Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?

Chapter 35: Respect Every Soul

“Huai Min, was there anything else found with this? Or maybe an instruction manual or something?”

“Nope. According to the intake records, it all came from a scavenger. Pretty old stuff too.”

Ji Qinglin shook the nearly full box of black powder in his hand, mind spinning with all kinds of possibilities: medicine for healing? A crumbled pill? Poison used in demonic cultivation? No way it’s hand-ground coffee, right?

And the glass box didn’t even have a lid—heck, it didn’t even have an opening.

Was this some sealed-up keepsake, like a sand timer or something?

“Huai Min, I’ll take this. How much?”

“30 red coins.”

The best part about dealing with robots is peace of mind. They only charge a fixed profit, never hiking the price just because you're a regular or look like a sucker.

“Alright. If you come across anything with a similar marking in the future, please contact me right away. We can talk price later.”

“No problem.”“Oh right, one more thing—do you know anything about the Yin-Yang Polar Extremes Palm and the Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Steps?”

Zhang Huai Min paused for a moment, then replied in his usual mechanical tone:

“Both are premium techniques not sold publicly. They're proprietary skills developed by major companies, restricted to small circles. You can’t even pirate them. Anyone using those techniques is either a top-tier cultivator or a Qi Refiner supplied directly by a major company.”

Ji Qinglin thought to himself—so that guy named Qian Feng wasn’t lying. Definitely not someone average. Looks like he really is a corporate executive. Tsk. If only I’d known earlier, I could’ve squeezed more out of him.

After putting away the glass box, Ji Qinglin asked out of habit, like any good middleman:

“I haven’t been to the Northern New District in a while. Huai Min, any new developments or big news in the black market lately?”

“Oh? You haven’t heard? I thought you came for this too. Word is, there's an Immortal’s corpse in the Northern New District.”

“An Immortal’s corpse? In the Northern New District? You serious?”

Ji Qinglin had definitely heard urban legends about Immortal cultivators, the war with tech civilizations, and how collecting the remains of Immortals could lead to ascension. But hey, every era has its own urban legends—nothing too surprising.

“Rumor has it someone stole an Immortal’s corpse from the West Chang District Commerce Guild President’s private stash and brought it to the Northern New District to fence it. But it’s all hearsay—no one’s seen the actual body. Still, that’s why so many people are coming to the Northern New District to try their luck.”

Ji Qinglin thought, even if it’s real, who the hell could gather a full set of something like that? And once you’re caught hiding an Immortal’s corpse, you’d become public enemy number one. You’d be ‘ascended’ by others faster than you could become an Immortal.

While they were chatting, Yu Ye walked out from the corridor, holding a report in her hand with a confused look on her face:

“Master, I don’t understand this.”

“You don’t need to. It’s for them.”

He handed the code-filled report over to Zhang Huai Min, who read it carefully and let out a mechanical-sounding hum of confusion.

“Huai Min, what’s the verdict? Boy or girl?”

“Master!”

“Your disciple has excellent physique and outstanding talent for cultivation. Also, her flexibility and soul awareness are especially strong. I’ll recommend a few cultivation software modules that better suit her.”

As he finished, the empty counter opened again, and a metal panel loaded with USB-like devices slid onto the table—each one a cultivation technique storage drive.

While selecting them, Zhang Huai Min explained:

“Cloud Ladder Leap is too slow—add Cloud-Cutting Steps. Let me see... Heart-Piercing Kick is everywhere now, go with Plum Blossom Step Through Snow instead... Oh right, no ranged technique yet, huh? The meridians aren’t strong enough for major distance attacks yet, so start with the Vein-Sealing Seal. It’s not powerful, but it’s good for surprise attacks. If all of this is mastered, her strength will be at the mid-to-upper tier of the Qi Refining Realm. Only then can she level up further—but it’ll probably take a good while.”

Yu Ye listened attentively, mentally arranging the order to train in these techniques.

Seeing this, Ji Qinglin mentally facepalmed. He had planned to copy whatever techniques Yu Ye trained in, but now saw they were all tailored for women. He asked:

“Huai Min, you got anything a bit more bold and badass?”

“I do, but they’re not really suitable for your disciple.”

“They’re not for her to practice. But she should still learn them, so she can counter male Qi Refiners’ moves.”

“Fair enough. But adding those will raise the price a bit.”

“No problem. It’s all going on the Commerce Guild tab anyway. Just count it as me helping a brother hit his sales quota.”

At Ji Qinglin’s suggestion, Zhang Huai Min picked out a few more higher-tier techniques typically used by male cultivators.

Mad Ye: Holy crap, Wind and Thunder Steps, Eight Extremes Crush, Pulse-Piercing Strike... Is he trying to kill you?

Yu Ye: Master always has his reasons.

It was Ji Qinglin’s first time buying advanced techniques—and in bulk too—so when Zhang Huai Min gave the final price, he was genuinely shocked. For a second he thought maybe even robots had gotten shady.

Just as the Master and Disciple were about to leave, Zhang Huai Min called out to Yu Ye:

“Brother Ji, per cultivation privacy regulations, I’d like to speak with your disciple alone about some personal care matters for female Qi Refiners. Would you mind giving us a moment?”

Ji Qinglin trusted Zhang Huai Min and didn’t overthink it. He headed downstairs first:

“Alright, I’ll wait downstairs.”

In the blink of an eye, only Yu Ye and Zhang Huai Min were left in the shop. Ignoring the confusion in her almond eyes, Zhang Huai Min pulled out another technique storage drive and handed it to her, confusing her even more.

“This is...?”

“This is the Soul Phantom Technique. Cultivating it allows any soul to gradually form its own phantom body. While it can’t fully detach from the host or deal much physical damage, it can affect data and signal streams. Later on, the soul body might even partially materialize. It’s a soul cultivation technique.”

Yu Ye furrowed her brows, bit her lower lip, and cautiously took two steps back:

“Master Huai Min... what do you mean by that?”

Zhang Huai Min said bluntly:

“There’s more than one ‘you’ inside your body. And we intelligent machines respect every soul.”

Yu Ye was stunned for a moment, then let out a long breath. She gave Zhang Huai Min a deep bow and said:

“She’s the one inside me who asked me to thank you.”

She picked up the Soul Phantom Technique drive and added:

“Please don’t tell my Master. I’ll pay you back for this one myself.”

“Customer privacy is safe with me—I won’t tell anyone. And you don’t have to pay. I already included it in the previous total.”

Looking at this slightly scruffy-looking robot with a mechanical voice but more empathy than most humans, Yu Ye suddenly understood what her Master meant when he brought her here. As she turned to leave, she looked back once more:

“Thank you, Master Huai Min. This time... I truly thank you.”

Zhang Huai Min, feeling like he’d simply done what needed to be done, smiled and saw her off before flopping back into his metal recliner.