As the name suggests, a Parent/Patriarch acts as a guide in the cultivation world.
They pass down the knowledge of cultivation to their "children," including Cyber Aura seeds, cultivation techniques, and personal insights.
At the same time, each child becomes a valuable asset to their Parent, and the Parent is responsible for protecting their children.
In return, the children offer their Cyber Aura to the Parent, strengthening them.
In essence, it was simply another version of raising children to support oneself in old age.
Of course, not every cultivator followed such a model.
Some treated others purely as slaves.
They would casually recruit people and secretly spread cultivation techniques to them, binding them through contracts hidden inside the Golden Book Jade Page.
The victims believed they had encountered a miraculous opportunity.
They cultivated with enthusiasm, unaware that ninety percent of their Cyber Aura was automatically being siphoned away.
At first, this method appeared profitable.
But it did not take long before people realized the income was far from proportional to the cost.
Other Cyber Cultivators had already begun hunting these ignorant "wild children."
Many of them had barely entered the cultivation world before dying suddenly.
Some did not even survive long enough to cultivate for a few days.
The cost of purchasing the Golden Book Jade Page could not even be recovered.
The reason was simple.
As the number of cultivators continued to grow, everyone competed fiercely for Cyber Aura.
It became increasingly scarce.
In the past, a cultivator could condense one gold spirit coin per day.
Now it required three days to produce the same amount.
The production of Cyber Aura could barely keep up with the number of Cyber Cultivators consuming it.
For many cultivators, the road of cultivation had become far more difficult.
However, this was exactly what Xiao wanted.
Not only did he avoid increasing the production of Cyber Aura—
He actually cut off its generation entirely, fixing the total amount of Cyber Aura at a constant value.
Under such conditions, intense competition was inevitable.
And where there is conflict, heroes and geniuses emerge.
Xiao needed these conflicts.
Only through constant struggle could the flaws within the Soul Dantian Method be revealed.
Everything unfolded exactly as he had predicted.
As Cyber Aura became increasingly scarce, some cultivators with darker intentions began to appear.
They formed gangs and hunted lone cultivators, stealing their Cyber Aura to strengthen themselves.
As always, quantitative change eventually produced qualitative change.
Many Cyber Cultivators were highly educated individuals.
Scholars.
Researchers.
Scientists.
Once they realized that cultivation was essentially a scientific process, their curiosity grew even stronger.
Further study revealed something astonishing.
The essence of magic was nothing more than the technical application of disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
Once they understood this truth, these brilliant individuals began incorporating their academic knowledge into spell design.
They improved existing spells.
They created new ones.
For them, developing magic was no more difficult than solving a mathematical puzzle.
Soon, the basic spell known as The Art of Alchemy underwent a remarkable transformation.
An anonymous biology professor modified it.
Under his hands, the spell evolved into something entirely new.
A technique capable of extracting energy directly from animal flesh and blood.
He named it:
The Blood Spirit Technique.
Using this spell, flesh and blood could be condensed into blood-colored spirit coins, known as Blood Spirit Coins.
These coins contained usable Cyber Aura.
They also provided a convenient way to process the enormous amounts of animal waste produced by slaughterhouses.
Compared to ordinary cultivation, they could yield even more Cyber Aura.
The professor's original intention had been noble.
He wanted to reduce environmental pollution while providing low-level cultivators with an alternative source of energy.
But once the technique spread—
Everything changed.
Some cultivators began using the Blood Spirit Technique on humans.
By refining a person's entire body, they could condense a pile of Blood Spirit Coins containing the victim's cultivation.
Those coins were then sold on the market.
Unlike ordinary spirit coins, each Blood Spirit Coin represented the complete flesh-and-blood essence of a living being.
Their price was determined entirely by negotiation between buyer and seller.
However, the amount of Cyber Aura they contained depended entirely on the source.
Often, Blood Spirit Coins were not produced from cultivators at all.
More commonly, they came from animal organs, slaughterhouse waste, or household refuse.
The energy inside them was extremely small.
Even the person who created them could not determine how much Cyber Aura a particular coin contained.
Because of this uncertainty, Blood Spirit Coins became something like blind boxes.
They were filled with risk and possibility.
Someone might strike it rich overnight.
Or they might purchase a pile of coins containing nothing but the essence of slaughterhouse waste.
Some people lost everything.
As the Blood Spirit Technique spread further, certain cultivators took things even further.
They developed a new method based on it.
They called it the Great Blood Fiend Art.
Through this technique, practitioners could devour the flesh and blood of others to rapidly increase their cultivation and heal injuries.
These so-called evil cultivators pursued power through brutality.
Their methods quickly brought chaos to the cultivation world.
In response, the cultivators who followed the righteous path began organizing themselves.
They formed families and sect-like groups, centered around powerful Parents.
These groups would revere a strong and respected cultivator as their Patriarch, relying on their strength to protect the entire organization.
This system strengthened internal loyalty.
But it also had an unexpected consequence.
The Continental Hotel gradually lost control over the cultivation world.
…
…
Meanwhile, the managers of the Continental Hotel quietly gathered together.
As if by unspoken agreement, they brought their accumulated spirit coins and headed deep into the desert.
Soon they arrived at an oasis.
There, they found Caine, along with Mia and several servants, quietly cultivating.
The oasis itself had been created by Caine.
Originally, he had intended to attract scattered Cyber Aura in this sparsely populated desert using special formations.
Unexpectedly, the concentration of Cyber Aura had gradually transformed the surrounding environment.
The barren desert had turned into a lush oasis.
"What rich Cyber Aura…"
The managers immediately felt the dense energy the moment they stepped inside.
If they cultivated here, they could probably condense one silver spirit coin per day.
Unfortunately for them, the problem they faced was the opposite.
They already possessed too much Cyber Aura.
So much that it was beginning to damage their bodies.
"I understand why you've come," Caine said calmly.
"The prices remain the same."
He lifted a golden abacus and began calculating.
"Ten gold spirit coins per acupoint."
"One hundred gold spirit coins per meridian."
"The Soul Dantian Method for Foundation Establishment: five thousand gold spirit coins."
"The method for forging a Natal Artifact: two thousand gold spirit coins."
"The technique for expanding the Soul Core: three thousand gold spirit coins."
His fingers flicked rapidly across the abacus.
"Eight thousand two hundred."
"Plus, five thousand six hundred."
"Plus, five thousand."
"Plus, two thousand."
"Plus, three thousand."
"Total: twenty-three thousand two hundred gold spirit coins."
Caine looked up with a faint smile.
"So…"
"Are you buying the full rights…"
"Or just purchasing it for personal use?"
"If it's only for personal use, there's a fifty-fold discount."
"You'll only need one thousand one hundred sixty gold spirit coins."