One Wish to Own the World



'There are so many Earth-grade techniques, and some of them are even of the higher grade! In the branch sect, the only Earth-grade technique I got was the one to control bloodlust, and it didn't even belong to the sect.'

Ken felt excited about seeing all those techniques. He saw that there was even one lower Heaven-grade technique, but he didn't have the authority to see it.

'It doesn't matter. I've created a whole set of higher Earth techniques with only Basic and Sky techniques, with all those Earth-grade techniques, I should be able to upgrade my current techniques to the Heaven grade.'

He used to take 13-17 seconds to read one page when he was still a normal mortal, but now, his brain and soul improved, and he could do it in half the time. He had around 10 hours until nightfall to stay and read the techniques, so he planned to use them all.

He quickly collected all the earth techniques he found in the treasury. Overall, there were 52 of them.

Most of them were relatively useless to him since they were meant for techniques that didn't have much in common with his, but he still read them because they could inspire him on new ways to utilize his meridians.

Each Earth-grade technique had around 40-50 pages, and he read them all in under 5 hours. He still had a few hours left to spend in the treasury before he had to go outside.

'In this past year, I've killed around 500 people every day on average by reliving the moments I've killed real people. I could kill more, but I'd probably lose my sanity to bloodlust if I did. After killing over 150,000 people, my bloodlust integrated into my soul and constitution.'

Although he could still grow his bloodlust further by killing more people, it was enough for his stage. He achieved what he was aiming for; now that the bloodlust was part of him, he planned to create a set of techniques to utilize it instead of only radiating it.

To Ken's dismay, there were only three bloodlust techniques in the whole treasury, and he already knew the one at the Earth grade; it was the same one that his mother taught him. He assumed that his father taught her the technique before.

'No matter, I still need to visit the sect's treasury. Surely there are more techniques there than in a single family, no matter how rich and large it is. For now, let's use the spare time to read some darkness techniques.'

Techniques that integrated darkness into Qi were the specialty of the Sue family, which was the reason that at last third of the Earth-grade techniques belonged to that section. There were still many Sky-rank techniques and Basic-grade techniques.

Ken chose those that manipulated the mind, feelings, and distorted perception since those were the type of skills he planned to create for his bloodlust techniques.

When the guards came in to tell him to go out, he had already read dozens of books.

"What are the three techniques you chose?"

"There were so many that I couldn't pick 3, I didn't take anything."

The guards gave him a weird gaze but nodded and let him leave the treasury.

"I'm afraid that it's your problem. The next time you can enter the treasury is next month."

"Sure."

Ken left the main mansion and returned to his room. He stayed there for three days and three nights, refusing to meet all visitors. He only took breaks for eating and sleeping, and he used the rest of his time to integrate all the knowledge he just learned in his mind.

'Finally, I can see the path to Heaven-grade techniques!'

After integrating all this knowledge, he could easily tweak and improve his existing techniques. He went outside and stood in an open space and imagined an enemy standing in front of him.

'One Step.'

He vanished from his spot and appeared 15 meters forward in a straight line.

'My mastery of the skill is reduced to the Basic level after altering it, but the effect didn't diminish. By upgrading the skill, I basically gained a level of mastery.'

Ken was satisfied with the results. He still had to slightly crouch now because of his lower mastery level, but he could improve that after practicing.

As for the distance, the original One Step sent him only 10 meters forward at the Basic mastery level and 15 meters forward at the Advanced mastery level.

'The effects of Heaven-grade skills are amazing. Unfortunately, I can't tell the exact grade of my techniques since I didn't read any Heaven techniques for reference.'

Despite not seeing Heaven-grade skills, the skills he saw at the treasury used different combinations and sequences of meridians, so he could easily learn and deduct the right way to utilize the meridians he couldn't add to his techniques before.

He kept practicing his other skills and discovered that his mastery of all of them dropped from the Advanced level to the Basic level, but the main effect didn't diminish.

"Ken, are you finally out of seclusion?"

He heard a voice coming closer and saw Rose walking toward him. Although she was friendly, he knew that it was only because her subgroup believed he had no choice but to join them.

"I am, what's up?"

"The alchemy tournament is in 5 days from now. Would you like to participate in it for our faction?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm too amateur and barely received any training in alchemy. I'm afraid to lose face for our faction, so I will not participate."

Ken already thought it through. He was confident in winning if he participated, but he would only get 10% of the revenue. However, he was sure that the faction wouldn't let him take it so easily and would use various reasons to cut his share of the profits.

As for the 10% that would be earned in the form of guards, it was even worse. Even if the subgroup of his first uncle was the one to pick the guards, the guards would never be loyal to him.

Having such guards in his house meant having spies in his house to observe his every move, not to mention the danger involved if his subgroup chose to betray him for one reason or another.

As for the free pass on using the herbs, it was a field of herbs, which meant that there was only one type of herb being cultivated there. It would have very limited usage and he would have to find the other herbs for every concoction himself anyway.

Overall, the benefits were overweighed by the losses. If he participated, he would reveal some of his talents and garner hatred from the faction that normally won the alchemy tournament.

He already faced danger from his faction, so he preferred not to make enemies from additional factions.

"Really? I guess you do have a point, the juniors from the other faction received guidance from a young age in alchemy."

Rose said with disappointment but didn't pursue the matter.

"I will be going now. The tournament of combat skills will take place one week from now, so make sure to be here."

Ken didn't have a reason to avoid this one since everyone already knew that he was at the Soul Strengthening Stage.

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The next day, Ken left for the sect to find out more about it. Although he had access to the treasury, it cost 1,000 merit points to enter per hour. Since he planned to stay there for many more hours than that, he needed around 20,000 merit points.

The main problem was that he had no merit points at all, and since he was unranked, he didn't get any monthly.

To earn merit points, he had to complete missions or sell resources such as beasts' carcasses, ores, or herbs. Even Qi stones could be sold, and each medium Qi stone granted one merit point, although the other way costs 2 merit points per medium stone.

'It should be okay. In every novel, the easiest way to make money is to be an alchemist.'

He planned to take a mission outside the sect to get the chance to hone his mastery over his newly altered skills, but he had to be in the sect for the fighting tournament soon.

'Let's find revenue sources first.'

He went to the Mission Hall of the sect and looked around for missions that fitted his needs.

'This one seems perfect, I will take it now to prevent others from taking it.'

He chose a mission to exterminate a group of evil cultivators who killed villagers near the sect.

The recommendation was to be a group of disciples in the Soul Strengthening Stage, so it shouldn't be a problem for him who could fight the average Core Formation Stage cultivator.

The completion time limit was one month, and he still had time to complete it after the tournament was over.

Although the villagers might be happier if he left the mission for someone who could complete it right away, it wasn't his problem.

"Hello, I would like to take this mission."

He placed the mission token on the counter in front of the girl in charge.

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A/N: A few changes:

1. bloodlust will be what cultivators develop after killing many people while killing intent will be what people sense when someone wants to kill them.

2. The term for inanimate things like techniques and ores will be 'grade' instead of 'rank'.

3. Intermediate Qi stones are now medium Qi stones.