9 Heavens, Why It's So Ugly?
Finally, the little serpent stopped practicing his breathing technique, stopping the white and silver colored vortex created by his suction motion. Around the cave, lines of dancing white light lingered in the air for some moment, only to dissipate into nothing immediately afterward. As for the talking cloud, none survived the frenetic use of the technique.
The reptile struck a triumphant pose, his body filled with energy like he had never experienced before. Cultivating near the white pool was extraordinary, hundreds time better than cultivating outside.
"Impressive, can I know the name of such valiant young hero?" called out the horned creature, trying to gain his favor.
"Darkscale" responded immediately the reptile, very satisfied by Spike's tone and wording.
A light shined in the illusory figure eyes.
"Hahaha, young master Darkscale… what a glorious name! I can already hear the melodies that the bards from the Great Wilderness to the Imperial Capital will use to sing about your heroic deeds!"
A delighted look appeared on the reptile face, he really started to like this creature, even if his figure reminded him of humans, if it weren't for the long sharp fangs and the recurved horns.
"Young master, when using an orbital trader we aren't usually allowed to give free advice… but there is an exception…I can make you my special client!"
After letting his word sink for a moment, the fat man looked down at the snake. Seeing that he looked confusedly back at him, he explained better what he meant.
"Traders can only have a limited number of special clients, and once we chose one we cannot change them! I'm just a Bronze Class Trader, so I can only have one special client at the time… and I chose you, young master Darkscale!"
The little serpent seemed impressed by Spike's speech. He didn't quite get what was so great about this special status, but if it was so exclusive it had to be valuable.
Seeing that Darkscale was receptive to his idea, the man grinned satisfied. " Being my special client will come with great perks: I can offer you a better deal as I rank up the Trader Ranks and I also can advise you freely by distance… but more importantly, I can give you some good price on credit…" continued the man, emphasizing greatly this last aspect.
"Credit?" asked Darkscale dubiously.
"Hahaha, yes credit! You will need to pay it back… with a little interest rate… but you can use the money to secure this abode and buy some cultivation resources to start your path of cultivation! I'm sure that you will easily be able to pay it back!" then almost as if he was explaining himself for an error, he continued: "I would give you a personal credit, but it's against the company policy… I can't lend money to clients".
"However, the formulas of credit that I can offer you are incredibly better than the common ones."
"Credit will help me make this cave my lair?" asked curiously Darkscale. He didn't get this whole credit thing, but if it was something that he could use to obtain the cave he wouldn't think about it twice before taking it. This was such a paradise for cultivation! He needed this place to realize his greatest dream: be like the King.
"Hahaha, obviously young master Darkscale! Obviously!"
Spike was almost exploding from happiness. A reincarnated immortal? Hahahah, even if he didn't give him any credit, his memories would slowly emerge while he dreamed and meditated. It was just a question of time before he started walking again on his Path of Cultivation.
If he managed to befriend such a great figure, his future was assured! He could easily become the fourth Silver Class Trader of the Fiore Empire! No, even better: the first Gold Class Trader of the Fiore Empire!
"What do you say, young master? Isn't this a wonderful thing?" asked the fat illusory figure, barely containing its excitement.
However, he saw that the snake before him was still a bit dubious. Spike trembled, and gritting his teeth, he decided to go all in: " Tell me, young master, what are the things that you desire the most?"
Darkscale thought about it for a while, then he started to fill Spike mind with various demands.
"I want to learn to speak!… I want to be stronger and become a powerful cultivator, like I am in my Dreams!" said the little reptile, immediately losing himself in daydreaming.
Then, he started to remember other little things that he wanted. Lost in his thoughts he continued: "I also want poison, like that of the legendary snakes that even cultivators fear!"
The figure composed of light nodded satisfied: even before he had completely regained his memories, this snake reincarnator was already desiring thinks to become stronger!
"...and a pearl! … and living cauldrons! Entire families, and clans of them!" continued undaunted the serpent, evoking the last thing he saw the King desire with a nefarious look hidden in his eyes.
"Ahaha, yes… wait what?" a strange expression appeared on Spike's face. Did that little serpent just say he wanted a pearl and entire clans of living cauldrons?
"What the hell?" thought silently the merchant, almost starting to think that he misheard him.
"Young Master, did you just say that you want an entire clan of living cauldrons? And a pearl?" asked in disbelief the bronze class trader.
"Yes" Confirmed immediately the snake, as if it was the most common desire on the face of the earth.
"Ah… this… oh well… this Black Hand Orbital System is equipped with a Transfer Array, but it's mostly used to transfer information. Objects can also be transferred at a great cost and peril, but living beings? No, they won't survive the transfer. Probably they would end up disintegrating in the spatial tunnel…" explained the merchant.
Looking at the lost expression of Darkscale, he sighed: he was just too young after all. He thought about his words more carefully, trying again to explain the situation more easily: "I can only send items if you can activate the formation from your side, that would require an incredible amount of energy… plus a living being is out of question… if you want to get living cauldrons so bad I can pass you a binding spell."
"A spell? A cultivator spell?" Darkscale's eyes started to shine with excitement. He thought back to what the horned creature had told him during their conversation.
"It is also something that I can buy with credit?"
"Ahaha, obviously! In fact, the primary purpose of the Black Hand Orbital Trade is to send information! We can sell you technique of any kind, crafting recipes and even intelligence information!" proudly announced the horned creature.
"Naturally, we also sell a great number of real product, but it's best to retrive them from one of our Trade Houses! Using a mobile Black Hand like this one you have to transport object… that's tricky!"
Darkscale didn't really care about any kind of physical item. His mind was still blocked by the fact that with this credit thing he had the opportunity to obtain new magic techniques.
"I accept! I want the credit!" exclaimed the snake.
"Good, good, good" Spike's eyes sparkled. "From now on, I, Spike of the Coltberra Clan, vow to receive Darkscale the Black Collar Snake as my Special Contract".
Nothing particular happened after Spike's word, but his expression relaxed considerably. He patted his illusory body, and then looked around the cave.
"The first thing I would recommend to someone in your position is to immediately seize control of the cave. However, you can't. You're not a cultivator." He started saying, clasping his hand behind his back.
"Mph! Do you want me to show you again…"
The horned creature cut him off, continuing with a strange smile: " The Pretorian's Breath is an incredible technique, but it's not a cultivation technique… it's a recuperation technique, used to heal wounds and reinforce a weakened body"
The rage in Darkscale's eyes evaporated: yes! When the King first used that technique he was gravely wounded! His injuries immediately healed after he used it though.
"You might feel stronger practicing the Breath, but that's only because your body is incredibly weak. Your flesh is being enriched by the energy you absorb, but that's all… you are not progressing in cultivation at all…"
Shock appeared on the snake little face. What was the point of having such a prodigious technique if it didn't help him cultivate?
"Don't worry… I'll pass you a cultivation technique, however just a basic one! Cultivating a more complex foundation will require you to first test your affinity! You need to choose a technique that is compatible with your affinity, or you'll not go far in the cultivation world…"
"Testing my affinity? How?" asked the little snake.
"There are many ways to test your affinity, from paying an expert to do it, to go to the near city under the protection of a noble of the Empire: each one, even smallest barony, have an Affinity Stele where people can test their affinity. The catch is that the local nobles will surely know the results… and that's quite bad…cultivators must always keep their power secret!"
Darkscale was totally engrossed in listening to the merchant. He realized that he was way more knowledgeable than he seemed.
"However, now the most pressing matter is to control the Blue Cave! You will need something to bind it for you, something that only you can control and something that you can trust completely… the only thing that can help you with all the aforementioned problems is a MAID!"
"I know what maids are! They're humans that can be used as cultivation cauldrons!" interjected exited Darkscale.
"Yes, matrix… wait what?" a strange expression could be found sitting in Spike's face.
"I Dream about them a lot, each time I sneak up inside a human village and take away some people to use in cultivation" revealed the snake, talking about the various Dreams he had on the matter.
"I see, so he was that kind of cultivator… that's… I'll need to prepare some beauties to gift him then…" contemplated the horned merchant. Having come to the conclusion that his client had been a nefarious sex fiend in his previous life, Spike didn't feel any disgust or compulsion to stop interacting with him. On the contrary, he thought of ways to use his past life's evil compulsion to bring him closer to himself.
He was a cultivator of the Devil Path after all. He had done way worse than that.
"Young master Darkscale, MAID is an acronym. It stands for Matrix Artificial Intelligence Device… it's like a servant that will take care of the cave's binding for you… now, it's less safe than directly binding it yourself, but it's still better than anything!"
"That sounds nice… OK, let's do it!"
The merchant flipped his hand, making a bronze colored tablet to appear in his hand from nowhere. He then tapped gently on its surface for a few seconds.
The black screen, unchanged since that very moment, flickered with white light for a few times. Each time, under the name of the company, appeared a single line of text.
Loan, Bronze Rank: 2000 Credits
2000 - 1500 Credit for MAID [ Mareveil K4551223]
Balance: 500 Credit [Due 2500 Credits]
500 - 150 Credit for Soul Agony Venom Technique [Mortal, Low Grade]
Balance: 350 Credit [Due 2500 Credits]
350 - 10 Credit for The Cultivation Way Pamphlet, Prefaced by Faceless Devil.
Balance: 340 Credit [Due 2500 Credits]
340 - 140 Credit for Slave Mark Seal [Mortal, Low Grade]
Balance: 200 Credit [Due 2500 Credits]
"Normally, transmitting something directly to someone's Core Matrix would require proper authorization, but the Cave is unbound, so we can skip that passage…" confided Spike, while the cave started suddenly to tremble lightly.
"The Spiritual Mansion is rebooting its Core Matrix, it won't take long… Good! I have also put the three techniques inside the Blue Cave's Matrix's Library. MAID will help you access it. Your version of MAID is programmed to recognize as its perpetual master the first living entity it senses in the Cave. So I really need to go now."
Spike bowed gently forward.
"It's been a pleasure making business with you… see you soon" smiled the fat creature, before immediately vanishing. Darkscale didn't even have the time to react that the was already gone.
"What a curious creature" murmured the snake to itself.
The screen, however, didn't disappear and kept showing the same ten lines of writing ( a title in red and nine transactions in white).
"Tin tin tin tint" a tingling sound begun to echo inside the Blue Cave, as a figure materialized right in front of the little snake.
"Master recognized, beginning imprinting sequence" exclaimed a clear but passionless voice. Darkscales's face fell when his violet eyes examined the hovering figure before him.
"Heavens, Why It's So Ugly?"
