Chapter 31

Meanwhile

 

-POV MC-

While my new bitches are busy selling some stuff and slaves on my behalf, it might be a good idea to get back to cultivating or something. Rather than just twiddling my thumbs up my butt. It never helped when I was a human, and I doubt it would be any better without any thumbs to begin with.

First, I need another tree-home. No that's wrong, with Uncle around, no one would mess with me. I want another tree-home.

..After the first round of cultivation, Uncle Khan comes to ask me.

Uncle) 'Are you sure that weird order you gave the wolf girls was a good thing? It seems like something to just torture them.'

(*Any time you have bad thoughts about me, my family, my friends, my orders, or what I did to you, you will relive all the pain you have experienced in your life, until you replace those bad thoughts with good ones.*)

Zo Ro) . . 'I'm sure. First off, they absolutely deserve such torture for all they've done. Second, they need to become loyal, but I didn't want to use another Magic Seal to do that. Even when I eventually rescind that order, they'll have developed an unbreakable habit.'

U) 'And what was it you did with them all?'

Z) 'What with who?'

U) 'When you made all those slaves vomit out such foul stuff.'

Z) 'I was removing their impurities. Why, do you want a go?'

U) 'Not if I have to TASTE such a horrendous thing.'

Z) 'Don't worry. I can coat your tongue, so you won't notice at all. But only when it's one-at-a-time.'

U) . . 'So I face away from you, lie down and-'

Z) 'That was only so there was a common center. One bubble to clean them all. If it's just you, I can work from any side I can see your face. As long as we do it that way, I can protect your tongue. But you'll need your legs and tail straight like theirs were. Pointed away from your head.'

. .

Z) 'Okay, let's do that again once each day until hardly anything comes out. Then once a month is plenty.'

At this point, I mentally pace-palm. I should have given the wolves some more armor, to better preserve themselves, and therefore serve me better. They're already half a day away, so it'll have to wait until they're back. But I can prepare them beforehand.

So I check how much space is in my storage ring, about a cubic meter. I figure I could fit up to 15-20 of them, though without having them at paw, it's hard to estimate accurately. 9 would certainly fit, without wasting any blood, while leaving extras for later.

{SUMMON 9 BULLET-PROOF VESTS}

*BAMPF!*

Examining them, I'm disappointed that there's no carbon-fiber in them. It's a Kevlar framework with pouches to hold the matrixed ceramic plates. Welp, better than just their fur. So I stow them for later distribution.

. . .

Over the next week I refilled my cultivation to the tipping point of breaking through the bottleneck into Tier 2. And on the sixth day, Uncle's purge reduced to about 15% the first one. But it was the fourth day that concerns me.

Purple Robe 1) "Are there still no signs?"

PR2) "No bandits, just some beasts."

PR3) "Over here! The tracks of about 40 suddenly appear, heading out from the forest. Four of them are beastkins, perhaps cat or dog or the like."

PR4) "There weren't any beastkins in the group we're tracking. This area's got nothing. Let's go to the next one."

And they left, bounding through the trees like in the Nar*to anime. Welp, it's faster than running, for those who can't fly.

They must've been part of the forces looking for the bandits I captured. They seem to be using a systematic grid type of searching pattern. If these guys find out who gave back the flying sword, they might be back for us. No matter how pleasant such an encounter might be, I'd rather not be found out just yet. Nothing travels faster than light, except gossip.

So the first thing to do is move our camp a few miles over, but close enough to see when they return.

. . .

After reaching the edge of the bottleneck, I pushed against it 8 more times. Twice per day, for my usual 9 total. Only then did I breakthrough.

*rumble* *Rumble* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE!*

*KRAK!!!*

And Uncle did as well, on the same day even. Now he's Tier 3, Level 6.

I'm not sure how much longer it'll be before my bitches come back with my money for whoring the rest out to the highest bidder, so I try something I think won't take long.

When I focused my Qi gathering on a hundred-plus kilogram big rusty anvil, it took five days to a week to evolve it into Light Steel. But what if I try the same thing on just a little tael (50gram) of purple gold?

. . .

This time the transformation took a total of 3 days. Considering the difference on a pound-to-pound basis, that means it took over a thousand times as much Qi. I hope it was worth it.

Z) 'Uncle Khan, you know what I did to the anvil?'

U) 'Yes! And I can't wait for the next one!'

Z) 'Well, I tried the same thing on a tael of purple gold and . . '

U) 'It failed? That's too bad.'

Z) 'No, it worked. I just don't know what this is now.'

. . He plunges his head toward the little ingot I proferred. Close enough that I can taste his whiskers.

U) 'I don't think it has a name.'

Z) 'So now I have to pick one. That sucks.'

U) (NOM!) . . 'DELICIOUS!!'

Z) . . 'Hummm, since it glowed with its own light, rather than just reflecting whatever light hit it, How about naming it something like 'Shining Purple Gold'. . Now that I think about it, it probably strengthens your Metallic Physique. Or raises your affinity, maybe both. And since it took so much Qi to refine it should be at least 2 Grades above the Light Steel.'

U) 'MORE! MORE!'

Z) 'I CAN'T! At least not quickly. We only have 3 more taels of purple gold. And it took 3 days to evolve the one. Besides, you should probably finish eating your Light Steel first. Anyway, lets check your affinities again, to see if it improved.'

Metal 794

Earth 59                        Water 64

 

Fire 47               Wood 37

U) 'Metal is up by 18, everything else is unchanged.

Z) 'That's awesome. A few more and it'll be higher than mine.'

. .

Next I tried combining the 35 Qi Stones together. Not with glue, or the like. By pulling the Qi out from 4 of them to deposit in another one. I figured if just the Qi is moved, and not the impurities, they'll be just like any other Grade 2 Qi Stones.

It took a little while to settle the Qi inside, times seven. But this wasn't particularly difficult.

Then I took 5 of these 7 Qi Stones and tried again. This time it was difficult. If it scales up at this rate, I can't even attempt to make a Grade 4 one. Even if I had the materials at paw. It also took more time, almost finishing the day out. Now with 2 Grade 2 Qi Stones and another one at Grade 3.

My next minor project is something that has had me worried for a while now. What if someone captures me to tame me like with that talisman the young bastard from the autumn sect tried to use. It has taken me a bit of thought over idle hours and days, but I think I have a solution, so long as there isn't too big a difference in Tiers. I carve out a [Blood-Rune Magic] seal on my own torso. It believe would work better on my head, but I can't see without a mirror.

{REFLECT THEN STRENGTHEN
ANY DOMINATION OR ATTACK
DIRECTED AT MY MIND OR SOUL}

Hopefully that will be enough. Then I spent the next 6 days infusing Qi into the Grade 3 Golden Bell Flower I designated as Uncle's. As Grade 3 is between 10,000 and 100,000 years of natural Qi accumulation, this represents a lot of internal Qi *for a flower*. It doesn't quite make it to the next Grade, but is a lot closer. Rising from about 18,000 years to nearly 30,000, according to Uncle. His sense for Qi is still sharper than mine, despite my Eye.

Then I let it continue naturally for a while, so it can fully mature over time. That way we'll have seeds with which to do more later.

I reluctantly agreed to do the shining purple golds next. Under protest. And after much nagging. Much, much nagging.

They took another 8 and a half days, the first two being gobbled up right away.

In the morning, right as I finished the last one, I saw my bitches approaching in the distance.