Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 17

As someone who had already spent ten years in the tower, Nathan had the perfect strategy prepared to face off with the Putrid Undead Cannibal. He knew exactly what he needed to do. As soon as it looked up at his approach, he charged.

The big-headed creature jumped off its perch and drew in a mighty breath as it stood. It had Nathan exactly where it wanted him. As he neared, gas burst toward him in a giant cone.

He needed to dodge to the side and come in at an angle. It was the right move, even if the creature would expect it. This region boss wasn’t mindless. It would release its poison all around it to defend itself when it saw him flanking.

The boss expected him to dodge. It would be ready. So taking one last good breath, he didn’t slow. He shot straight into the cloud of poison.

A wide grin covered his face, but he didn’t dare open his mouth. Nathan lowered his shoulder, driving it straight into the creature’s chest. It flew out of the cloud of poison to crash into the rubble it had just been perched on.

It sprawled on the rock, but he knew it wasn’t injured. In the next moment, he was there. Its stomach was the only good spot to strike, but the poison sacks were there. Hitting them would force out more poison, but more importantly, there was no way he was going to damage his prize. The ribs and skull were both worth something. Even though the skull looked epic in comparison, its was far too big to turn it into a helmet. He’d look stupid if he tried. The ribcage was made up of more bone by volume, making it worth more, so it looked like he’d be bashing in its skull.

As soon as it tried to sit up, his fist was there colliding with its nose. Its head bounced off the ground. He danced back, feeling the sticky gas covering his hands, legs, neck, and face. It started to chew at his skin. More accurately, it was causing the blood closest to the surface to react. Tiny vessels started rupturing. It stopped his blood from coagulating, so random splotches of blood appeared on the skin of his hands neck and face. Especially around his eyes.

His sight was still working, but he couldn’t take many chances. Tears were pooling naturally, blurring his vision slightly, but it would make no difference.

The boss monster came to its feet.

Nathan was already advancing. The original cloud of poison was comfortably behind him, but that didn’t keep the thing from spitting out more as he came into range. With one last look at the monster’s location, he closed his eyes and took the plunge.

He’d seen the thing reach out for him with its overly thick arms. They were like rods of steel with some leather wrap around them to hold them together. He ducked under the thing’s reach, driving his head into its ribs. It wasn’t to injure the monster, but to keep track of its location.

It tried to grab him. He was right there so it couldn’t miss. A left hook with full torque smashed it in the face.

Nathan dipped low, sidestepping. He felt its body’s response to his qi empowered fist. Its skull was tough, but it was like a guy off the street sparing a pro in his first boxing match. It helped that its poison gas obstructed its own vision. A right hook landed solidly into the back of its head.

Wherever it stumbled, he followed. Each punch wasn’t just intended to slowly break its thick skull, but to keep it within the immediate area. It didn’t possess the same knockout triggers as a human. Tagging the chin or bouncing its brain around in its head just didn’t drop it. He couldn’t complain. That made it easier for him.

After chasing it around and winning a few more exchanges, the time had come. He needed to take a breath. Sucking in a lungful of air, he tasted the nasty poison. There was a series of sharp pains in his chest. The internal bleeding started. He didn’t panic. It was just more tempering for his next stage of cultivation.

He drove forward with his eyes still closed and drew on the qi foreign to his newly initiated body. Could the qi-rich poison kill him? Yes. But it was far richer that the normally qi in the air.

An uppercut tilted its head back and he pulverized its eye socket with a straight right. This time it tumbled.

It continued spewing out poison as it fell and waving its arms about as if to swat him.

He landed on its chest in full mount. Quickly gaining dual wrist control, he wrenched them to the sides and went old school MMA on its face—his forehead slamming down.

It was far from finished. The thing released more of the poison. He finally allowed himself to breathe it in. His fists flew downward, containing qi-filled rigidity that a fist couldn’t possess. This wasn’t a fight. It was work.

Splotches of blood now covered more of his visible form than not. When breathing out, a half-mouthful of blood sprinkled the boss zombie’s face.

His fists didn’t stop even when it felt like he’d brought a hammer to split wood. It took a few minutes before its face finally caved in.

Whatever was left of the poisonous gas in it lungs, the monster released with a cry in his face for good measure as it died.

He still had a good sense of the battlefield, so he got up and walked out of the poison-filled area. Stripping his shirts, he used his undershirt to begin wiping the thickest gunk from his face. Only after his eyes felt clear of anything sticky or wet did he finally open them. They weren’t exactly in good shape, but he could see.

He focused on his breathing and kept an eye on his surroundings. Some of the poison gas was still lingering so he wasn’t terribly concerned. He was clean enough to move on to the next step.

He found his bag and carefully removed a bottle of water he’d strapped to the outside. With that he cleaned his hands but left a little for his face. Then he pulled out a hand towel. He wiped his hands roughly. They weren’t pretty but the thick skin of his palms left them mostly clean and without blood. The backs of his hands were still bleeding in places, but they were clear enough of the poison that his blood was starting to thicken.

His breathing technique would help his body’s recovery, but it would direct qi to the most important things first, like his lungs and throat. His lungs were coated with the poison which would be deadly for most. As for Nathan, he’d counted on it. He already felt the rich qi filling him, despite the pain.

He removed a sheet from his bag and a few more water bottles. Before anything else, he laid out the sheet and walked over to the dead region boss. Grabbing it by the foot, he began to drag it. He was careful to wrap it thoroughly so if anyone bumped into it, none of its sticky poison would get on them.

With that done, now he had to get changed. He hated to lose two new shirts, a pair of shorts, and some boxer briefs, but then he realized the state his shoes were in. He liked them too much to not try and salvage them.

Just to be safe, he stripped. He wiped down his legs but didn’t bother cleaning too thoroughly. He pulled on a pair of athletic pants then another long-sleeved shirt. He’d go barefoot from here. They needed tempering anyway.

As ready as he could be, he grabbed the remaining water bottle and took a big swig, swished it around, then spit it out. Both nostrils were bloody, but almost fully coagulated now. It would confuse his breathing technique, technically. He knew better than to be worried. Getting qi rich air into his lungs was the only mandatory step.

With his pack on, and the region boss thrown over his shoulder, he returned the way he had come. The fight hadn’t been too bad. The real tempering would happen on the run back to the western gate with the zombie on his back and his lungs still recovering. H started to move.

He ran through the building back the way he had come, hurdling out of it when he reached the end of the second story platform with the boss’s corpse in tow. The horde of zombies hiding in the building were finally getting curious and following close behind him. They were too slow to give him a respectful chase.

As he landed in the open, the gunfire stopped instantly. One of the reasons he’d exited the same way he’d come was so that they’d think twice before firing—even if he did look a bloody mess through a scope. He was running at a rate only the elite zombies could match, and he happily rammed his prize corpse’s feet into the backside of a zombie or two to make it clear he wasn’t on their side.

When the next gunshot rang out, it struck something behind him. He hopped onto the closest pile of rubble before stopping to give them a bloody grin and a wave. Then he was off again.

Nathan closed in on the group with the flyer and teleporter when they called out to him. Their tanks were fighting a small group of zombies, but two casters parted ways and jogged over to him.

He slowed when he saw the look of concern on the woman’s face. She was young with dirty blond hair pulled back. “I can heal you,” she yelled.

Holding up his hand, he shook it, hoping she got his intent.

They stopped at what he considered an unsafe distance for strangers. They were far too trusting. Seeing his need, they threw caution into the wind.

He immediately took pity on them for their inexperience. “Thank you, but no. My path improves faster if I heal naturally.

The woman was in the middle of opening her mouth when what he said struck her. She didn’t know how to respond.

“What are you?” The man with her asked. He had a little darker hair than she did and was much older. Possibly a father or older brother. Difficult to say after path evolution. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he added.

“Body cultivator. It focuses on strengthening my body to the greatest degree possible.”

“So…”

“This level of damage very beneficial to me,” Nathan replied, trying to chuckle when he coughed out a glob of blood. He held up his hand to stop the insistent healer. “Thank you, but I’m not exaggerating. I ran in, beat up this rare zombie variant, and I’m now heading to town to sell it.”

“You can do that?” The man replied.

“You bet. Dragging the big ones back aren’t worth it because there’s little gain for the effort, but if you fight and kill any rarer ones, transporting them back is worth doing once to find out what they sell for. Be careful though. I have high poison resist otherwise this thing would’ve killed me a hundred times over. Many of the rarer ones are best left alone or fought from a distance.”

“Mmm. Thanks for the info. We had no idea.” The man turned back and stared off toward some of the zombies they’d already fought.

Nathan stepped in since they’d been so willing to help. “I wouldn’t bother worrying about selling corpses at this level of zombie. Killing them in mass as you’re doing will earn you the most points. I also need this guy’s poison glands for my cultivation, so it’s not just for the money. Also,” he said, stressing. “Be very careful who you approach and are willing to help. I greatly appreciate it, but robbery and murder are already a very real thing outside the city gates. Stay together and look out for ambushes.”

“You were attacked?” The woman asked.

“I was. Thankfully they were only using handguns.”

“You’re bullet proof?” The man said, exasperated.

“In a manner, yes, but against high powered rifles?” He pointed back over his shoulder toward the family of snipers. “Not so much.”

“That’s…”

“Everyone will be in a matter of months. One of my main strengths is my toughness, but I’m not invincible. No one is. Just be careful. Most thieves look for easy targets. By the way, do you know them?” He motioned toward the snipers. “From what I observed, they made no move to attack, but even if their weapons will become powerless, for now they are deadly to most.”

The man stepped forward. “Omid is a friend. We met during one of my missions overseas, and I trust him with my life.”

“Perfect. Having someone you can trust is more important now than ever. I better go. I need to push myself while the poison is still ravaging my body. Training, and all.”

He stepped away to go, when the woman rushed toward him, pleading. “Are you sure? You look…”

“Yup. Don’t worry. One day I’ll be able to grow a beard as manly as your, boyfriend?”

“Dad,” she corrected, adamantly.

The man chuckled but kept it down so as not embarrass her.

“It’s just temporary,” Nathan insisted. “I’ll be sexy later.”

The young woman’s eyes widened.

With a snicker, he took off at a run, waving as he went. Cute family. He just hoped they could keep their willingness to help a little longer. With the fathers of both families being ex-military, they had a better chance than most to do well in the chaos of these first few months.