An Omniscient Cultivator (LitRPG cultivation)

I treated the man like air as my attention turned to the sky. Breathtaking! A bright purple star shone above my head, and as its being center, a flattened spherical line of stars stretched as far as I could see.

'Star network…' Another memory lost its mystery as I recalled every detail of this so-called 'Star network.'

And I learned where the previous owner of my current body was fleeing—to the Star Temple, a place where every fifteen-year-old must go to augment themselves with a star from the 'Star network.'

Only then could one open the Star universe in their body and begin cultivating.

'Interesting… but isn't the way she chose to go there a little strange?'

I glanced at the dead bodies in the carriage. From the conversations between these two, this carriage was a corpse room. My gaze shifted forward, taking me aback at the sight of chained children. My heart hardened.

Did she hide in the corpse room of a child trafficking gang? Smart of her, give a Clap.

"I'm speaking to you…" A hand pinched my shoulder, and I swear I heard the sound of my bones cracking.

I lowered myself in a futile attempt to shake off the hand pinning me. He pinched with such force that it strained my deltoid muscle and may have caused a minor subluxation of the glenohumeral joint if I hadn't twisted my shoulder a little.

"Stop…" I heard the other man speak, the leaves rustling as a figure clad in full armor approached. Even his eyes were hidden under the armor; if not for his limbs moving in a human way, I would've mistaken him for a robot.

"What did you just do?" His voice held urgency. I knew this was my chance. I knew what I had done somehow intrigued him.

"I did nothing. It's him…" I pointed at the hand on my shoulder. "Ask him…"

Urge to unravel unknown was a curse, those who control this curse could became a manipulator. Here I was the manipulator. 

The armored man was silent for a few seconds.

"Bratel…" Just a single sentence from him freed my shoulder. I placed my hand there, gently twisting the dislocated bone back into place.

The armored man studied my actions for a few moments before speaking, "Are you a medic?"

"No, I'm a doctor. I solve bugs in the human body."

"Bugs…?" I saw both men take a step back from me. I innocently stared at them, knitting my brows.

"A-are you from the Arthropod Palace?"

"You could say so…" I lied.

My current situation was beyond my expertise. I had no idea what these guys would do to me. If it was just child trafficking, I could manage.

But here magic was involved, that was out of my league. There were no memories of Arthropod in my head, so I assumed the previous owner of my body had no knowledge of it.

"But why would an Arthro be in the Primal Master's area?" I glared at Bratel, irritated.

Smart guy, I liked to operate such guys. The armored man fell into deep thought again, while Bratel and I exchanged hostile glares like daggers. I missed my scalpel; otherwise, I'd have operated on this annoying husk.

"True… why would an Arthro be under the Primal Star?" The armor's mouth opened and closed. "…Are you perhaps a spy under the Arthropod Star?"

His question confused me more than it conflicted me. Luckily, the memories from my brain came in handy. I was in a region under the Primal Star. I glanced up at the purple star. It was under the direct jurisdiction of a cultivator called the Primal Master.

Cultivators, after reaching a certain level, could take their stars out of their core. Doing so would make them immortal under the star. Additionally, the region under the star would gain a domain effect, doubling the strength of the cultivator.

Fantastic!

Only one cultivator could place their star in any given region. The size of that region depended on the cultivator's strength.

If more than one cultivator wanted to place their star in the same area, they had to prove their worth through the 'Star Line' by challenging each other.

In most cases, cultivators who reached the stage where they could take their stars out didn't want to fight each other unnecessarily. Such battles rarely had winners, and the chances of injury were high.

So unless there was a blood feud that couldn't be resolved through negotiation, they never fought for territory.

The world had many unoccupied areas to choose from, so why fight?

Once a cultivator placed their star and marked their territory, they became a Domain Master, and their star became a Domain Star. The inhabitants of the region could then choose to become the cultivator's minions.

Being a minion had both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage was that their cultivation speed would double, and the strength of their spells would increase under the regional star, just like the Domain Master.

I considered the advantages and disadvantages and instantly discarded the idea of becoming a minion.

Being a minion meant surrendering your augmented star to the Domain Master, which would erase the star's unique 'aspects' and force the imprint of the regional star onto them.

Simply put, a cultivator would lose their uniqueness and become a slave to the Domain Master. The memories didn't clearly explain the significance of 'uniqueness,' but I had a hunch that it was not trivial.

The augmented stars of minions would be forced out of their bodies and surround the Domain Star, amplifying its strength.

So, a minion was basically fertilizer. I stifled my urge to snicker. The walking armor and Bratel stared at me, and I glared back fiercely.

"Boss, I doubt this little prickly brat is a spy…" Bratel really deserved a surgery. "I think she wants a free ride, that's it."

Perhaps he was a bit smarter. Its just I hated his name.

Again, who would name their son Braaaatel?

"You… aren't an Arthro or a Primal…" The armored man circled around me.

"We started from Endrax…there was no outsiders allowed, unless you want to take that flying ship.."

Another memory unlocked. Endrax was an unoccupied city on the border between the Primal and Arthropod regions.

I was supposed to take a flying ship from the city to the Primal capital, but something made me miss that ride.

What was it? I frowned, copying the armored man's movements. Some of my memories seemed blocked, and I had a gut feeling that what they hid was dangerous

"Can you two just stop?" Bratel muttered through his teeth.

"How did you get into our carriage without us noticing?" The armored man asked. "And why did you hide in an envoy escorting death row criminals?"

Surprised, I turned to look at the children. No… something was amiss. They appeared to be children, sure. But there was something odd about their expressions.

Their eye sockets were hollow, and fire burned where their eyeballs should have been. Medically impossible!

Avoiding further questions from these two men, I walked towards the chained… I suppose I could call them children, at least for now.

They stood motionless, their gazes fixated on a fire at the end of their chains. A name came to mind, but I pushed it away as my hand moved toward the chest of the first boy.

A metallic hand grabbed my arm, and the armor on his face retracted, revealing a half-shriveled face. He had blonde hair and dark eyes, and I saw a dangerous glint in them.

"Hollows can't be touched. They're contagious…"

I pulled my hand back, rubbing the red scar as I took a step back. Hollows… those who had lost their augmented stars, either from overexerting themselves in cultivation or losing control during alignment.

Perfect… I understood nothing, except that touching a Hollow was bad. I had to control my curiosity, or I wouldn't know when I might die. Still, it felt medically wrong for a human body to not rot after death.

Yes, these Hollows had no breath or heartbeat. In modern medical terms, they were dead bodies, yet strangely, they weren't rotting. Wait…

My gaze shifted to the corpse carriage. The bodies inside were beginning to decompose. I was sure that within a day or two, no one would be able to approach them without gagging.

Were they also Hollows? That couldn't be possible, right? If so, I would have died. Still, something didn't feel right. I tried to recall the procedure for dealing a hollow, but I had no memory of needing an envoy to escort Hollows.

However, I did remember how to manage hollow's. Either an exorcist with the Necrotic element of Dark based category or someone with Radiance element of energy based category, could purify them.

According to the previous owner's memories, every city had a cultivator capable of doing either, hired by one of the temples.

So, why was there an envoy escort?

The wrongness I felt intensified, and my hairs stood on end when a cold breath washed over me.

Years of battle experience, despite lacking magic, prompted my brain to signal me to duck. My body narrowly evaded a shining metal.

Boom!

A shining sharp iron punctured a tree, slicing it in two. My eyes twinkled as my body drained every ounce of energy for that ducking, and my vision darkened, pushing me into unconsciousness.

'Shit, this body is a mess.'

When I opened my eyes again, I was chained… standing behind the rows of Hollows… no, rows of captured teenagers like me.

I wasn't sure if my eye sockets had become like theirs, but I found that, unlike them, I could move my eyelids.

My vision was crystal clear, and my heartbeats and breathing were normal. So, I hadn't become like them. I breathed a sigh of relief. My mood soured as I realized I was clueless about what was going on.

We were moving at a moderate pace, and I decided to continue without alerting the walking armor and Bratel.

"Boss, we're entering Shades…" Bratel said, his tone serious, tinged with fear.

I didn't laugh, though, because I felt that same fear creeping through me. It wasn't from me. I swear.

It's from the previous rented owner this body. The previous owner seemed to have an ingrained fear of this place.

A memory opened up for me.

Shades, a place where the Star Line hid behind clouds. Abominations capable of destroying a Domain Master lurked deep within. No cultivators dared to explore this area.

In the Shades, the Star Line lost its control, causing augmented stars to weaken by half. Going deeper would strip cultivators of their power, suppressing their stars to the maximum.

For normal cultivators, this was the most terrifying place they could be. But for me… Hehe.

Time to escape…