Calm

When I got home, there was a silver rank cultivation platform in my yard. I checked Xiao Yue's alchemy homework (there was one error). Then we moved the platform into the back yard and I spent a couple of hours improving our defense. Then we dined together and a messenger from the elder Ming brought my demonic beast spirit.

It was Black Flame Wolf. Once dinner was over I gave Yue'er two hours for cultivation and spent that time integrating my new partner and getting used to her presence within my soul. I named her Muhtar and spent an hour designing new cultivation symbol to her liking. She had an opinion on every little detail, down to the shade of her future adamantine armor and the bent of each of the seven tails.

Once it was done, I got a vague sense of increased synchronization level. Then I spent another half an hour, while Yue'er was changing bathwater, studying and memorizing my Earthshaker, even made a few sketches to grasp the image in full. I also noted down the feelings radiating from it, there was pride, endurance, longing along with loss and rage.

When water was finally ready, I sent the girl to the bed and began cultivating with the aid blood of silver ranked flame wolf. To be honest, the experience was close to drowning, with Muhtar's heart beating inside my soul, with each beat infusing energy into both body and soul. Around the hour in, I got a vision of Muhtar's past: she was playing with her brothers and sisters. Another hour later, there was another vision: there was a battle between her mother and her aunt for domination, her mother won and proceeded to massacre four of her other sisters.

The third vision: it was another battle, her mother was fighting her eldest daughter! That time Muhtar was around the middle of silver rank and learned a few tricks of both gold-ranked combatants. Mother has fallen and their black-gold ranked father proceeded to mate with his new queen. The fourth vision had Muhtar leading a few of her brothers and sisters down from the mountains where they lived before, away from their tyrannical aunt and fearsome dad.

When the morning finally came, I was halfway between second and third stars of the silver rank. The water was opaque with oily stuff floating on the top. I boiled a couple of buckets of the fresh cold water (prepared specifically for that) and washed the grime from my body. It was quite early in the morning, but my reserves of blood have run-out.

I came out into the yard and climbed onto the roof to watch the stars, the moon, and the city. This habit was the same for old Shen Yue and for my old life. In the past, I was thinking about space aliens, Shen Yue was dreaming about the world outside Glory City. This time we thought about various enemies lurking both here beyond the walls and there beyond the heavens.

Suddenly, I saw a procession (illuminated by torches) arriving at our manor. I knew that my calm has ended and the storm was approaching.