Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 18

Making it to the west gate, Nathan found people quickly clearing the way for the bloody-faced guy in athletic shorts carrying a sheet-wrapped body. He began to gag on all the blood that had accumulated in his lungs. Finding a free spot on the wall just outside the city, he had a coughing fit. Blood splattered everywhere.

While still holding onto the boss monster’s corpse, the remaining poison qi in his lungs suddenly found itself being pulled from the source. The qi in the area was pulled toward him as he finally broke through.

“Fifth Stage of the Body Realm,” he mumbled to himself.

After a good ten minutes, he was able to resolve the rest of the poison and breathe much easier. As for the people around him, he kept having to chase off good-meaning healers.

With that out of the way, he entered the city. Everyone had just gone through a life-changing evolution and yet it seemed no one could take their eyes off the spectacle he was making.

He didn’t let it bother him. He was more concerned someone would get the idea that they should take a look at what was beneath the blanket and accidentally get poisoned. He was pretty sure the justice system would back him, but it wasn’t something he was sure of.

Nathan had made it halfway to Googee’s when a group of newbie cultivators cut him off. There were eight of them. Breastplates, dao short swords, and a couple were wielding spears. He didn’t recognize any of them individually, but there was a big symbol for the Chinese communist party on their shirts. There were only a few groups that tried to take power early in the tower and the communists were amongst the largest and most powerful.

With China’s size, there were many in-country groups that would eventually become powerhouses. Some of them supported China, but the government faithful would find out painfully that most of them would put their family first. They weren’t about to be content with just China either. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, and the much of the middle east would be threatened. Almost all of them would end up with powerful groups and individuals to suppress the communist party, so Nathan wasn’t interested in starting something with them. The US would have enough infighting and he wasn’t sure he’d even involve himself in that.

“You dare commit murder and bring the body into the People’s Republic of China’s territory?” A man holding a spear near the middle of the group declared.

Nathan wasn’t having it. Many would still be willing to submit to such old-world authority, but he knew better. More than that, he didn’t like tyrants.

He responded. “You’re an idiot.”

There were both gasps and laughter from the crowd that was only growing. He glanced in the direction of the loudest laughter and found a small group of three standing there with their arms crossed. They’d taken the energy cultivator route where the group of communists had mostly gone with body. Who they were was just as obvious from their yellow ribbons—Hong Kong freedom fighters.

“Seriously?” He had just stepped in the middle of it.

It was then the leader thrust his spear for Nathan’s throat. The justice system wouldn’t let the man get away with murder, but that didn’t mean it would stop violence in the process of happening. Only if a Judge was already paying attention would that happen. It was possible they were watching now, but it was just possible to die if the man caught him just right and the Judge’s timing was bad. He wasn’t about to wait to find out.

He hadn’t stopped practicing his breathing technique. Holding in a breath, his hand shot toward the incoming spear. He caught it high on the shaft.

The man’s thrust was stopped in its tracks. It didn’t stop him from trying to drive it home. When his spear didn’t budge, he tried to retrieve it.

Nathan pulled in the opposite direction. The spear came out of the man’s hand so suddenly that the guy stumbled back.

In response, the entire pack of communists lowered themselves, readying to attack.

A great pressure fell on the area. Nathan hadn’t felt the weight of divine realm cultivator’s perceptions since his reincarnation, but this judge was obviously holding back in fear of accidentally killing them.

Despite the pressure, Nathan stood firm. He bowed his head as the judge swooped in from above. He was still shouldering the region boss’s corpse and had the man’s spear in his free hand. He couldn’t help but feel comical holding the spear upside down like an extended club.

“Who dares to disturb the peace?” Sounded the harshest motherly voice imaginable.

With his head bowed, he didn’t divert his eye but looked right at her. She was a true fairy of the eastern fantasy variety. Her neck length black hair glistened, and her skin shone pale with its own internal light. She looked like the mixture of an elf’s graceful figure and a K-Pop star’s good looks. Beauty wasn’t hard to come by anymore, but this alien judge was something unique. It was not the time to be arrogant enough to flirt with her. He’d seen her many times before. She was at a realm that the entirety of Earth’s military might couldn’t scratch.

The communists didn’t hesitate to start accusing Nathan.

He just kept his mouth shut and waited patiently.

Her pressure intensified on them directly, stopping their mouths. Only after they quieted did she turn to examine Nathan. Almost instantly, her eye narrowed.

He knew what she was probably looking at. It wasn’t necessary for her to have access to a terminal for her to see his chosen path, talent, and abilities clearly. He was amongst the highest ranked humans in the tower right now. As for cultivators, he was near the top.

Seeing that she was looking at him, he lowered his eyes and bowed his head. “Senior fairy,” he said respectfully.

After a moment, she held up her hand and a pill appeared between her fingers. “To speed your recovery,” she called out. The pill flew toward him at such speed it seemingly disappeared. She was controlling it with her qi.

As appreciative as he was to receive a pill from one of her status, he placed his hand in front of his mouth, catching the pill before she could force it down his throat. Bowing even lower, he was quick to respond. “I greatly appreciate your care. However, I’m depending upon my natural recovery to temper my body.”

The tension went out of her gaze. “That’s commendable. Keep the pill.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

Only then did she look at the corpse he was carrying. She tilted her head in response. “The western region boss,” she said. It wasn’t a question. “It hasn’t even been three days.”

A meek murmur went through the crowd. Even the communists were giving each other tentative looks.

“I am on the toughness path, fairy. Poison resistance was something I couldn’t in good conscience go without. It’s been painful, but I was the perfect counter to this zombie’s strengths,” Nathan said, giving the corpse a pat. “I’m hoping to sell it to Lady Googee.”

“Then I must wish you luck,” she said, before turning back to the assaulting party. “As for you…”

He didn’t really care what punishment she gave them. The experience itself would hold back this group of weaklings from doing something next time. She lectured them and asked him if he wanted them punished.

“Could you just fine them some points? And here’s his spear,” Nathan replied, tossing it to the man.

“Of course. A thousand points each and five thousand from the man that attacked you.”

He bowed at the waist. He wouldn’t say no to another twelve thousand points. Maybe he should walk around for the rest of the day and see if anyone else tried to attack him.

As the communists left, Nathan saw the freedom fighters follow them at a distance. He remembered a few high rankers from Hong Kong but couldn’t remember any major factions.

The judge was preparing to leave, when he dared to call out, “Senior Fairy, might I have your name?”

Her expression tightened. Their eyes met. His expression wasn’t hostile, or overly friendly, but neither was he intimidated. She shared his gaze for a long moment before deciding. “You can call me, Isacara.”

He’d already known her name, but things must happen in the right time.

The pressure in the area disappeared with the judge’s departure. “I look forward to killing demons with you, Fairy Isacara,” he mumbled even though she was no longer present. He knew that didn’t matter and she heard everything he said.

***

Nathan walked into Googee’s with his battered and bloody presence immediately making waves in her store. When the elven looking woman saw him, for a moment it looked like she was going to throw him out, but she decided against it.

“It’s you…” She mumbled before waving for him to follow. “Come.”

She led him behind the main counter. The wall slid open to give him plenty of room to make it through with the corpse.

He didn’t mention that he’d been there before. There was a lot of storage, but also item processing equipment. Items included organics and organisms. He sat the region boss’s corpse down on a large table.

“What, or who, did you bring me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“There’s a substance on the zombie’s flesh from the gas it breathed out to defend itself,” he replied.

“What might injure or kill you isn’t likely to harm me.” Her arms were still crossed, and she said it as a warning.

He shrugged. “I just thought you might think it’s gross.”

She didn’t reply but watched him instead. She held no fear that a murderer could be standing before her. The reason was simple. She might be a merchant, but she could crush him like a bug at her current level.

Under her gaze, he began to unroll his prize.

Her expression changed the moment it was unraveled. “This is…”

“The western gate’s region boss. I’ll need its poison sacks for my cultivation, but I’d like to sell the rest. Sorry I couldn’t keep its skull intact. It was that or the sacks.”

She gave him a sharp nod as if out of habit and studied it.

He waited patiently until she finally asked the question he knew was coming.

“How did you manage this so soon? Who exactly are you?”

Closing the distance between them, he met her gaze. “I need your help, Goo. Not with my cultivation. Not with a handout. I’m in need of resources, and I have a plan on how I will get them.”

“You found a natural treasure?”

The question she asked was a responsible one. She was the person who provided the equipment he needed to start his greenhouse after all.

“Yes, but nothing lifechanging as it is. Some qi rich ginseng. I plan to grow them in mass.”

Her eyes became wider the more he spoke. “You know how to cultivate natural treasures?”

“I know enough to get things started. Eventually, I’ll need a partner to scale up my business. I want you to be that partner.”

She shook her head. “Why me? We’ve only met a few times and yet you’re bringing this to me?”

He gave her a soft smile. “I won’t lie to you. I plan on giving you a very generous percentage of the business, and of all my future ventures—of which there will be many. Running these ventures will ultimately fall upon you once I get busy cultivating and clearing the tower. I’ll help when I can, but—”

“You’ve said enough,” she said, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. “Why do you trust me? I’d be in a position where taking all of the profits for myself will be as easy as willing it.”

“Because I know that’s not why you’re here.”

Her expression darkened.

He continued. “You’re here for revenge, and because you don’t want to see another civilization fall as yours did.”

There was a spark of anger in her reaction. He was drawing very close to knowing something that shouldn’t be possible. “How do—”

He held her gaze and responded in his most intimate tone. “I’ll give them no quarter. Entertain no treaties. I promised you mountains of demon corpses. I expect you to give me a good deal.”

Once she started laughing, she had trouble stopping. “Do you have any idea how impossible your promise is?”

He gave her a grin. “If I don’t keep my word then I’m already dead. Our time is more limited than you know. Will you help me?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” she responded. “Let’s get this thing processed and I’ll get you you’re points.”