl of darkness.

But from how she described it, the teleportation didn’t just cover vast distances. It was executed so smoothly that even a Foundation Establishment Song Song with sharp instincts hadn’t noticed. That was ridiculously powerful.

Thanks to my position in the library, I’d had access to books most couldn’t dream of. I’d buried myself in research, especially into space and teleportation techniques, ever since getting my second Sky Grade Technique.

And one truth echoed across all of them: space techniques devoured Qi.

When I’d used mine to teleport behind Song Song, I barely moved five meters and it still drained almost all my Qi. And that flying spatial slash? That was a one-shot move, full commitment.

Usually, I wouldn’t risk that kind of exhaustion. My dantian would feel hollow for weeks afterward, like I’d poured everything out and scraped the bottom clean. That left me extremely weak. But with Song Song around… I felt safe enough to push my limits.

For reference, a Core Formation Cultivator using my technique could teleport from the Blazing Sun Sect to Greengrass Town. That’s impressive, but nothing compared to what her father had done.

Different techniques, of course, came with different costs. But not a single spatial technique I’d read about allowed cross-continental teleportation without staggering energy requirements.

If her father could do that casually… then he was almost certainly a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Probably low to mid-tier, since he clearly wasn’t an Immortal. If he were an Immortal, he wouldn’t need to hide. He’d simply dominate.

I recalled that Song Song once mentioned her father wasn’t even two hundred years old. That was young for a Nascent Soul breakthrough unless he had monstrous talent.

Which, let’s be honest, he didn’t. Song Song inherited the real talent. Not him. Otherwise, he would be the Sect Leader.

So… how?

If I followed the breadcrumbs, there was only one theory that fit.

He had a body possession technique, one that stacked strength. Maybe not endlessly, or he’d be unbeatable by now, but enough to bridge gaps he shouldn’t be able to cross.

And that sort of technique?

That was immortal-level. The kind of technique only true immortals could access or create.

It was only theory. Scattered dots, connected by instinct more than proof.

But right now, it was the only explanation that made sense.

"Still, even without my help, you should be able to get your hands on some Sky Grade Techniques, right?" I asked.

"Why would that be the case?" she asked, confused.

"Because your clan had an Immortal in its bloodline, right?" I said, carefully testing the waters.

Song Song's eyes widened slightly, then she nodded. "How did you learn about that?"

"As the inner elder in charge of the library of one of the great sects, I have access to a lot of information and more than a few world secrets," I said, rubbing my chin and trying to look mysterious.

"Must feel like a pervert finally handed the keys to a harem," she said, instantly flattening my ego.

Did she have to phrase it like that?

And the worst part? She didn't even sound like she was trying to insult me. That somehow made it worse.

"Do you really have to use such raunchy metaphors?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes," she replied, completely unapologetic. "Also, one of my ancestors was the Blood Step Immortal."

I froze for a second.

The Blood Step Immortal?

That name brought a flood of thoughts. There were very few records about him; most were burned or redacted. But even what little I'd pieced together told me the guy was bad news.

For one, he was never recorded as having descendants. If he did, they'd likely have been wiped out. The man was loathed during his time. Worse still, he wasn't even native to this world.

He was an otherworlder. It wouldn't be so bad if he came from a normal world like mine. However, everything about him screamed that he came from a world already saturated with supernatural elements.

In his early years, he was dismissed as talentless. But then he "invented" demonic rituals, things that perhaps shouldn't have existed in this world. At least not at his level, or everyone would be a demonic cultivator. He clawed his way to immortality with blood, madness, and something that felt more like adaptation than innovation.

If those rituals came from another world, he likely had to rework them to function here.

Still, none of that would matter until Song Song reached Nascent Soul.

But even then... how could someone in early Nascent Soul stand a chance against a monster who'd survived for twenty millennia? Who'd probably killed geniuses for fun and buried sects like weeds? One who likely possessed countless Sky Grade Techniques, otherworldly knowledge, and who'd probably killed thousands of dangerous cultivators just for sport?

It felt impossible.

But if there was anyone who could pull it off, it was her.

As we reached the front gates, the disciples bowed silently, wisely choosing not to speak. Song Song noticed my quiet brooding but didn't interrupt it.

No matter how hard I searched my memory, there wasn't much else I could recall about the Blood Step Immortal.

But just as we crossed the threshold, Song Song turned toward me with a crooked grin.

"Did you grow to become a brooding man without me around? What has you so worried?" she asked. "Did someone bully you while I was away?"

Her tone was light, joking. But…

"Well, technically yes, but that's not what I'm worried about," I said. "Your brother, or what was probably him in a porcelain mask, tried to poison me. Some kind of mind control poison."

Song Song froze, then casually nodded and rubbed her chin.

"Let's go find him," she said.

Huh?

"What exactly are you going to do?" I asked, instantly getting a bad feeling in my gut.

"I'm going to congratulate him on his promotion to Core Elder," she said, completely straight-faced.

Then her expression didn't change as she added, "Obviously, I'm going to kill him. What else did you think I was going to do?"

Yep. That was precisely what I was afraid of.

"He's a Core Elder now," I said.

She raised a brow that seemed to say, So? How is that supposed to stop me?

I smiled despite myself.

Right. Two years apart, and I had almost forgotten that Song Song was an absolutely unreasonable person.