Chapter 25

Beyond the whole being reincarnated bit... Actually eating next to a silent ghost was one of the weirder things to have happened to me in this life honestly. Like, her body for the most part was intangible, where did the food go that she ate? Why do I hear the roars of the underworld coming from the hungry ghost!?

"So... What's the plans looking like Keqing? I imagine Lady Ningguang is currently having a fit over seeing the gunship." I spoke.

Even as Keqing gave the adult ghostly form of Qiqi a weird look for how nonchalant I was being at her presence, she still responded to my question. "I wouldn't say she is doing something as uncouth as throwing a fit... She is just evaluating how gunships can and will be used in the service of Liyue once you get the production of them higher in numbers."

I made a slight humming noise as I considered that and then I said with a wry smile. "How long until one of the sects or clans steals or bribes someone for one of the gunships to 'fall' into their hands." 

At my question, Keqings face went flat, and for a long moment she stared at me before she sighed and said dully. "Oh, I have no doubt that even now, the guards and soldiers of the Millelith that were on the site of the landing are being bribed to give out information. But Lady Ningguang will hang anyone that tries anything further."

I shrugged at that. As honestly so long as I was being left alone so I could continue my wasteful cultivation, build mechas, and of course relax in my free time. I was pretty content.

"Uhm Jake, how did you come to live here if you don't mind me asking?" Keqing asked as she looked between me and Qiqi with an odd look in her eyes.

Tilting my head in confusion at her weird tone of voice I answered frankly. "Uhhh, I used that medium spirit stone you gave me to welcome me to Liyue along with pointing out the Li clan's poor smithing standards as of now. And this was the largest house I could afford with some space for me to open up my projects." I finished with a shrug that made Keqing's face visibly pinched.

Even Qiqi piped up saying in her normal dull tone. "He has been a good guest in my house... He hasn't attempted to steal my Vital Yin, so I haven't eaten him."

Keqing then shook her head with a wry smile that made me wonder what was going through her head. But either way, I continued eating the pretty good beef and stir-fried rice that Keqing made for dinner.

Once I was done, I stood up and said. "Alright, seeing as we are stuck here in Liyue for a few days while Ningguang studies the gunship and distributes the resources we brought. I am going to sleep and then tomorrow I would like to go shopping in the martial arts and cultivation district." 

My statement made Keqing raise an eyebrow with her frowning and saying somewhat uncertainly. "Jake? What do you want from the cultivation and martial art district? It's very expensive in there and you can't use most of the stuff in there at all!"

My lips twitched at how she called me a 'waste' or whatever but either way I replied flatly. "Yeah but I have infinite spirit stones so take that. Anyway I want to get supplements and some recipes so that I can make machines to make pills and stuff so I can be even more of a prodigal son."

Her face when I said all that was utterly delightful before she tilted her head to the side and she looked at me with a dead-faced look. "Wait... You can use your machines to mass-produce cultivation pills? What about herb age and everything else?" 

I just smiled as I said cheerfully. "Imagine Ningguang's face when I setup a whole factory like the previous one but its devoted to making a thousand of a dozen different pills every single day hahaha!" 

I didn't respond as Keqing almost looked disgusted at my 'genius' before she left my room as I realized how to artificially age the spirit herbs and other agents to make pills as I happily skipped out of the room having finished my dinner while my mind was whirling to get to work on my next test bed while having another thought.

A few minutes later I was working on a blueprint as I began working to create a super factory half a dozen stories tall that would go more than a dozen stories into the ground so that the pill factory would be deep underground.

The above-ground portion would be the spirit herb farm as I realized that if I used my reverse spiritual energy tanning booth I could basically bake the radioactive half-life of the spirit energy into the spirit herbs. Which would artificially inflate the age in which they had been accumulating spirit energy.

But besides the thought process of maybe... Just maybe setting aside a small plot of land to grow super weed that could maybe put people into a state of enlightenment or something as I aged the weed to be several thousands of years old in 'spiritual energy' value. I had one recurring thought.

"Do I need to buy a virgin courtesan from the redlight district or something? With how much I work, I really don't have the time to try to seduce anyone to do dual cultivation with." I muttered to myself as I brushed my hand across my face with a sigh.

My Yang Body was great for formations and doing anything that outputted spiritual energy from my body to fuel it including doing very powerful attacks but as a con it was a total bitch as in return for sending five times the power outwards... I only cultivated at five percent the efficiency of average cultivators using the same resources I was.

So in order to actually cultivate at a speed that was acceptable I needed Yin energy to feed to my Yang... If I could eat Qiqi's yin energy I would probably shoot up to almost the third level of cultivation but for one I wouldn't do that as it would kill Qiqi and two I wanted a waifu with a pulse.

Shaking my head I got back to work with my form shivering as I heard a quiet snapping noise but I shook my head thinking it was a Hellbat or something on the roof as it was nighttime. "Anyway, so with pills being automated I can probably also use a laser engraver that is fueled off of spiritual energy to mass produce arrays so I should also look for some books on weaker arrays that I can use mundane materials as the base for them," I muttered to myself tiredly as I began doodling some future plans as my head tilted up and down before with my head snapping forward I shook my head and yawned.

"Alright alright, time for some rest. It's kinda weird not to have a roommate to sleep around honestly." I muttered to myself as I got up to go lay down in my thin bedding with a groan as I wondered what Keqing was up to before I fell asleep.