Rewards

I returned to my humble abode after a light jog and jumped on the bed. Having worked all day, I didn't feel like cooking, so I stopped at one of the food stalls on the way home and picked up some food. It was expensive compared to buying it raw, but it was so goddamn delicious!

During recent weeks, my appetite has been steadily growing, so a growth spurt was most likely underway. And it was a great thing too because I just loved eating. It was one of the few things that gave me pleasure apart from fighting and sex. But I guess most people were like that… It was becoming a bit expensive though, I would have to really work my ass off if I wanted to eat well in the future.

I finished my skewers of meat and disintegrated the sticks before sending the dust out the window.

Another round of Cultivation and I decided to go to sleep.

Sinking in deep meditation, I examined my Soul. I mentally sighed as I saw it. The sphere that was my Soul was now nearly encased in a corrupted-looking shell of wrinkly crimson. It was like large scabs covering it in its entirety and I felt repulsed by it.

Luckily they weren't yet fused together, so as I began removing them, they fell off quite easily. I wondered what would happen if the layer completely fused and then thickened, but that was something I decided probably wasn't worth finding out.

Underneath those corrupted crimson scabs was a new layer of my Soul, still fluffy and all misty-like, uncompressed and mouldable. There was more of it than the day before, so the Soul absorption from those rats and Gisons was worth it, though I had some work to do to clean it all up after.

I slowly absorbed Qi from the air and compressed all 700 and some points worth of it and fed it to my Soul. It was less than what I have gathered during the day, but still a good amount for a bit of work.

Perhaps I could manually Cultivate while absorbing Souls? That was something to think about.

I then continued absorbing Qi and circulated it all over my body, letting it flow through my blood and spread out evenly across my cells to enhance them.

Turtle Breathing Technique was great. The ease with which I was transferring Qi inside my body increased, and the time needed for it to get it moving diminished to almost nothing. Zero Qi delay… I didn't even know it was a thing, but now that I have experienced it, I could never go back.

My perception could not detect any delay anymore if there even was one. As soon as I willed it, it happened. That was crucial in a battle where fractions of a second mattered. Not that I planned to fight with my life on the line, because that would be just stupid. I have done plenty of that, and it just left me scarred and crippled, eventually leading to my demise.

The Myriad Beasts Sect was safe-ish, and I decided to use this opportunity to its full potential. Let me first become like one of those ancient gods, then we can do the fun stuff.

Pfft, yeah right! That was a good joke, brain. Gerald Fireborn, staying out of trouble? Never going to happen. And besides, I was not that patient. But let a man dream...

***

I woke up early, only sleeping about five or six hours. To say that I wasn't excited for today would be a lie. If I wanted to carry out my plans, I had to unfortunately begin at such early hours. On my way to work, I stopped at one of the food stalls that just opened and got something to eat. Many other Disciples did the same, and I saw many of them devour their food as soon as they got it.

I was also getting peckish despite eating late into the night, but I wasn't as ravenous as they seemed to be. Weird stuff, this hunger.

Well, in any case, I jogged the rest of the way to the slaughterhouse. I was nearly there when I realized I was running. For some weird reason, I just felt like running and didn't even notice. I wasn't even that tired, in fact, I felt great! Maybe my Body Cultivation finally began showing its results?

I curiously flicked my arm. I felt the pain, but it wasn't as much as I was expecting. It felt as if my skin momentarily became slightly tougher at the point of impact. The Scales of the Earth and Turtle Breathing Technique still had a long way to go.

I arrived at the fence surrounding the pastures and jumped over, making my way over to the slaughterhouse. I just needed to announce my arrival and my intentions so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings.

Bao Taon would arrive later in the day, or so I was told, so I had to wait for him to deposit any of my catch. That was perfect since I planned to be on the hunt for the entire morning. They were just getting stuff ready now, and the Gison slaughter part would be coming later.

I made my way to the forest in the back and went a different route than yesterday. I decided to abandon the slow and steady tracking, and instead just made my way randomly through the woods, moving like a specter.

I bent the light around me, granting me near-perfect invisibility, and floated a meter or so above the ground as I moved in complete silence. There were surprisingly many more animals than I had imagined, but any noise immediately spooked them and they booked it at top speed.

Not Giant Rats though. They would turn towards the source of the sound with hungry eyes and go investigate. Unfortunately, whenever they smelled me, they would literally piss and shit themselves and disappear in the undergrowth. And their excrement stank like the farts of a skunk, or whatever they did to deter predators, I didn't really know, and neither did I wish to find out.

[Filthy vermin…] I grumbled as I accelerated and flew low to the ground, following the escaping rats. Unfortunately, they were nearly impossible to follow due to their small and nimble bodies, and just like every other beast there, they also knew how to hide their puny Auras. Magic Eyes didn't help to track them one bit.

I refrained from using highly destructive magic and instead sped up and went on high alert, ready to shoot as soon as I saw one.

Pulling moisture from the air I condensed an Ice Lance and let it float beside me as I looked around. Moving quickly and silently allowed me to corner a few Giant Rats before they had the chance to smell me and escape.

By the time it was almost noon, I only got four in the bag, so I decided to make my way to the nest and collect a few more. I arrived soon enough, but there weren't many around. Of the carcass from the day prior only bones remained and the vermin fewer than I remembered. I killed just one and then the rest ran away in panic just as I was expecting.

The slaughterhouse was just about to go into high gear when I decided to stop wasting time and went back. I took pieces of my old clothes, those torn to shreds by the Howler, and tied them around tree branches, all the way from the nest to the fence. I then cut a few long branches and stuck them on top of the fence so they could be seen from afar.

Coming back I quickly found Bao Taon and handed over the five Giant Rats I have captured. He was a bit surprised to see me here again since, he said, most people didn't come for the second time. The job was just too much of a pain in the ass. His words, not mine.

Well, when I told him I have found a nest, his expression visibly brightened, and because I have marked the way so well, I didn't even have to serve as a guide. He ordered a few Disciples working there to go and check it out. In the meantime, I just sat down, my back against the fence, and basked in the sun, shirtless.

While those guys were out and dealing with the nest, the process started. I felt the first tingle of a Soul getting absorbed and felt some minor mood swings and emotions that came with it, so I just closed my eyes and meditated.

For the first time in my life, I could see the foreign Souls fuse with the outer layer of mine, their impurities getting deposited on the surface of my Soul as it happened. I wasn't sure if I saw correctly or if my mind was just playing tricks on me, but it seemed like my Soul experienced a tremor and actively pulled the decaying pieces towards it.

The memories, emotions, and personality of each deceased being were quickly purged from my mind, only remaining as shadows of a memory. I could remember remembering the memory, but not the memory itself. It was weird.

The fact that I had no control over this process was also freaking me out slightly. Was I even in control of myself? I had no idea.

The impurities were pushed to the surface by the fact that my Soul was just too dense for them to sink deeper, so they were easy enough to remove. As soon as the crimson fragments merged into a bigger piece, I removed it, burning it off and forcefully turning it into Base Qi.

[…]

My mind froze for a second. I just realized something.

If I could forcefully turn corrupted pieces of a Soul into Qi then… I pinched I tiny bit of my Soul and tried to do the same. Almost immediately I felt my body energize with extremely pure Qi as my Soul decayed, disappearing like dust in the wind. I stopped the action immediately.

That… wasn't good. I burned off just a tiny bit of my Soul, less than one cycle of Cultivation's worth, but the power I felt coursing through my body felt… addictive. It felt so good! Like a massage from the hands of a god himself.

So, as it turned out, you could burn your Soul for temporary power? If the feelings I experienced with my little experiment were true. I could have been just imagining things…

I did it again, burning a tiny piece of my Soul, only this time I was more aware of everything that was happening. I circulated my Qi as I did it.

The effect was immediate and extremely noticeable. If before my Qi ran like syrup, then at the moment of Soul burning, it ran like water. A boost in spell efficiency and speed, but at a great cost. And as it ran faster, my body felt energized to its full potential. As if every single cell in my body was ready to go, ready to party at 100%!

That was… interesting.

***

I meditated on the experience for a while.

So, theoretically, if a person was born in a world without Qi, could he burn his Soul for a tiny bit of magic power? I remember there were some supposed mages on Earth that could do real magic. There was never much evidence for it though…

[I wonder… Exchanging life for power, huh? It is a high price to pay.]

My speculations would have gone for much longer if it wasn't for the fact that I was awakened by Bao Daon. His men returned, having confirmed the existence of the nest. They came back to gather traps and set them around the area so they could catch a few of the vermin still roaming outside, before burning it to the ground.

"Here you go, your deserved reward." He handed over a small soft leather pouch with exactly 25 SSS, plus he handed over one more for the five Giant Rats I have brought earlier.

[Thank you, Senior Brother!] I cupped my fists and inclined my head. It was a good bit of change. A few more days like this and I would almost be rich!

Yeah, nah, but it would help. I liked the freedom to do stuff on my terms, and getting a job, even if stable, just wasn't something I was used to. I work to live, not live to work! There was a difference!

I thanked Senior Brother Bao again and left the premises. I didn't go far away though, just far enough to be out of their way.

I sat back on the ground, exposing my face and body to the warm sun. The heat was nice on my skin, and I was extremely pale, almost sickly looking from staying indoors all the time. I took this opportunity to get some color while I meditated.

The day went on like this, meditation, Cultivation, and Soul absorption, all at once. If I had to compare, in this one single day I have achieved more than I would in five days of Cultivating normally.

I have heard that Cultivating from dawn to dusk was impossible, that the Soul would feel bloated and begin to hurt, but if anything, after my full-day feeding spree, my Soul felt hungrier instead.

But everything good had to come to an end. Towards the evening I stretched my muscles and did a few exercises, after which I went on a leisurely walk back home.