Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era: An OP Mc LitRpg - Cultivation - Development, page 14
Among them, almost anyone that entered the Immortal Realms would find themselves exhibiting its traces more often. Much to his great displeasure.
How many times had he promised himself to never be caught in this situation? How many times had he cursed his first elders and masters? Each one more hated than the last simply because of what they constantly did.
Contemplating life left a horrendous taste in his mouth. To stand her and think. About everything he had experienced so far until this point. What he could have done differently. How he should have tackled certain situations better. Maybe even not kill a person or two.
Dong ZhenKang cursed silently.
There was nothing to gleam while he wasted his time here. He could be doing anything else. Plotting. Planning. Anything but just standing here, thinking.
As though he would be able to find clarity in the scant minutes or even hours he continued to watch some beggar peasant attempt to sell half rotten vegetables. Or another attempt to convince a kid that the branch he carried was worth the food his parents had sent the kid to buy.
Or was he supposed to find ancient wisdom and truths in the whores hawking themselves. Nagging at anyone that seemed slightly better than poor. Cursing the ones that ignored them. If you had enough to buy food, then you were good enough to be a prey to their machinations and plots.
Dong ZhenKang sighed. Feeling much older than he was.
How’d I get to this point?
This was why he hated contemplating with a passion. It reminded him of his past. What he was supposed to have become instead of what he was now. The urge to return and hope his original sect had opened its gates again. He knew better than that though.
None of the righteous sects of old would open their doors. Not a single one had even made an attempt to do so in the sixty years they’ve been locked away. If they had just let him back in. Made an exception just once for him to return to his rightful place among them.
An elite among elites.
Just my luck to be caught in the bosom of a voluptuous village widow.
He had been too busy to respond to his sect's command to return. Not understanding the urgency behind the words the elders hand sent through a Qi technique. He thought it was another gathering. New orders. Maybe even a spatial rift or secret realm had opened for them to delve.
Bring back treasures and resources. Maybe even earn some ancient monster’s legacy and rise above everyone else.
“Sixty fucking eight years.” His voice rumbled. The weak tornado in his core surged stronger showing signs of life and vitality. First time since he encountered the old Hu ancestor.
It had been sixty eight years since he was banging on the closed barriers of his sect's array barriers. How long since he had been forced out of his home. Taken away from his family and future! Robbed from him. Betrayed by the elders that saw him but turned their backs and walked away.
His damaged core surged as the tornado within it started to turn into liquid Qi. Starting his cultivation once more. The raging winds whispered into his ears. Begging for release. To destroy, kill and main. His original cultivation technique had been tainted without guidance, but his ambitions kept him going. Climbing far above everyone else.
Dong ZhenKang could already see the screaming villagers pleading for their lives. Kowtowing in hopes he would spare them. None would escape his ire. He would kill every child, woman, elderly, man, and even the animals that carried them here.
And he would have. His wrathful outbursts were not uncommon.
His eyes drifted back towards the Hu girls’ home. The perfect spot for him to spy on them for days on end. Watching as the two practiced. Applied righteous sect katas and even tried to cultivate without guidance. Much like he had. Almost kindred spirits had he not decided to take Hu Jun as his own plaything.
With a force of will he had not exerted on himself for nearly a decade since, he pressed his living liquid core down. Shutting it silent and forcing it into compliance. It was a struggle to stop himself from acting out as he pleased when he pleased, but he did it anyway. His life motto and Dao were far more important and more powerful too.
Better silent then dead.
Alone and by himself, he couldn’t have possibly done anything but be dead within a few years of that day. There had been abrupt and terrifying rushes of Demonic Cultivators and Demons invading the lands. Entire villages had been turned into cultivation cauldrons. Burned to the last. Entire cities crushed and destroyed by powerful Heavenly Demons that carved their domains within what had been the central lands of the most Righteous Sects to exist.
How many pyramids of heads had he the distaste of witnessing?
Entire forests of impaled bodies on stakes twenty feet high.
Pits of the starving, screaming for death.
Dong ZhenKang had watched silently until he was strong enough to fight back. Carve his own territory and land away from greater evils. Much greater than himself. That had been the day his Silver Mountain Gang was born. A group of weak and ambitious idiots that swore to never let anyone take advantage of them.
Of course, none of them were any good. Stabbing one another in the back for a modicum of wealth and safety promised by bigger, stronger forces. He was all that remained from the originals. The rest died either to friend or foe. The last few to his blade as he tore through them in fury.
Now his Silver Mountain Gang was stronger than ever before. Yes, they would soon enough stab a dagger in his liver, but they weren’t strong enough. He had gotten enough time to grow beyond the average and into the next realm of superiority. Only the elites of sects around them could really match him.
There is always a bigger predator. Always.
Spider Cult Valley above him and an even greater dark force above them. Waiting and watching for something.
Dong ZhenKang studied Jun’s figure as she pulled Hu Shui out of the courtyard. They carried large, empty tubs with them. He couldn’t figure out why. Each one had been acting strange ever since their old man arrived. As though they could act with freedom and without worry.
Their ancestor was hidden under their porch's overhang. He could not see him or what he was doing nor would he try to check. Dong ZhenKang would not have been watching salivating every time he glimpsed Hu Jun for even a second.
Making sure to enjoy the final moments he would get to watch.
He sighed again. Reminiscing about the bosoms of that one voluptuous village widow. The source of all his problems. His greatest weakness. Had he just been able to ignore her and her glances. Maybe just maybe he would have been somewhere else completely.
Chapter 27 - Racing Games
It took a week of nothing but bathing and showering the two girls. Massive tubs of water lugged in and out every single day, multiple times a day without once worrying about what others would say. A few villagers had come asking. Trying to figure out what was going on, but they were mostly shooed away.
One particularly annoying fellow had to be dragged out of the courtyard after he jumped the walls. Jun had been merciless with him. Beating him good. Yin Hu had to separate them lest she kill him. Her guardian persona had taken over.
She ended up snapping his arm before he got to them.
Hu Shui, on the other hand, had been having the time of her life inside of the courtyard. Dressing in her new robes and play fighting the whole day, but even she had been faced with problems Yin Hu had not been expecting. Small things that gave him a bad taste in his mouth.
The little girl was now dressed too well. It made her stand out among her old friends. So much that they ended up ostracizing her. Talking behind her back. Unwilling to play with her because she had supposedly changed and could not be part of their friend group any more.
Yin Hu suspected the parents had something to do with it, but did not look to prove himself correct.
Jun had taken care of the issue. Not by her usual crusader ways of breaking peoples limbs and smashing their faces in, but instead, playing a completely different role. One he had not seen her do before. She played the motherly, older sister role. Whispering to the unconsolable Shui and letting her cry on her shoulder. Hugging her and being there for her.
He had no clue what to do in such a sensitive moment.
So he left it in Jun’s hands.
Yin Hu couldn’t help but be impressed with the older girl and how many roles she had taken. Being everything Shui needed when she needed it. A mother. A guardian. A cultivation master. Teacher. Mentor and more he had yet to get a chance to witness. She was everything to everyone, but almost nothing to herself.
He could still see the worry in Jun’s eyes. Even if she tried to hide it from him and Shui with an exterior of joy or stern wrath. He could see the way her eyes snapped at any sound. How she shivered when Shui touched her. Even during the period she allowed the little girl to hug her and recover from bad friends.
Keeping it hidden with a force of will.
It was so bad it required him to look at her from the side of his eyes when she was occupied with other things. His gaze seemed to make her lose the ability to walk straight. Rigid. Robotic and broken. Sweating a bucket full. Luckily their new robes were self cleaning just like his. Yin Hu, also, wasn’t sure why nor did he truly want to figure it out.
A cultivation world was made to be brutal.
The only thing he could do for her was provide better options. Grow her strong enough that she could fight whatever demons that existed in her spirit and mind. Defeat the traumas she may have experienced. He recalled what she said when they first had time alone.
She survived a culling. He had no clue what Jun had seen during the destruction of the Hu clan, but it could not have been anything good. Particularly if Demonic Cultivators that like to build pyramids out of screaming heads were involved in any form.
He would do his part. Turn her into a nuke that could erase mountains.
I really hope this doesn’t go wrong.
The girls had been getting stuffed with pills. Each one had taken nearly twelve each that he had purified and made into miraculous versions of D.E.Y.M.P. that were made for body cleansing and purification. It would take more time just to prepare their bodies just to start the true process of removing contaminations from their body and core.
After that was the meridians. Then the process to strengthen and expand their meridians. Clean them. Prepare them for the sudden surge of power and strength boost they would gain from using a process that had been the sole ownership of Emperors to keep their throne seats without anyone daring to contest them.
He didn’t have that type of ambition though. Conquering the world seemed like a boring thing to attempt to do. No time to enjoy himself. Too busy waging war and killing hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy jade beauties or develop his own nukes.
The thought of relying on someone else with his rice bag or the developmental process did not sit right with him either.
Yin Hu shook his head. He turned back towards Hu Jun and Hu Shui.
The girls had finished up their latest medicinal showers and baths. The last one before finally removing deeper contaminations in their bodies and spirits. It wouldn’t fix them, but it would set them up for greater things down the line. If the Compendium was to be believed that is.
If not, then he was about to turn them into grenades. Ones he had no clue that they were ticking to explode.
Both Hu Jun and Hu Shui had taken their time enjoying every moment of the lotions, salves, and everything else girls liked that he had set up for them. Each one beamed and glowed. They were applying some liberally to their arms and legs, having done the rest of their bodies already right after the bath.
Shui had complained that the amount of Qi that they had been absorbing into their limbs had made her feel tired and exhausted all the time. Yin Hu had been extremely worried until he returned to search within the Compendium. It was supposedly a good side effect for kids. A sign that the Qi was being absorbed rather than rejected.
Jun laughed. Showing Shui how smooth and bright her skin was after just she finished applying the lotion.
Hu Jun had transitioned into the best friend mode. Connecting with Shui and helping her get over the little mean things her supposed friend had been doing to bother her or ostracize her with. Simple things. Distracting her. Laughing and giggling or playing. Things that seemed benign but were the world to little Shui.
“Girls,” Yin Hu said from his seat on the porch. He hadn’t moved his cushion an inch since the first day. “Come here.”
It was time to get them stuffed with Body Contamination Purifying Pills and a variation of a dozen or so different medicines. They would not be happy, considering what the Compendium was saying it would do to them. Sludge, black, odious waste would leak out of all their pores. It would be hideous and disgusting. Requiring multiple medicine showers made specifically for it to just remove the stench.
That would only be momentary. Maybe a few days that they would have to suffer and he would suffer the stench. Then he could finally start teaching them to box. Real martial arts. Not the fake kung fu and tree poses Jun had been doing. Deadly without a single wasted movement. No mercy to anyone who attempted to harm you and your family.
Most importantly, protect your ancient ancestor above all else!
I’m going to need to fill a few of those scarves with perfume and oils. Fight the stank so I don’t have to suffer with them.
The two girls finished up their last bits of unlotioned areas. Then they had a race. First to get to him and sit on their cushions. The two rumbled towards him without any thought to brake or slow down. Not when competing.
“I win!” Shui shouted.
Jun let her win. The only issue was that Shui wasn’t a humble winner. No grace in victory. Instantly ridiculing the older girl and laughing at her. Pointing and giggling. Jun acted defeated and sad. Fake hiccups that made Shui freeze.
“I didn’t mean everything I said, Jun.” Shui poked Jun’s shoulder.
“No,” Jun made a scene of it. “I’m the worst at racing.”
Shui looked towards Yin Hu for help. He shrugged at her. That wasn’t his problem and he wasn’t going to intervene in Jun’s ploy. Let the girls be girls. Have fun, mess with each other, grow without having to worry about where their next meal came from or if a Demonic Cultivator was going to execute the entire village.
Just be normal kids their age.
Chapter 28 - Head Slamming and Water Grabbing
Both Jun and Shui played their back and forth. Jun acted as the sad, defeated older sister that lost all of their racing ability and Shui was fully convinced she had hurt her feelings. It wasn’t until Jun forgave her did the little girl stop. Insistently bothering her to say the words of forgiveness.
Yin Hu watched the entire scene with a slight smile. He knew his beard and mustache covered it completely and kept his air of mystery about him. A stoic ancestor. Beyond the mere games of the mortals and lower realms of cultivation.
Wasn’t that what was expected of him.
Or was it to become a golden goose that fed entire clans with his wealth with nothing in return. Just fake head scraping along the floors and a few nice words. Nothing else. Maybe for some it was worth it, but not Yin Hu. His priorities and desires laid in a different direction.
The two girls finally turned to him. Attention locked.
He’d already shown them what he was capable of. Their doubts were eliminated. Any questions or concerns they could have had were either turned into dust or thrown so deep into their dungeons they would never escape. They had full belief in his methods and systems.
Yin Hu pulled out the Compendium. A clear sign it was time to get down to business.
Shui and Jun beamed. Unawares of what was about to happen to them. He felt bad, just a little bit. They preened at how smooth and gorgeous their skin had started to look. How silky their hair had become. Lashes growing longer. And a hundred other girly things he couldn’t wrap his head around. Whispering to each other. Giggling.
Imma need to start exploring the little bandit town once the process starts. Escape the stench and filth. Give them space.
He made sure to read every single part of the chapter and necessary parts this time around. Making sure to pause at all tiny fine print. Rereading anything that confused him even slightly. All the while he started pulling out the necessary items.
It wasn’t as much as before, nor were there such a large variation of items. The exact opposite of what he was expecting. It was mostly multiple doses of the same medicines, pills, and very specific lotions and baths. Two or three times each separated by days.
All except the body cleansing pills themselves. Those were a single pill each.
Yin Hu frowned as he kept reading. He planned to one day go through a similar process as the girls, hidden away after learning everything by experimenting on them. His own two little guinea pigs, but reading more only left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
The girls would take the pills. Circulating the energies and cleansing forces into their core. Which would then direct itself throughout their bloodstream and body. Forcefully cleaning any contaminations. Everything they had been working on loosening and making easier to remove with the countless lotions and baths.
But that was the issue. It required access to an energy source he did not have. There was not an ounce of Qi in his core. Nor could he figure out how to move, absorb, or use it in any way shape or form.
It made him frustrated for only a moment. Eventually ignoring it all together. Disappointments and foiled plans seemed very common to him. Nothing special if another one went into the gutter. Just part of the process.
“Alright!” Yin Hu said. Finally done pulling out items. “The next stage of the process. Body cleansing.”
Jun paled.
Shui started hooting and celebrating. Doing a little jig. Oblivious to what was about to happen.
