Without pills to assist me, I wouldn’t be able to cultivate as fast as I was used to, but even cultivating at a ‘leisurely’ pace, my knowledge and experience would allow me to advance far faster than would be normal for someone in my position. So, I needed to slow down and put on a show for the palace observers who were no doubt watching us.

This was difficult because I didn’t know what kind of speed would be considered normal here. I also didn’t know what level they thought my affinity was at. How high of an affinity would the System have shown them? For all I knew, they could think that I had a one-star affinity for some strange reason.

“System, what level of affinity did you show them when I was tested?”

Cost 10 million credits.

My jaw dropped in shock. Why? How much would knowing this information change my actions? The answer seemed to be ‘entirely.’ Knowing what others believed my affinities were would completely change my approach to this life.

After taking a moment for self-reflection, I decided to just let things be. While I could afford such a price, it wasn’t worth the credits. Whatever would happen would happen.

The information I did have was that our boss wanted us to advance to Martial Disciple 4 by the end of the year and that there was a guy in the past whose goal was to reach Martial Disciple 3. I wanted to remain hidden in the shadows as a low-level servant, but I also needed to advance to Martial Master before my cultivation calcified. So, I needed to reach Peak Disciple by the age of 28 or 29.

I decided on rising two stages during this first year. Then, I would slow down my progression at a steady rate until I ended up as a Peak Disciple after turning 28. I could then adjust these plans to compensate for any additional information I learned in the future. If I found out that the palace was looking for servants who had reached Peak Disciple by age 25, then I could cultivate faster to accomplish that.

With this plan in place, I began cultivating at a steady, relaxed pace. During the day, I would do chores around the palace, washing everything from dishes to buildings, and in the evenings, I would do my best to fit in with the other boys. Once the lights were out, however, I cultivated.

This routine lasted for nine months. That was when I hit Martial Disciple 3.

The day after I advanced, our boss caught me on my way out of the dormitory. “Come with me.”

He didn’t wait for me to respond, he just turned around and walked away. He had spoken with a growl, and he had looked at me with fury in his eyes, but I faintly sensed that this was all an act. He was definitely annoyed, but not exactly at me. His feelings toward me seemed to be closer to simple disinterest.

He led me to a deserted area of the palace complex where there was an enormous, squat stone building with only a single entrance. It looked like a warehouse, but I didn’t see anywhere for people to deliver goods. Were all the deliveries done with storage bags?

At the entrance, the boss handed me a small black book. “Go inside. There is a wooden chair in the middle of the room. Sit down. Read this book. Do everything it tells you to do. Do not leave the building.”

“Yes, sir.” I bowed and accepted the book.

He opened the door, and I entered.

Inside was a large, open room with several doors around its perimeter. The chair that the boss had mentioned sat in the exact center of this room. I slowly walked toward it.

As I did, I started thinking as quickly as I could.

What was the point of this? What was he trying to do?

A possibility appeared in my head. I had just advanced to Disciple 3.

Was this a test of some kind? What were they testing?

They wanted to make sure that I had cultivated their slave technique. They wanted to know if I would follow instructions properly. Simply following instructions would be easy enough to do, but if this test were so simple, then what would be the point?

Right before I reached the chair, I subvocalized, “System, I want to purchase an ability that will last for only this life. I want to be able to instinctively know how someone who cultivates the techniques I am supposed to be cultivating would react at all times.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 100,000 credits. 149,833,275 credits remaining.

I sat down and read the first line of the book.

Stand up and leave the building.

I stood immediately, but I didn’t move. ‘Do not leave the building’ superseded the instruction to ‘Do everything it tells you to do.’

I returned to reading the book.

Enter the door to your right.

I walked over, opened the door, and went inside.

There were two men engaged in a fierce battle. I hadn’t sensed anything from outside the room, but inside, qi flew in every direction, and the sounds of swords clashing together were incessant.

One of the men was dressed in the maroon livery of the palace guard. The other was dressed in all black and looked like a stereotypical assassin. The only thing that stood out was a small token attached to ‘the assassin’s’ left shoulder.

This tale has been pilfered from NovelBin. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Kill him!” shouted the guard.

I didn’t move. The technique was supposed to prevent me from killing.

I started to look down at the book to read the next line.

“Subdue him!” shouted the assassin.

I immediately dashed to the man dressed as a guard. From the strength he had displayed, this man had to be a Grandmaster, so my actions were little more than throwing an egg against a brick wall, but anyone wearing the token on the assassin’s shoulder must be obeyed without question, save for when a superior has already given explicit orders otherwise.

As the knowledge of what I was supposed to do rushed into me, I was amazed by whoever had designed this cultivation technique. They had been able to embed so many explicit commands and contingencies within its mental influence. I had never even heard of a technique like that before. In my experience, they only amplified personality traits.

However, I didn’t let my incredulity delay my actions.

I ran up to the guardsman and attempted to grapple with him, but I was quickly batted away. A light swipe from the Grandmaster knocked me back several feet and sent me reeling on the floor.

I was about to stand up and charge again, but the knowledge from my new ability stopped me. I hadn’t completed my task, but in this kind of situation, I was supposed to abandon it.

I stood up and read the next line of the book.

Go back the way you came and leave the building.

I walked back into the large room that I had started in and stood in front of the chair.

The boss entered and gave me a single sharp nod. “Follow me. You have a new assignment.”

I was led through a series of passageways to a small building in the far northeastern corner of the palace complex. Its design was plain, but it was large enough for a Lord and a small retinue.

The boss led me around the back and into a side room where we found an older man reading over reports. “Steward Lee, a new servant for Prince XianHo.”

The steward didn’t show even a flicker of emotion. “Understood. Leave him.”

My former boss immediately bowed and exited the room.

Once he was gone, the steward looked up from his paperwork. “You are to learn every job given to servants, including mine. You have experience in the kitchens, so you will start there. The quicker you learn, the quicker you will be elevated through the ranks. If you do not learn, you will be returned to your previous position. Dismissed.”

Instinctively, I bowed and exited the room. Outside, a young maid was waiting to guide me to the kitchen.

My time under Prince XianHo lasted for decades. After learning all the jobs in the kitchen, I was sent to do the gardening. Then, I learned to wash the clothes of the prince and all of his servants. Then, I spent time learning the intricacies of cleaning each type of room in the palace. I didn’t even catch a glimpse of the prince until I was assigned as his valet, responsible for arranging his ensembles and helping him dress.

While I didn’t learn anything specifically about Formation Emperor Du XiongMing during this time, the gossip I heard from the palace servants was endless. I couldn’t know how much of it was true or how much of it would help me establish a closer relationship with the royal family, but I noted it all down in my journal, just in case something turned out to be important.

This lasted for over sixty years. At first, learning the various tasks the servants were responsible for was interesting. This wasn’t a topic I had studied before, so everything was new.

As the years wore on, however, I came to rely on my instinctive ability to act as if I were under the slave technique. Eventually, I stopped thinking about what I was doing and just allowed my ability to take control of my actions. In a way, this wasn’t unlike when I had been in the thrall of cultivation techniques in the past, but the difference was that this only affected my body, not my mind. Sometimes, while my body did the work of a simple servant, I was in my mental library plotting how to make use of the information that I was learning from the people around me. At other times, though, I simply took a break and allowed my mind to drift off to sleep.

I had thought that, if I reached Peak Disciple before 30, I would be given a technique to advance to Martial Master before my cultivation calcified, but that didn’t happen. I had reached Peak Disciple at 28, and nearly 50 years later, I still hadn’t been allowed to advance.

I considered committing suicide and abandoning this life as a failure, but I didn’t. While I hadn’t learned anything more than mere gossip, I still had the hope of learning something about Du XiongMing once we got closer to the time of his inevitable death. More importantly, though… Having this downtime was relaxing. I could just rely on my instincts, and I didn’t have to worry about the consequences of my actions. In the worst-case scenario, I would just end up needing to do an early reset without anything of importance being lost.

Unfortunately, however, this simple existence came to an end when I was called to attend the prince on a trip outside the palace.

For this trip, I was the prince’s lone escort. Though this seemed strange to me, it wasn’t explained, and it wasn’t my place to question him.

We did not take a carriage. Instead, we walked, the prince in the lead, out of the palace and onto the busy city streets.

The prince made several stops to place orders for various trinkets to be delivered to the palace. It all felt slightly out of place, but I had become so adept at letting my ability control my responses that I was able to perfectly mask my suspicions without the need for conscious thought.

The more we walked, the more the crowd thinned out until we were the only two people on the street. While this should have been concerning, the prince was walking casually as if nothing were amiss, and my ability wanted me to keep following him calmly, so that’s what I did.

We were walking down a wide stretch of road, buildings walling us in on both sides, when a group of men stepped out of the shadows and blocked the path in front of us. At the same time, another group blocked the way we had come. We were trapped alone on a deserted street.

The prince remained calm. So did I.

A large man with bulging muscles in a shirt with ripped-off sleeves walked through the wall of men and stood in front of us. His mouth twisted into an evil smile as he stared at us. “Du XianHo, it’s time for you to die.”

The prince responded with a laugh. “Yi HongNian, I was hoping to find you.”

Without another word, the prince rushed forward and attacked the brutish man. As he did, the man’s gang approached me with murder in their eyes.

Everything felt off. My ability wanted me to continue standing there calmly. I was not to defend myself, nor was I to assist the prince in any way. I was just supposed to stand here.

I nearly rebelled against what I was supposed to do, but then I realized that I couldn’t sense any malice from anyone. Even though the men appeared to be thugs who wanted to kill me, it all felt like a bad act.

This was a test. A test that was nearly identical to the last one that I had been given. Was this to check if I had been faking my obedience the last time? Was it to check if there had been any changes to my cultivation base that would allow me to ignore its impulses?

Deciding to let things play out, I followed my ability’s advice and didn’t move.

The prince was stabbed and fell to the ground, bleeding.

I didn’t react.

One of the thugs bashed me in the side of the head, and I fell to the ground.

I calmly stood and dusted myself off.

Shortly after I did so, the prince also stood and looked at me with piercing eyes. The gang surrounding us made no further movements.

The prince called to the man who had just stabbed him, “Raise him to Master and send him to Prince CaoHan.”