Kai waited until well after dark before making his move.
Most outer disciples were asleep, completely exhausted from the day's training. A few still sat in meditation or practiced quietly. Kai slipped out of his room, carrying nothing but his determination.
The sect at night was different. It was quieter and darker, with only a few lanterns lighting the main paths. Guards walked their patrols, but they focused on the important areas. The inner disciple quarters, the treasure pavilions, the elder residences. The eastern edge, where the old caves were, was mostly ignored.
Kai moved carefully, using the shadows for cover more by instinct than from training. His Shadow Sight showed him the patrol patterns, safe routes, and empty spaces. In less than twenty minutes, he reached the cave entrances.
Up close in the darkness, they looked less like meditation spots and more like mouths ready to swallow him whole.
[SHADOW ENERGY DENSITY INCREASED]
[CURRENT LOCATION OPTIMAL FOR CULTIVATION]
[WARNING: Higher-level entities may be attracted to cultivation activities]
[RECOMMEND: Choose defensible cave position]
Kai chose the middle cave. It was not the largest or the smallest. Inside, the darkness was absolute until his Shadow Sight adjusted. The cave went back about thirty feet before opening into a small chamber. It was perfect for what he needed.
He settled into a meditation position on the cold stone floor, the chill seeping through his robes. Now came the real test.
"System, how do I cultivate shadow energy?"
[SHADOW CULTIVATION METHOD ACTIVATED]
[DEATH CULTIVATION DIFFERS FROM STANDARD QI GATHERING]
[STANDARD METHOD: Absorb environmental qi, refine through meridians, store in dantian]
[SHADOW METHOD: Draw death energy from surroundings, merge with shadow affinity, expand spiritual presence]
[BEGINNING TUTORIAL]
[STEP ONE: Clear your mind of life-affirming thoughts]
[STEP TWO: Focus on death, endings, shadows, the spaces between]
[STEP THREE: Breathe in darkness, exhale light]
Kai closed his eyes and tried to follow the instructions. Clear his mind. Focus on death.
He thought about his own death. Marcus's betrayal, the knife in his heart, the cold concrete floor. The absolute certainty that everything was ending. No fear, just... acceptance.
Something shifted inside him.
[SHADOW RESONANCE DETECTED]
[CONTINUE]
He thought about endings. The death of his business when Marcus stole it. The death of trust. The small deaths that came with every failure and every loss. And before that, his parents' deaths when he was young, leaving him completely alone. The death of innocence. The death of idealism.
The cave's darkness seemed to respond, pressing closer. It did not feel threatening, but... interested.
[SHADOW ENERGY RESPONDING]
[DEATH AFFINITY AWAKENING]
[CONTINUE]
Kai breathed in, and the darkness flowed with his breath. It was not air, but something else. Shadow given substance. Death given form. It tasted cold and empty and, in a strange way, comforting.
He exhaled, and something inside him, something bright and warm and alive, went out with his breath. It was not his life force, but maybe... hope. Or naivety. The parts of him that still believed the world was fair or kind.
[SHADOW CULTIVATION: First Cycle Complete]
[PROGRESS: 1%]
[CONTINUE]
Hours passed without him noticing.
Kai fell into a steady rhythm. Breathing in shadow, breathing out light. With each cycle, he felt the darkness inside him grow. It was not evil, but cold. Calculating. Free from the emotional limits that often weakened decision-making.
This was what death cultivation truly meant. It was not about becoming a monster. It was about becoming something beyond human concerns like morality and mercy. Efficient. Strategic. Entirely focused on survival.
Images flashed through his mind as he cultivated. People he had hurt in his previous life, business rivals he had crushed, employees he had fired. He had always justified it. It was just business, nothing personal, simply the nature of competition. But now, cultivating death energy, he felt those justifications burn away like morning fog.
He had hurt people because it benefited him. It was as simple as that. And he would do it again, because that was the nature of power.
The only real difference now was that he was being honest with himself about it.
[SHADOW CULTIVATION: First Stage Progress: 15%]
[ESTIMATED TIME TO QI GATHERING FIRST STAGE: 12 days at current rate]
[NOTE: Progress accelerated by death energy absorption]
[RECOMMENDATION: Seek sources of ambient death energy]
Kai's eyes snapped open. He could see in the darkness now, truly see. The cave walls showed traces of old death. The bones of small animals, the spiritual leftovers of disciples who had died here long ago, the slow death of the mountain itself as it wore away grain by grain.
All of it was fuel for his cultivation.
He stood up. His body no longer ached. The shadows in the cave seemed to recognize him now, shifting slightly when he moved.
[ABILITY UPGRADED]
[SHADOW SIGHT → DEATH VISION]
[NEW CAPABILITY: See traces of death in all things]
[NEW CAPABILITY: Identify sources of death energy]
Outside the cave, dawn was approaching. Kai had cultivated through the entire night, but he did not feel tired. The shadow energy sustained him in a different way than normal qi would.
As he walked back to the dormitories, his new Death Vision showed him things he had never noticed before. A tree that would die within weeks. A section of wall where the stone was crumbling. A servant whose body was full of disease.
And in the outer disciple quarters, a faint red glow around one particular room. Someone was dying right now.
[DEATH SENSE ALERT]
[IMMINENT DEATH DETECTED: 100 meters, northwest]
[TIME REMAINING: Less than 1 hour]
[OPPORTUNITY: Death energy absorption possible]
Kai followed the signal to a small building used for disciples who were sick or injured. Inside, an elderly outer disciple lay on a simple cot, his breathing shallow and uneven. A young servant girl sat nearby, crying softly.
Kai's Death Vision showed him the truth. The old man's spiritual energy was failing, his life force fading like a candle flame about to go out. He would be dead within the hour, maybe even sooner.
[OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFIED]
[NATURAL DEATH OCCURRING]
[RECOMMENDATION: Absorb released death energy to accelerate cultivation]
[NOTE: This requires no action on your part. Simply be present when death occurs.]
So this was what the system meant. He did not have to kill anyone. Death happened naturally all the time. He just needed to be there to collect the energy that was released when it happened.
It felt cold and mercenary, but was that not just being efficient? The man was dying anyway. His death energy would vanish uselessly into the air, or Kai could use it to grow stronger. The man would not care either way.
Kai found a shadowy corner and sat down, pretending to meditate while his Death Vision watched the old man's life slowly drain away.
The servant girl never noticed he was there.
Twenty minutes later, the old man's breathing stopped.
[NATURAL DEATH DETECTED]
[ABSORBING RELEASED DEATH ENERGY]
The moment of death released something. A pulse of dark energy that only Kai's Death Vision could see. It flowed toward him like water finding its level, cold and pure and powerful.
[DEATH ENERGY ABSORBED: 50 points]
[SHADOW CULTIVATION PROGRESS: 15% → 23%]
[CULTIVATION ACCELERATED]
Kai felt the energy settle into his core, feeding his shadow cultivation. It was intoxicating. The sheer efficiency of it. Hours of meditation were matched in one single moment of death.
The servant girl began to cry harder, calling for help. Other servants arrived, followed by a sect healer who confirmed what was already obvious. The old man was gone.
No one paid any attention to the young outer disciple meditating in the corner.
As Kai left, he felt no guilt. Just a cold satisfaction at a successful cultivation session. The old man had been dying of natural causes. Kai had simply been efficient about using the energy that was released.
This was death cultivation. This was his path to power.
[MORNING STATUS UPDATE]
[HP: 100/100 - Fully restored]
[Shadow Energy: 150/150 - Capacity increased]
[Shadow Cultivation: 23% to Qi Gathering First Stage]
[Death Points: 50]
[Time Until Monthly Evaluation: 26 days]
Back in his room with just enough time to change his robes before morning training, Kai reviewed his progress. One night of cultivation had advanced him more than most disciples achieved in weeks.
At this rate, he would reach the Qi Gathering First Stage long before the monthly evaluation.
But the real revelation was simpler. Death was everywhere. People died naturally all the time. He did not need to become a murderer to advance. He just needed to be present when death occurred and harvest what would otherwise be wasted.
Of course, the system had also mentioned that killing enemies would feed his power even more efficiently. But that could wait. For now, natural deaths would be enough.
The bell rang for morning training.
Kai headed out to face another day, but everything had changed. He was no longer the weakest outer disciple struggling to survive.
He was a death cultivator, and in a world where people fought and died constantly, his power would only grow.