Chapter 6: The Exalted Immortal Is Too Powerful — Unable to Cultivate the Miniature Kingdom's Ordinary Techniques

An immortal this powerful still needs our cultivation methods?

"Surely you jest, Immortal Senior? You are already so mighty — why would you need to cultivate our lowly techniques?"

"This world has no cultivation methods," Su Ning said honestly. "Your way of cultivating seems rather interesting, so I wanted to see whether I could succeed at it — whether it's even possible for me to cultivate your martial arts."

"I see." The little people thought it over for a long while, then nodded.

This Immortal Realm seemed quite different from what they had imagined.

Still, if someone could be this terrifying without any cultivation method at all, they dared not look down on the beings of this world.

"Since Immortal Senior wishes to learn, of course you may."

They agreed without hesitation.

In truth, the immortals were not afraid of Su Ning wanting something from them — they were afraid of Su Ning having no interest in them at all.

No interest meant he could discard them at will. Having mutual interests at stake was far more reassuring.

The more Su Ning needed from them, the happier they were — this was called an exchange of interests.

A relationship with no exchange of interests was terrifying… It meant that the immortal could, at any moment, simply stop caring about them — or worse… erase them entirely!

"Thank you, then," Su Ning said.

He had expected the little people to make excuses, or demand some kind of condition in return.

He hadn't expected it to be this easy.

"Immortal Senior, the Cultivation Techniques we practice all have requirements regarding one's physique. For example, the Kunlun Immortal Art that I cultivate requires the Kunlun Immortal Physique; the True Dragon Art cultivated by Great Xia Sovereign requires the Undying Emperor Physique; and Abyss Devil Lord, Nameless Sword Immortal… they too require their corresponding physiques," Kunlun Immortal Maiden explained. "We don't know what physique Immortal Senior possesses, so why not give all of them to you and let Senior judge for yourself?"

They were more than willing to offer.

"That works."

The two sides were currently in a delicate balance — Su Ning protected the little people and provided them with food, while the little people greatly needed Su Ning — so they had no reason to play any tricks.

The transmission of techniques began.

Su Ning felt a surge of excitement in his heart. He hadn't expected to actually obtain immortal Cultivation Techniques.

Following the immortals' guidance, Su Ning lowered his head, and Kunlun Immortal Maiden was the first to transmit her Kunlun Immortal Art.

A tiny point of light shot into Su Ning's eyes.

In an instant, that small point of light transformed into a stream of cultivation knowledge that poured into his mind.

It was as though he had always possessed this knowledge — there was no sense of rejection whatsoever.

This stream of cultivation knowledge was so profound and wondrous that Su Ning felt as though he had discovered a new continent. The more carefully he absorbed it, the more astonishing it seemed.

The core of it taught how to meditate and absorb Spiritual Energy, how to comprehend the supreme principles of heaven and earth, how to wield the power within one's body — the unique methods of the Kunlun Immortal Art.

"So detailed. I never imagined that a single point of light could stuff an entire Cultivation Technique into my head. If the knowledge from school could have entered my brain the same way, wouldn't Tsinghua and Peking University have been a walk in the park?" Su Ning mused — though, on reflection, perhaps not. Even if you mastered every word in every textbook, you still couldn't get into those schools. That required raw talent.

The other little people followed suit.

Before long, all nine Cultivation Techniques had been transmitted into Su Ning's mind.

Each path of the Great Dao was cultivated differently, yet in summary, all paths lead to the same destination.

Su Ning gained some insight… yet it also felt hazy…

There was a feeling of having understood, yet not truly understanding.

It was like being a child when the teacher made you memorize ancient poetry — you rattled it off, word for word, and yes, you had it memorized, but you had no idea what it meant.

To truly understand, perhaps one day in middle age, after you had lived through so much, you might suddenly recall: "I wished to buy osmanthus wine and ride together — yet it is nothing like the wandering days of youth…" And you might suddenly grasp: "Hardship and bitter grief have frosted my temples; in my decline, I have even stopped my cup of muddy wine…"

For now, Su Ning had only reached the stage of having it memorized.

"Immortal Senior may try to see which Cultivation Technique suits you."

In the lower realm, any one of these techniques would have been supreme and peerless — releasing even a single one would have sent the entire world into a frenzy to seize it. Yet now Su Ning possessed all nine, and the little people had offered them up of their own accord.

Su Ning nodded.

Without wasting any time, he began attempting them one by one.

First the Kunlun Immortal Art, then the True Dragon Art…

Unfortunately, by the end, Su Ning felt absolutely nothing.

He tried all nine in succession.

Still nothing.

Not a single clue.

It was as though… these techniques had nothing to do with him.

They were just like the made-up techniques in the web novels he read online.

All nonsense.

He had spent half a day attempting to cultivate… with zero progress.

It wasn't that he didn't understand them — it was that feeling of understanding something, yet being completely unable to do it.

Su Ning felt a twinge of disappointment.

"Sigh… Useless after all, isn't it?" He shook his head.

It seemed he simply could not cultivate the immortal techniques of the miniature kingdom's world.

He had thought he might be able to use their cultivation arts to soar to the heavens like in novels and movies… Apparently, that was nothing but wishful thinking.

Without a doubt, these techniques were all genuine.

In order to forge a connection with him, in order to please him, the little immortal cultivators would never have given him fake techniques to practice.

He simply couldn't cultivate them.

Were these techniques only suited for the little people?

His hopes had been dashed, yet Su Ning felt no great turmoil within. He only thought it was a terrible shame.

So many things had happened recently, each one more disappointing than the last — his sense of anticipation for life had been worn away almost entirely.

There was little disappointment left that could stir his emotions.

"Senior, how did it go?" Kunlun Immortal Maiden asked with concern.

The little people had actually been hoping quite earnestly that Su Ning would succeed — that way, the two sides would have a shared stake in things, and their relationship could develop further.

Su Ning shook his head. "Still no good…"

Hearing this, the nine little people's expressions fell, and they all fell silent.

In truth, they had wanted Su Ning to succeed even more than he had.

"It's fine. Do what you can and leave the rest to fate — don't blame yourselves for not being able to help me," Su Ning said with an easy-going wave of his hand.

Seeing how carefree he was, the little people were momentarily dazed.

Su Ning really was… a good person.

If it had been some other tyrant who found no benefit for himself, he would surely have flown into a rage and taken his fury out on them, wouldn't he?

"All right, let's leave it at that. You all continue your cultivation — I'll go take care of some things," Su Ning said, already having given up.

This was just fate.

"Please wait, Senior… Perhaps there is one more technique worth trying…" Kunlun Immortal Maiden hesitated for a long moment.

A multitude of emotions crossed her exquisitely beautiful face.

"Kunlun Immortal Maiden… that technique still has…" Nameless Sword Immortal started to speak, then stopped himself.

It still had flaws!

"We can still try it — perhaps the Exalted Immortal's physique is simply too exceptional, with requirements too high…" Kunlun Immortal Maiden discussed it with the others.

After deliberating for a good while.

The other little people nodded as well.

"Exalted Immortal, we have a more advanced technique — would you be willing to try it?" Kunlun Immortal Maiden said to Su Ning.

"However…" Kunlun Immortal Maiden paused. "I won't hide it from you, Exalted Immortal — no one has ever cultivated that technique before. We don't know what will happen if someone does, and the guidance we can offer may be very limited… because we ourselves know very little about it…"

Su Ning, who had already been on the verge of giving up, felt a spark of interest ignite at those words.

"And what technique is this???"

Proofreader & Editor: Fat Goose 🪶