CH29: Condensing Spirit Energy

A white needle of pure malignant spirit energy condensed by his filter sat on his desk in the former piss distillery. The needle told Silas many things, like transforming energy wasn't as simple as he thought. He had his bounts led by Eugene, investigate the posts. The man's report was written on his desk, and Silas planned to discuss it with the man after he finished reading it. Bits of hardened malevolent spirit energy appeared within the posts as they transformed malevolent energy.

Silas knew that his formations' absorption rate wouldn't be exactly even with the hollow's recovery. He assumed ramping up the rate would cause further degradation of the formations and the materials used. Case and point, malignant energy gathered into solid crystalline structures under the pressure of the formations. The growths were no different from tumors in the materials used in his formations, comparable to bone cancer. If he didn't remove the growths, the formation would rapidly degrade as the white crystal subverted the formation's spiritual energy.

The white needle made of crystal glowed with incredible malignant energy, and he knew it might make a demonic beast incredibly powerful. It was the equivalent of a powerful spirit pill for a cultivator. The pure malevolence couldn't be underestimated. It was the spiritual equivalent of uranium and could be useful in the future.

While aggressive, gluttonous, and lustful, Demon beasts also had a healthy amount of greed. If Silas could prove himself unassailable by them, they could trade. Raw spiritual energy was already in the world, and demon beasts around spirit beasts would rise in response.

He raised his hand and lifted the object with aura. It actively fought his control, forcing him to expend more energy to keep it in the air. No, after inspecting it further, the needle consumed his aura. It could make a devastating weapon that could leap the power disparity of realms.

Silas finished reading Eugene's report before pouring two glasses of spirit wine and finding the man near the hanging tree. He handed a glass to the man, who accepted it graciously.

After he bottled his first batch, he sent a couple bottles to Willaim Penn as a peace offering. John didn't receive any because Silas was still mad at the man.

He took a sip before lighting his pipe; they stood in a comfortable silence watching the crows peck at the tiny frozen scraps of flesh left behind from earlier feedings. A few of the crows had grown exponentially and looked different.

"Did thou leave him here as a message to the rest of us?" Eugene asked.

"Mayhap, it was a reminder to me. Sleep with one eye open, or next time this could be me." Silas said.

A cold wind blew like the breath of a giant blowing Silas's long hair back and forcing him to hold his hat with telekinesis. One of Cletus's bony arms fell away and tumbled to the dirt.

"We found the site ravaged by demon beasts. The posts were ripped open and scattered like bones, their marrow licked clean. What did thou expect?" Eugene said.

"Methinks what thou reported is good to know. Tis good when an enemy can be predicted, and we art not guessing. A demon beast has a taste for finer things that only we can provide, or it may prey on hollows. If needed, we have the leverage to bring a powerful demon beast to the bargaining table." Silas said.

"Thou mean to work with them," Eugene said. "Tis madness they art no different from hollows," Eugene said.

Silas pulled at his wolf skin cloak as the wind picked up. He gazed toward the field at a flesh puppet harvesting turnips and potatoes that the snow hadn't killed. It would work night and day for no pay, focused on completing its task and devoting itself wholeheartedly to completing its mandate. Like a biological function, it would receive a measure of pleasure for every potato or turnip harvested. The better job it did, the more pleasure it received. In contrast, disobeying would give it pain the perfect carrot and stick approach. It was a necrotic robot with a slow-forming AI devoted to following orders and completing tasks.

To it, the greatest achievement in life was fulfilling tasks given to it by its master. Silas wasn't sure if he cracked the code on AI and it was running off a necrotic brain. Really all he could do was watch and wait for any sign of higher cognition and, eventually, the betrayal that could come with it. Then again, the sex addict doesn't rebel against Pornhub.

Addiction wasn't entirely correct, nor did the puppet receive chemical pleasure from its actions. Instead, Silas would say the undead received something more akin to satisfaction. It tirelessly saw to its duties, doing more work than 10 well-paid workers and shoring up problems before they arose.

It would take some time, but eventually, he would have all 25 of the original possessed bodies in the field harvesting, planting, or building something. He had given it a place to stay and relax, but the undead hadn't used it. While the creature presumably had the brain power of a human, its inclinations were its programming. The numerous fractals in its formations are activated at its raising, carved into its body, and connected through an emphatic formation on its chest.

"Methinks, thou see them as hollows. They may have similar energy but art not the same. Mayhap thou will see." Silas said.

Soul Society would want the demon beasts destroyed like they desired the destruction of hollows. The demon beasts could consume souls for more power. If Silas could turn them from a potential enemy into a reliant client desperate for what Silas possessed, the situation would change.

In a few days, Soifon would return, and news of Soul Society's decision about the new world would come with her. He might even meet more captains. That would be interesting.

"Thou have not seen one eat a friend," Eugene said.

"I'm not against thy caution, only thy ignorance," Silas said. "We do not know if they can be tamed. But, before we take an option off the table, we should investigate it."

Eugene wasn't calm, but he hadn't run off yet. The man drank his wine and tossed Silas the glass. "I have a wall to build, and thy zombie slave is terrible with a hammer. The human it was originally must have been near-sighted." Eugene said.

"Give it time, and it will learn. There art some processes that I must review to further streamline the process. I plan to control where the Malicite appears." Silas said, and Eugene raised an eyebrow. "We need a name for the crystal, and calling it white diamond sounded terrible," Silas said.

"Why not Ivory? We can claim that the materials art imported African Elephant tusks instead of hollow reiatsu." Eugene said.

…

The increased space in his immortal's cave from Urahara Kisuke's trick with expanding space had given him room to experiment. However, between giving 10 of his women attention and caring for his farm, there was hardly any time to devote to his own martial training or cultivation. So instead of fretting over his loss, he decided to plan what he would do when he had time.

Silas had messed around with a gravity formation and the start of the bitter art of body cultivation. He used his alchemic spells to locate herbs that sprouted on his land that would benefit his body's recovery. He added a few formations in his cave to replicate sunlight.

Unfortunately, adding another type of cultivation to the pile wasn't in his best interest, so it was more of a side project. Instead, he would cultivate his body when he finally had time to devote his attention to it.

On the other hand, his research into gravity formations wasn't worthless. An idea occurred to him, and he had to try it out. Silas took a cup of liquified spirit energy and placed it in a formation. With enough pressure, hollow energy became a solid crystallized object, so why couldn't liquid spirit energy do the same.

He patted Dotty's cheek while the forces of the formation pressed upon the liquid.

Silas brought her down because he liked her company. While he liked his girls, they would betray them if they thought they could get away with it. Silas stole them from their clan even if they were pregnant with his children; that didn't change their positions. Soon enough, he would have to deal with John and Mary. Soifon would come in a few days, and he felt uneasy.

Something in the air made his skin crawl like a spy's attention. Silas knew it had something to do with John. The wizard kept his cards close to his chest, and Yoruichi didn't execute him for interfering with soul reaper duties and binding Soifon. Silas thought the man had a powerful backer with some sway with central 46 or the other noble clans. Then again, Silas still felt like he was missing much information. He hadn't asked Yoruichi before because he had been distracted.

He heard a crack, and the wooden box containing the formations shattered. Silas waved his hand, stopping the exploding shrapnel mid-air before removing the debris. Inside the box was mostly liquid spirit energy with a few tiny flakes of spirit crystal.

Silas picked them from the failed experiments and held them out to Dotty. The good mare licked them out of his hand, and he felt their pure spiritual force travel through her. He had tipped the balance and caused a cascading effect destined to send her to the next stage.

Having her truly step into the first stage of spirit beasthood would help shore up defenses. Well, it depended on what type of spirit beast she became. Equine types had a few paths forward, from what he recalled. While they all eventually took human form, she might not have one at first. Really it depended on her resources more than anything.

She wasn't quite transformed yet, so Silas decided he had enough time for another experiment. He opened a box covered in fractals and poured some liquid spirit energy inside. This was pure research, and while functionally, his formations should work, he wouldn't know what exactly worked until it did. He didn't know the exact formulas to get what he wanted and created numerous possible results. At this point, all he could do was try each one and hope to get a result.

Eventually, when he trained an assistant or a fellow specialist, they could have each other try their experiments. That's why he wanted someone to talk shop and understand formations like he did. With someone like that, Silas could compete and evolve his formation knowledge. But, on the other hand, steel sharpens steel, and Silas felt rather dull after so long without sharpening.

He held up his hand when the box shattered explosively. When the dust settled, a tiny grain of glowing concentrated spirit crystal was submerged in a puddle of liquid spirit energy. Silas picked it up and handed it off to Dotty.

More spirit energy exploded through her body, taking her closer to the barrier holding her back from crossing over into the first stage.

Whether she crossed over immediately or in a few hours, it didn't make much difference to him. A soft glow had enveloped her body, but she hadn't crossed over yet. Silas guessed she needed a final kick to get her over the edge.

He tried another 20 experiments and opened his notebook to cross out potential formulas. There were perhaps only a few hundred different formulas with numerous combinations that could get the effect he wanted. Some of the failures were due to the materials on hand rather than his own skill. Others made crystals with affinities with different Dao. Each of them Dotty consumed but hadn't tumbled into the next stage yet. Each of the crystals had something to do with pressure, diffusion, and intermingling. Each was valuable and encircled for later study but not the formula he was after. Silas wanted the formula to turn pure liquid spirit energy into pure crystal spirit energy.

It was different from the spirit matter in soul society, and he was sure success was right around the corner. He had enough information about the happy accidents to run some experiments with them for specialized crystals once he figured out how to turn all of the spirit liquid into neutral spirit crystals.

The light from Dotty's body filled his vision after feeding her an electromagnetic crystal, and she changed. She stomped her hooves and paced around him while her body glowed ever brighter. He heard a crack ring out through her body before the nag collapsed. He caught her before any damage could be done as her body continued to change. A tiny protrusion grew from her forehead, and he could see her body shifting.

From what he remembered reading, the first stage of transformation altered the beast based on its ideal form, the materials on hand, and physical possibility. The first stage could only change so much. She wouldn't gain a human form from the first stage but based on her desire and what was possible, nearly anything could happen.

He waited and slowly cultivated after downing some spirit liquid. After reaching the first stage, Silas had a strong enough body to take the spirit liquid directly. He moved the pure spirit energy to his lungs and slowly cultivated them. After running out of his days' supply of experiment-designated spirit liquid, he opened his eyes to see Dotty's large purple eyes staring at him. They had shifted on her head to be more forward facing. The white mane that fell down her neck looked silky and had taken a hue of silver. Her coat had changed from painted to black as midnight and a tiny 1-inch horn sprouted from her head.

While Dotty could still carry him, she seemed less designed for pulling things. Her entire body had been streamlined, and her head was larger than he remembered.

"Hark thee do thou hear the sound of my voice." A feminine voice said.

It was bizarre, especially when he noticed her jaw was shorter than before, much closer to a human skull than her original. Dotty moved closer to him, and he didn't hear the normal sound of her metal shodden hooves. Instead, she stared into his eyes before leaning back to sit on her rear.

"Can thou understand me?" Dotty asked.

"I can," Silas said aloud.

"Good, if thou has any love for me, then don't let that brute mount me," Dotty said.

Alien smells, images, and sounds assaulted his mind, transmitted directly from Dotty. Apparently, she didn't approve of the brute Silas picked out. Really that would make her the only mare unbred come spring; he didn't have many stallions yet.

"I thought thou might want to be a mother," Silas said.

She paced across the room, a habit she seemed to have picked up from him. It was ironic that even worlds apart, pets still take up the habits of their masters. Dotty wasn't any different.

"If thou order it, then I will reluctantly comply, but next time thy back is turned, I will bite thee," Dotty said and opened her mouth before clacking her teeth together. He could feel her aura radiating from her, swirling like a storm. Spirit beasts were really strong, especially at the same cultivation level.

"Alright, if thou do not want to be bred by the brute as thou calls him, then what do thou want?" Silas asked.

"I want to help thou," Dotty said.

Silas was about to say no but stopped himself. Never since he purchased her had Dotty ever let him down. She was reliable, loyal, and, most of all, his family. While they weren't related by blood, Solas considered her to be close. If she chose to be by his side, he would endeavor to teach her to be useful in other ways besides being bred.